For the Love of Food

So, I have been reading about this whole “Food stamp Challenge” on quite a few blogs lately. It seems that US-Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski rekindled it by challenging himself to eat on $3 a day. Apparently it was very difficult and he found out that many families across the US are not able to feed themselves or their families properly on $3/day/person. This struck me as odd. Rice and beans are cheap as hell, so there should be plenty of money left over for some meat and fresh produce, right?

Now, I don’t live in the US anymore…it’s been a few years, but I remember going shopping for my college Co-Op and having $300 for 1 week for 15 women…that’s a little over $0.95 a serving per day per person for food, toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, laundry detergent, plastic bags, etc. We bought all breakfast items, vegetarian quick-foods, lunch items, and dinner had to contain both a meat and a vegetarian option and make enough for 15 people plus left overs (aka 30 people) – oh, and dinners were not allowed to cost more than $30. We never bought in bulk, and we only bought from one grocery store. Granted, the more people you have the easier it is to buy more for less…at least I think it is.

I think a “diet” like this seems difficult, or impossible, to many people because we don’t realize how much we over or under eat in certain food groups. For example, did you know that the USDA recommends to only eat about 5-6 oz (141-170 grams) (that’s a little over 1/4th a pound) of protein a DAY (meat and beans)? And, recommends 6-7 oz (170-198 grams) (that’s less than 1/2 a pound) of grains a day. I also feel that people don’t realize how much some of the “little things” add up, like store-bought salad dressing, BBQ sauce, and canned foods like canned beans (dry beans are MUCH cheaper).

Does the Euro buy you more than the Dollar?

Well, in theory, if I was on vacation in the US today, then, yes, €1 would buy me about $1.35 $1.37. But, I’m not on vacation in the US, I’m grocery shopping in Germany which taxes all food items at 7% and other items at 19%. Now, if I were buying a computer, €2000 would buy me the same laptop that $2000 would…I may even have to pay a bit more because of sales tax. But, when it comes to food, I think I can buy more for my money here than in the US. My husband and I discussed this for quite a while the other evening over dinner. Does the agriculture industry in Germany/Europe receive more subsidies than its US counterpart?? I really don’t know. I’d really like to know what you pay for food in other countries, especially in the US (let me know in the comments to this post!).

Last week we ate as we do every other week, and this is what it cost us: €40,75 (€20,38/person)
I also need to add, that I buy my meat from a local butcher that only buys their meat that they process from local farmers that use no hormones, animals are treated kindly, and the animals have plenty of room to be themselves (I plan on checking this out for myself this summer at the yearly “Tag der offene Stalltür” when all farmers open their doors for you to check-out their livestock and produce). They also add no preservatives, taste enhancers, or other unnatural ingredients to their foods. They are not the cheapest option, but they sell the best tasting and healthiest meat in town. I also frequent the open-air market, but not every week.

Why set limits?

Many bloggers who took the “food stamp diet challenge” set limits for themselves that I don’t really agree with. Why shouldn’t you be able to buy in bulk? A family of 5 can buy an 88 pound (40 kilo) bag of Jasmin rice in the town where I live for €20. For a family of 5 that would only take 1.3 day’s worth of food stamps to pay for and it would last much longer than 2 months.

Gardening was also disqualified.

I don’t know too many people who don’t live in a home without windows. There is quite a lot that can grow on a windowsill, balcony, terrace, or garden. Yes, even lettuce grows in a windowsill container without a problem. And, you only have to buy the materials you need once, then reuse them every year. Seeds are much cheaper than buying already grown vegetable plants, so, all you need is some planning and you will have delicious food that is a fraction of the cost of buying it. For example: I have a community garden plot in my city’s inter-cultural garden. The land was donated by the city, another organization donated all the equipment, yet another organization built-up the land for us as well as the sheds that we have. This is supposed to cost us €25/year, but I have yet to be billed. We get the water ourselves with watering cans from a neighboring river, so water costs us nothing. Just to drive my point a bit further: I bought a packet of 800 Bibb Lettuce seeds for €0,70. If I were to plant them all, and they were all to grow, each head of lettuce would have only cost me €0,000875…let’s just round it up to 1 cent a head for good measure. Last time I lived in the US, I could buy a head of Romain lettuce for $1.29. If Bibb lettuce in the US costs the same, I could grow and eat 129 heads of lettuce for the price of buying 1 head of lettuce. Currently, Bibb lettuce costs €0,45/head at my local cheap grocery store as well as at the open-air market.
Planning and Patience are important.

I only plan for 7 meals and 1 breakfast. That is, 1 breakfast item that I eat every day for breakfast, and 7 meals that I make twice as much of to have for dinner and then for lunch the next day. 90% of what we eat is homemade – that really makes a huge difference in cost.
Ok, so, without further adieu, this is what we ate for €40,75 last week:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk and strawberries €0,17/serving

Monday: Souvlaki with Tzatziki sauce, Dönner bread, and Salad – €1,49/serving

Tuesday: Caprese Sandwich – €0,87/serving

Wednesday: Fried Tacos – €1,84/serving

Thursday: Schnitzel with Rice and Beans – €1,53/serving

Friday: Mushroom Chicken in Wine Sauce with Rice and Salad – €1,45/serving

Saturday: Ribs with Dönner bread – €1,01/serving + plus one €0,65 alcohol-free beer for myself and one €0,50 beer for my husband (1/2L)

Sunday: Greek Potatoes with Tzatziki sauce – €1,56/serving

**My family is in town this and next week, so I will be posting the recipes as well as detailed price lists in the weeks to come. Don’t be surprised if I don’t post anything until August 1st.

Ok, I’m, now officially on vacation!

As a cook and food-blogger, I hate days like this.

I just had a crummy day – no need to explain – we all have them every so often. But, what really bothers me about days like this?? When I make great food, and can’t remember how on earth I did it! I remember something about some lemon & paprika, but what else?? The day was too much of a haze to remember.

Sorry folks, it just happens sometimes.

The picture is of some of the chicken as leftovers on a bed of young Romain lettuce from my community garden plot.

Why not both? Actually, it’s tea that tastes like coffee. To be more specific, it’s fruit and grain tea that has been roasted to taste like coffee. It’s great because there’s no caffeine. So, if there’s no caffeine, why on earth would I want to drink it?? Because I love the taste of coffee, of course!

Don’t get me wrong, I love caffeine, but in small amounts…like the amounts found in most sodas and some teas. But, coffee just has too much caffeine for me. The last time I had half a cup of coffee diluted with half a cup of milk, I was unable to sleep. I had it at around 14:00, and by 20:00, I still felt like I needed a long 200 kilometer long jog! So, I exercised on my cross trainer for an hour, but that didn’t work. So, we went to dinner at our local Irish pub, and I had a few ciders, but that didn’t work. Neither did the extra beer I had after that. Luckily at 14:00 the next day I “crashed”. I was finally so exhausted from my 24 coffee-high, and I could finally sleep, but I was at work…and my brain was just fried. So, I called it a day early.

A coworker of mine recommended this tea to me. And it tastes great. I can get it at my local organic food store, and it comes in an instant stir-in version, and a coffee filter version for those of you who still want to use their coffee machines.

I made some for my mom last year, and she loved it. That says quite a lot since my mom’s Colombian and has been drinking coffee for as long as she can remember.

Well, all this talk has made me thirsty, so I’m going to go make myself a cup!

It’s amazing how little it takes to create a delicious meal. I’ve been experimenting with some new ideas lately, and this is what I came up with today. Roasted Tomato Pesto.

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized Tomatoes
1/3 a Cup of fresh Basil leaves
1/4 a teaspoon of whole Pink Peppercorns
1/4 a teaspoon of whole Black Peppercorns
1/2 a teaspoon of Salt
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
1/8 teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 teaspoon of Garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of Onion powder
250 grams of dry Spaghetti
strands of fresh Mozzarella

Directions:
Place the 2 tomatoes on a piece of aluminum foil in the oven and set to broil/grill on highest heat. 5 minutes on each side so that the skin blackens.
Boil about 8 cups of water in a medium sized pot. Once water is boiling, add spaghetti and cook about 5-8 minutes, or until al dente. Drain the spaghetti in a colander, and quickly rinse spaghetti with cold water. Then, return spaghetti to the pot and cover with the lid (keep of heat or the spaghetti will burn to the bottom of the pot).
In a food processor, combine salt, peppercorns, pepper flakes, and garlic and onion powders and pules until the peppercorns have been shredded to flakes. Add fresh basil leaves, and pules until they have almost been reduced to a paste. To help, add the olive oil, and pules some more. Then, add the 2 grilled tomatoes (it’s ok to add them hot, just be careful), and blend until pureed.
Pour over spaghetti and mix to completely coat the spaghetti. Garnish with fresh mozzarella strands if desired.

Serves 2-3.

That’s right, I’ll say it again, salads are meant to be folded. No chopping, no cutting, no tearing. And how on earth do you fold and entire leaf of lettuce anyways?? Very carefully. And, with the help of a fork and knife or fork and piece of baguette.

For my European readers out there, this does not seem odd to you at all, but for my American reader, this may just sound plain bizarre. And, where did I learn this you ask? I learned this from my host family in France when I studied there in college. I remember my French professor telling us that in France it was rude to cut your salad with a fork and knife while eating, and I always wondered why on earth he would give us that tip. I mean, if the leave of lettuce are torn or cut into smaller pieces, why would you even need a knife to eat a salad?? Well, when I got there, I found out. Lettuce leaves are either left whole, or only torn in half – which can still be too large to fit in our mouth. Or, you may end up with a large leaf of lettuce glued to your face – that actually sounds kind of funny, while I’m thinking about it, but it would not look too great while eating your lunch in a brasserie in Lyon.

So, how on earth did this salad-folding art come to be? I really have no idea, but I’ll take a stab at it. Here are my theories:
- it slows you down while you’re eating and lets you enjoy and properly digest your meal, salad folding is not for those in a hurry
- leaves of lettuce were smaller back in the days before greenhouse growing, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers. Meaning that heads of lettuce had to be harvested earlier to ensure a good crop.
- Old nobility thought it would be just another great way to distinguish themselves from the “common folk”
- laziness
- a combination of all of the above

If you would like to try to learn the “art” of salad folding, I have a few suggestions:
- start off small: young lettuce has softer more flexible leaves
- the heart of the matter: avoid the hearts of larger lettuce because they will be very hard and crunchy
- a piece of bread a day keeps frustration at bay: if you just can’t seem to coax that piece of lettuce onto your fork with your knife, just a slice of baguette. Because of its flexibility (if it’s not an old baguette), it will allow you to maneuver more freely.
- watch and learn: (this is pretty self explanatory)

Before you embark on your next European vacation, practice at home! Here is a great recipe to try out, but (almost) any salad will do.

Ingredients:
1 young head of Romain Lettuce
1/4th a Cucumber, cut into thin slivers
About 10 small Olives
1 ball of water-packed Mozzarella, torn into strings
2-4 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 dried Pink Peppercorns, crushed
1/4 teaspoon of dried Thyme

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss.

Makes 1 main dish or 2-3 side dishes.

No no, I have not gone crazy… But, I do love water! I love drinking a cold glass of it while sitting at my computer, but sometimes it just gets in the way. I can’t get those last drops out without tilting my head back or having a glass blocking my view of the monitor. I know it’s only a few seconds, but I like water to be tasted, enjoyed, and not seen.

So, I decided to do a little experiment on a hot spring day. I filled up different glasses with cold water, and leisurely drank them as I surfed the web and seeing how they affected my surfing experience. The smaller glasses are meant for sipping small amounts of a beverage, but to get those last drops, you have to tilt your head back. I had a similar problem with the white wine glass. The stone tea glass is a 2-handed glass…so, until Firefox learns to read my mind while surfing the web – 2-handed glasses are out of the question. The Ikea glass, while heavy, stable, and holding a large capacity, just gets in the way because I can’t see my monitor through the bottom of the glass.
My favorite glass of the bunch – the martini glass. Martini glasses, in my mind, are not just meant for cocktails and ‘tinis. They’re meant for sipping any deliciously cold beverage slowly. And, the glass never gets in the way. It’s only down side – constantly having to refill it since it’s so easy to down quickly down the water in the glass.

So, next time you look in you cupboard for a water glass, don’t over look your martini glasses. Not only can you drink you water in visual peace but you can drink it in style!

Eating Ice Cream has been a spectator sport for me this Spring and Summer. Since I haven’t been able to eat any sugar since Easter 2007, there have been some treats that I have been subject to watching people eat, but not being able to myself.

After watching people walk around town under the hot sun with ice cream cones in hand, and wishing I could just have one tiny scoop, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

So, I made my own ice cream with agave nectar.

The ice cream is good (to me), but since I don’t get to eat sweets, anything that is remotely sweet is like a piece of heaven to me! So, I had to rely on the criticism of my friend and husband with whom I shared my blueberry agave ice cream. According to them, it tasted too much like sweet cream and not enough of blueberry. Since I didn’t use a recipe and have never made ice cream with fruit, I was unsure of any ratios. For next time I know that I will need much much more fruit to get it to look at taste fruity (I had to add some food coloring to make it look like it does….food coloring’s fun).

So, I’ll file this under my test recipes, and once I’ve eaten this batch, I’ll try to tweak the next one to perfection.

I’m really interested to see the other recipes that will be entered in this month’s Monthly Mingle. I hope to find one or two to add to my collection!

Happy 4th of July everyone!
Blueberry Agave Ice Cream:

Ingredients:
1 Cup of fresh Blueberries, pureed
1/2 a Cup of Agave Nectar (for those of you who CAN eat sugar, you can substitute with honey or maple syrup)
1/2 a teaspoon of blue food coloring
1/4 a teaspoon of red food coloring
600 grams of Whipping Cream
1 Cup of Whole Milk

Directions:
Everything should be chilled a head of time in the refrigerator, and them placed in the freezer about 15 minutes before preparation to try to bring the temperature down some more.
I used my KitchenAid ice cream attachment. It was pre-frozen. I set it to stir and added all the cream. Then, I added the blueberry puree, food coloring, and agave nectar and let it mix in. Finally, I added the milk, and let it stir for 5 minutes. I then raised the speed to 2 and let it go for another 5 minutes. I then lowered the speed back down to “stir”, and let it go for 20 minutes. At this point it will not really thicken anymore without a longer freeze. So, I removed it from the ice cream container and placed it in a large seal able plastic container and froze it over night. And, voi la! Blueberry ice cream.
In retrospect, I would have added 3-4 cups of blueberries for more flavor. This may have caused me to reduce the milk so that the ice cream would not over flow from the container.

Anyways, try it yourself, and tell me how you did it! I’d love to know!

This is a really great, simple, and super quick soup that I came up with while I was pregnant….yes, that is when we cooks become most “creative” . Actually, it is my take on a favorite Ramen noodle dish that contains MSG and lots of other really health preservatives. This is my homemade version.

Ingredients:
6 Cups of Water
6 teaspoons of Chicken bullion (without MSG)
100 grams of Vermicelli or Ramen-type noodles
2 teaspoons of Sambal Ölek
1 Lime, cut into wedges

Directions:
Boil water and bullion together in a medium-sized pot. Add noodles and cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Serve in bowls placing 1 teaspoon of Sambal Ölek in each bowl – stir to mix. Squeeze in 1-3 lime wedges into each bowl of soup. Enjoy immediately! If you let the fresh lime juice sit in the warm soup too long, it will lose it’s tangy-ness.

Makes 2 main dish servings.