Category: Foods and Recipes

Recently, Rocky and myself decided to count the amount of sodium that we took in for 1 day… Actually it turned into counting everything that I felt was relevant yet, simple to keep track of:

	Fat (Grams)	Sugar (Grams)	Salt (milligrams)	Calories
Peanuts	14	0	190	170
Candy	0	36	0	70
Ramen Noodles	14	2	790	280
Soda	0	96	165	360
Pretzels	1	0	300	110
Candy	0	36	0	70
Coffee	4	0	0	40
Coffee	4	0	0	40
Coffee	4	0	0	40
Alfredo Sauce	6	0	430	70
Spaghetti	1	0	0	210
Garlic Bread	6	0	240	160
Turkey Sausage	8	0	80	160
Coffee	4	0	0	40
French Fries	24	0	700	590
Chocolate Shake	11	0	0	430
Coffee	4	0	0	40
Totals	105	170	2895	2880

I was surprised at 1). How much I ate during the day. 2). How much salt McDonand’s (or, was it Burger King?) french fries had. 3). That my caloric intake, despite the amount of food I ate that day, wasn’t really that bad, nor was the fat and sugar levels. The sodium level, however was a little high but, manageable.

All in all, there is hope for me, I suppose with some discipline.

Regardless,  I still find it exceedingly difficult to not partake in what I’ve always referred to as the “Five Food Groups:”

Caffeine, Nicotine, Sugar, Salt, and Grease.

So, really it’s only three:  Sugar, Salt, and Grease.  Those are the things in our diets that make us happy and send us to an untimely dietetic demise.  We worship sugar, type 2 diabetes is among the fastest growing diseases.   Some think that it’s actually getting into the gene pool… making each generation of us more likely to have it.

Salt, we later learned, may not be the killer we thought, however these things often change.

Fat, however… (hang on… mmmmmm…. fat) …we all know, in excess is bad.  But, I often think of Julia Child saying that the reason Americans are fat, is because we are afraid of fat in our diets.  We began eating very low fat foods and increasing our carbohydrates and compensate by over eating.  We large portions, we snack between meals, and vegetables are a pariah in our diets.   Meanwhile, we think we are doing better because we are lowering our fat intake.  Which is a mistake, she went on to say that we need fat to tell our brains that we are not simply full but, satisfied as well.

So, I’m taking in smaller portions, watching the calories, embracing the fat that my body needs and most importantly, forgetting about how I look and trying to think of the longer term of my life and how I feel.  Now that I’ve turned 40, I don’t want to die in 15 years of poor nutrition but, having the body of a 25 year old… though I’d look fabulous in the casket.

Hilarity from my father-in-law:

This showed up as a link above my gmail inbox: http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/meat/pork/spam/00/rec0004.html. Sounds like something a bachelor would invent based on available freezer/pantry items.

Title: FRENCH FRY SPAM CASSEROLE
Categories: Main dish
Yield: 8 servings

1 pk Frozen french fry potatoes,
-thawed (20 oz)
2 c Shredded Cheddar cheese
2 c Sour cream
1 cn Condensed cream of chicken
-soup (10 3/4 oz)
1 cn SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed
-(12 oz)
1/2 c Chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c Chopped green onion
1/2 c Finely crushed corn flakes

Heat oven to 350’F. In large bowl, combine potatoes, cheese, sour
cream, and soup. Stir in SPAM, bell pepper, and green onion. Spoon
into 13×9″ baking dish. Sprinkle with crushed flakes. Bake 30-40
minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Oh, that’s awful… I think I’ll make it.

“From my understanding they drowned her,” Sherry Hughes, the upset (cat) owner, told 7 Action (Detroit) News. “Then they skinned her and boiled her, with onions, and made a stew out of her, apparently. It’s very heartbreaking for my entire family.” I need a new category for stuff like this “Odd and Interesting” doesn’t quite cover this. Perhaps “Sick and Bizarre?” or, “Deeply Disturbing”

While searching for a recipe for Lyonnaise Potatoes, I stumbled upon the fact that Bartleby.com has published online and free, the entire Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Written by Fannie Merritt Farmer and published in 1918.

“This classic American cooking reference includes 1,849 recipes, including everything from “after-dinner coffee,” which Farmer notes is beneficial for a stomach “overtaxed by a hearty meal, “to “Zigaras ? la Russe,” an elegant puff-pastry dish. Bartleby.com chose the 1918 edition because it was the last edition of the cookbook authored completely by Farmer.”

Maybe I’ve been in the dark on this one but, I’m overjoyed at the prospect of having this available. I’d love to have a print version.

Fannie Farmer and Mary Lincoln were instrumental in bringing practical, sensible, and suitable cooking into average american homes. These books were aimed at regular working-class people and not the wealthy or, professional cooks. Most recipe books before that did not focus upon exactness and precise measurements of ingredients. “A pinch of this,” “A dash of that,” “A handful” would summarize the quantities expected in recipes. Farmer was influencial to many great cooks today including one of our matron saints here at paxtonland Julia Child. Anyway, she was very influencial in guiding the evolution of American food and her book, in my opinion is a “must have” for any kitchen. It’s still being published and updated today by Marion Cunningham and is in it’s 13th, or 14th edition.

Only in America can you find a diet pill for fat kids and children starving of famine in the same country. Who knows? Maybe they are in the same city…

It’s almost too much to think about.

Lawsuit claims McDonald’s burgers and fries are making kids fat

Lawyers have filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s on behalf of New York children who have suffered health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

In federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday, a lawyer alleged that the fast-food chain has created a national epidemic of obese children. Samuel Hirsch argued that the high fat, sugar and cholesterol content of McDonald’s food is “a very insipid, toxic kind of thing” when ingested regularly by young kids.

The plaintiffs include a Bronx teen who ate every meal at McDonald’s for three years while living in a homeless shelter. Another is a 13-year-old boy from Staten Island who says he ate at McDonald’s food three to four times a week and is now 5-foot-4 and 278 pounds.

McDonald’s lawyer Brad Lerman insisted the lawsuit was a frivolous attempt to cash in on the Golden Arches, “the kind of lawsuit that shouldn’t be in court.”

“People don’t go to sleep thin and wake up obese,” Lerman said. “The understanding and comprehension of what hamburgers and french fries do has been with us for a long, long time.”

Pennsylvania Firm Expands Recall Of Turkey And Chicken

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2002 – Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, doing business as Wampler Foods Inc., a Franconia, Pa., establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 27.4 million pounds of fresh and frozen ready-to-eat turkey and chicken products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
The products were produced between May 1 and Oct. 11. In addition, the establishment has voluntarily suspended operations.

According to this Reuters article, it only requires a temperature 160 degrees to kill Listeria monocytogenes, which is known to cause septicemia, meningitis, and encephalitis among other terrible things.

The article neglects, however, to mention how long at 160 degrees it is required to kill the bacteria. Well, since some of the food is either frozen and pre-cooked or, only available in deli counters, you’ll probably not have the chance to cook it yourself properly anyway.

Good luck, can’t even eat these days… via metafilter.

Growing popular is several alternative methods for preparing turkeys. Dedicated roasters are becoming popular again and the deep frying craze continues. There is an older, often overlooked method of preparing turkey known as brining. People who are used to this will find the recipe no stranger but, I’ve added a few techniques that I think work well. Your results may vary slightly. You can use this recipe for any poultry that you wish, change your temperatures and cooking times for the type of bird you are preparing.

Remember, as with all poultry, great care should be taken to preserve cleanliness. Obviously, hands, surfaces, utensils… all should be washed with detergent and hot water to take care of nasty bacteria that is ever present.

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