Blessings Darlings!
This post is not about bringing garden surplus to share with your coworkers. Maybe next year I'll be able to post about that. My garden's not going to provide that much food this year. I'll probably post more about that some other time.
Instead, this is about me wanting to eat better but NOT wanting to cook at home/heat up MY house. Work, OTOH, is in a hotel kitchen. And it's already hot and nothing I do will actually affect that fact one way or the other. So today (the day I'm writing this blog post, Sunday July 1) I'm bringing in a whole bunch of veggies that I want to roast so I can cut them, season them, and roast them - all during slow periods at work - while at work. This week has a federal holiday in it, so there will be LOTS of slow periods at work.
I got permission from the previous sous chef. Hell, he'd have let me use the veggies at work for this. Which is not something I'm going to do. Thus I have onion, carrots, beets, turnips, and two types of summer squash coming to work with me today. I also have two half gallon containers to take the finished products home in. And I'm bringing in the chef knife today, instead of the serrated knife or the boning knife.
It's gonna get real.
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Monday, August 6, 2012
Food Freedom!
Blessings Darlings!
With the Chubby Hubby at the Microchip MASTERs conference, the Spawn and I are enjoying eating all the foods CH isn't fond of but we ARE fond of.
We're starting, at my son's request, with the lentil/vegetable soup. I'm glad that the weather is a bit cooler, it would be hard to face hot soup if it was near 100 degrees still! We're going to have cold potato lentil salads, too. We'll cook a big batch of quinoa, and have that lots of ways, too - cold, mixed with roasted veggies, hot topped with grilled veggies and leftovers, etc. Pizza! Not that the CH doesn't like pizza, of course. CH just insists on MEAT on his pizza. We're happy with just a good sauce, a bit of cheese, and lots of fresh basil. CH HATES basil. We'll probably do vegetarian lasagna, too.
Oh, if anyone's thinking of robbing us while the CH is out - remember, the Spawn is in his 20's. And I'm not all that helpless. Consider that your warning shot ... all other shots will be directly at you. Just sayin'.
Frondly, Fern
With the Chubby Hubby at the Microchip MASTERs conference, the Spawn and I are enjoying eating all the foods CH isn't fond of but we ARE fond of.
We're starting, at my son's request, with the lentil/vegetable soup. I'm glad that the weather is a bit cooler, it would be hard to face hot soup if it was near 100 degrees still! We're going to have cold potato lentil salads, too. We'll cook a big batch of quinoa, and have that lots of ways, too - cold, mixed with roasted veggies, hot topped with grilled veggies and leftovers, etc. Pizza! Not that the CH doesn't like pizza, of course. CH just insists on MEAT on his pizza. We're happy with just a good sauce, a bit of cheese, and lots of fresh basil. CH HATES basil. We'll probably do vegetarian lasagna, too.
Oh, if anyone's thinking of robbing us while the CH is out - remember, the Spawn is in his 20's. And I'm not all that helpless. Consider that your warning shot ... all other shots will be directly at you. Just sayin'.
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
This week's eats.
Blessings Darlings!
We just inventoried the freezers - okay, the Spawn did it for me. Which means some meat is labels "Mystery Meat" because he doesn't recognize it on sight and didn't ask me. And the list doesn't tell me what FORM the meat is in - is the beef slices, a roast, or cubes? Dunno!
We'll be eating mostly out of the freezer this month, since last month Spawn's work hours were cut radically so he can't buy much in the way of groceries this month. Which is life, and it's not TOO bad because last month the stores had a HUGE amount of meat reduced/sell NOW and I bought what I could then. The freezer's pretty full, and we have spring greens coming out of the lawn and a few from the garden. And we still have some canned green beans, and I'm sprouting mung beans, etc.
So, this is what we'll eat from May 5 till May 18:
Thursday, May 3 - baked chicken (4 pieces for 3 people), rice, salad, zucchini
Friday,, May 4 - Yaki Soba (it's Japanese Lo Mein, sort of) with 1.5 lb of veggies (cabbage, carrots, mushrooms) and 9 oz pork
Saturday, May 5 - Home-made Pizza (Cheese, red pepper, some pepperoni), Salad
Sunday, May 6 - Pulled Pork (Leftovers from making it a few weeks back), rolls, slaw (I had mine as part of a green salad and no slaw)
Monday, May 7 - Leftovers.
Tuesday, May 8 - Bi Bim Bop - sort of Korean Fried rice, with bean sprouts, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, fiddleheads, some beef, special sauce.
Weds, May 9 - egg rolls (using the leftover pulled pork, some shrimp, lots and lots of cabbage)
Thurs, May 10 - tacos. Filling will be half bean, half beef.
Friday May 11 - Fried chicken. Because we can. Salad, broccoli, potatoes
Saturday, May 12 - Spaghetti, red sauce, salad.
Sunday, May 13 - Ribs, slaw, corn bread/hush puppies, salad
Monday May 14 - Leftovers
Tuesday, May 15 - Fried Fish, broccoli, buns? or some other starch.
Wednesday, May 16 Kalbi (korean BBQ), rice, salad, green beans
Thursday, May 17 - Veggie Omelets, fresh bread, fruit
Friday, May 18 - baked whole chicken, salad, baked potatoes, spinach
I'll need to buy egg roll wrappers, eggs, milk, OJ, salad stuff, butter, ketchup, and a few more items, but not much. Still, more than the $15 (1/4 of his take home pay) that the Spawn will be kicking in for the next few weeks.
How's your food budget doing?
Frondly, Fern
We just inventoried the freezers - okay, the Spawn did it for me. Which means some meat is labels "Mystery Meat" because he doesn't recognize it on sight and didn't ask me. And the list doesn't tell me what FORM the meat is in - is the beef slices, a roast, or cubes? Dunno!
We'll be eating mostly out of the freezer this month, since last month Spawn's work hours were cut radically so he can't buy much in the way of groceries this month. Which is life, and it's not TOO bad because last month the stores had a HUGE amount of meat reduced/sell NOW and I bought what I could then. The freezer's pretty full, and we have spring greens coming out of the lawn and a few from the garden. And we still have some canned green beans, and I'm sprouting mung beans, etc.
So, this is what we'll eat from May 5 till May 18:
Thursday, May 3 - baked chicken (4 pieces for 3 people), rice, salad, zucchini
Friday,, May 4 - Yaki Soba (it's Japanese Lo Mein, sort of) with 1.5 lb of veggies (cabbage, carrots, mushrooms) and 9 oz pork
Saturday, May 5 - Home-made Pizza (Cheese, red pepper, some pepperoni), Salad
Sunday, May 6 - Pulled Pork (Leftovers from making it a few weeks back), rolls, slaw (I had mine as part of a green salad and no slaw)
Monday, May 7 - Leftovers.
Tuesday, May 8 - Bi Bim Bop - sort of Korean Fried rice, with bean sprouts, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, fiddleheads, some beef, special sauce.
Weds, May 9 - egg rolls (using the leftover pulled pork, some shrimp, lots and lots of cabbage)
Thurs, May 10 - tacos. Filling will be half bean, half beef.
Friday May 11 - Fried chicken. Because we can. Salad, broccoli, potatoes
Saturday, May 12 - Spaghetti, red sauce, salad.
Sunday, May 13 - Ribs, slaw, corn bread/hush puppies, salad
Monday May 14 - Leftovers
Tuesday, May 15 - Fried Fish, broccoli, buns? or some other starch.
Wednesday, May 16 Kalbi (korean BBQ), rice, salad, green beans
Thursday, May 17 - Veggie Omelets, fresh bread, fruit
Friday, May 18 - baked whole chicken, salad, baked potatoes, spinach
I'll need to buy egg roll wrappers, eggs, milk, OJ, salad stuff, butter, ketchup, and a few more items, but not much. Still, more than the $15 (1/4 of his take home pay) that the Spawn will be kicking in for the next few weeks.
How's your food budget doing?
Frondly, Fern
Monday, February 6, 2012
Super Bowls
Blessings Darlings!
I do not watch football. I do not care who wins the Superbowl. I am writing this Sunday at noon eastern time.
We DO, however, have a Family Tradition for Super Bowl Sunday. We eat.
Now, to be honest, we eat every day and we eat too much every day. But on Super Bowl Sunday we elevate this closer to an art.
So we have a a quart and a half of guacamole (we started with two quarts, but half of one container seems to have disappeared). We have store-bought corn chips, and I'll make some fresh corn chips. There will be ribs and rib-tips. There will be home-made pizza with fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. There will be celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (not that I eat that). There will be chicken wings with three dipping sauces. There are donuts and there are Rice Krispie Treats. There is beer and wine. There are antacids.
BTW, there are only 3 of us eating.
I don't know if I'll be out of the food coma by the time this gets posted. Oh, and I might watch the commericals, but I will certainly not watch the half time show.
Frondly, Fern
I do not watch football. I do not care who wins the Superbowl. I am writing this Sunday at noon eastern time.
We DO, however, have a Family Tradition for Super Bowl Sunday. We eat.
Now, to be honest, we eat every day and we eat too much every day. But on Super Bowl Sunday we elevate this closer to an art.
So we have a a quart and a half of guacamole (we started with two quarts, but half of one container seems to have disappeared). We have store-bought corn chips, and I'll make some fresh corn chips. There will be ribs and rib-tips. There will be home-made pizza with fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. There will be celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (not that I eat that). There will be chicken wings with three dipping sauces. There are donuts and there are Rice Krispie Treats. There is beer and wine. There are antacids.
BTW, there are only 3 of us eating.
I don't know if I'll be out of the food coma by the time this gets posted. Oh, and I might watch the commericals, but I will certainly not watch the half time show.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, November 1, 2010
Museum Eating
Blessings, Darlings!
I'm not here to talk about food-court food or that type of mall. I'm talking about the food in and around the Mall in DC.
When we first got to DC, the museums and food stands of the Mall were not exactly a 'food destination'. Boring and tasteless, with very few healthy options, or vegetarian options, or fresh foods. Case in point was the National Air and Space Museum. They had a cafeteria, but could not cook food there. The volatiles given off by cooking would harm the exhibits. So there, and I believe in ALL the museums, the food had to be cooked off-site and sent in by conveyor belt, sort of kept warm. The cheeseburgers were to die from, not for.
Best of the lot was a little restaurant on the ground floor of the National Gallery of Art, West, the Garden Cafe. It was very pleasant, quite overpriced, but had food that was nice. Second to that was the ice cream parlor in the American History Museum - great ice cream, AWFUL service.
That has changed over time. Not that I think that the fast food places that have been moved into the Air & Space Museum are worth the calories or my money - but at least they are cooking it on site with appropriate ventilation.
But now there are some OUTSTANDING places to eat. The Cascade Cafe, in the basement between the National Galleries, is wonderful cafeteria, with good sushi and other foods, outstanding desserts, etc. One of my favorite is bookstores there as well.
And, oh my Gods, the cafeteria of the National Museum of the American Indian! The Mitsitam Cafe features foods of the Americas. Amazing food. Pricey food, but worth it.
Frondly, Fern
I'm not here to talk about food-court food or that type of mall. I'm talking about the food in and around the Mall in DC.
When we first got to DC, the museums and food stands of the Mall were not exactly a 'food destination'. Boring and tasteless, with very few healthy options, or vegetarian options, or fresh foods. Case in point was the National Air and Space Museum. They had a cafeteria, but could not cook food there. The volatiles given off by cooking would harm the exhibits. So there, and I believe in ALL the museums, the food had to be cooked off-site and sent in by conveyor belt, sort of kept warm. The cheeseburgers were to die from, not for.
Best of the lot was a little restaurant on the ground floor of the National Gallery of Art, West, the Garden Cafe. It was very pleasant, quite overpriced, but had food that was nice. Second to that was the ice cream parlor in the American History Museum - great ice cream, AWFUL service.
That has changed over time. Not that I think that the fast food places that have been moved into the Air & Space Museum are worth the calories or my money - but at least they are cooking it on site with appropriate ventilation.
But now there are some OUTSTANDING places to eat. The Cascade Cafe, in the basement between the National Galleries, is wonderful cafeteria, with good sushi and other foods, outstanding desserts, etc. One of my favorite is bookstores there as well.
And, oh my Gods, the cafeteria of the National Museum of the American Indian! The Mitsitam Cafe features foods of the Americas. Amazing food. Pricey food, but worth it.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, October 22, 2010
CPT #2
Blessings, Darlings!
Cancer prevention tip #2 is ... embrace the power of the rainbow and diversity
That is, eat a wide range of fruits and veggies with a wide range of colors. Ad the brighter/deeper the color the better. By doing this your diet will naturally contain a range of phytochemicals. And to quote Wikipedia....
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants, such as beta-carotene. The term is generally used to refer to those chemicals that may affect health, but are not yet established as essential nutrients.[1] While there is abundant scientific and government support for recommending diets rich in fruits and vegetables,[2] there is only limited evidence that health benefits are due to specific phytochemicals.[1]
Thus, by eating a range of foods and colors, you cover your assets, by natural and delicious means.
I just bought some purple sweet potatoes, myself.
Frondly, Fern
Cancer prevention tip #2 is ... embrace the power of the rainbow and diversity
That is, eat a wide range of fruits and veggies with a wide range of colors. Ad the brighter/deeper the color the better. By doing this your diet will naturally contain a range of phytochemicals. And to quote Wikipedia....
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants, such as beta-carotene. The term is generally used to refer to those chemicals that may affect health, but are not yet established as essential nutrients.[1] While there is abundant scientific and government support for recommending diets rich in fruits and vegetables,[2] there is only limited evidence that health benefits are due to specific phytochemicals.[1]
Thus, by eating a range of foods and colors, you cover your assets, by natural and delicious means.
I just bought some purple sweet potatoes, myself.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, September 17, 2010
Cheap Eats
Blessings, Darlings!
The Spawn has just driven off to his job at Popeye's, which brings food and lack of income to mind. And I realized that while I've talked about gardening, cooking from scratch, and foraging wild foods (which reminds me, I should check the persimmon trees in one of the parks in town to see if they will be worth checking when ripe) I have NOT talked about other food resources that may be available.
Since I already mentioned Popeye's, we'll start with "food from work". The Spawn gets one two piece chicken meal with a biscuit, a small side, and a drink every shift he works. That's a heck of a lot of his daily calorie need, and a lot of fried food. What he does is bring his lunch 4 out of 5 days - a sandwich and a piece of fruit - and have that with the drink and side dish (about evenly split between the fries and the red beans and rice). He tucks the two pieces of chicken in his cooler and brings them home. Once a week we have Popeye's chicken as a family dinner.
It used to be that if you worked at a grocery store you'd be able to get items that were past their sell-by date. That is far less common now, but in some ways that's a good thing - when I dropped off some garden-fresh tomatoes at the food pantry today I saw that they had out a whole bunch of pre-cut/packaged fruit from a local grocery store for their clients.
Many folks I know online like the monthly food from Angel Food Ministries: https://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/. I find that I can do just as well buying groceries at the store as I'd do thru' them, but as always YMMV (your mileage may vary). You get a box of food for a reduced price. It's a bit high on breaded fried foods for me, even more so now that we have a weekly dose of fried chicken!
The SHARE program is one that I like a lot http://www.sharedc.org/about.htm. This is the DC area link, but I know that there are other areas in the US where it operates as well. For SHARE, you pay a reduced price for our food as you do with Angel Food, but there is one more requirement - that you volunteer somewhere for 2 hours a month. It's still not 100% food I'd buy myself, but it's closer to my tastes than Angel Food.
Let's not forget that there are also food banks available. They are under more pressure than ever, with donations down and people in need up, and they, unlike the previously listed places, often require that you prove need. Back in the day I worked at a shelter than gave out some food, a typical bag for a family of 4 would be a box of cereal, a quart or two of dried milk, a box of crackers or a loaf of bread if we had that, two cans of soup, three cans of veggies, two cans of fruit, one box of jello, one can of tuna, a jar of jelly, a jar of peanut butter, a box of mac & cheese.
Dumpster Diving ... you know, at least one of the grocery chains here locks their garbage so no one can root thru' it for out of date food. They say it's because of risk of lawsuits.
Road kill - my husband hasn't let me do this yet. But, sheesh, last Saturday we passed not one but TWO dead deer on the road. I wasn't dressed to butcher them, but that would have been a whole lot of good venison. Why should the crows and buzzards be the only ones getting them?
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list. I've not looked into soup kitchens and other sources. But none of my posts are exhaustive!
Frondly, Fern
The Spawn has just driven off to his job at Popeye's, which brings food and lack of income to mind. And I realized that while I've talked about gardening, cooking from scratch, and foraging wild foods (which reminds me, I should check the persimmon trees in one of the parks in town to see if they will be worth checking when ripe) I have NOT talked about other food resources that may be available.
Since I already mentioned Popeye's, we'll start with "food from work". The Spawn gets one two piece chicken meal with a biscuit, a small side, and a drink every shift he works. That's a heck of a lot of his daily calorie need, and a lot of fried food. What he does is bring his lunch 4 out of 5 days - a sandwich and a piece of fruit - and have that with the drink and side dish (about evenly split between the fries and the red beans and rice). He tucks the two pieces of chicken in his cooler and brings them home. Once a week we have Popeye's chicken as a family dinner.
It used to be that if you worked at a grocery store you'd be able to get items that were past their sell-by date. That is far less common now, but in some ways that's a good thing - when I dropped off some garden-fresh tomatoes at the food pantry today I saw that they had out a whole bunch of pre-cut/packaged fruit from a local grocery store for their clients.
Many folks I know online like the monthly food from Angel Food Ministries: https://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/. I find that I can do just as well buying groceries at the store as I'd do thru' them, but as always YMMV (your mileage may vary). You get a box of food for a reduced price. It's a bit high on breaded fried foods for me, even more so now that we have a weekly dose of fried chicken!
The SHARE program is one that I like a lot http://www.sharedc.org/about.htm. This is the DC area link, but I know that there are other areas in the US where it operates as well. For SHARE, you pay a reduced price for our food as you do with Angel Food, but there is one more requirement - that you volunteer somewhere for 2 hours a month. It's still not 100% food I'd buy myself, but it's closer to my tastes than Angel Food.
Let's not forget that there are also food banks available. They are under more pressure than ever, with donations down and people in need up, and they, unlike the previously listed places, often require that you prove need. Back in the day I worked at a shelter than gave out some food, a typical bag for a family of 4 would be a box of cereal, a quart or two of dried milk, a box of crackers or a loaf of bread if we had that, two cans of soup, three cans of veggies, two cans of fruit, one box of jello, one can of tuna, a jar of jelly, a jar of peanut butter, a box of mac & cheese.
Dumpster Diving ... you know, at least one of the grocery chains here locks their garbage so no one can root thru' it for out of date food. They say it's because of risk of lawsuits.
Road kill - my husband hasn't let me do this yet. But, sheesh, last Saturday we passed not one but TWO dead deer on the road. I wasn't dressed to butcher them, but that would have been a whole lot of good venison. Why should the crows and buzzards be the only ones getting them?
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list. I've not looked into soup kitchens and other sources. But none of my posts are exhaustive!
Frondly, Fern
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