Category: food (Page 6 of 7)

several successes of a Saturday

June 2, 2012 / Michele Minehart

In terms of the 940 Saturdays we’re alotted, today ranks a high success rate. Not just because we had some epic adventure to a new place or activity, but because it was glorious to just be normal again. After several consecutive weekends of being gone for this and that, it was settling to be home.

We made a trip downtown for the local Strawberry Festival. It’s kind of a big deal. We tasted on the notorious doughnuts, tried some strawberry salsa (I recommend) and ate a bite from local vendors, wrapping up with a strawberry pizza.

Come noon o’clock we took a nap. Every single one of us. And not just a quick 10-minute power nap; I woke up with drool on the pillow, a sure sign of success.

I started preparations for an attempt to recreate a dish I had at the Greek restaurant in Findlay (I can’t recall the name. It’s downtown. The only one. Go there. Delicious.) while JJ put together Miss M’s new-to-her big girl bed and we did some musical cribs so that Baby C can’t crawl out of hers (I know. Parents of the year right here).

After dinner our credit card saw Meijer for the third time in 3 days as I wasn’t made aware that dog food should be on the list. So Miss M and I made the bed and sorted clothes for the attic (someday I’ll do a photo gallery of our attic storage and the tubs upon tubs of clothing. It’s sad, really). We jammied up, watched a brief stint of Puss in Boots (but not the funny one) and off to bed.

Successful day.

But not nearly as successful as my “greek nachos”. This dish was originally called something like “Hal’s special” at the Findlay place (sorry, kind sir, for completely forgetting your name. But your special sure is special). And because My Pal Hal (or whatever his name might be) didn’t provide a recipe, I retained rights to name it what I’d like: Greek Nachos.

Here we go, my first ever recipe post. WITH PICTURES. I told you, uber-successful day. Don’t get too impressed. You won’t see my whisk – only the final result. Which may or may not be an open can in at least one example.

First, the tzatziki sauce. If you ask me, the star of the dish. I used a food.com recipe and selected based upon the number of cucumbers required. (I didn’t have fresh dill but saw on another recipe that 1/4 tsp dried was used and I thought it came out about right). I even followed the steps to “salt” the cuke – it was a no-shortcuts kind of day. I let it chill for several hours. Creamy and refreshing.

Next, the chicken. I went with a basic souvlaki recipe, knownst only to me thanks to my days at the Pita Pit. By “days at the Pita Pit” I mean, every Friday in college when I would treat myself to a souvlaki (complete with tzatziki sauce) before PGIF. Confession: I chose souvlaki on those Fridays because it was a quarter cheaper than the other kind of chicken.

This time I went with a Taste of Home recipe. Why? I have no idea. But it worked. And because the tzatziki is already in the fridge with a recipe requiring only one cucumber, you only need to pay attention to the first 5 ingredients and the first step. I used chicken breast that were “cut thin” from Meijer because they were the ones 20% off and I didn’t have time to run to the meat shop. But the thin cutting turned out to be a good thing.

When I returned to the kitchen to actually put the meal together, I started with the potatoes. The potatoes are actually the genius of the dish. You pile high the toppings on potatoes. You know what potatoes are? GRAIN FREE. Winner winner… So I simply cut them thin and put them on a cookie sheet with olive oil and baked them at 400 until they browned and crisped up. HINT: parchment paper. It solves every sticky-oven problem you’ll ever have, including when potatoes stick to the pan, no matter how much oil you soak them in. I only had enough for one pan with parchment paper, so I considered it an experience. Parchment won. In any case, the tates turned out beautiful. JJ’s only suggestion: 4 potatoes aren’t quite enough for our crew.

Now the busy work. Get the chicken out of the fridge and toss everything (including marinate) in a large frying pan. I use stainless steal and this type of sauteeing is one place I don’t go to my cast iron.

Admission: the reason I’m sharing this recipe lies in my chicken success this evening. Previous to this, my “sauteed” chicken turned out white and bland. Blah. I couldn’t figure out how the professionals got it browned and not gross textured.

So after the juices ran clear, I poured out all the liquid and cranked the heat. OK, it was at “7”, but that’s high for this girl. I fiiiiiiinally got a nice browning on the outsides without it drying out. Also, as soon as I cranked the heat, I used the spatula to chop up the pieces even smaller. I’m not sure why – call it instinct – but I liked the results.

While the chicken was going, I sauteed half an onion and a red pepper, both chopped, in a small pan until soft.

And now, we layer.

Potatoes, then chicken, then peppers and onions. Then a nice, thick layer of feta.

(This is my $86.00 container of feta cheese. I went in for feta and came out with slightly more than that. I hate big box stores.)

Then the olives – thanks KLR for the suggestion

Add a few dollops of the tzatziki (plus more your plate to dip).

And not to leave you hanging about the whole musical furniture escapade:

the ways in which I’m a typical American

April 11, 2012 / Michele Minehart

Exhibit A: After retrieving the children at lunch, I sent a text to my husband, lamenting: “I could probably trade my right arm for a Wendy’s chicken sandwich right now.” He thought it was a reflection of how bad the kids were acting, when in fact it simply indicated how much I did not want to have to assemble my own lunch, specifically because my taste buds could go for that crunchy texture of the sandwich, nestled between the soft goodness of A BUN. And please don’t forget to smother it in mayo.

Exhibit B: I went to Target for invitations. I spent $100 and was convinced that the trail mix I purchased tasted 500x better than what I purchase at Meijer because Archer Farms uses some sort of intoxicating visual drug. (I believe the professionals call this “packaging.”)

Try as I might, I’m a product of my environment. I live in a fast food world and my expectations of immediate gratification aren’t much different than my neighbor, Susie’s. So much of who I am comes from the places and experiences of my culture and surroundings. For the best and worst, culture forms us. It’s like a textured table; when the play-doh of our lives is shaped and rolled and created into a ball, the imprint from that texture will be visible. We’ll take different forms and functions, but our culture and surroundings, our experiences and expectations, leave impressions.

So my recent gastronomical experiment has opened my eyes to our food culture. I’m suddenly on the outside looking in, completely aware to the ways in which I formerly lived. I see habits I never knew I have. Namely, being prone to mindlessly consume for gratification.

When limited by what you eat and how it’s prepared, you become increasingly aware of food sources. Food no longer fits simply into categories of “tastes good and I want it”, “healthy, so I should eat it” or “I hate brussel sprouts” but instead good and bad have a new ring. Most of the time nothing in and of itself is “bad” but rather someone tried too hard to improve a good thing. (Like McDonald’s oatmeal. Something that is, by definition, an ingredient, contains 8 gazillion ingredients. Just stop messing with it, people!)

I’ve long been fascinated by Jewish food laws and customs and secretly idolized living a kosher life. It’s probably my rule-driven nature, but I loved this idea from afar since reading Lauren Winner. Most of all, and especially now, I love that God asked his people from early on to actually think about food. Not just what it is, or label it “good” or “bad” (He created it and said it was good, so that part’s been covered). But instead of thoughtlessly consuming, perhaps food is something that should be mindfully enjoyed and appreciated. You can’t observe kosher without asking questions such as “what is this?” and “where did it come from?” And these are good questions to be faced with: it comes from God. It exists to nourish you, not serve as a crutch for comfort or satisfaction.

It’s to be enjoyed, but not abused. Appreciated. Savored.

But it’s become clear in the past 3 months that these were not my habits and attitude surrounding food. We live in such a place and age of abundance that we’ve been robbed the luxury of reflection.

I’ve got probably 3 more months of a grain-free life ahead (aiming for 1 year to wean Baby C). Will we continue on in our current state? Probably not. (The GAPS diet was created as a temporary means to healing, not a long-term solution for living. Amen and amen). You can believe I’ll somehow get my hands on a Padrone’s breadstick slathered in ranch. Will we revert to life as before? Probably not. This little hiatus from living as a food zombie has awakened me to what and how we consume. What is needed, what is warranted and what is truly wanted. How I react and how I live with intentionality.

Paul spoke some true wisdom in 1 Corinthians: Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. I’ve lived 30 years believing that if it was served on a plate, then it was good for a meal. I don’t believe that’s the case anymore. Eating has become different than consuming. “What I feel like” no longer runs unopposed in the race for what to serve, though it retains its voice and vote.

Moving forward, I anticipate some challenges in finding balance (I know – who? Me?). I want to live offering the best to my home and family and self and God. And I want to dredge a pita chip through Laura’s artichoke dip – I believe that my experience of this world will be lessened if I don’t.

Most of all, I don’t want to return to my thoughtless habits about food. Not just “what is it?” but also why I want it, what it’s good for and where it came from. Who touched it. How it was prepared. And most of all, with whom I’ll enjoy it.

she took the fruit, as she saw it was good for eating

March 10, 2012 / Michele Minehart

Thanks to the new grain-free temporary lifestyle, I’ve been pushed into the world of alternative eating habits via blogs and Pinterest. A whole world awaits that has decided sandwiches are the enemy, and it has become my BFF every day at about 3:00 when I decide that dinner must indeed be served again. Which reminds me of one of my favorite pins:

But as I do my reading, I’ve been struck by how much evilness seems to lie in the idea of food. A quick list of everything that is awful:

1. Sugar, especially white, non-organic.

2. Non-foods, anything partially hydrogenated or that I can’t pronounce

3. Red Dye of any lot number

4. BPA, MSG or other three-lettered abbreviations

5. Margarine (as ants and flies won’t even eat it) (see –>)

But then, in reading between the lines of these Real Food blogs, insinuated other offenders pop up, depending on who you read:

1. Meat – we’re over-meated in this country, our resources could go further to feed people with vegetables as opposed to animals with food. We simply don’t need to eat the amount of meat that we consume.

2. Bread and grains – the DNA of our version of bread has been altered so much that it’s not digestible by many; it evidences itself in the form of allergies and other bodily (and sometimes mental) manifestations.

3. Milk and dairy – apparently we’re the only mammal to consume another mammal’s milk. We’re not exactly nursing at an animal’s teet, but the concept is kind of odd. Per some reading (either Pollen or a book I read by a vegetarian last year) we evolved to be able to digest cows milk sometime in Ireland when the cows were a plenty, but it’s not an original feature of the human digestive system.

So if you go through your grocery list and axe off everything that contains these things, you’re left with:

1. Fruit, though also a source of sugar and carbs, so eat between meals.

2. Vegetables

3. Nuts, but in moderation, and only those with the perfect Omega 3-to-6 ratio.

4. Water. But not from a plastic bottle.

All of this is difficult to swallow. It’s incredible to think that all of the things God created as good have suddenly been morphed to evilness. But I guess I know why.

Eve and that damned apple.

I suppose it should come to no surprise that the first sin of the world involved trying to figure out what is good for eating. It started with fruit from the wrong tree and continued on to the meat from the wrong alters, grains harvested on the wrong day and now ingredients added by the wrong source (laboratories rather than God).

But in looking at the story, the fruit wasn’t evil. It’s how she used it. She had a relationship and an expectation of the fruit that goes beyond what the fruit was created for. Thanks to genetics, Eve was nice enough to pass this trait down through the Eons – through both nature and nurture, I’m sure – and we humans continue to wrestle with how food plays into our lives. What to eat, how much of it, how often. What can keep us healthy, what can cause cancer. When to practice moderation, when to practice celebration. What we can control, what we can consume, what we can create.

So what I really want to know is… how to live within the tension. How to eat well and healthy. How to not be consumed by thinking about something I consume. How to be free of a 2000 year old (or older, depending on your theology) curse. Because I believe there is a way.

And then Jesus took the bread, gave thanks for it… and gave it to his disciples. This is my body, given for you. Take, eat and do so in remembrance of me.

Category: food (Page 6 of 7)

several successes of a Saturday

the ways in which I’m a typical American

she took the fruit, as she saw it was good for eating

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