Sorry for the long absence, folks! I think this heat is melting my brain. It’s definitely sapping me of any motivation to cook blogworthy meals, so you’ll have to bear with monotonous shots of green smoothies and salads for a while.
And when I say heat, I mean HEAT. It has reached 120F with 60% humidity over the past few weeks and it will hold steady for another 6 weeks at least. Summertime in Saudi Arabia is no joke, it is not just gross stepping outside, but downright dangerous. We hibernate inside in the AC as much as possible!
Yesterday when I woke up my sweet husband already had a green smoothie waiting for me. Have I mentioned that I’m the luckiest woman ever?
Breakfast of Champions. And me.
We finally found organic baby spinach (imported from the USA – talk about food miles) and my life is now complete.
Finding decent greens is really difficult here, the usual option is local chard which is pesticide laden, bitter as all get out, and totally lifeless. When I can find fresh, tender, flavor packed organic baby spinach I’m thrilled.
I’m all for eating local, and would all the time if the local options weren’t all covered in nasty chemicals! When the choice is racking up food miles to support sustainably grown organic produce that is good for my body or buying local foods that are poisoning the earth and my body, I’m going to have to go with organic every time, food miles be damned.
After sipping my yummy breakfast I suffered through the torturous 5 minute drive to the gym. Usually I bike or walk but in this weather? I don’t think so. Even in the car with the AC blasting I arrive to the gym in a puddle of sweat gasping for air. Well, at least I’m warmed up for my workout!
An hour of full body weight training later I come home and find that sweet hubby of mine had made me one of these beauties -
Slurp.
An icy cold juice filled with apples, carrots, cucumbers, celery, and tons of mint and ginger was just what I needed to cool down after my muscle melting workout. Yum!
Of course, a juice keeps me filled up for about 5 minutes. So, before too long I was tearing into this -
Snack Attack!
I eat a variation of these snack-plates several times a week – I love them! What you see up there is fresh blueberries and blackberries, guacamole, crackers, raw veggies, and cashew cilantro Baja cheeze.
After that snacky lunch Cody and I lounged around the house enjoying our weekend (Thursday/Friday here in the Land of Sand) and daydreamed about the future. A cottage out in the country, a vegetable garden, a herd of dingos, and a drum circle or two might have been mentioned.
Once the early evening rolled around and the stores opened up we piled into the car, braving the heat once more, and headed into Khobar, the town outside of our compound to do a little shopping.
We headed for Desert Designs, an upscale home decor store targeted at wealthy expats who would rather overspend than trawl through the dusty, grimy souks looking for authentic bedouin treasures. Desert Designs is filled with local tribal crafts, bedouin antiques and reproductions, and all the things expats love to fill their homes with.
Normally, I wouldn’t set foot there because I love sifting through the souqs and exploring dusty desert markets , but in this weather I was willing to pay that little b it extra for the pleasure of shopping in comfort.
Abaya + 120F = heat stroke.
(NO! I definitely do not and would not wear the abaya by choice. I HAVE to wear it when I leave my compound or else I would be arrested.)
After picking up a few gifts and trinkets to send off for friends and family we went on a mad and ultimately pointless search for edamame. It is only fitting, now that I have nooch back in my life, the balance of fate in Saudi Arabia must decree that something be missing. Saudi inventory giveth and taketh away. Sigh. I will miss my giant salty bowl of edamame every night.
So, loaded down with cute gifts and adorable knick knacks but lacking the all important edamame we arrived home to walk the dogs (an ugly undertaking in this heat, I didn’t know I could sweat so much) and make dinner.
PIZZA PIZZA! This was the perfect end to a hot and sweaty day.
I topped the pizza with pizza sauce, sauted onions, bell peppers, wilted spinach, huge slices of pickled jalapenos, and liquid smoke coated Boca Burgers. There’s nothing like pizza when you are feeling lazy and HUNGRY, is there?
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good old desert designs!! good to see it again
everyone i talk to in canada always says “oh i bet it wasn’t this humid in saudi!” and i always have to correct them!!! crazy humidity.
Have you tried growing your own baby spinach under grow lights inside? It wouldn’t work for bigger greens, but I know people who grow spinach and salad greens year round under grow lights just to have fresh ones at all times. And wow, those shops bring back memories of living in Riyadh! I loved going to the souks, too when we lived there!
I have not tried that, Jennifer, but it sounds fantastic! What a brilliant idea, thank you. I’m going to have to look into that. Glad I could bring back some of your Saudi memories!
Poor you, Saudi sounds awful! We’ve nearly got the humidity over here but not the awfully high temperatures. I would melt, for sure.
Loving the snack plates and the home decor bits and pieces! And that pizza, oh my! This summer I will (I will, I will) make a GF pizza crust… How I miss pizza.
Hope you’re having a great weekend xxx
ooo, i love pickled jalapenos on my pizza too – that looks amazing. i don’t know you stand the heat! i can barely take it when it gets in mid 90s here in kc.
I live in East Texas which is not quite as hot (we usually hover around 100 in the summer) but where the humidity is always at least 70%. It’s miserable and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it! But when I can wear a t-shirt outside in December – well, that makes up for a lot.
I hope you find a good supply of greens soon. And if I could mail you edamame, I would!
Hey Christy,
Tasha and I lived in San Antonio and Austin, but before I moved over there, I lived in West Louisiana (where I’m originally from). We were right in Louisiana’s heal around in the Lake Charles area in a tiny town called DeQuincy, about 30 minutes from the Texas border near Beaumont. So I know what you mean about the humidity in that area. You practically have to have gills to breathe outside.
Your snack attack plates look adorable! And your pizza came out amazing! I want that for lunch today
wow, the pictures are STUNNING <3
jealous doesnt begin to describe it
What a wonderful hubby you have by making you smoothies and fresh juice. I’m sure it hits the spot with the heat you are having. Sorry about the heat by the way.
Those hanging lanterns are beautiful!
You all try to stay cool, doggies included.
I loved the hanging lanterns so much I had to buy one for myself!
And don’t worry about my dingos, they are right here on the couch next to me. My dogs are very much inside dogs, as in they sleep in bed with us at night!
I am so sorry you have to suffer such a weather. I already feel like I might die at 90°F. We don’t have any AC and right now it’s 85°F in this room. *sweat* Lots of fresh fruit and veg is definitely the way to go.
This morning there was a feature about shopping in Saudi Arabia on the radio. It was interesting and of course I had to think of you. It was about the lack of dressing rooms in shops and that women buy the closes and take them home to try them. And about shopping catalogues. By the way, at the weekend I sometimes see tourists with abayas, or to be more precise hijabs. I always wondered how women are affected by heat if they whear those clothes. I hope this isn’t a stupid and ignorant question, I always assume it must be so hot under them.
Sorry, I meant niqāb and not hijab.
Hi there! Sorry to hear you’re suffering in the heat also. Isn’t it the worst?
Yes, it is miserable under the abaya (the long black cloak), especially since they are made out of synthetic material that doesn’t breath at all. And the black just sucks up the sun….vicious. Luckily non-Saudis don’t have to wear the face veil or cover our heads too perfectly, so we get a little respite. And of course that isn’t an ignorant question, I would wonder the same thing myself if I hadn’t had to wear one since I was 13!
I think its ridiculous how I’ve hear tons of excuses from pro-abaya people claiming it HELPS against the heat! I just wrote an article about feminism and PETA if youre interested. I think itd be the kinda thing youd like.
But, on a better note: I want my house to look like that! I’d shop in the souks with you anyday!
abaya + baseball hat = cute! sorry you gotta wear that. luckily you have an oasis to be yourself in most of the time.
i eat a lot of snack plates like that too.
Oh boy, I remember my abaya. Do not miss it or the Saudi heat. It gives our heat troubles some perspective, however, so thank you.
I thought AZ was hot, 115F routinely. But no humidity to speak of. Saudi is like AZ or VEgas heat with Florida or TX humidity..omg…
Abaya…and your hat/glasses, I love the look you’re rockin
The home furnishings store is beautiful..but i bet everything costs a small fortune!!
STay cool honey! xo
Jeez, I’ll try to stop complaining out the heat over here- That is just insane! My deepest sympathies, try to stay cool!
Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine the heat you’re dealing with–absurd! Stay cool, stay cool!