Tuna Fish Banana Pancakes

Dear faithful blog readers, I know that it might seem that I have become DC-ified. All these trips to awesome places and associating with high-ranking people from the US and all over the world might seem like it has been a little much for me, and I have been thrown into the rat race that is DC, losing all personality, hope, and joy.

Don't worry. I am pretty much still the same person. And my dinner choices might just be the saving grace that has kept me from becoming a DC robot. (I actually love DC and say this a bit facetiously. Some people do change when they move to DC and become hardened, angry, and only care about getting ahead in their career. But I absolutely love it here--and I don't work on Capitol Hill, so I think I'm safe! :)

My dinner choices in college were not always the most appetizing to the average person. I used to think that I could win the prize for the most disgusting meals eaten in college in order to save money.

And then I lived in Asia.

Living in Asia totally ruined my idea of what could be counted as a legitimately disgusting dinner, eaten for the purpose of saving money. Cow stomach, pig intestines, frog legs, chicken feet--none of these things are cheap, but eating them made my dinners of ramen and beans look like a gourmet meal.

I remember once eating dinner at a member's house in Taoyuan. After her first bowl of rice and food, she got some noodles and squirted ketchup into the bowl with the noodles. "This is my favorite sauce to put on noodles," she said,

Sauce? No. In America we call that ketchup, and we put it on hamburgers. Not ramen. She thought it was such a delicacy, though, that I tried it for her sake.

Yep. It tasted just like ramen with ketchup on it. But somehow it was better with chopsticks.

Anyway, that stint in Asia changed my mind about what is disgusting and what is palatable. I am now much happier with what I eat, even if I eat the same things that I did before my mission. Because honestly, nothing is as bad as chicken feet. Just sayin.

Anyway, when I decided to come out to Washington, DC for an internship, I thought that my eating habits would change for the better. Finally, I thought, I would have time to actually make myself dinner occasionally. And I would be making enough money to actually buy fruits and vegetables.

And then I got to DC and realized that I was working 10 hours a day, commuting for another hour to hour and a half, taking 12 credits, including two independent study classes, travelling and working overtime often, getting ready to move to Jerusalem, and living in a small box of a room with a closet bathroom and a mini fridge (more about my dorm experience at the Barlow later). There was a shared kitchen on the floor on which I lived, but I am not such a big fan of sharing one kitchen with 20 people. I tried not to even walk past it and I was successful most days.

My eating habits, however, were not helped by my living situation, and one look at the food prices in DC made me want to turn around and eat saltines all summer. Avoiding the kitchen certainly made things interesting, and near the end of my stay at the Barlow Center I just avoided utensils all together. I ate a whole jar of peanut butter without ever using a knife or a spoon (or my hands!) and I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich once without using utensils. We won't get into details, but I felt pretty barbaric sometimes crouching in my room next to the small fridge, drinking milk out of the carton, breaking cheese off with my hands, and licking peanut butter out of the jar.

Anyway. I like to think that I have moved on from that stage of life. I now live in a beautiful house with an awesome kitchen. I have plenty of utensils and I sometimes even drink out of cups now. But food is still expensive in DC, which still makes for some interesting meals.

A couple of nights ago I went to the CVS just down from my house. CVS is a pharmacy with a few groceries, but their food selection is not big and the prices are higher than a normal grocery store. However, I didn't want to walk down to the Safeway about half a mile away. And when I saw the bread prices at CVS, I decided that low-quality bread was really not worth $4, thank you very much, and I went home without any.

And then last night I had a pretty hard-core craving for a toasted cheese and tuna fish sandwich. But I didn't have any bread. So I went with the next best thing.

Pancake mix.

I made 3 pancakes, spooned the tuna fish on top, and sliced some cheese. It was almost exactly like a toasted tuna fish and cheese sandwich, but with pancakes instead of bread.

Now, I know that some of you are gagging just thinking about eating tuna fish pancakes. I told my coworkers and they were all disgusted, and one of my friends threatened to buy me bread if I didn't start eating better. But really, guys. It was pretty high-end compared to what I am used to.

And apparently, I'm not the only one who eats tuna fish pancakes! After finding this recipe for tuna fish banana pancakes, I realized that tuna fish pancakes are like a little slice of heaven in comparison. (My favorite part is when it says, "to make the pancake looking more appetizing..." If you have to say this about food, you know there's a problem!) (Also, I don't think it's a coincidence that Ayam Brand is Asian!! They just do food differently over there.)

Unfortunately, the tuna fish pancakes were so good that I ate them all before I took a picture. Maybe next time I make them...