The 2013 U.S. Food Tour

We knew adjusting to life in Europe would be a little hard, but didn't think adjusting to the food was going to be an issue. Shortly after moving here, we missed some of our favorite places to eat.  I mean really, have you heard anyone wanting to go out for Dutch food?Where else in the world do you go to get Dutch food?  We may live in the Netherlands, but you can still get Mexican food, Italian food and Argentinian food.  Can you go to Italy or Mexico and get Dutch food?  I would venture to say you wouldn't even find Dutch food outside the Netherlands.  I was once told by a colleague that the Dutch are not known for their food.  In fact, he told me the Dutch only eat because they have to.  A typical Dutch lunch is kaasbroodje (a sandwhich made of bread and cheese, nothing else).  Sounds tasty right?  We do have some chain places here: Dominoes, McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks and KFC (minus the biscuits and the mash potatoes).  These work when you're in a pinch, but we still miss some of our favorite places.

We can't wait to cross some of these places off our list.

With that being said, we started to make a list of places we wanted to eat at when we returned home for the holidays.  Keep in mind, we are not foodies, so our list of places is not very sophisticated.  In no particular order, here is the 2013 U.S. Food Tour list.

• Chick-fil-A: Carmen is excited about chicken minis and will most likely want to eat them everyday.
• Cracker Barrel:  I want to eat there for the breakfast.  Breakfast is not considered a meal here.  Basically a Dutch breakfast consists of bread with cheese and that is it.
• Texas Roadhouse/Outback: I am really wanting a simple steak and potatoes dinner.  You can't get that here at a reasonable price.
• Mexican food:  Notice I didn't specify a specific place.  As long as it has free chip and salsa and queso, that is all we need.  We'll be so happy with chips and salsa, we might not be able to eat our main meal.   
• McDonald's:  Yes we have McDonald's here, but they don't have breakfast.  I want a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, an egg mcmuffin/sausage mcmuffin with egg and Carmen is really wanting their oatmeal.  She swears its the best oatmeal ever.  
• Mellow Mushroom:  One of the best pizza places in Atlanta (we love the crust).
• The Vortex:  Burgers, burgers, burgers.  If you have ever eaten there, you know what I'm talking about. 
• BBQ:  Just like Mexican food, any kind will do.
• Waffle House:  I love my hash browns scattered, smothered, covered, topped and chunked.  They don't know what hash browns are here.
• Dunkin' Doughnuts/Krispy Kreme: Notice a breakfast theme here?  Really, they don't have breakfast here like you're used to (bread and cheese or a croissant).

This is just a quick list.  I'm sure there are several other places we want to hit while we are home.  It's a good thing we ride bikes.  We're going to need to do a couple of laps around Amsterdam once we get back.