Yoga Mat Stuff in our Food....

The thought is disgusting me.. but new research has shown that yes, materials that are found in "yoga mats, and Flip flops, have now been incorporated in over 500 foods that most of us probably eat every day.
Last night when the story first aired on our local news, Senior told me right away...  I had to push "pause" on the remote because "Vikings" was airing..and well you all know I was not missing that. 
So I went to see the news on the TV in his man cave...and Cringed :

Click here to read about it:
WANNA YOGA MAT SANDWICH?

Ya know-Michelle Obama is so dang worried about obesity...she needs to make it her mission to get this and other chemicals out of the foods that are being sold..... 

Food Throw down...

I can always blog about politics and etcetera, more scandals are rocking the White House. The administration can not keep hiding behind the "I did not know" curtain forever. One day it will catch up to them. My mother use to say " Your sins will find you out"...  darn if over the years she did not prove to be right with that statement.

Anyways, I have been on a cooking streak this week. I guess because I have been tired of the same ole things and wanted food we had not cooked in a while. It started Tuesday night with some Southern food.
I pan fried smoked sausage, added in sliced potatoes. Boiled up some collard greens, and did a pan of fried corn bread.  Then topped all that off with a big glass of Sweet Tea.
ND and NW made their corn bread better by squirting honey on it...that does make it yummeh.  What can I say, the kids know how to liven up food.  There wasn't any left overs at all. Every one stuffed themselves silly with this mess.  My Man, SENIOR  thanked me with a big wet kiss on the cheek!..  So it must have been good.

The other day my good gurlie buddy and favorite canadien  KYMBER did a post about making spaghetti and meatballs..which prompted me to remember that it had been years since I made "Meatball Subs".  So I got back to the half of me that is Italian and whipped some up last night.

 I mix my own meat and add garlic powder, Italian spices and Parmesan cheese to them. I then let them soak in spaghetti sauce for about an hour.

Then I take my sub rolls, line them with mozzarella cheese and bake them in the oven for about 10-15 min. on 350 degrees, Until the buns are slightly toasted and the cheese is melted. Then I slop my meat balls and sauce on top, and sprinkle more Parmesan cheese.   The boys had never had a meatball sub before, NW was begging for another one, and ND ate 3/4 of his. I also chopped up my first cucumber and added it to salad...  

Boy ! was I a hit at the dinner table.. SENIOR virtually inhaled his and told me repeatedly that is one of the best subs he had ever had. And, gave me another big wet kiss on the cheek.  I was asked to please make them again.  : )  

 

Andiamo a Mangiare!   Godere !

 

Ciao!

-JUGM

 

 

 

 





Beginning Prepping 101 PT. 1 : Rice, Rice and More Rice !

Time to check your tears at the door. BO is back for 4 more years and there is nothing we can do about it. Now is the moment if you haven't all ready to think of food storage for you and your loved ones. If our economy hasn't awoken you to the idea, then look no farther then those folks in the Northeast and the conditions they are now living in due to mother nature. I betcha 9 out of 10 of them never thought it could happen, and they expected the government they voted for this week would swoop  in on white horses to help them out...well, we can see where that is going. So let it all be a lesson to you.

My first food item I recommend to stock pile is RICE, and lots of it.. If it has been good enough for a billion chinese for thousands of years, then its good enough for us. It is a dry grain and if stored correctly can be saved for 15 -25 years.

Rice is a staple in most of our cabinets. You can add it to any main course, or meat. ND and NW love plain ole rice and gravy more then anything. I love plain white rice with a little bit of butter. We eat rice at least 2-3 times per week in one form or the other. Whether its done in my rice cooker, or some sort of boxed dinner mix...
Plus, you can mix plain white rice with  boiled chicken and feed your dog.

Senior and I go to SAMS club and buy the large commercial size bags.We use to go out to COSTCO, but the drive was just getting to be too much.  We then bring it home and separate it down to manageable sizes, by pouring it in to mylar bags, and adding oxygen eaters. Occasionally we will use the extra large bags, but we have recently  began to use the smaller zip lock bags and can do smaller portions which is more manageable for small families like ours. 
I have blogged about it before and here are the links to the posts:

Storing Rice and Sugar

Mylar Bags

We ordered our mylar bags from USA EMERGENCY they are really nice folks that carry
a cornucopia of storing supplies and emergency essentials which can help get you started on  your own food storage. You can also get the oxygen eaters from these fine people.

Another good tip: start buying and saving those 5 gallon buckets..You can  buy them at any home improvement stores, or go to your local bakery..they get all their cake frosting and cake mixes in the same size buckets. Ask the owner or manager if they are willing to either give you some or sell you some. We scored once by doing this and brought home 20 + buckets.
You can go to Home Dept for lids...Senior and I found these awesome Gamma Lids..which If they are affordable for you I recommend spending the extra money and getting these instead of the normal bucket lids.

Now that we have all our rice sealed in our mylar bags and buckets Senior adds our food items to  the most fascinating food storage list he created on excel. You want to know how much you have stored and how long will it sustain you. He just did a post about it, so swing over to his blog and check it out: SENIORS FOOD STORAGE EXCEL FILE

I hope this first lesson has helped some of you out, even if it is just one person..then I will consider it a success.

So Good Luck In your beginning prepping items, and If you have any questions just ask...REMEMBER: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DUMB QUESTION, ONLY DUMB PEOPLE..    :  )

Corn Fritters and Collard Greens...

I kept getting the age old question.."Whats for dinner"...  I hear it a hundred times a day. I have never been one to plan out meals, I have tried, but it has never taken hold with me...why I don't know. I guess I am a spontaneous kind of girl.

So, last night I decided to cook something truely southern.
I used to spend my summers up in a little town called Easley, SC. My grandmother would make the most delicious corn fritters known to man. Her fried chicken and mac and cheese wasnt bad either, but there was just something about a stack of her fritters slathered with butter..I feel my arteries clogging as I type this....lol
 When I told the boys about them, they thought the idea of corn in a pancakes was super cool. So, I mixed some up.

 The boys thought this corn fritter came out looking like a bad "bigfoot" print..lol

 Then threw on some home grown collards, and took out some fresh smoked sausauges. hmmmmmmm  To add to the mix, I fried senior up some okra..And of course it was all topped off with sweet ice tea.  Can't go wrong with some good refreshing ice tea on a hot summer day. That also brings back the childhood memories, my grandmothers ice tea was so sweet, we always swore that woman must have put 5lbs of sugar in it. In the evening we would sit together on her porch swing, or chase lighening bugs, and sip on her good tea.

The last batch of my collards I grew over last winter.. hmmmm

So, now here we are its 11am On Sunday and again it all starts over..."Whats for dinner" ???????   : )