Chapati Time

Have you ever noticed that it's the little things in every day life that trigger memories?  Well for me sometimes it's the opposite, it's the major things in my life that often remind me of the little memories that I had forgotten.  For example, I carry my grandmother with me in my heart.  Even though she's been gone for a while, she's right there with me every day, her words of wisdom constantly ringing in my ears.  So the other day, I was thinking of her having been a missionary's kid, living in India until she was 21, and then it made me hungry for Indian food, so I decided I wanted to make chapati (yes, this is how my mind works on a regular basis).

Did you know that if you have this:

You can make these in less than 30 mins?!

Here's a recipe for basic Chapati, but feel free to mix in 1/4 t. ground cardamom or curry powder to give it a little flavor.  These flat-breads are very plain on their own.  My husband says that they're somewhere between a tortilla and a pita with regards to texture and taste.  Get creative filling them with whatever you want, from traditional Indian fare to a Caesar salad.

Chapati

2 c Wheat flour (you can use whole wheat flour, white flour or a blend of the two, depending on the texture that you like)
1 t Salt
2 T olive oil
2/3 c liquid, enough to make an elastic dough-this will fluxuate depending on the current humidity. (I've found that about 1/3 c milk and 2/3 c water produces a decently pliable product.  You can add yogurt instead of milk, all milk, all water, etc.  Again, experiment with the proportions until you get a texture that you like)


Instructions

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl outfitted with a dough hook.

Add the olive oil and enough liquid to create an elastic dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl when you mix it.

 Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface & knead a few times.  Divide dough into equal balls, depending on the size chapati you desire (smaller if you're dipping them, larger if you're filling them.)  6 balls will yield chapati that is big enough to fill.  Let the dough rest about 5-10 mins (not too long or it will dry out).

 Roll out the dough as thin as you can get it, think tortilla thin.  The dough stretched a bit more as I pulled it off the counter, but with these, the thinner the better.

Heat a griddle to medium and add a little olive oil so that things don't stick.  Place dough disk on the griddle & cook for about 30 seconds or until it starts to brown.

Flip & cook for an additional 30 seconds or so, too long & the chapati will get crispy and brittle.

















Trust me, these are pretty darn easy to make & so versatile that they'll surely become a staple in your lunch box.  I filled mine with a mixture of potatoes, onion, carrots, peas, whole tomatoes and spices...is it lunch time yet?  Enjoy.

A Little Daily Food For the Soul

I've begun reading the Tao Te Ching (Barnes & Noble Classics edition) which houses the central tenets of Taoism.  Legend has it, when Lao Tzu (meaning "Old Master") decided to leave his native territory (on a water buffalo no less), he was stopped by the gate guard and asked to write down his teachings.  The result was the Tao Te Ching.  There is so much legend swirling around the legendary Tao master, including a story that his mother carried him in her womb until he was 72; he came out an old man, replete with white hair.  Taoism, as I've learned from my limited research, is a school of thought which concentrates on the power of inaction, although "power" itself goes against Taoist teachings because it promotes an inferiority in the self.  There is no question that this text is beautifully written, if at some times cryptic.  I've decided to digest it a few chapters at a time, especially since there's so much mysticism and deeper meanings in each of the chapters.  I thought I'd offer you something to think about, maybe to ask that you join me in my journey.

Chapter 1

The Tao the can be followed is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth
While naming is the origin of the myriad things.
Therefore, always desireless, you see the mystery
Ever desiring, you see the manifestations.
These two are the same-
When they appear they are named differently.

This sameness is the mystery,
Mystery within mystery;

The door to all marvels.



Chapter2

All in the world recognize the beautiful as beautiful.
Herein lies ugliness.
All recognize the good as good.
Herein lies evil.


Therfore
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficulty and ease bring about each other.
Long and short delimit each other.
High and low rest on each other.
Sound and voice harmonize each other.
Front and back follow each other.


Therefore the sage abides in the condition of wu-wei
(unattached action).
And carries out the wordless teaching.
Here, the myriad things are made, yet not separated.


Therefore the sage produces without posessing,
Acts without expectations
And accomplishes without abiding in her
accomplishments.


It is precisely because she does not abide in them
That they never leave her.




  Any thoughts on this?  Chapter 1 is particularly confusing to me, probably because the idea is so foreign to me.  What divine entity that we are seeking can never be found or named because whatever our idea of what the divine nature is is so narrowly defined that it can't possibly be what we're seeking.  To speak in terms that I'm familiar with, God is so vast, so immense, so all consuming that we, as human beings with limited universal knowledge, can't possibly even begin to paint a picture of what He is.  We, because it is in our nature, attempt to draw a picture of what God/the Divine is, giving Him hair, feet, feelings, actions, reactions, all based on what we know, and we convince ourselves that surely this is who God is.  Oh how mistaken we are.  Does this mean that it is wrong of us to do so?  I think that "wrong" is relative.  It is in our nature to want to know and define.  What the Tao Te Ching is pointing out, however, is that whatever formulations and manifestations that we come up with aren't necessarily wrong, just not the whole picture.  It would be like saying that you know the oceans because you've dipped your toes in a creek that feeds to a stream that empties into a river that flows to a gulf that opens to the ocean.  We should focus more on taking in and observing all of life's mysteries, accepting that everything around us and beyond is all part of the divine, the higher power.


I love the message of Chapter 2.  We are all quick to point out what is beautiful, we all agree, for the most part, on what is beautiful.  The problem, the ugliness, in this is that things are so much more deep than being "beautiful" or "good."  When we label an object or an abstract, we miss everything else about it, all the subtitles that lie outside our narrowly defined box.  Our world is made up of more than just dualities, in fact, as the text illustrates, the dualities that exist in our world rely on each other for existence and validation.  The enlightened are able to learn all the subtle details in the world and universe without confining them to a human definition.  This is true knowledge.


To me, the concepts held within this text are so simplistic in nature yet their underlying meanings hold so much more knowledge than one can obtain at first glance.  The idea of getting away from labeling things and abstracts is such a foreign one, especially since it is within our very nature and habit to do so.  But imagine the wealth of knowledge and information that you can open yourself up to if you just do away with the constraints of the labels of things.  How wonderful a journey life could be if we could break free from our small, narrowly focused tendencies.

Tiramisu Me, Baby, One More Time

I'm not going to lie, people usually devour my tiramisu, leaving no scraps or streaks of the delicious concoction left to be had.  They compliment my supreme talents profusely & beg and plead for the recipe (obviously something this good has to be a family secret, right?  Yes, a family secret from a German/Scandinavian/Vietnamese family, that's it.)  You too can make this mana from Heaven because I'm going to let you in on a little secret:  I just follow the recipe on the Bel Gioioso marscapone cheese (8 oz) package.  It's super easy, impressive and so tasty that you'll be the hit of any occasion.  Do I feel shameful for taking the credit for a readily available recipe that has probably been recreated by thousands of people?  Heck no!  Of course I put my own little spin on it to make it my own, French pressing the espresso and substituting amaretto for the brandy.  Seriously, this is a great basic recipe for quick and delectable tiramisu.  Give it a try & you'll never be able to say that you don't have time to whip up a homemade dessert.

Tiramisu

3 large eggs, separated
1 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled (I put about 1/3 cup of espresso grounds to 1 cup of hot water and brew it in my French press which essentially steeps the coffee, resulting in a stronger flavor)
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 T cognac or brandy (any liqueur will do.  I've used amaretto, cointreau, coffee liqueur, chambord, etc)
8 oz. Bel Gioioso marscapone cheese
1 pkg. lady fingers (about 20 cookies, give or take) Note: you could substitute the lady fingers for amaretti cookies if you're using amaretto liqueur and want more almond flavor
natural cocoa for dusting

Mix together the egg yolks, 1T cooled espresso, granulated sugar and liqueur of your choice.  Beat 2-3 minutes, until the sugar is incorporated into the liquid, resulting in a smooth mixture.  Add the marscapone cheese and beat until smooth, about 3-5 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the wire wisk attachment, combine egg whites and a pinch of sugar.  Beat until stiff peaks form.

Add about 1/3 of the egg whites to the marscapone mixture, gently folding it to lighten the rich marscapone mixture.  Fold in the rest of the egg whites until incorporated.  Be careful not to over mix the mixture.  You want it to be light and fluffy.

Carefully dip each side of the ladyfinger (or amaretti cookie) into the remaining cooled espresso and make a layer along the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish (I use glass because it makes a good presentation).  Spread 1/2 of the marscapone mixture over the cookies and then sprinkle with cocoa.  Repeat another time, finishing with the cocoa layer.  If your dish isn't big enough for 2 layers, 1 layer is just find.  Work with what you've got.  Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours (overnight is better), allowing time for the flavors to incorporate.  Serve chilled.

How Many is That in Dog Years?

This year I was feeling particularly geeky & decided to give my dogs a little birthday treat.  For the record, Coco (the one on the right) and I share a birthday, which is how I remember every year.  Unfortunately Lady (dog on the left) doesn't share a birthday with anyone I know, so I always forget.  We end up celebrating both their birthdays on the same day.  I couldn't resist sharing their official birthday photo.  Enjoy!

Take That, Poached Egg

I remember watching "Julie & Julia," the scene where Julie, the main character, attempts to poach an egg.  She, being such a neurotic character anyways, spazzes out about the whole process & after one failed attempt, produces a beautifully sculpted poach egg which she devours despite a lifelong hatred of eggs.  In preparation of a Mother's Day brunch that I'm putting together with my sister for the coming weekend, I decided it was time to master the art of egg poaching...how hard could it be?

Well, pretty darn messy sums it up nicely.  I, being the geek that I am, researched the heck out of egg poaching.  I Googled, I YouTubed, I consulted FoodNetwork.com, MarthaStweart.com, and even Allrecipes.com.  I poured over the poaching techniques in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, reading and rereading it to make sure that the steps were burned into my brain.  I went out and bought some new, organic eggs because apparently old eggs do not congeal enough to poach.  I followed the steps, heated up the water to a simmer but decided to forgo the vinegar part, since it seems like there are two schools of thought regarding the use of white vinegar in poaching an egg-well that & I forgot to pick up the white vinegar when I went grocery shopping.

I carefully cracked the egg and watched it ker-splash into the swirling vat of simmering water (a drop of water even hit me square in the forehead...or was it egg white?  I'm not quite sure) & then disaster struck hard.  Have you ever ordered egg drop soup from a Chinese restaurant?  The egg is thin & wispy, permeating the soup and making a really cool suspended design.  That's what I got...actually, the egg yolk shot off in one direction, and the white swirled and dissipated into the simmering water.  Well crap.  I thought that maybe I didn't let the water simmer enough or that maybe I didn't swirl enough, so I cleaned out the saucepan and went for a take two.  This time it was even worse, if that's even possible.  The white didn't even attempt to surround the yolk...I think I was a little vigorous in my swirling technique.

When all else fails and all other resources have been exhausted, ask Mom.  Even though she doesn't cook nearly as much as she used to, my mother definitely knows her way around a kitchen.  I asked my mom if she had ever poached an egg & she looked frankly insulted, like I questioned her ability to tie her shoes or feed herself-I took that as a yes.  She is of the vinegar school of thought-note to self, vinegar=good-and she got her saucepan ready with a little water & a dash of vinegar.  Let the simmering being.  After a few jokes between my dad and me about how the slotted spoon looked like a kitty litter scooper & Lord only knows what's still stuck on it, the water had reached a perfect simmer & it was go time.  My mom did the honor of cracking the egg into the water.  It immediately sank  to the bottom of the pot like my two failed attempts had (Oh great, there goes another egg).  Oh and a little noteworthy tip, there was no swirling involved in the making of this poached egg.  So the egg sank to the bottom & the whites started to spread.  I was instructed to carefully fold the white back over the yolk in order to cover it, like a blanket.  Then we simply waited for 4 minutes and retrieved the egg from the water and slid it onto a waiting plate.  A little salt & pepper later and the finished product was ready to go.  Yum with a capital Y!  I hope my husband likes eggs, 'cause I can't wait to try it on my own.


Poached Egg Technique

Bring 2 inches of water and 2 tsp. white vinegar to a simmer (not a boil, it's much to harsh for the egg and will tear it apart, not allowing the white to congeal properly) in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Once it reaches a simmer, crack a fresh egg into the water (a fresh egg white will be gel-like, an old egg white will be watery and will not congeal properly).  Immediately fold the egg white over the yolk to envelop it, taking care to keep the yolk intact.  Cook for 4 minutes, until the white has set and the yolk remains liquidy.  Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, allowing the excess water to drip from the egg.  Salt and pepper to taste & devour warm.  I've been told that you can make these ahead of time and refrigerate them for a few days.  When you're ready to serve them, bring a few inches of water to a simmer & heat the eggs in the water for 2-3 minutes.

Note:  I've read that you're supposed to put the poached egg in an ice water bath once you've cooked it in order to rinse off any vinegar that remains and to stop the cooking process.  However, I did not find the vinegar taste to be overwhelming or adversely affecting the finished product, so I skipped the step.  You may or may not find otherwise.

Stop the Ride, I Want to Get Off

I am at my wit's end.  I've been involved in a seemingly never ending battle between the forces of food and physicality (ie trainers v. nutritionists).  All these conflicting viewpoints from nutritionists, so-called experts, talking heads, gym trainers, magazines, books, etc. telling me that I need to eat X amount of calories in a day, 100 g of protein a day-yikes-, 5 meals a day, three moderate meals a day, cardio with strength training, cardio before strength training, cardio after strength training, alternate cardio with strength training, 4 times a week, 5 times a week, 6 times a week at the gym, more veggies with less protein, veggies first before protein, protein powder is the key to success, protein powder is essentially the devil, work out in the morning, work out in the evening, don't eat after 7, stop eating 3 hours before bed, get 7 hours of sleep, the more sleep the better, weigh yourself once a week, weigh yourself once a month, don't weigh yourself but instead go by the fit of your clothes, take a multivitamin, don't take a multivitamin cause you should get nutrition from foods, go ahead and have a cheat day, change your lifestyle so you don't need cheat days, jog on the treadmill, don't use the treadmill because it's torture on your joints, zone 2, zone 3, zone 4..I'm drowning in health information & my head's about to explode.

I don't want to be a runway model (I'm perfectly grounded in reality); I just want to be healthy.  My mom, the most unassuming, nonconforming to the normal type who falls victim to these types of diseases, was diagnosed with type2 diabetes in 2005 and breast cancer in 2008 & ever since then, I've been trying to change my lifestyle so that I don't follow her down the same path.  I watched watch someone who I never thought I was that close to struggle to keep her life from slipping through her fingers, and I've come to realize that there are more important things than being fashionable and rail thin.  The business of being healthy is enough to make an average person keel over from a stress induced stroke though.  All the conflicting viewpoints and misinformation has created a smoke and mirrors environment that not even Scooby Doo would be able to decipher.  I'm tired of all the one size fits all answers that I get from personal trainers & I'm tired of feeling like I'm failing at every turn.  I simply want to live the best life that I can.  Is that really too much to ask?

Flan-tastic!

I've avoided making flan for the longest time because, for some reason, I've always thought that it was really complicated and time consuming to make, so I left it to the professionals (and the occasional "mom made" flan that was so overcooked that it was crunchy).  I recently decided to throw caution to the wind and make it myself, mostly because my parents were coming over to our new house & I wanted to impress them with my dad's favorite dessert.

I decided to attempt it a couple of days in advance, for practice & then to make it perfectly for the weekend, sure to impress my biggest food critic, my father.  I scoured the internet for the perfect flan recipe, one that had detailed instructions so that I couldn't screw it up.  Well, I screwed it up the first time...big time.  I barely got out of the gate before I hit the wall of catastrophic failure.  The first recipe that I tried called for sugar and water being melted in a medium saucepan.  That sounded easy enough.  Of course I, being terrible at following instructions, decided that I could improve upon the recipe, so I added a tablespoon of vanilla extract to the sugar/water mixture.  Big mistake!  The water evaporated and liquefied the sugar into this grainy slurry that smelled wonderfully of vanilla, but then the sugar coagulated into this hard, solid mass at the bottom of the saucepan...wtf?!  No caramel, a brick of vanilla sugar & a seemingly ruined saucepan later, I gave up.

The next day, I found a foolproof recipe for flan.  I was a little hesitant at first because the recipe didn't call for water to be added to the sugar for caramelization.  I read it over and over again...how, in the name of Julia, do you make sugar melt without adding a liquid to it?!  I just couldn't wrap my head around it.  It sounded so preposterous that I thought it just might work, so I gave it a shot.  I also resolved not to tweak the recipe until after I made it exactly as written, at least once.  Needless to say, the flan turned out perfectly!

I was so excited about my accomplishment that I Google searched "flan pans" because I was a master of the flan & I needed the correct accouterments in order to continue to make delicious flan.  I stumbled across a blog post comment from a woman who talked about her amazing Pyrex brand glass flan pans from France (say what?!)...needless to say, I just had to have these!  Unfortunately they are no longer in production (bummer), so thank goodness for eBay.  I confidently put a generous bid in on not one, but two listings for glass flan pans.  One of them was for two Pyrex brand glass flan pans & the other was for another brand.  I figured that these precious tools were a hot commodity and that I wouldn't get them, so I watched them like a hawk.  As the end times drew near, no one had put a counter-bid on either of them & I started to panic.  Had I gotten myself in too deep?  What the heck was I going to do with three flan pans?!  Well, I won all of the flan pans (oops)...they're so pretty though & I figure I can give one to my mom (and maybe give her a refresher on how to make flan so that hers aren't so crunchy).

Although my flan journey has been long and a little bumpy, I am so happy to discover that anyone can make flan with just a few ingredients & a pie pan (if you don't have a glass flan pan).  I've even passed on the technique to my 17 year old niece who loves the stuff almost as much as I do.  In the interest of sharing the love, here's the super easy recipe that I use to make the most flantastic caramely custardy dessert treat on the face of the planet.  Enjoy!


Flan

Caramel Sauce-

2 c. white sugar (some people swear by pure cane sugar only, but I haven't had any problems with just granulated sugar, a combination of beet sugar and cane sugar)

Place the sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  The sugar will start to turn brown and clumpy, when this happens, give it a shake/swirl...don't use a spoon (it makes a sticky mess).  Once the browning process starts, do not walk away because the caramelization process happens quickly & you'll end up with a burned mess.  Continue to ocassionally swirl the pan as the sugar liquefies and turns golden & then amber.  When the caramel has reached a dark amber color, remove from heat.  Pour about 1 cup (half of the sugar) into a flan pan/glass pie pan & swirl to coat the bottom and sides (you have to do this quickly because the caramel will harden as it cools).  Add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of milk to the remaining caramel to make a sauce to pour over the flan if people want extra sauce.  Set the pan aside.

Flan Custard

3 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1T vanilla extract (or any kind of flavoring you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly beat eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla in a large, non-reactive bowl.  Mix in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Pour mixture over the cooled caramel-coated pan.  Place the glass pan into another pan filled with at least an inch of water (to prevent the flan from boiling and over-cooking)...the water should come 2/3 of the way up the flan pan.  Bake 40-50 minutes or until the flan giggles in unison (instead of rippling in the middle).  Don't stick a knife into it because it ruins the way that it looks & doesn't actually tell you if the flan is cooked.  Actually, if a knife is inserted and comes out clean, then chances are the flan is already over-cooked.  Remember that there will be some carryover heat that will continue to cook the flan as it's cooling.  Cool completely (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.  To unmold the flan, run a sharp knife around the edges and invert the dish onto a large serving plate.  If this doesn't work, try running a little hot water over the bottom of the pan to loosen things a little & then invert onto a serving plate.  Serve with the extra caramel sauce & maybe a little coffee or porto.

For Your Viewing Pleasure:

 As the sugar starts to melt, it will clump and form lightly colored "petals"

 The "petals" will slowly liquify and darken in color.

 Ocassionally swirling the pot will ensure that all the sugar melts evenly.  Keep an eye on the caramelizing sugar!  It can quickly turn from dark amber goodness to burned charcoal mess in seconds.

 Coat the bottom and sides of your flan pan, or ramekins in this case.  The sugar will harden as it cools, creating a delicious candy shell to house your flan liquid.

  Delicious drops of liquid caramel are a sweet bonus treat!  Crunchy & caramel-y...yum.

Lightbulb Moment

It's not about Howard Roark or Peter Keating.  It's not about architecture or New York City.  It's not the socialites manipulating each other at the Banner.  It's her.  It's all about her.  When I first started reading The Fountainhead, I couldn't quite figure out why the book was partitioned into neat little subheadings with the main characters' names (Peter Keating, Elsworth M. Toohey, Gail Waynad, Howard Roark), and it's taken me 3/4 of the book to figure out that it's her.  Each of the four parts of the book takes a look at how Dominique Francon transforms these men and how, despite her supposed inability to feel and relate, these men have a profound effect on her, how she sees the world, how she sees herself.  I'm not even finished with this book, and I want to read it again.  She is the fountainhead.  Everything that Dominique Francon stands for, everything the so vehemently opposes somehow manipulates and illuminates everyone around her.  And yet she is equally changed by the people around her, even though she is good at hiding it.  She's taken from this exuberant nude statuesque figure, an ideal of what human beings can potentially be, and she's softened, roughed up by the very people that she despises, even more-so by the ones that she respects and loves.  In a world where people are so incredibly caught up in the perceptions of everyone else, Dominique Francon views the world so purely, so selfishly, the way that it should be viewed.  The Fountainhead is a testament to the ideals that we should hold as a society, and yet the perfect protagonist fails to do so because she is thrown into the thick of the selfish, dirty society in which we all live.  What a raw social commentary.

Fast Food By Any Other Name is Still Garbage

I'm sure you've heard of the current controversy over the percentage of "meat" in Taco Bell's seasoned ground beef.  Am I the only person in America that's in awe that this should even be news worthy?!  I think it's a disheartening testament to the gullibility of Americans that this junk passes off as food (and I'm using that term very loosely).  Personally I find that Taco Bell's meat in question is the least of the public's worries.  If I wanted a regular ground beef taco,  I would be getting the following:

Tortilla

Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine, Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Ground Corn treated with Lime, Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid), Contains less than 2% of the following: Salt, Fumaric Acid, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (use as Preservatives). CONTAINS: WHEAT Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine, Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Ground Corn treated with Lime, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Corn Oil, Soybean Oil) with TBHQ and Citric Acid (to preserve freshness), contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (to preserve freshness), Furmaric Acid, Dough Conditioner. CONTAINS: WHEAT Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine, Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Ground Corn treated with Lime, Vegetable Oil (contains Soybean Oil) contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Calcium Propionate, Potassium Sorbate (to preserve freshness), Furmaric Acid. CONTAINS: WHEAT Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine, Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Ground Corn treated with Lime, Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid), contains less than 2% of the following: Salt, Fumaric Acid, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (use as Preservatives). CONTAINS: WHEAT *Will Contain One Of The Ingredient Statements Above, Depending Upon Regional Suppliers

Three Cheese Blend

Low Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (Cultured Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Annatto), Pasteurized Process Monterey Jack And American Cheese With Peppers [Monterey Jack And American Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Water, Cream, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Lactic Acid], Anti-Caking Agent. CONTAINS MILK Low Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (Cultured Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Pasteurized Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Annatto), Pasteurized Process Monterey Jack And American Cheese With Peppers [Monterey Jack And American Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes), Water, Cream, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Jalapeno Peppers, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Lactic Acid], Anti-caking Agent. CONTAINS MILK *Will Contain One Of The Ingredient Statements Above, Depending Upon Regional Suppliers

Seasoned Ground Beef

Beef, Water, Seasoning [Isolated Oat Product, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Oats (Wheat), Soy Lecithin, Sugar, Spices, Maltodextrin, Soybean Oil (Anti-dusting Agent), Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Caramel Color, Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor], Salt, Sodium Phosphates. CONTAINS SOYBEAN, WHEAT

Salsa Roja

Water, Tomatoes (Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid), Tomato Paste, Distilled White Vinegar, Salt, Corn Syrup, Dehydrated Red Bell Peppers, Dehydrated Onion, Modified Corn Starch, Garlic, Spices, Lime Juice Concentrate, Natural And Artificial Flavors (Milk), Citric Acid, Sugar, Dehydrated Garlic, Sodium Benzoate And Potassium Sorbate As Preservatives, Dehydrated Chipotle Peppers, Molasses, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Yeast Extract, Disodium Inosinate And Disodium Guanylate, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And/Or Cottonseed Oils, Turmeric, Soybean Oil. CONTAINS: MILK, SOYBEANS.

Reduced Fat Sour Cream

Cream, Milk, Modified Corn Starch, Nonfat Dry Milk, Maltodextrin, Carrageenan, Locust Bean Gum, Lactic Acid, Gelatin, Guar Gum, Mono And Diglycerides, Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Vitamin A, Potassium Sorbate (A Preservative), And Natural And Artificial Flavor. CONTAINS MILK

Tomato

Tomatoes.


  Well, nothing makes me salivate more than the thought of silicon dioxide in my lunch.  Can someone explain to me why I need cocoa powder in my seasoned beef?  I mean, I like chocolate and all, but it seems a little misplaced in my taco.  Maybe that's the 12th spice.  I would say that the healthier option would be to get a tortilla filled with tomato and cheese, but in this instance, can I just have a cup of tomatoes and some water?

An Orange By Any Other Name

  I can't even begin to tell you how curious I am about trying out different foods and learning where foods come from (from dirt to consumer).  I will admit that I've been pretty skeptical about the benefits of organic foods, but I figured for fairness sake that I would give organic produce a shot.  Organic oranges are my latest vice.  I will absolutely never go back to eating conventional oranges after tasting the unbelievable sweetness and depth of flavor of an orange that was made as nature intended.  It's hard to describe the difference in taste between a conventionally grown and organically grown orange.  It's almost the same as the difference between eating a conventionally grown tomato & an organic tomato.  The entire fruit is amazingly sweet, even the bio-flavanoid packed pith (white stuff between the skin & the fruit), which, much to my surprise is good for you, aiding in capillary repair.  You absolutely haven't lived until you've tried an organic orange, but I will give you fair warning:  you may become addicted.

Words and Pseudo-Words

  Call me old-fashioned, but it seriously hurts my ears when I hear people misuse grammar and/or use non-words.  For instance, as I write this, there is a song on the internet radio called "Tequila Sunrise" by Fiji, a Hawaiian group.  In it, the crooner says that he wants to "coversate about love," and I cringe.  I cringe because "conversate" is not a word, at all.  Conversation is a noun & converse would be the verb form of the word, conversation.  Somehow someone used "conversate" in a, well, conversation & it spread like wildfire.  The same goes for "an historic" which gets used a lot in the media.  The newscaster will sometimes try to make up for the mistake by making the "h" in historic silent, which makes it all the more grotesquely obnoxious. 

   I suppose that in today's technology driven, Twitter focused society, it's more convenient to just type what you feel & hope that someone can understand it, but it's pretty inexcusable, especially when you're projecting these words to hundreds and maybe thousands of people.  There's a saying that goes "you are what you eat," but I don't think it's a stretch to say that you are also what you say.  The big difference is that people usually observe what comes out of your mouth before they get a chance to see what goes in it.