Meals

Three meals a day are included in your service program contribution. Volunteers eat meals in the housing’s dining room or at the worksite and the team leader purchases food locally for meals to be prepared in the center’s kitchen. A typical breakfast includes eggs, cereal, toast, coffee, and juice. Lunch is taken bag style to the work sites. Typically, lunches include sandwiches and other basic lunch items and snacks. Dinners are often prepared by a local cook and are served family style. Desserts, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages are available for an additional charge.

Texas cuisine reflects influence not only of the area’s indigenous population and the varied immigrants who have settled there, but also the six flags that have flown over the state during its long history. The most popular foods in South Texas are Tex-Mex, Cajun, and Barbeque, in that order. Chili con carne is the official state dish. Tex-Mex includes foods such as nachos, flautas, fajitas, tamales, enchiladas, refried beans, and Mexican red rice. Flour or corn tortillas are central to this cuisine. The Cajun preferences reflect the influence of neighboring Louisiana, with the post-Katrina diaspora giving it a major boost. Gumbo, blackened fish, and po’boy sandwiches are a few typical items found on area plates. Barbecue’s roots come from European immigrants prior to the civil war with techniques designed to make tough cuts of meats more appealing. Today nearly every resident has their own take on the perfect ‘cue. Any instructions or preferences we might provide may well be considered fighting words. That means you’ll just have to decide for yourself.