This prayer has been tumbling around in my head for a bit over a year now. I wanted something that truly acknowledges the miracle of food and how important it is that we really care about where it comes from and who is growing and making it.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the incredible bounty You have put before us and bless it to our bodies.
Just as You have provided the plants and animals for our nourishment,
Let us be mindful that You have given us the responsibility to nourish and care for them.
Bless all those who had a role in bringing this food to our Thanksgiving table:
The farmers, migrant workers, and truck drivers.
The grocery store workers and cooks.
Help us to remember that we all depend upon one another
And each of us is an earthbound instrument of Your Magnificent Grace.
… but, darn it, I can make a lot of meals out of three chicken breasts. Thirteen to be exact. That’s right. 13. One-three.
This post kicks off a new category on frugal cooking that I’ll do from time to time. Money’s getting tighter for everyone, and having been a one income household for more than three years, I’ve already figured out ways to eat pretty well for less, especially when chicken breasts run about $10/kg ($5/lb) here. Of course, whole chickens are much cheaper, but when chicken breasts are on sale I’ll grab them. First, let me start by saying these were large chicken breasts and here in Australia they also leave the tender attached, so they weighed about 1 kg (2.2 lbs.). Secondly, I did have to use other ingredients to compose those meals.
Before I go any further, I’m going to get this over with now and out myself. What I am about to admit could cost me any credibility I may have had with certain people who are obsessed with food. In fact, it could even prevent me from getting a job at certain publications and websites that espouse a brand of culinary Luddism. Here goes. Some of the ingredients I used in these meals included Campbell’s Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom Soup. There. I said it. Moving on.
Here’s how I got those 13 meals. First, I gently poached the chicken breasts then tore them into bite sized pieces. The first night, I made a casserole from a church cookbook that included, among other things some chicken, sour cream and the aforementioned cream of something soup. I served it over brown rice with a vegetable and fruit salad. That made three meals.
The next dish was a tortilla casserole that included chicken, more of the dastardly soup, rotel and cheese. Served with salad. Four meals.
Then I made a delicious chicken lasagna– sans the soups (see recipe below)– and served it with brocolli and salad and that lasted four meals. Tonight, with the remaining half cup or so of chicken I’m making a BBQ chicken pizza, which will feed two of us. So there you have it. 13 meals on 1 kg. of chicken. That’s less than 90 g (3 ozs.) per meal, which is not only good for the budget, it’s better for the environment to eat less meat. And you know what? We didn’t even miss having a big hunk of meat front and center on the plate.
White Lasagna with Chicken, Mushrooms and Spinach Serves 4-6
2 cups cooked chicken, torn into bite-sized pieces
6 no boil lasagna noodles (or regular noodles cooked to package directions)
12 ozs (300 g) mushrooms, roughly chopped
6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 large onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated parmasean cheese
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
Freshly ground pepper
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz. frozen spinach thawed and drained
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1. In a skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and sautee mushrooms about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. In a large pot, melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter over medium heat.
3. Add onion and garlic and sautee until softened. Watch the heat to make sure they don’t brown.
4. Add 1/3 cup flour and stir for about 1 minute.
5. Add chicken stock, milk and salt stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken a little.
6. Add 1 cup of the mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesean and stir until cheese melts.
7. Add basil, oregano and pepper, the cooked chicken and sauteed mushrooms. Remove from heat and stir, just to incorporate the spices, chicken and mushrooms.
8. In a bowl, combine the ricotta and egg. Stir in the spinach.
9. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and line it with 2 of the lasagna noodles.
10. Spread 1/3 of the chicken and mushroom mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and about 1/3 of the remaining mozzarella and parmesean. Lightly sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Repeat with another layer of noodles, 1/3 of the chicken mixture, the rest of the ricotta, 1/3 of the cheeses and more salt and pepper.
11. Put on the final layer of noodles, top with remaining chicken mixture, mozzarella, parmesean and then sprinkle with chopped parsley.
12. Bake at 350 for about 30-35 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned on top.
Because Americans are obsessed with the everyday minutiae of our Commanders-in-Chief, today we get this report detailing Barack Obama’s– and the Obama family’s– eating habits. A quick summation of the article: they dig Rick Bayless’ Mexican food, pizza, handmade pastas, and kicking back with some wine or maybe a margarita. Much to my annoyance, the article also mentioned Obama eats “boutique salad greens” — a fact that was used in an attempt to brand him an elitist, which is so ridiculous I posted about that a few months ago. You can’t even go to an Applebee’s these days and not find arugula on the menu. But I digress.
But the one thing the Pres-elect reportedly won’t touch: beets. I know, I know. Everyone has foods they don’t like. But beets really aren’t that bad.
I think a visit to Australia might be just the thing to get Mr. Obama over his repulsion. You see, beets (or beetroot as it is known here) are put on the delicacy known as the Aussie Burger w/the Lot. “The Lot” is shorthand for all the other food they put on the burger which includes the aforementioned beetroot, pineapple, a fried egg, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. They are a big, sloppy, burgery mess and they are GREAT! Plus, they’re the gateway food to more general beet eating.
So can Australia change Obama’s mind about beets? YES WE CAN!!
P.S. I’m endeavouring to get a photo of a burger w/the lot. Please stand by.
I’ve written about the plight of less-than aesthetically pleasing produce before here and here. Finally, curvy cucumbers and contorted carrots are getting their comeuppance. Well, in Europe anyway. The EU has taken the bold step to relax rules put in place 20 years ago that banned the sale of blemished fruit and vegetables.
Personally, I love oddly-shaped specimens. When I see them at the store, I’ll buy them. I’m sort of like Charlie Brown when he gets the loser Christmas tree– everything deserves a chance. Sometimes I’m a bit mean and will laugh at the them, like I did with this eggplant:
Is that a protusion on your eggplant or are you just happy to see me?
Other times I just marvel at their fabulous freakishness, like these webbed bananas:
Fuh-reaks!
But ultimately, I think the produce is just happy that someone picked it up, took it home and thought it was special enough to take a picture of it before gobbling it all up.
Who else out there buys ugly produce? Take this poll:
Then, send me your photos of warped watermelons, bulbous brussels sprouts or squirrely squash (ooh, double points for that alliteration) and I’ll post them. Because every fruit needs to feel good about itself.
I am all for kids eating healthier and eating less. But I feel like political correctness has completely prevailed over common sense and a sense of fun when bake sales become the bad guy of school fundraisers. I’ve seen this gastronomic nanny state at work in Australia and it’s also sweeping some state legislatures in the U.S. according to this article from the New York Times.
First, let me say that the schools are right in saying bake sales shouldn’t happen during school hours. But the ban on bake sales at schools seems like we’re heading down that slippery slope of banning bake sales altogether, and that would be a shame for a number of reasons. One is that it forces kids to do those awful holiday gift tins and knick-knack sales. What a bunch of crap that is. I used to run and hide at work when parents would come towards my cubicle with one of those order forms. Honestly, they’d have better luck trying to sell me asbestos earmuffs.
But seriously, when did bake sales go bad? Schools and other organizations have been having bake sales for decades and I don’t recall seeing any evidence that they made kids fat. Kids are fat today because of sugary drinks, too little exercise, and a preponderance of crap food made with ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. No, bake sales aren’t part of the childhood obesity problem. In fact, I think they could be part of the solution, and here’s why:
1) They are wholesome. If I were to bake something for a bake sale, I’d probably make something like the ever popular brownie. The ingredients: butter, chocolate or cocoa, sugar, eggs, flour, a pinch of salt, a dash of vanilla. I can pronounce every single one of those ingredients. I know what they are, unlike some of the ingredients in oh, say, the PowerBar mentioned in the NY Times piece as a “healthy” snack which contains ingredients like soy lecithin, soy protein isolate and fractionated palm kernal oil. In fact, I think wholesome treats made with real ingredients are actually more satisfying than processed food. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that I can easily be satisfied after eating a couple of homemade chocolate chip cookes, but could down practically a whole bag of oreos and still want more.
2) They promote community. When a school or a club has a bake sale, it usually requires parents to get involved with their kids, with the schools, with other parents, and with bake sale patrons. It requires communication and organization. In fact, bake sales are probably more trouble than they are worth, monetarily speaking. But if a bake sale helps build community relationships, then that’s worth more than every cent raised. Participating in something like a bake sale can make you realize it’s actually fun to get out of the house and get away from the TV and computer and get involved in life!
3) They are a good learning tool for kids. There is little value for kids in the yearly Christmas knick-knack sale. Parents take the order forms to work and that’s the last the kids ever see of that project until they hand the order form back in. On the other hand, bake sales can be used to teach kids cooking skills, math skills (converting recipes, counting change for customers), and customer relation skills when they help man the bake sale table. As far as healthy habits go, learning to cook is a great way for kids to get a concept of what goes into their food, which is key to healthy eating. Let me tell you, when I bake and see all the butter I put into a batch of brownies, I’m much more likely to take a small portion because I know just how many calories are in them.
So let’s quit vilifying bake sales. They aren’t an every day event. They are not responsible for obesity. Come on people. Get a life and get baking.
It’s getting warmer here in Adelaide and there are certain foods and drinks that embody warm weather and fish tacos are one of them. It’s not just the fish, but the flavors that go with them.
The fish was an Australian salmon (not really a salmon at all) from our trip to Streaky Bay. According to the entry on Wikipedia (use at your own risk), these fish aren’t supposed to be good eatin’, as folks in Missouri would say. But pan-fried with little salt and pepper, then flaked off into homemade tortillas, topped with creamy chipotle sauce and mango salsa: superb.
I think these will become a summertime staple around my house.
Here’s my recipe for the creamy chipotle sauce in case you want to make them, too.
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Juice of one lime (a tablespoon or so)
2 tsp. of the adobo sauce from chipotles in adobo (use more if you like it spicy)
A bit of sugar (a Tbsp. at most– you may not need it at all, especially if you use Miracle Whip instead of mayo)
Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over tacos.
More bad news today about the cost of food. Some economists predict prices will go up at least 7% in the U.S. next year.
But is this really bad news? For people who are struggling to put food on their tables now, it is bad news. But for those addicted to cheap food– and I admit to being one of them– this cloud has a silver lining.
The main reason for the rise in prices is the cost of grain which is skyrocketing because a large percentage of the grain crop is being used to make fuel. Much of the rest of that grain crop goes to feed cows, pigs and chickens.
Until lately, grain has been a cheap way to to feed and fatten livestock. Now that it’s getting more expensive, the playing field between mass-produced feedlot meat and grass-fed and naturally-raised meat is being leveled.
To most people it’s natural to go to the store and want to buy the least expensive item. When one package of chicken is $2.99, why would you pay $5.99 for an equal sized package? But if the prices of conventionally-raised meat and free-range, natural meat come close to (or even achieve) parity, why WOULDN’T you buy meat that was raised the way God intended?
Also, if the cost of meat goes up, maybe we’ll eat a little less of it and make room on our plates for more vegetables, grains and legumes.
As food prices go up, we’ll start to see the REAL cost of food.
The way I see it, this is great news for the small farmers and ranchers who raise meat humanely, it’s good news for the animals that may not have to spend their lives packed into polluted feedlots, it’s good news for the environment because of the pollution caused by the feedlots both directly and indirectly, and it’s good news for anyone who eats because we won’t be forced to make a choice between what’s healthy and what’s cheap.
Fresh citrus flavors with a crisp minerality and a slightly developed character. Yeah, that about sums up our President-Elect. Fresh, steely resolve and good character.
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