Posts Tagged ‘cooking with potatoes’

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Patty Came to Dinner?

August 21st, 2010

Guess who came to dinner? PATTY!

Mom always maintained that if you did not get to the grocery store you’d just have to make do in order to put a meal on the table.

Chef Shawn Bucher recommends that most meals consist of protein, sides and dessert.  He also puts a high priority on sauces.

Today I satisfied BOTH of those folks’ requirements and felt proud as punch in the process.

Mother Connie is not a fancy-schmancy cook; has no formal training and certainly is no high priced expert when it comes to the culinary world!

I made a meatless ‘meat’ patty!  Here’s how I did it:

MOTHER CONNIE’S PATTY

2 potatoes, scrubbed and quartered.  I had 1 white and 1 red tater.

1 small zucchini, peeled and cut to match the size of the cut potatoes.

I covered the potatoes and the zucchini with water, sprinkled them with salt.  I brought them to a boil and let them simmer til the vegetables were fork tender.

While those cooked, I chopped a small onion and set it aside.

I combined 3 small eggs, 2 slices of bread made into fine crumbs, the chopped onions and 1 teaspoon of curry powder.  I salted and peppered the mix, as well.

When the potatoes and zucchinis were cooked I drained and mashed them, skins and all, and added that combination to the eggs, crumbs, onions and seasonings.

I was eager to see if my combination would be fit to eat, so I took a page from Rachel Ray’s book and made a teeny sample sized patty to fry.  When it had browned on both sides I borrowed a hint from Anne Burrell, who is big on QC  or Quality Control-as in TASTE.

Well, let me tell you:  I thought it was MOREish, which means there may not be enough! grin

While the patties browned in hot olive oil I made a beshemel sauce.  That’s only a fancy word for white sauce.  I used 2 Tablespoons of melted butter, a slurry of 1 teaspoon of corn starch in water and stirred it all together.  Before it thickened I added about a cup or so of milk.  When it came together I salted and peppered it and added about a half a bag of frozen peas.  I flirted with the idea of adding spinach but the peas were more appealing to me.

You can see for yourself that it made for a pretty dish, spread all over a luncheon plate.  I had some beets-they had sat in a rice vinegar brine for most of the afternoon so I sliced them and used them as a garnish.

Next time I make these goodies, I’ll hope to have celery and corn on hand.  Oh, and beans.  Mashed beans could replace the potatoes and help to bind the vegetables together.  Carrots, cabbage-any combo of foods would work well with this method.  And the curry is just ONE of many ways to season things.  That’s where the creative cook can shine.

Fooey!  Even young children or picky husbands who don’t like anything but chicken nuggets will enjoy these yummies!

Oh.  About dessert.  I hate to admit it.  We had green gelatin.  Well, like Mom said, you have to use what you have in the house…I have no idea why we have gelatin in our house because it has no redeeming nutritive value.  It does LOOK cheery, though.

If you are users of Angel Food Ministries, visit a food pantry or use food commodities; if you have an EBT card for SNAP or WIC, we hope “Patty” will be YOUR new best friend forever!  This is also true if you have food from a Farmers Market or you are just thrifty and pinching your pennies to make your food budget last through the month.

Leave your comment on our doorstep or shoot us an email at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.  We ADORE hearing from you!

PS/We hope you have scoped out The Dinner Diva’s ideas, too! They are spectacular!

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.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly.


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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Sheila Went to Idaho?

August 16th, 2010

Sheila was responsible for the famed "Ben Bowl" we received so joyously. Now Sheila has traveled to Canada. AND IDAHO.

Sheila is another of our faithful Food Stamps Cooking Club members.  She’s been vacationing and eating well and wisely in the process.

Always eager to lend a helping hand to our Club Members, Sheila has offered this recipe on a post card she picked up in, as you might expect, Idaho!  Mother Connie jumped all over this because of the great crop of taters The Normanator has produced in this year’s garden.  And, not surprisingly, has put HER spin on this tasty dish.

IDAHO BAKED POTATO SOUP 

*Mother Connie says this translates as “comfort food!”


2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

7 cups milk

4 large potatoes, baked, peeled and cubed-approx 4 cups

4 green onions, sliced

12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

1 ¼ cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

In large soup kettle, melt butter.  Stir in flour; heat and stir until smooth.  Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened.  Add potatoes and onions.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients; stir until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.  Yield:  8 to 10 servings.

***Mother Connie, in her quest to be thrifty, used 3 cups of potatoes and 1 cup of shredded sautéed zucchini.  Also, not having green onions, white onions from the garden were substituted.

Remember the Foccacia bread recipe we shared recently?  The leftover bread we had was cut into cubes, drizzled with olive oil and parked in the oven to toast.  That made for lovely, yummy croutons and we felt as if we were attending a feast!  We had a salad with Swiss Chard and tomatoes from the oven.  What a great meal!

Thank you, Sheila.

Users of EBT cards provided by WIC or SNAP; Angel Food Ministries users; those who frequent food pantries or use food commodities can appreciate the value and cost effectiveness of this soup, even in warm weather.  If you garden, if you have taters and no meat you could make this sans bacon and have a very nourishing meal.  For those who watch their food budgets closely; for those who yearn for comfort food-this is a wonderful menu item.

Your cards and emails and comments are priceless to us.  Thank you SO MUCH for your participation in this effort to help folks stretch their food dollars.

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.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Veggies, Veggies, Veggies!

July 14th, 2010

 

We all have our favorites; this wins the most votes at our house!

 

When my son was here to have his cholesterol lowered, we developed a “game” of sorts where we counted every vegetable and fruit we ate every day.  It was always our goal to have more servings of fruits and veggies than the recommended daily amount as outlined by the government.  Silly us.  We think when it comes to food we know better and can do better than the Feds…grin…

You might be like me in that I find myself watching too much Food TV.  It inspires, entertains, enlightens and instructs me in better ways of preparing and presenting food.  While their chefs may not focus on those who depend on WIC or SNAP or food pantries or food commodities we can adapt what they present on the tube to something that will work in our own kitchens.  Those who use Angel Food Ministries or Farmers Markets Coupon users can certainly utilize their produce items to make many meals just like TV chefs…

Yesterday was a good example of how Chef Ann Burrell got me off the couch and into the kitchen with asparagus.

Asparagus in the stores can be a good value now, I’ve noticed.  I was fortunate to have some  asparagus spears in the freezer compartment of the fridge so we had a creamy chilled asparagus soup for dinner.  It was perfect for the hot and muggy weather we’ve been dealing with.  Here is what I learned from Chef Ann:

Creamy Chilled Asparagus Soup

2  bundles of fresh asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces.  SAVE THE TIPS FOR GARNISHING.

1  medium onion, chopped

2  buds of garlic, finely chopped

2  russet potatoes

1  box of chicken stock

Put a bit of vegetable oil in a skillet and put the chopped onions into the hot oil to sweat.  When they are nearly soft and cooked through, add the garlic and reduce the heat.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and put the 1″ pieces of asparagus into the boiling water.  Cook until tender.  When everybody is bright and tender, drain them and place them into an ice bath of salted water to shock the veggies.

Put the 1″ pieces of veg into the boiling water.  Cook until tender.  Drop the tips into some boiling salted water and cook them separately; shock them with an ice water bath, too.

Cut the potatoes into chunks and cook in well salted water until fork tender.  Drain the potatoes and cover with the chicken stock.

Put all the veggies and the chicken stock into a blender or food processor and whirl until everything is creamy and smooth.

Pour into serving bowls and chill in the fridge until serving time.  Add the cooked asparagus tips for a garnish.

This soup FEELS in your mouth as if it is a cream soup but there is no dairy in it!  It is cool and refreshing;  highly nourishing and filling.

VARIATION:  If your budget won’t allow for asparagus or you don’t like asparagus you can substitute peas or carrots.  You’ll have fun experimenting and you may discover you like your version better than Chef Ann’s.

Your emails and notes have been heartwarming.  Keep those coming, won’t you?  foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

We also appreciate your comments.  They don’t all get published but rest assured every single message gets read.

You must be pleased with what you find here, for we note that the list of members is growing because you are recommending others to get our infrequent messages.  Thanks, everybody.

Next week the Food Stamps Cooking Club is taking to the road by offering an offline Cooking Class to a group home!  We hope the video will make it possible for you to “participate” in the fun.  Stay tuned!

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.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.


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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Fighting High Cholesterol?

April 7th, 2010

 

 

 

 

 

This dinner plate got rave reviews from The Normanator and The Kid! That means it was certainly fit for human consumption. AND THERE WERE NO LEFTOVERS!

The Clubhouse has a temporary boarder.  Seems the cholesterol count of one of our offspring has skyrocketed.  In lieu of statin drugs, we opted to bring him from his group home and put his toes under our table.  Mother Connie believes wholeheartedly that cholesterol does not rise because the body is lacking in prescription medication.   Bodies need real food to nourish and support every system optimally.

The fun is not only having him with us but in counting the veggies and fruits and discussing what we might prepare for any given meal and even how we’ll use the leftover food!  Our new star boarder has  favored his peeps at his workshop with a video he made, talking about his foods.  He has gone to the extreme of  taking out bragging rights for his high vegetable count!

After choosing and washing and preparing 18 pieces of produce for his consumption in one day, our resident character was pretty sure we could HEAR the cholesterol number tumbling.  We even thought we had FOUND a pile of cholesterol in the guest room.  But we soon learned it was only his soiled laundry.

The plate pictured above is loaded with lots of goodness.  The potatoes have their jackets on and were drizzled with olive oil before they went into a hot oven.  The fish, cod, was baked and topped off with a mixture of buttermilk, mayo and pickle relish with a touch of lemon.

That salad was the show stopper.  I saw SOMEONE take third helpings of that nutrient laden offering.  Here’s how that went together:

MOTHER CONNIE’S VERSION of BROCCOLI SALAD

3  cups fresh broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2  white onion, chopped (red onion would make it prettier)

1  cup raisins

1/2  cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

DRESSING:

1  cup salad dressing or mayo

1/2  cup buttermilk or sour cream

1  tablespoon sugar

rice vinegar-just enough to thin the dressing to the consistency you like.

Mix everything together and drizzle dressing over the vegetables, nuts and raisins.  Allow to chill.   Gently mix again before serving so as to coat every vegetable with the dressing.

This kind of salad is often made with bacon and that’s yummy, too, but this is so quick and easy and economical that you really can’t go wrong.  I see that the grocery store circulars are advertising broccoli for $1.28 per bunch.  That’s a good buy in this neck of the woods.

If you depend on Angel Food Ministries, WIC, or SNAP or even if you use Farmer’s Markets Coupons you are interested to know how to stretch every single dollar meant for food.  Similarly, if your family has food commodities or food from a food pantry you still want to be frugal with your supplies.  It is our aim to help you in this regard.  Everybody wants comfort foods, after all; not uncomfortably high prices!

No doubt you Club Members have food ideas galore.  You are most welcome to share them here.  We love hearing your stories, especially your SUCCESS STORIES and we relish the thoughts of your sending recipes and tips you have found workable in your own kitchens.  We are all in the trenches, kids.  We can help one another if only we reach out.  Our email address is foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com  and we can’t WAIT to hear from YOU.

Connie Baum

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


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Food Stamps Cooking Club: What About Dinner?

March 31st, 2010

 

It's that time of year...spring...but you still have to EAT DINNER!

 

Your humble blogger is so easily amused.  Today I stumbled onto a great way to stretch a vegetable in order to save LOADS of money and amp up the nutrition factor!

Here’s the 411:  I had a small package of zucchini that had not been peeled, so the bright green color was very prominent.  That’s hard to disguise in mashed potatoes or sweet tater casserole so I had to come up with another solution for using that zucchini.  Voila!  I was happy to find a package of frozen spinach!  I emptied both containers into my favorite skillet and cranked up the heat.  I added salt and pepper and a touch of chicken broth.  I made a well in the center for the liquid and added a slurry of cornstarch, more broth, and milk.  The proportions were about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of broth, and a cup of milk.  It cooked and bubbled and smelled divine.  When the veggies were cooked I added just a touch of nutmeg to finish the dish.  We pretended it was gravy and poured it over boiled potatoes.  It made great partners for the pork medallions I had seared and braised.  There was still room on our plates for a carrot/pineapple/raisin salad.  Oh, so good…

You are very probably planning a major meal for this coming weekend, or maybe you are planning a dish to take to a major dinner event.  That’s fine, but you still have to eat dinner on Wednesday and Thursday…we hope you find today’s menu idea useful for your own family.

A few days ago we shared a bean dish.  Oh, MY, but that was a tasty treat!  We are also planning to put this on our back burner soon:

THREE BEAN CHILI

3  15 oz cans beans such as red, black, Northern

1  16 oz jar salsa (if you have your own home made, SUPER)

1  28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1  teaspoon ground cumin

1  teaspoon chili powder

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients plus 2 – 3 cups of water (OR BROTH).  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for  10 – 30 minutes or longer.  Top with shredded cheese.

This is a great idea for those end of the month meals that find you scrounging for meat in a mostly empty freezer compartment.  Also, you could amp up the protein by adding in 1/4 cup or so of brown rice and an extra cup of water.

Here’s hoping you have been able to play in the dirt by getting your garden spot ready or planting a posy in a pot to be set outside.  The weather seems to affect our mood, doesn’t it?

We hope the Food Stamps Cooking Club affects your mood, too!  It is our hope that you are encouraged and inspired by our little messages.

We cater to users of WIC, SNAP, Angel Food Ministries, and people who eat food pantry food and food commodities.  We even call out to those who have Farmers Markets Coupons but we also want to appeal to those who pinch  every penny of the food dollar.  We hope to gain favor with those who love to cook and those who hate to cook. We want your life to be fun and flavorful and filled with joy!

Hearing from you will make our day: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

We also shamelessly beg for your comments on this page!  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 affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Looking for Bargains?

March 24th, 2010

 

 

Who of us isn't snooping around for a bargain?

Raise your hand if you love a bargain!

Some of the best things about any Wednesday newspaper are the sale circulars and the food section, with all those great ideas, bargain prices and recipes.  Today’s Lincoln Journal Star featured root veggies and even though it was close to breakfast, I was fantasizing about tonight’s dinner.

The recipe featured on the front page of the Food Section came from Deborah Madison, who wrote “What We Eat When We Eat Alone.”  I found that idea very interesting because my notion of what I might eat, were I alone, might be cold cereal or PB & J.  But that’s just me.

ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES

Prep: 15 minutes * Cook: under an hour  * Serves 2

2 or 3 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into chunks

1 russet potato or fingerlings, cut into chunks

1 onion, cut into thick wedges with root end intact

1 head garlic, cloves separated

1 turnip, peeled and cut into wedges

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into 2″ rounds, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

SIDEBAR:  STOP!  There is no Food Police lurking in your kitchen.  If you do not have sea salt or a pepper grinder or olive oil, find a way to manage with whatever you DO have.  This  is food we are working with.  Be adaptable, particularly if you are watching every penny of your food budget.  If you have more than 2 mouths to feed, enlarge the recipe accordingly. And for heaven’s sake, have some fun with your food! END SIDEBAR.

Continuing:

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Place vegetables in shallow baking dish or sheet pan in a single layer.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top.

Roast, turning every 15 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and tender when pierced with a knife.  This will take about 45 to 55 minutes.

Author Madison has these tips for cooking with root foods:

  • Cooking with leftovers is easy.  When baking sweet potatoes, make extra and refrigerate for later use.
  • Thyme makes a great herb to use with root veggies.  The earthy flavor grounds the roots’ sweetness
  • Winter turnips and rutabagas have tough skins; you should peel off 1/8″ before cooking them.
  • Parsnips roast more quickly than carrots, so if you cook those 2 together you can cut the parsnips into larger pieces.

If you are using WIC or SNAP or food commodities or food pantry food, we hope these ideas are useful for you.  Furthermore, if you avail yourselves of Farmers Markets Coupons or Angel Food Ministries or the Wednesday food section of the newspapers we hope you are benefited by the information on this blog as well as the occasional messages we broadcast.  Your mail indicates to us that you are pleased and that melts our hearts, for that is the whole mission for this project.

You may be interested to read The Healthy and Wealthy You or Mother Connie Sez if you like the Food Stamps Cooking Club.  We hope you remember to leave your comments and we hope you leave your name and email address so you get all the information we pass along.  We never mean to intrude; we only wish to inform and enlighten.

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 affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.

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Food Stamps Cooking Club and the SuperBowl?

February 3rd, 2010

SuperBowl Sunday Approaches! WHO DAT?

Most every household has Super Bowl Sunday on their radar.  All us foodies are thinking about what we’ll eat.  The media is full of ideas.  The thing is, if you are using SNAP or WIC or any of the other food assistance program, you may have more limited choices than those who are living off their ginormous Trust Funds.  Still, we crave our comfort foods…Oh, what to DO?

I have some ideas about potatoes, which we’d love to share below.  Before we do that, however, let’s mention that Super Bowl Sunday is no reason to go all out for high calorie, low nutrition foods.    You can do very well with pickles and olives; people will be happy to eat raw veggies and fruit pieces as well as popcorn before the main event of a soup or pasta entree!  Please don’t feel obligated to put out expensive chips and dips or have pizzas delivered when all that may mean you eat more oatmeal or cheap weenies to keep a handle on the rest of your month’s budget.  I’m just sayin’…

HOW ABOUT A SOUPER BOWL POTATO BAR?

  1. Chili over baked potatoes can be divine!  With toppings of chili, cheese, sour cream these are filling, nourishing and comforting!  Even bean soups or lentils over baked taters is delish!  Have you ever tasted cauliflower soup over potatoes?  OH, be still my heart!
  2. Twice baked potatoes, stuffed with cheese can be a crowd pleaser without busting the budget!
  3. Potato skins make great appetizers; save the stuffing for baked potato soup!  Add in a few chunks of wieners or ham for added protein.  YUM.
  4. Baked potatoes topped off with cottage cheese, chives, onions, sweet peppers; even corn make pretty plates of hearty eating.
  5. A pot of potato soup with sandwich fixings nearby can facilitate the fans filling their own plates.  No need for anyone to miss any football action playing Host.

Being users of assistance programs,  such as food commodities, food pantries, Farmers Markets, or even Angel Food Ministries foods need not dampen our enthusiasm for a rockin’ good Super Bowl Party.

What will YOU be eating while you root for your team?

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.  Please do your due diligence when conducting your affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.





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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Gas Burners, Sandra?

February 2nd, 2010

 

 

Sandra is cookin' on all four burners with another winning dish!

Sandra’s bean dishes were well received yesterday.  Today we are showcasing a casserole Sandra was kind enough to share with us:

HEAVENLY POTATO AND HAM DISH

1   package hashbrown potatoes (or your own homemade)


1   package of salad ham (or your own cubed and diced ham – maybe a cup or so)


1   can cream of chicken soup


1   can cream of mushroom soup


1   16 ounce container sour cream


Parmesan cheese


Bread crumbs or cracker crumbs

Stir potatoes, ham, soups, sour cream together and place in sprayed/greased casserole dish. Top with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake at 350. If you are using frozen potatoes you will need at least an hour. If you are using your own freshly cooked or leftover baked potatoes, etc, you will probably only need 30 minutes.

WOW!  Get your bibs and your forks!  This sounds like something the whole family will want to dig into!

For users of WIC and SNAP; for people who pinch every penny of their food budgets; those who utilize Farmers Markets and Angel Food Ministries this is a great use of those provisions.  Even if you have food from a food pantry or use food commodities, this is a recipe you can use and/or adapt.  Be creative, just like Sandra to see how many ways you can satisfy your hungry gang with less!

We are heartened by the numbers of you who have opted in to receive our occasional messages.  We hope we are helpful to you and yours in a stinky economic climate.

If you enjoy this blog, the chances are good you will find Mother Connie Sez of interest.  There is also The Healthy and Wealthy You, which could pique your interest, as well.  We love visitors and we adore comments, so do not hold back!

If YOU have food ideas to share, send them to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching…what foods will your family be thinking about for that special day?

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 affairs online or offline.  Do business only with those you trust implicitly.


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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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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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