Food & Rodents!

Did anyone watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on Friday evening? It's such a great show. I learned how to make processed food from scratch! You just take the back, bones, skin, and anything else no one would want to eat from a chicken, throw it in a food processor and grind it up into mush. Then you push all that gunk through a colander, so as not to choke on a bone that didn't grind up well enough. Add a few powdered items so it'll stick together like pie dough, roll it out, and cut it into circular shapes with a cookie cutter. Then roll it in breading and fry it. Viola' you have chicken nuggets. I've always wondered what part of the chickens gave us those perfectly round shapes. OK - YES I AM BEING SARCASTIC! It really was a GREAT show. I know in America we have a huge weight problem, me included, and Jamie, bless his heart, is trying to help. The least we can do is take an hour out of our evening on Fridays and learn something! It's a weekly series. There was a family on the show that ate nothing but processed food and guess what folks....the overweight boy in the family is borderline diabetic. The Dr. informed them that if he doesn't change his eating habits and lose weight, it will take 30 - 40 years off of his life. Yes years. And yes I said "boy."

On another food note, our local Farmers Market starts this Saturday, April 3. I would like to throw out some challenges for everyone.

1. Grow at least one edible item this year, or buy local. By local I'm talking about from your local farmers, farmers market, etc. Not your local fast food chain.

2. Read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver (or get it on cd and listen to it)

3. Read "Harvest for Hope" by Jane Goodall

4. Watch "Food, Inc." (we rented it at our local video store)

Educate yourself on REAL food. Michael Pollan, another food author, says we have three votes a day, every time we pick up our fork. Let's all change our eating habits together!

Now, on a lighter note, I would like to introduce you to someone (thing) that I have known for years. Meet Stubby.

I know, Stubby is not a pretty name, but we called him/her (I think her) that because she has lost most of her tail. She has been in our neighborhood forever and she is not afraid of us. She is old. Very old. And becoming lazy as you can see by the photo. She laid down to eat one of my home-made dog biscuits. And no, we don't have a dog (yet!) but I made them for a craft show I had back in November. I've been feeding the leftovers to Stubby, along with a few peanuts. Stub wouldn't leave us alone at the craft show! It was on our front porch, and we had to close the door to the porch to make her go away. So cute....for a rodent.

Cindy

PS - Tomorrow I'll post a good muffin recipe from scratch.