Is Paris going to make me skinny or fat?

I feel like things are getting more normal here.  I might not have anything to write about soon because I am becoming so boring and settled.  All the strange things we have been doing are starting to feel like we have always done things this way.  I may walk into Target when I get home and greet the cashier.
One of the biggest changes for me has been cooking.  Food here is expensive.  But the reality is what my sister-in-law, Hideko, says:  food in the US is cheap.  Actually, I would venture to guess it's the cheapest in the world.  She has been in many more countries than I, so she is a pretty good judge.  I can just tell you I tried to buy a small package of cupcake papers and it was 8 Euros (more than $10)!!!

Laura with CoCo, mid-lick

To further shock you:  We went to Geneva, Switzerland to get our visas for France (we go where they tell us) and spent the weekend there.  We got 4 sandwiches, 2 sodas and 2 waters and it cost over $80.00.  Not fancy sandwiches either--ham and cheese.  No chips or cookies, nothing else.  Another shocker--when we visited Japan 20 years ago, I took soooo many pictures in the grocery store because I could not believe the prices.  Cantaloupes were $20 each!!

I'm not really someone who loves to cook.  I don't believe a way to a man's heart is through his stomach and I'm terrible at chopping up vegetables.  As my friend Sandra Sheehan says, "Cooking:  there's no good reason for it."  But, since I'm living in Foodville, a.k.a., France, I've got to cook.  or at least take a cooking class and act interested.  (For those of you who know me well, you might remember we lived in our house on Highland Drive in Big Spring and I may not have ever turned on the oven in that house.  Okay, we did only live there for about 9 months)

So, here I am cooking like a boss in my tiny kitchen.  Did you ever have an Easy Bake Oven growing up?  Ours here is slightly larger.  All the appliances are about 3 feet tall.  Yes, we're all about 6 feet tall, so when I stir something on the stove, the vent-a-hood thing blocks my view since I am about 2 feet taller than the vent.  If I get on my knees, I can comfortably stir.  If you have a mental picture of a giraffe family cooking, you aren't far off.  I have to cook anyway because there is no Whataburger, no Chick-Fil-A, no HEB ready-made casseroles.  And, restaraunts are expensive. (*Aside* girls & I had lunch one day with $13 worth of water--I know, how stupid, but it was a tourist mistake.)  So thanks to Pinterest and Facebook, not to mention my computer, I can access literally millions of recipes, thank goodness!  Plus, the fruits & vegetables here are unreal--I can't think of enough adjectives to describe how good they are.  Really!  and the BREAD!!!  The Bread!!!!  Yes, we go to the bakery every single day and buy baguettes.  Multiple baguettes.  But we are still skinny because of the walking, the carrying of groceries and more walking.  So, we can eat all the bread we want!! (Did I mention the bakery is on my block?)

Champagne-16 euros, Milk-3 Euros & Beer (Belgian, of course!) 3 Euros

What we ate this week:  you might need to sit down for this, so you don't faint, because I made spaghetti sauce from scratch.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/259660734739384730/

Yes, when you move away from all your family, friends and tennis teams, you have time to make sauce from actual tomatoes.  If I'm technologically savvy enough, I'll link up my Pinterest to this post, so you can have the recipe along with a pretty picture.  It was very good and I even made 2 batches at the same time and froze one for later.  For the record, I chopped up 12 tomatoes and have the pictures to prove it.  My very favorite thing here are the tomatoes.  I feel like I'm on an all-tomato diet I eat so many.  I don't even really like tomatoes, but the tomatoes here are sooooo good, so I eat about a pound every couple of days--no exaggeration.  I've barely eaten a chocolate bar (my former diet plan), but I eat tomatoes every meal except breakfast.

These are the coolest-looking tomatoes!

3 different kinds of tomatoes in my sauce--all yummy!!

Today I am making French onion soup, yes, from scratch, dang it, that's all we have over here!!!  But, thanks to my friends at Pinterest, it's not difficult.  Plus, baguettes from the bakery...Voila, dinner!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/259660734738115831/

I would love to hear from any of you that have crock pot or simple recipes to share.  BTW, we don't have black beans (or at least I haven't found them yet), sour cream, Campbell's soup, or Velveeta or any of the other stuff I usually put in recipes, so I'm out of luck if you suggest something with that stuff in it.  Also, no Fritos, cream cheese, or jalepenos.  I'm SO happy we have found several Mexican places, so I might survive this move.  Send me some good suggestions so I don't have to make potato & leek soup again, which I LOVED, but my family told me I can't make it every single day.

Good to hear from you all via Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter.  Keep in touch & bonne journee!!