Cook with Imagination

I've been thinking about what I want to talk about today. I had decided, but just hadn't written yet when my tv was on The Chew and they stole my idea, lol! Well, maybe not. But it can't be said enough, so instead of changing topics, I think I'll continue on the same thought.

I've met and known of so many people these days that don't cook. And after living the past 6 years with multiple food intolerances, I am even more amazed that of this and convinced that those of us with food issues, can't NOT know how. It's not rocket science. Although the chemistry of baking, especially with alternative flours and ingredients certainly leaves me stumped. I CERTAINLY don't profess to be educated or know everything. I simply have lived with it long enough to figure out I WANT to cook again. I have alot of #FAILS and a few really good successes and ALOT that falls in the middle, somewhere. I still struggle with the expense of many of the alternative ingredients and experimenting. I'm too cheap to not be affected by throwing the failures down the garbage disposal. I have been VERY thankful to be able to get eggs and dairy back in the mix. They certainly help tremendously.

One thing I've always kinda of enjoyed is reworking leftovers. I think its fun to open up the fridge and figure out how I can make a little of this and little of that into something brand new. My family goes in spurts whether they are good about eating leftovers or not. So, if I can remake them, its helpful. You might argue that if you don't cook much, how would you know what goes together, or what spices to use. I also know alot of people that can't cook without using recipes. Personally, I only use most recipes once. If its a keeper, then the next time I start tweeking and using what I may have on-hand instead of something specific the recipe calls for.

But you eat out, don't you? Or watch The Food Network? Say you want something to taste Mexican....what seasonings are known Mexican seasonings? Cilantro, cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powders. That's not an exclusive list, but its a good start. When you eat out, what GOES on Mexican foods? Beans, Spanish rice, lime, different peppers, corn, tomotoes, etc. Again this isn't an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. You KNOW more than you think you do!! EXPERIMENT! If your diet doesn't include dairy, obviously you avoid the cheeses or "creamies". You CAN experiment with cornstarch, potato starch, arrowroot to thicken. Or any of the many soy cheeses, milks, or nut butters and milks to substitute. I never tried the nut derived products as nuts is one of my no-no's. But I did learn that the soy versions of most of those things are VERY delicate and don't hold up long to the heat of average cooking. So just add them late in your process. I STILL will say that sticking with as many unprocessed foods as possible will still give you the best results. I often simply left out one factor to a recipe than use a processed alternative. I was usually disappointed with the result anyway. But anyway you shake it, I never found ANYTHING that was "as good as the original". It may be GOOD, but different. And the sooner you learn to let go of that expectation the happier you'll be. I know I hung on way too long!

But back to the figuring out what goes with what when cooking. One thing that has changed life as we all know it that would help you when you just HAVE to see something "official" in print, is your computer!! Google it! Ask Ask! : ) But I say give yourself a shot....trust your instincts! Experiment!

Just Stopping In

Hi everyone! I just felt the need to stop in and say howdy! I really have been missing Biscotty's. My NaNoWriMo writing started out with a bang but has dwindled to just a fizzle by now. I haven't given up, though. My story plot and direction didn't have any. I do have some ideas and intend to hit it again in the morning. I have discovered that writing with family around and the weekends is more than challenging. At least, for me.

I was reading a blog this morning by someone that doesn't have children yet about children. Don't you just love people like that? They have definitive opinions about parenthood and how things really should be with children when they don't have children. The subject was public schools serving doughnuts to children for breakfast. Of course, the jest of the blog was that there should be healthier menus for "our" children than fat-laden and sugar-laden doughnuts. Now, I totally understand the extreme obesity problem we are seeing in the American public, much less our children. And I totally understand the lack of nutritional value of the typical doughnut. I should probably say that I LOVE doughnuts and have had my fair share, along with a few other people's fair share of doughnuts through the years. But I am paying for such gluttony, and family genes. I no longer can have gluten, thus doughnuts of any nature is off-limits for me. That said though, I also have to say I have worked in public schools and I know, for a fact, that most schools are much too aware that many of their children's only meals are the ones they get at school. I don't recall offerings of breakfast for students when I was a student, but that was way too long ago to mention. Times have changed. Greatly. Now for the added snafu in this equation.

Here, in Michigan, the state's public education budgets have been cut twice just in the past month or so. Greatly. Entire curriculums and programs have been offed with the signature of a pen in the governor's office. Our schools are down to the bare bones. Teachers have long been using their own money to buy school supplies for their students, as have most schoolteachers across the country. Now, if you consider the hunger issue and how it affects the school students across the nation, what would you want for those that cannot afford to eat at home? Don't consider YOUR child, as we all know that only the best is what you want for your child. We all want healthy options for our children. But we all want our children to have full stomachs so they can stay on-task and not be thinking about the hunger pains and growling stomachs all day. We all have seen the study results that say that hungry children suffer academically. But what do you want for those children in your area that go home everyday and have no meals? Do they even eat at all during the weekends? Have you ever considered that? Are you still so concerned about the nutritional value of what they may be served for breakfast now to protest doughnuts?

We have to be practical enough to realize that offering a breakfast program at all is still a real trick for any school district in these days and economic times. And most of us are educated enough to know that cheap foods and stretched budgets doesn't allow for many healthy options. But isn't a full stomach, which allows a child to get their minds off their tummies and on-task of learning, better than protesting feeding these children doughnuts? Would you personally go into a cafeteria and deprive a child of the last breakfast they may have on Friday morning till they return on Monday because it's not "healthy"? How many meals will you miss during the next two days?

Don't get me wrong. I understand the need to educate and do what we can to change our society's views of food and nutrition. But until we solve the disparity of the haves and have nots and virtually walk in another's shoes, how can we go about protesting that that is fed to children? If you do have the nerve to do so, I suggest you also find ways and solutions to the problem. Work with your local grocers, farmers, coops, mothers groups, church groups, whomever that may donate or spend time and personal money to change the situation in your area. There is never a cut and dried answer to such issues these days. There can be a politically-correct answer but it rarely solves all the needed aspects of a problem. Don't be myopic without considering that for most of us....there but for the grace of God, go us!