Honduran Dinner

About a year ago, the daughter of my host family in Honduras moved to Oklahoma to live with a family from church and finish out high school here. We spend time together but not as much as I would like.

This Saturday I invited her over to make a traditional Honduran dinner with me since she doesn't get to eat that food much now. She was so excited! I was glad, but surprised at how excited she was to make beans, rice, tortillas and fried plantains. Yes, that was the menu. And because this is America, I made some chicken to go along with it.


I meant to take pictures, but I am going to be honest, that much cooking took all of my energy. We had some good laughs at me trying to make a tortilla by hand (which I succeeded at) and my attempt to make beans. This sounds easy enough but I didn't realize how long it takes to cook them.



One of my favorite Honduran foods is fried plantains. For the longest time when I stayed in Honduras, I thought I was eating fried bananas. Turns out plantains are a totally different fruit. And they do not taste good eaten raw! I tried it Saturday night. Fried they taste very sweet, and you can convince yourself you are eating something healthy since they are a fruit.

Right after I wrote this post, I remembered a statistic that I had recently seen about Honduras from World Vision. They estimate that 1 in 4 children in Honduras under the age of 5 suffers from malnutrition, in part because of their dependence on tortillas which contain calories but lack nutrients and vitamins. As much as I enjoy eating a traditional meal from that country, may it be a reminder to me and to us all that many, many children will die in that country and others this week due to not having adequate food. May our hearts always be moved by the plight of the poor and needy right next door or across the world.