Just a Thought About Food

A possible conversation from 1954:
Wow, Mary, you can afford to buy TV dinners? I wish James made enough to buy those. I guess I'll have to stick with cooking from scratch.
Now, fast-forward 60 years to 2014:
Wow, Kimmy, you can afford fresh produce to cook from scratch? I wish Rick made enough for that. I guess we will have to keep eating our $1.25 frozen dinners.

There is no denying that food prices have been on the rise, and the biggest rise has been in the meat and produce sections.

While shopping the other day, I was shocked when I got three (THREE) compliments on the ratio of fresh to processed foods in my cart and one comment (to the girls) about how great a mommy they had for getting so many fresh fruits and veggies for them (that they love). Now, I'm not writing this to brag, I didn't even know these ladies, they stopped me to say these things! These comments really got me thinking about how food is viewed today.

It seems as though everyone is talking about obesity in the last few years. It is so bad (according to Mrs. Obama) that there are several doctors around the country who are recommending their obese patients take part in "dietary counseling". This basically means that they are being told how to eat healthful foods. That's great and eating real foods is the best way (in my unprofessional opinion) to lose weight. I've lost 35 lbs in the last year mostly by eating "real" foods. But the problem is that the majority of obesity is among those with lower incomes. Why is that a problem? Because, it is cheaper to buy processed "fake" foods than it is to buy fresh "real" foods!

As an example of my point, here is a cost breakdown of that shopping trip:
"Fake" foods (1/2 the cart, a rare occasion that I have this much): $100.81
"Real" foods (1/2  the cart): $215.10

Seriously!

This is what I found the baby playing with while I was writing my previous post:

And she was very unhappy when I took it away! Then Lilly (coming to see what I had done to "her baby") saw it a and wanted it. Both of them screamed when I threw it in the back yard, that's when it hit me:

I HAVE 2 TOMBOYS!!

Excuse me, but I requested girls. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, since I'm a tomboy too. 

Sorry, I didn't hear you.

I said, I'm a tomboy too.

I guess none of us will be "girly girls".



Forward!

Obama Campaign 2012 (definitely NOT an endorsement!)

I know it has been a LONG while since I last posted, and I will explain in a future post. But today I just couldn't let this pass. I don't engage in politics much, but that is rapidly changing (I guess Obama did change one person, just not how he wanted!). The Washington Times had some interesting information about the new Obama campaign slogan, here. 

This is the new Obama campaign commercial:

In 2008 the slogan was Hope & Change, "change" has certainly taken place (not for the better though). Now that the "change" is in place we need to move "Forward", right? Do you know what the word "Forward" has been used for since as early as 1844? This is what wikipedia has to say about it:

The name Forward carries a special meaning in socialist political terminology. It has been frequently used as a name for socialist, communist and other leftwing newspapers and publications. For example, Vpered (Russian language for 'Forward') was the name of the publication that Lenin started after having resigned from the Iskra editorial board in 1905 after a clash with Georgi Plekhanov and the Mensheviks.^[1]

^{Now, there are a couple of possibilities here.}

^{First, the POTUS' campaign people didn't research this term before using it. This is quite possible since his speech writers had him say that Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes was afraid of change in the form of the telephone. Truth is, President Hayes was the president who had the first telephone installed in the White House.}

^{Second, this campaign slogan is a reflection of the views of the POTUS and those around him. Again very possible since there have been several socialistic leaning policies passed under this administration.}

^{And third, a combination of both.}

^{That is what I think has happened. What do you think about this new campaign slogan and it's past uses?}

UPDATE: Since I posted this yesterday, the wikipedia stub has been nominated for deletion. Check it out before it is gone! 

It's a......

Girl! Tempest Quin was born at 11:32 am on May 26th, 2011! Her birth story is soon to come.

Breakfast for dinner!

I LOVE breakfast for dinner! Especially when I'm trying a new recipe, cause I have more time in case it takes longer than expected. I saw this one on Paula's Best Dishes on Food Network. I love potato pancakes or "tater cakes" as I called them growing up. My granny made them from our leftover mashed potatoes. I would even ask her to make extra so she could make tater cakes the next morning so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. Here is the recipe for Paula Dean's Smashed potato pancakes.

• 6 cups Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs, divided (2 1/2 cups and 1 cup)
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
• 1/2 cup green onion (I didn't have green onion so I used some onion I had cooked yesterday)
• 1/4 cup room temp butter
• 1/4 sour cream
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

In large pot, add potatoes and cover with water.Bring to a boil over medium high heat; then reduce heat, and simmer until tender about 10-12 minutes. Drain well and add to a large bowl.

Mash the potatoes with garlic, salt and pepper. Fold in 2 1/2 cups panko, the egg, cheese, bacon, onion, butter, and sour cream. Form into 3 inch patties. Put the remaining 1cup panko in a shallow dish and dredge the potato patties in crumbs.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the potato patties, and cook until brown and crisp, 3-4 minutes per side.

     
Everybody LOVED them! Jeremiah even ate them, with syrup (don't ask). They were great, I think they are better than my granny's. This will definitely become a welcome addition to our Saturday morning breakfasts!

Easy Hamburger Hotdish

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cans tomato soup
• 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
•  salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

Chop onion. Add onion to hamburger and brown over medium heat until fully cooked.

While browning hamburger, bring 5qts of water to a boil and cook macaroni until tender. (10-12 mins)

Drain pasta from water and add to the cooked meat, then add soups.

Simmer over medium heat until heated thoroughly.

Ok, Russell LOVED it, Jeremiah refused to try it, and I didn't care for it.

Chicken Bundles

Ok, so I forgot about a Mary Kay party that I was going to tonight so I didn't have time to make the potato pancakes that I mentioned earlier, but I did do my one new recipe today with the chicken bundles. Here is the recipe:

• 1(8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon dill weed 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups cooked cubed chicken(I only used 2 or 2 1/2 cups to stretch the chicken I have for other dishes)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery(I didn't have any to put in, and even if I did I probably wouldn't have used it cause I don't care for celery)
• 4 green onions,with tops, thinly sliced (I didn't have green onions so I chopped up half a regular onion)
• 3(8 ounce) tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1/4 cup butter, or margarine, melted (I only used a few tablespoons)
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (my favorite is Panko Japanese bread crumbs)

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, milk, dill, salt, and pepper until smooth.

Stir in chicken, celery, and onions.

Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into 12 rectangle, four from each tube; place on greased baking sheet (or lined with parchment paper) and press the perforations together.
Spoon 1/3 cup chicken mixture into center of each rectangle. Bring edges up to center and pinch to seal.

Brush with butter; sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until golden.

I have to say they were wonderful! Russell absolutely loved them, he even asked when we were going to have them again. Jeremiah refused to even try them. However, I only used about half the amount of meat that the recipe called for and I had at least 3/4 cup of chicken left after filling all the roll dough. And I would roll out the dough a little more to make it easier to seal them.