Learning To Eat Right

Last week the Huffington Post had an article on line about a chef in San Francisco who was doing a fund raiser for the food bank.  In order to publicize the event, he started about 2 months ago living on the the same amount of money the average person receives each month in food stamps.  He figured he had about $4 a day to feed himself.  It really was an eye opening experience and he blogs about it at http://fusiononthefly.com/.  As always, the comments about the article are all over the place from folks that live that life everyday to the people complaining about food stamps.

The comments that got me thinking though were the ones about educating people how to not only eat right but shop smart.  I know that I live in a fairly urban area and in the portion of Charleston we live in, there are a fair amount of choices for shopping close by but, if you go not to far away, into some of the more poverty stricken areas, there are no grocery stores near by.  The bus transportation is poor here and for many people the only choice is to walk or get a taxi which is not really feasible. 

South Carolina for all its beauty has one of the worst education systems in the country, is one of the most obese states in the country and has one of the highest rates of kidney disease and diabetes.  How many of the health issues can be resolved by changing diet?

There is a great organization by the name of Slow Food.  If you have never heard of it, it is an international group devoted to educating people to healthier eating choices (I suspect there is more to it than that).  They are involved with some of the schools here in order to promote better food choices and healthier school menus.  Both of these are extremely important but...if the kids aren't introduced to this type of eating at home, chances are they will not eat that way at school.  Heck, we were all kids (some of you still are) and we can remember the food thrown out in the cafeteria every day.  It was never the chocolate pudding but usually the salad.  How do you reach the families in order to turn this around at home?

So this brings me back to the grocery store and shopping.  I go to quite a few stores to do my shopping.  Some are upscale some are not.  What I notice the most when I shop are the choices that people make.  I'm nosey, I admit it, and I guess part of it is also the retailer in me. I look to see what people have in their carts.  In the upper scale stores, people tend to have more fresh vegetable and healthier choices in their carts, in the lower end stores the carts are full of meat and almost nothing else.  We are talking about those enormous metal carts, over flowing with chicken and pork and beef.  No veggies, no juice, just basically meat.  You hear so much talk about how eating healthy is expensive but when you come down to it, it really isn't.  It's a trade off.

I wonder if you can get the organizations that are promoting healthier eating to work with the grocery stores?  Not Publix and Harris Teeter but stores like Piggly Wiggly and Doschers where there are more lower income families spending their hard earned money and food stamps at?  I would certainly volunteer my time for something like that.

Thoughts?
 

A Rainy Day

Well, thankfully the most of Irene we are going to see are Tropical Storm strength winds and rain.  For us that also means the backyard will probably flood at high tide.  For Bear that means no back yard once it starts to flood.  There is a tidal marsh next to and behind our home, it is absolutely beautiful but, its part of the yard.



Bear waiting for his bath

  About 2 years ago we had a major rainstorm which hit at the same time lunar high came.  We had Bear and the foster dog who's name we refuse to speak (a whole story on its own).  I was cooking in the kitchen and the dynamic duo were romping around the back yard having a grand old doggy playtime.  I would glance out once in a while to make sure they were okay but apparently I didn't check often enough to notice the tide quickly creeping into the yard.  The two of them had pretty much killed almost all the grass so all that was left in many part was this kind of marshy dirt.  Well, they noticed the water, but more they noticed the mud.  When I found them they were extremely happy and extremely muddy.  They had pluff mud from the tip of their tails to their noses.   Golden fur can hold a lot of mud!  Truth be told, as unhappy as I was having to give the two of them baths, I couldn't stop laughing.  They were so ridiculously thrilled with being wet and covered with mud...life is good if you are a golden.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

If you have never lived along the coast you have never experienced the excitement of hurricane season.  As you know we live here in Charleston SC which is of course right on the Atlantic Ocean.  We have been lulled into submission the past few years by the wonderful lack of a major storm coming any where near us.  All that changed earlier this week when this gal Irene decided to show up.  Now, I have always said I preferred hurricanes to earthquakes because you know when they are coming but...truth be told, you don't know if they are or not!  So here we sit with our water, batteries, extra toilet paper and all those things you must have waiting to see where the storm goes.  Everyone has a path or an idea and they change by the hour.  Life can be rather unsettling.

There are a quite a few folks living in coastal South Carolina and if the storm decides to head in our direction we will need to evacuate.  Sure there will be those that insist on staying, some people just never learn to tempt nature.  So other than those foolhardy souls Michael, Bear, our youngest daughter, her boyfriend and I will load up in our car and join tens of thousands of folks trying to get off the coast by the one highway that leaves.  Sure there are small country roads out there but..they are normally full too.  The last time there was an evacuation they neglected to reverse the interstate so you had the entire Charleston Area and all the border islands on I 26 at the same time.  The normal 2 hour drive to Columbia took well over 12 hours.  It was a mess and they promise that will never happen again.

So here we sit...waiting and thinking of that song...should I stay or should I go... 

Healthy Homemade Whole Wheat Pita Bread!

I used to say I didn't care for bread.  Like many others I grew up on white bread and the occassional loaf of Italian bread (which is a totally different story).  In the past few years I have discovered a world of breads and lo and behold have found that I love bread (much like Bear).  The problem with this new found love is that we are watching carefully what we eat and sandwiches can be not the healthiest choice.  Last year I started making wraps for lunch with the occasional purchase of pita bread thrown in.  The wraps worked for a while but became boring.  As for the purchased pita bread, I struggled with it.  I had the worst time trying to slice it open to stuff the pita.  They broke, they cracked, I sliced through the side..you name it, it happened. Sunday morning I realized we were out of bread and whole wheat tortillas.  We were in emergency status!  I had toyed with the idea of making flatbread before but my timing was never right so I decided to google whole wheat pita recipes.  I found the most wonderful, easy to make, tasty pita recipe at  http://food.com/!  One of the best features of the food.com website is the ability to adjust the number of portions.  There is this great box at the top of the recipe and you can either make it more or less and they do all the math for you!  There are no pictures...something happened to the ones I took with my phone..there was even one I staged of my lunch.  It was a beautiful, whole wheat pita stuffed with curried chicken salad, lettuce and a fantastic tasting tomato. Healthy Whole Wheat Pitas   Ingredients 4 cups whole wheat flour ( or 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups all-purpose flour) 1 tablespoon dry yeast 1 1/4 cups warm water ( 120-130F degrees) 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) Directions Preheat oven to 500°F. Sift together 2 cups of flour and the yeast. Add water and salt and mix well. Gradually add in the remaining flour just until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl. Once this happens, stop adding flour (so, you might not use all the flour the recipe calls for.). Knead the dough for about 4 or 5 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. (While you're kneading, you can get creative and add in some herbs or spices, but only if you want to do that). Be careful not to over-knead the dough. Form dough into 10 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 5-6 inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. (Be sure to sprinkle a little flour on both sides to prevent sticking). Place on a non-stick baking sheet and allow to rise 30 minutes, or until slightly raised. Just before you place the pan in the oven, flip each pita over on its other side. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 5 minutes. (The instant hot heat will help them puff up). When the pitas come out of the oven they will be hard, but they will soften as the cool. Store them, while they're still warm, in plastic baggies or an airtight container. Cut the pitas in half crosswise and stuff with your favorite fillings (beans and rice, taco fixings, thick stews, curries - anything goes). Pitas can be reheated in a 350°F oven or in the microwave   Don't panic if you do not need as much flour as the recipe calls for.  I may have used 3 cups for my dough.  I believe it may have something to do with the temperture and humidity.  I also did not heat the oven up right way instead waiting until closer to the baking time.One great tip in the reviews for this recipe was to place the pitas on a dishcloth and cover with a second dishcloth when you raise them.  This will allow you to simply flip the pita onto your hand before placing it upside down on the baking sheet.  I covered my baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed it with some non-stick spray I buy at the Dollar Tree.  I kept waiting for the pita's to sink back down like my Yorkshire pudding does but..they don't!

Happy Saturday!

Well it's Saturday so that means just one thing, I am off to work.  Being a retail manager means that when everyone else is out playing on the weekend, we work.  I actually work almost every Saturday and Sunday, that's just the way it is.  Today's exciting agenda includes setting up and managing a Grand Tasting event.  I really enjoy these events actually.  There is so much interaction with the customers and to me that's the best part of working retail.  In some states they actually get to do wine tastings which I suspect brings in quite a few folks.  We live in South Carolina though and unless your wine and beer sales are 50% of your total volume you cannot do wine tastings. Our customers prefer to buy very heavy furniture which is okay with me (unless they think they are loading that dining room table in the back of their Mini Cooper).  So for us, we do what's called a dry tasting, which really is just talking about the wines and they would pair with the food we are sampling. 

The joke in our store is that I am the store mom and catering service.  If there's food, I'm in charge.  I do the shopping, the prep work, the cooking and the serving.  Whether it's the food we serve the staff over the holidays or these tasting events, I'm your gal.  So that's my day.  If you live near a Cost Plus World Market, stop by your local store today, have some snacks and if you live in a wet state, taste some great wines for free and don't forget to say hello the the store mom!

A World Market Savings Experience

I work for Cost Plus World Market http://www.worldmarket.com/ so this may sound like a commercial but it is really a story about saving. If you have never been in one of the stores, it's like Pier One on steroids.  Lots of cool home decor and kitchen stuff along with gourmet food, wine and beer.  After 7 years I get a very generous discount!  I have to resist the call to "buy me I am cheap".  Last week all the remaining outdoor furniture went 75% off and I still get my 40% discount off that sale price.  It was really hard to not buy any of it.  An Adirondack chair for $15.00?  Right now I am fighting the desire to buy the rope hammock with stand.  It also is now just $15.00 for me..would make a killer Christmas present for someone..

The discount I get in the gourmet food area is only 10% because the markup isn't as high and as for wine and beer I only get what the rewards program is offering but the prices are pretty low to begin with so..it's still a win and I don't need to spend any extra gas money to get there!

Back to my extreme savings story!  The Explorer program has a ton of benefits, aside from the savings and getting to use my discount on top of them, when I buy $100 worth of gourmet products I get a $10 reward I can use on anything other than wine and beer.  This reward has no minimum purchase other than the $10.   Part 2 is the coffee deal, buy 6 bags of WM coffee, get the 7th one free.  Buy a bag of coffee on Wednesday and get double credit so, if you buy 3 bags of coffee on Wednesday, you than get a coupon for your free bag.  Last week I had both a $10 reward coupon and a free bag of coffee.  I am so silly when I get that $10 coupon, normally I try to get the biggest bang for my buck.  Last week I just wanted to buy stuff for me so for 51 cents I left with

My free  12 oz bag of coffee
1 tube of Amore Tomato Paste
1 bottle of Sesame oil
And to feed my spice obsession
A container of Kashmir Saffron.

Not bad for 51 cents plus what I spent goes towards my next reward coupon!

Summer Grilling On The Old Weber Grill

The old reliable Weber

Back in the late 80's I worked for a retailer in Phoenix called Home Express.  We sold just about anything you could imagine for your home from dinnerware to televisions.  Included in this interesting mix were Weber grills, I still remember the music to the commercial.  Somehow a customer had set fire to her Weber grill not long after purchasing it and if memory serves me right, this is one thing that should not happen.  Well, we took it back, cleaned it up and I bought it for I think $150.00 (if that).  Many years and many miles later, I am still the proud owner of this grill.  We have replaced some parts on it but, all this time later it still grills like a champ.  One of Bear's favorite hobbies is to check out the drip pan after the grill has cooled.  He thinks we don't know but somehow the grease smears on the sides of his muzzle give him away.

Michael is the grill master in the house and I am occasionally allowed to assist.  Last night was grilling night!  We had seasoned chicken legs and thigh along with grilled summer squash with green pepper and red onion.  It was so tasty and inexpensive.  The chicken is on sale for 49 cents a pound at Harris Teeter and the squash was 88 cents a pound at the Piggly Wiggly.  The entire meal probably cost about 2.50 for the two of us with out the propane.

Sometimes the simpliest food is the most satisfying.  The chicken was seasoned with Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and some Emerill's seasoning.  As for the squash I just mixed it with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper.  The chicken was on the grill about 45 minutes total, I left the squash on too long but it was still good.  Probably 20 minutes would have been enough.

The grill pan is one of our best bargains and favorite grilling toys.  Michael picked it up at one of our local thrift stores for one dollar.  We use it for veggies and  have used it to grill shrimp so we don't need to take the time to put them on skewers.