Archive for January, 2010

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Sprouting Seeds?

January 29th, 2010

 

 

When it comes to fueling our bodies, Nature's Goodness cannot be improved on!

I had a pleasant phone chat today with a woman who GETS it about eating well and wisely.  Our conversation reminded me that here at the Clubhouse, we have not really looked into growing live food during the cold winter months.

How is that possible?  It is not only possible but pragmatic.  We all want the best for our children; we all yearn to have more energy.  We can do that easily by growing sprout seeds in a jar on a sun drenched window sill!

Radish sprout seeds make such great snacks and piling some onto a sandwich is divine!  They will be ready to consume in about three days or so.  They just need to be rinsed and placed into a jar with a loosely fitted lid.  Cheesecloth held in place with a jar ring is PERFECT for this little project.

I particularly enjoy eating mung bean sprouts, as well as alfalfa sprouts.  These beauties make great garnishes to present your family with pretty plates full of food, too.  Check with a good health food store to find a good selection to please the palates of your gang.

It is so much  fun to eat well and wisely to save high medical bills.  It makes much more sense to do that, as opposed to shelling out the big bucks for medical care.

The body is wise enough to heal itself, you know.  But it needs certain elements to be as well as can be.  The components of fresh, raw goodies like fresh vegetables and fruits, sprouts, seeds and such amp up the body’s ability to defend itself.  When the body is not busy defending itself, it can generate more energy for all the things you need to do to keep body and soul together.

If you use WIC or SNAP; if you have food commodities or food pantry food, this is an ideal way to supplement those foods with antioxidants, phytonutrients and nourishment that is not available from cans or boxes.  As a matter of fact, this is a great plan for users of Angel Foods and Farmers Markets and people on fixed incomes and penny pinchers to eat!

We sincerely hope our ideas help you stretch those food dollars and keep your family healthy as possible.  You are welcome to send us your feedback by leaving your thoughts in a comment or mailing us: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com .   THANKS!

If you enjoy this blog, the chances are good you will like The Healthy and Wealthy You or Mother Connie Sez. Check them out.  We beg for comments THERE, too!  grin

If you have a mind to wash your mouth out with soap for good results, you’ll like this: ToothSoap.com.   Sprouts help you with vibrant good health, saving you money on medical costs; ToothSoap will help you chomp down on dental care!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should these links be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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January 27th, 2010

 

WIC offers good news for mommies and babies!

 

You may be aware of the recently implemented program for Women Infants and Children-WIC-last fall.  They have amended their food package to include fresh fruits and vegetables.

This is tremendously good news for families!  Fresh fruits and vegetables are the fuels needed to propel growing little bodies into becoming healthy, productive, happy people!

There is an educational program to go with this in order to help people wring every advantage from the new program.  Mother Connie, with the Food Stamps Cooking Club and all the dear members who are so generous with their time and ideas, hope we are contributing to the educational process in our own small way.

If you receive WIC benefits, you are likely to know about these changes.  If you would like more information about all the good things they are doing, just inquire at your local level and some very nice people will answer all your questions.

Someone who sits in my circle is a real FAN of WIC.  She raves about how wonderful it has been to have enough milk for her little one.  Now since vegetables and fruits are available to this little family there is a sense of security in place that satisfies Mommy in ways food cannot.

Maybe your family does not need or does not use WIC.  You may be a SNAP user; you may visit food pantries or receive food commodities.  Perhaps you grow your own food or are a Senior Citizen using Farmers Markets or living on a tightly fixed income.  You might even be a penny pinching foodie.  In any case, the Food Stamps Cooking Club is the place to be for ideas about good eats!

If you are a fan of Angel Food Ministries, you know how their menus can stretch a food budget like rubber, too!  We’d love to hear from happy Angel Food users. 

Here’s something we found, courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County, Nebraska:

VEGETABLE RICE SKILLET

One 15 oz can kidney, black or garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

One  14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes

2  cups mixed veggies, frozen

One cup water

3/4  cup brown rice

1/2  teaspoon dried thyme or dried dill weed

One  10  3/4  oz can tomato soup

Hot sauce – optional

Cheese – optional

1. In a large skillet, stir together beans, tomatoes, veggies, water, rice and thyme or dill.

2. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 – 25 minutes or til rice is tender.  Stir occasionally.  Add more water if mixture seems to be too dry.

3. Stir in tomato soup.  Bring to a boil.  Let simmer 2 or 3 minutes or more.

4. Serve with hot sauce and cheese, if you choose.

This makes me want to race to my pantry shelves to see if I have the fixings so I can make this recipe on this very day!  YUMMY!

The chances are very good that if you like what you read here, you would like what’s on Mother Connie Sez or The Healthy and Wealthy You.  Cruise on over, if you like.  She’d love to have your comments, there, as well as here.  (She has no shame, when it comes to asking for your comments.)

You are welcome to contact Mother Connie: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

You are welcome, also to visit our sponsors.  Be aware that we have a vested interest.  You can read our disclaimer below…before you post your comment.  grin

Thanks so much, kids, for coming by.  I hope you remembered to give us your name and email so you can begin to receive our infrequent messages.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know that there are links in this post.  Should those links be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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Posted in Food News, Recipes

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Pot Luck, Anybody?

January 25th, 2010

"Let us break bread together..."

A very good reason, if you need one, to join our church would be the bounty of great cooks and all that fabulous food!  Yesterday we had our Annual Meeting, or as we have come to know it: An opportunity to eat some great comfort food!

There was a luscious spread of ham balls, deer bologna, kraut, meat loaves, sliced ham.  We had green bean casseroles, mashed potato dishes and salads of every description.  The dessert table had everything from cherry fluff and Moon Pie to Sweet Potato Crunch and sour cream raisin pie. Every cook in the congregation-man or woman-brought the signature dishes they are famous for making for church dinners.  Even Pastor’s husband brought his home made ham and bean soup, which was absolutely mouth watering!

Our tummies were so full we were tempted to nap before we conducted our business!

What is YOUR signature dish?  What are YOU “famous” for bringing to family dinners from YOUR oven?  What is created in YOUR kitchen that goes to pot luck meals where people line up to spoon YOUR goodies onto their plates?  We’d love to know.  Please share the wealth of your know-how and Yankee ingenuity at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com!

Thanks, boys n girls.

If you are using WIC you are probably thrilled about their new vegetable program!  If you use SNAP you can stretch those food dollars by using Angel Food Ministries.  If you have food commodities or use foodstuffs from a food pantry or Farmers Market we would love to know all the ways YOU stretch those food dollars.  We all can learn so much from one another.  That’s what the Food Stamps Cooking Club is all about!

We are proud to report YOU are sharing the good news about this page-our membership is rising steadily!  People are submitting their name and email addresses in order to have our tips series.  Occasionally we send a broadcast but we make every effort not to load your in-box with fluff.

If you like what you read here and are interested in the concept of health and wealth, you might like to cruise over to The Healthy and Wealthy You for some ideas about making money at home and good ways of taking care of your family’s health.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  If they should be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting business online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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Posted in Cooking

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: NO HAY?

January 22nd, 2010

 

Tall Grass Prairie Seminar featured a Potato Bar! And that's No HAY!

 

The Normanator and I took off for a whole day this week to attend a Tall Grass Prairie Seminar!

There were  Farmers Market vendors there; people from out of state who have poured their hearts and souls into Discovering Eden by restoring a White Oak Savanna and a sharp expert who shared his wit and wisdom regarding patch burns.  It was a marvelous experience; one I’d have gladly shared with ALL the club members.

I had  most interesting conversations with an avid gardener, a man who provides raw organic milk and a farmer who raises organic, free range poultry.  The people who turned out for this event are those who believe wholeheartedly in good food, good health, and good stewardship practices.  They are good people!

As lovely and enlightening as all that was, my focus today is the lunch we were served.

Lunch was all about the humble potato and topping it with interesting things like chili, bacon, cheeses, sour cream, chives, onions and all things yummy.

But here is what impressed me so:  The woman who is in charge of the crew who cooks and serves is such a charming, personable soul. She smiled broadly and looked me in the eyes as she handed me a tray.  “I remember you from last year,” I told her.  “And I remember you.  You were  one who told us you appreciated not having to fix your own lunch!”

Here’s the thing, kids:  The ENERGY that goes into the food that is prepared for us is so important.  Just because we cannot SEE that energy does not mean it isn’t there!

Let’s consider the people who wrapped the potatoes we were served.  If they had ugly feelings about being at work that day, those ugly feelings would translate into the food we ate.  If there were disagreements and jealousy among the workers in the kitchen, that would have gone directly into those potatoes!

This young woman runs the kind of kitchen where her staff are all smiles and that happy feeling was very much a part of the menu.  It gave those humble potatoes and all the fixin’s real personality and flair.  It added to the quality of the meal and the day.

She also told me that all the calories and carbs had been baked out of the brownies.  I probably should have looked into her methods.  grin

So, if you are preparing meals from foods you got from commodities or a food pantry or from WIC or SNAP or Angel Food or Farmers Markets or whatever have you, bear in mind that your attitude flavors your recipes as much as the spices.

We would be most eager to learn what YOUR gang likes to put with the potatoes that come out of your oven.  Do you bake more than you need for one meal and reuse them in interesting ways?  Please let us know by adding your comments below and/or sending us a hey to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com, won’t you?

If you are interested, there is more information about that Tall Grass Prairie seminar on Mother Connie Sez. Stop by if you are in the mood.  We love comments there, too. Even those which do not flatter.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should those links be clicked and sales result, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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Posted in Cooking, Farmers' Markets, Food News

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: People Cooking Together?

January 20th, 2010

 

This is the stuff from which memories and relationships are made!

An article about various ways to simplify kitchen duties and making meal time easier  captured my attention recently.

It made me pause and smile about the Food Stamps Cooking Club.   You see, that’s what we DO here!

I have  a neighbor who is a single mom and devoted caretaker of her niece.   She asked for help with her food budgeting and that led to a little one on one cooking class.  That led to sharing a meal we  prepared together.  It has also led to a long term friendship.  See how this works?

YOU might like to think about inviting people you know and love-relatives or not-into your kitchen so you can teach one another about food and family traditions.  Trade kitchens; have a get together in your home one time and next time go to another kitchen.

Here’s something that would be fun to prepare with four hands:

“STUFF”

1 # ground beef, browned

1 potato per person, peeled and chopped

2 ribs of celery, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

1 can cream of mushroom soup *Mother Connie strongly and lovingly recommends using your own home made sauce by using 2 T butter; 2 T flour and 1 cup milk for this.  But if you have canned soup and prefer the simplicity, go for it.  Mother Connie will never let on to the Kitchen Police!

Brown the meat and layer each ingredient into a large skillet.  Cover and allow this to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender.

Depending on the size of your crowd and how deep your skillet is, you could add cabbage, broccoli, or just additional amounts of the veggies listed in the recipe. 

The beauty of this dish is that the prep  goes quickly with two pairs of hands at work and you can enjoy a good cup of coffee and some conversation while it bubbles on the stove top.

This could also go into a baking dish and be put into a 350 degree oven.

We made this a lot when our kids were growing up and it’s still a staple for a quick and filling meal.  Add a salad and fruit to the menu and you have a winning combination!

Wouldn’t it be fun to invite Emeril Lagassi or Rachel Ray into your kitchen?  I wonder what it would take to bring them in for our annual cooking class.  One of our faithful club members knows Emeril’s phone number. Maybe she will ring him up and clue him in about what we are doing here. She says the number is 504 524 4241.

Emeril cooked for the Gosselin’s…my own daughter has eaten in his restaurants.  Lots of people own his cookbooks and he is ALL about family and kids eating well.  Hm…

I can’t say if Emeril was ever a user of SNAP or WIC or food commodities.  I don’t know that he ever used Farmers Market Coupons or food pantry food.  But I do know that Emeril and I both share a love for people and food.  What if many club members rang him up and invited him to consider our little project here?

Could be interesting, kids.  After all, nothing ventured; nothing gained.

In the meantime, do send your ideas about food and family to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com  and please continue leaving your comments here.  We so love them AND YOU.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Do your due diligence when conducting business online or offline.  Business should only be done with those you trust implicitly.



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Posted in Club Member Comment, Cooking, cooking class, Recipes

Food Stamps Cooking Club: Revitalize Your Teeth?

January 19th, 2010

This little ditty was sent to the Food Stamps Cooking Club by someone who is handy with video and works with ToothSoap.

Granted, this is not the kind of recipe we generally offer here but the information is extremely good.

It is entirely possible you may not have the type of salmon suggested in this piece.  Please remember that the Kitchen Police will never care if you use the canned salmon that came in your commodities bundle or food pantry goods.  The important point to be taken here is that chips, pre-packaged and processed foods may be inexpensive to buy but the become very costly when one’s health begins to fail or your teeth fill with cavities and begin to rot.

Are you interested to have more information about re-mineralizing your teeth?  If so, you can visit the good folks at ToothSoap by clicking on these colored words.

If you only want to talk about food, that’s great, too.  We are always eager to talk about food!

Which reminds me:  I met a young man who worked as a chef and hopes to open a steak house at some point.  HE HAS AGREED TO ALLOW ME TO INTERVIEW HIM.  Maybe he will also agree to whip up a little  ‘somethin’-somethin’ for us to put on this blog!

PLEASE keep those comments and emails flowing!  They are such fun!  foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com    THANKS.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know that there are links in this post.  Should those links be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Only do business with those you trust implicitly.

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Beans? AGAIN?

January 18th, 2010

 

 

Oh, how you will love this bean dish!

 

You could say the Food Stamps Cooking Club has a theme going on these days!  And we believe it is a tasty one, at that!  Today we have a scrumptious meal to tell you about.  I was sure we’d have leftovers-you know how we prize cooking once and eating twice-but we slicked up the whole thing!  This really qualifies as comfort food!

Here you go:

Mother Connie’s Sausage-Bean Dish

1  tablespoon oil

1  Polish sausage per person; depends on the size of the appetites!

2  cloves garlic, minced

1  apple, cored and chopped

1/2  teaspoon dried rosemary

1  teaspoon dried sage

1  bay leaf

1  can tomatoes, juice and all-I used a pint of our home canned

2 or 3 drops Tabasco sauce

4  cups cooked white beans, juice and all.  I used organic Northern beans because that’s what I had cooked up and stored in the fridge.

1  package frozen baby lima beans, rinsed

1  1/2 cups chicken stock, broth or water

black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a dutch oven over medium heat, warm the oil.

Add the meat and brown for 15 minutes.  Turn occasionally.

Transfer to a plate and cut meat into half inch rounds.

Add onions and garlic to pan and saute until they become soft.  This will take about 5 minutes.  If you cook garlic too long or too hot it will become bitter.

Add apple, rosemary, sage and stir in tomatoes, Tabasco sauce, beans, stock and season with pepper.

Bake covered for 1 hour.  Remove lid and bake and additional 15 minutes.

*For variation, you could also add 1 tablespoon of toasted barley to this; it would add another layer of protein and it will thicken the broth as it bakes.

Prepare to hear raves from your family!  The Normanator is not one to carry on about what is served but he made sure he let it be known that he’d like to find this on the dinner table again soon!

We want to take a moment to thank everyone for the great comments that have come in on the blog; we are excited to have added some new Club members to our roster and we note that the Food Stamps Cooking Club is being picked up around the world by people who are interested in what we are doing here.   This is because of you, our precious members and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We are giving high 5′s all around!

If you enjoy reading about health, you might like to see Mother Connie Sez or The Healthy and Wealthy You.   If you are even remotely interested to add some income to your household, you will appreciate what you find here:  Rapid Cash Marketing.

Users of Angel Food Ministries, food pantries, food commodities or those who depend on SNAP or WIC need all the help they can garner.  We mean to provide as much support and understanding as possible.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should those links be clicked and sales result, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly.



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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Beans, Beans, Beans

January 16th, 2010

 

Beans provide great protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and team up well with many other foods to create variety and visual interest!

 

We’re not kidding on this blog!  When we tell you we intend to help people who use SNAP or WIC or Angel Food Ministries we are serious as a heart attack.  To those of you who depend on food commodities or bundles from a food pantry, we pledge our support to help you to do more with what you have.  To all you Seniors who are on a fixed income, we want to give you all the help you deserve, too!

Yesterday’s post prompted Club Member Sandra of Missouri to send in a lovely comment and I have been doing the Happy Dance ever since!

You know how Mother Connie rants and raves about cooking once and eating twice-well, Sandra has shared some ideas with me that I want you to know about.  Here are Sandra’s ideas about using beans:

“I have a great kitchen secret for beans.  You can have the convenience of canned beans without the price.  All you have to do is use your crock pot and some freezer bags.  (If you don’t have a crock pot, you can use your stove – you’ll just have to watch them.)

Put beans on to soak when you first get up in the morning.  Before you go to bed, drain them and add fresh water.  Turn the beans on low and they should be ready when you get up.  Drain them and allow them to cool completely.  Put them into freezer bags according to the size of your family.  We use quart-sized.  Some families I know use gallon sized.  :)   And you will have beans ready to go any time you want or need them.  You can eat them as is, in chili, in refried beans, with cornbread, you name it.  :)

I forgot to mention that you will want to put them into the freezer once they are properly cooled.  When they are frozen, they stack nicely.

I made a lot of beans just before I had my sixth baby in November.  I made pinto beans, black beans, and black-eyed peas.  You can do other beans like kidneys, etc.  I just didn’t have enough time to do them all.  It was nice to be able to pull out the beans whenever I needed them and not have to worry about cooking them.  You can let them thaw naturally or you can defrost them in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

You can have a month’s worth of beans (or a few week’s worth anyway) if you make a different kind of bean every day for a week.  So I did pintos on one day, black on another, and so on.  If you do it this way, you can just replace what you need at your own pace.  So in some ways it reduces your time cooking.  But you do have to keep up with what’s in your freezer.  ;)

Sandra”

This is great information, Sandra.  Of course, Mother Connie prefers NOBODY use a microwave because of the dangers of the electromagnetic frequencies.  But she’ll be the first to admit that the Kitchen Police will not be patrolling in your neighborhood, so do what you have to do to get meals on the table for your family!   Particularly when it comes to convenience and comfort foods to please those you love best!

We love mail, as any fool can plainly tell!  Send YOUR great ideas to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com or leave your comment on this page.  Either way, we love it!

You have been recommending us to others!  Thank you!  Anyone can join the fun and receive a series of tips by email.  Simply enter your name and email address and the process begins.

We leave you with the reminder that you might find it helpful to look into Rapid Cash Marketing as a means of bringing more income into your household.  It’s only a suggestion; the Rapid Cash Police are not going to be auditing your activities!  grin

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.


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Posted in Cooking, Guest Post, Tips

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Orange You Glad You Can Cook?

January 15th, 2010

 

Knock! Knock! ORANGE you glad you can cook?

Do you mange your food budget dollars around SNAP?  WIC?  Angel Food Ministries?  How about Farmers Market Coupons?  Maybe you use food commodities or have goods from a food pantry.  You might even be someone who squeezes every nickel until the buffalo bellows just to get all you can from your food money.

If you are living on Social Security or any fixed income you either cook or learn to cook.  It seems logical that if you can read, you can learn to cook.  Remember the movie “Julie and Julia”?  Julie learned how to cook because of Julia Child’s cookbook.  That demonstrates my theory in a delightful way.

Perhaps the people who immigrated here from other countries may not be able to read recipes so they depend on their experience and memories of their mother’s cookery.  Or their grandmother’s.   No doubt they all specialize in comfort foods.

If you can read; if you can cook; you have much for which to be grateful.

Can you create?  Here is what I threw together for lunch today:

Enough ground beef for 2, browned

Canned tomatoes, juice & all-there was a pint left  in the fridge

Generous sprinkle of onion powder

Stingy sprinkle of garlic powder

Leftover corn-must have been 1  1/2 cups

Several spoonfuls of cooked white beans

This concoction simmered until the juice of the tomatoes reduced.

It was DIVINE.  Even The Normanator had to take out braggin’ rights.

Cost for this for two people:  Maybe $4.50, tops.  It was all left over from other meals.  This speaks to the wisdom of cooking once and eating twice!

And we were way too full for dessert!

It would be interesting to know what YOU are creating in YOUR kitchens!  Won’t you share your kitchen “secrets”?  Thanks!

It might just be that you are weary of spending your energy on budgets.  If you are interested to learn how to bring some income INTO your household you might like to check out Rapid Cash Marketing’s program.  It might hit your hot button.

Oh, how we love getting your mail: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

Please share us with those who sit in your circle.  They are welcome to pop in here, enter their name and email and receive the tips we send out.  Sometimes we send other messages but we do NOT stuff peoples’ inboxes and we don’t send information if we don’t expect it to interest you.  This is a site about SAVING MONEY, GOOD FOOD and COMMUNITY.   It is not a place to funnel sales pitches!!!

If you like what you see here, you are likely to be interested in The Healthy and Wealthy You or Mother Connie Sez.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know that there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting business online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.


 


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Posted in Cooking, Recipes

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Food Stamps Cooking: There’s More To It Than FOOD?

January 13th, 2010

 

 

 

Johnson County Honors Their Servicemen and Women In a Place Serving Sammies n Soup!

 

If you are using food commodities or planning your meals around food pantry food; if you have to watch every single penny of your food budget like a hawk, you are not very likely to be eating away from home.  Unless you get invited to dinner.

As Senior Citizens-even though I’ll only admit to being 33-we don’t eat out much, either, so it was a special treat today to be invited out for lunch!

Since we “babysat” with a prize poinsettia during the holidays the “parents” of this gorgeous plant wanted to thank us by taking us to the newest eatery in our little community.

This specialty shop has an old fashioned soda fountain, clocks showing every time zone and original brick walls with floating shelves.  On every row-and there are a bunch-is displayed the photos of the military service men and women of Johnson County.

There were no 4 top tables available so we chose a long table which seats 10 and settled in.  Soon we were joined by a threesome from the Court House and conversation flowed like the coffee the waitress poured.  As we chatted over the menus we saw a group of people we knew and they stopped to visit.  At the table next to us was the cute little County Agent and her guy.  It was fun to connect with everyone and the place buzzed with conversation.

Steaming bowls of soup arrived and as we ate and talked, it occurred to me that as important as food is, it is every bit as important to have that food served up with great conversation.

I thought about the meals my own mother served at home just for the three of us: mom, dad and me.  Mom always set a “proper” table and made sure we had napkins.  There was a healthy emphasis on table manners.  We could ALWAYS depend on lively discussion about what happened at school, about activities and events around town, about people we all knew who were doing interesting things with their lives.

Just because we’re busy or just because we have to monitor our food costs or we use Angel Food Ministries food or Farmers Market coupons to s-t-r-e-t-c-h our food dollars does not preclude  delightful mealtime experiences!  What can we do to give our families wonderful meals replete with memorable times?

You probably have far more imaginative ideas than I-if you do, we’d love to hear from you at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.  Here are a few ideas of  my own:

  • Turn off the television.
  • Use the good dishes occasionally.
  • Spread a terrycloth table cloth on the floor and pretend to picnic on cold winter evenings.
  • Make simple comfort foods a feature of your menus.
  • While everyone is having dessert, Mom or Dad could read the chapter of a book aloud.
  • Make clean up and dish washing a family affair.

Good nutrition is very important.  But even the best food cannot take the place of good tabletop conversation and great memories of a happy family!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should these links be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Always do your due diligence when conducting commerce online or offline.  Do business with those you trust implicitly.

 

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Posted in Uncategorized

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