I know this is a foodie blog, which one would think, I suppose, means I have all the answers. I know I own The Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, one would think I'd have all the recipes and ideas I could ever possibly need.
But I'm chicken. Or rather I have chicken. I have two whole chickens in the freezer. I have no idea how to cut up a chicken. Not a clue. Even though detailed directions, complete with pictures, are in The Joy of Cooking.
So I need ideas on cooking chicken other than roasting the whole bird. And preferably without having to cut it before hand.
Maybe I should just shore up my courage and give it a go.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Feeling a little stupid.
I was at our health food store this afternoon. The book I'm reading "Eat This and Live for kids" by Dr. Don Colbert, has convinced me to eat healthy. I have spent more on fresh fruits and vegetables in the past month than I have for a very long time.
Dr. Colbert talks about supplements and how important they are because our food is not as healthy as it once was. He also talks about the importance of eating organic as much as possible.
My personal Dave Ramsey won't allow me to buy only organic as much as I might like to. In light of this, I prayed that God would give me wisdom in how to feed my family. That He would guide my food purchases.
That brings me to being at our health food store this afternoon. I wasn't there to buy organic but I knew they carried some organic fruit and vegetables. I also know they charge you an arm and a leg and pay through the nose.
And that is just darn painful!
This afternoon, I purchased 3 organic oranges, 5 apples and 5 bananas. I bought the girls a good multi-vitamin. I kept finding things that I wasn't intending to purchase but when I saw them, I knew it was something we needed.
That is NOT a bad thing. What makes it a bad thing is when you have cash. And you ONLY work with cash. It's a bad thing when you have other purchases to make and spend almost all your cash on organics and supplements.
Hence my feelings of abject stupidity. I realized at supper that I had prayed about the food issues. While I'm not saying "God told me to buy those items even when I might be a bit short for other needs", I think I could almost say that. I bought things we needed, things that will help improve our health. When I realized that I had prayed I decided and announced to my family that I was finished wallowing in my stupidity.
Which is a good thing.
Except I can't seem to stop thinking about it and dwelling on my feelings of stupidity. I just had 2 Corinthians 10:5 flit through my mind, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." While I can't say God told me to buy them, I can take my feelings of stupidity and make them obedient to Christ.
Dr. Colbert talks about supplements and how important they are because our food is not as healthy as it once was. He also talks about the importance of eating organic as much as possible.
My personal Dave Ramsey won't allow me to buy only organic as much as I might like to. In light of this, I prayed that God would give me wisdom in how to feed my family. That He would guide my food purchases.
That brings me to being at our health food store this afternoon. I wasn't there to buy organic but I knew they carried some organic fruit and vegetables. I also know they charge you an arm and a leg and pay through the nose.
And that is just darn painful!
This afternoon, I purchased 3 organic oranges, 5 apples and 5 bananas. I bought the girls a good multi-vitamin. I kept finding things that I wasn't intending to purchase but when I saw them, I knew it was something we needed.
That is NOT a bad thing. What makes it a bad thing is when you have cash. And you ONLY work with cash. It's a bad thing when you have other purchases to make and spend almost all your cash on organics and supplements.
Hence my feelings of abject stupidity. I realized at supper that I had prayed about the food issues. While I'm not saying "God told me to buy those items even when I might be a bit short for other needs", I think I could almost say that. I bought things we needed, things that will help improve our health. When I realized that I had prayed I decided and announced to my family that I was finished wallowing in my stupidity.
Which is a good thing.
Except I can't seem to stop thinking about it and dwelling on my feelings of stupidity. I just had 2 Corinthians 10:5 flit through my mind, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." While I can't say God told me to buy them, I can take my feelings of stupidity and make them obedient to Christ.
Culvers, Dr. Colbert and Chicken
Last night we had one last hurrah dinner out. I had not dined out for the previous two weeks, choosing instead to eat more healthy food at home.
I was somewhat surprised when I bit into my Culvers cheeseburger, that it really had little flavor. The fries? Oh my. Don't even go there. They tasted like cardboard...or at the very least chemically induced food product. I am sure at some time or other those fries started off as a good healthy potato, but last night I wasn't even sure they could truthfully be called "food".
I'm reading "Eat This and Live for Kids" by Dr. Don Colbert with Dr. Joseph Cannizzaro. I started it about a month ago and that is what has really kicked me into gear for eating healthy. I don't think we necessarily ate horribly unhealthy before, but there was definite room for improvement. This book is simply chock full of good tips. I won't spoil it all now, I'll wait for the review but I have learned so much!
We are now consciously eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. I'm not sure I'm always getting in the vegetables, but considering I didn't eat them before, any amount is better. I have eaten so much fruit in the past few weeks I am positive I will turn into a piece of fruit if I eat another one.
I have often heard that the nutrients of our fruit and fresh vegetables are in the skin. I have stopped peeling my potatoes and carrots. I don't peel apples, grapes, peaches, plums or pears. But I read last night in the book, if I don't buy organic (and really who can afford to all the time exclusively buy organic?), I should peel them. Because the skin is where most of the contaminants are located.
This book that in the beginning filled me with such a longing to eat healthy, cook healthy and ditch not only fast-food but all restaurant fare for one month, is leaving me wondering if there is any way to really eat healthy at home. Yes I can do what I can to cook healthy food. But if our "healthy" food is so contaminated, why bother? If I'm going to get contaminated food whether or not I eat healthy, what is the difference? Other than processed food isn't even real food at all.
I have started shopping at Sams to save some money. And thus far I've not noticed a huge savings, but I just started too. Dr. Colbert says one should shop every couple of days, if not every day. Our food should be consumed the day we buy it. For me, that isn't really feasible, which I know lets me off the proverbial hook, but still I wonder.
Our local grocery stores are hideously expensive. I shop in nearby town at Sams and spend less than half of what I spend shopping locally for a month. I shop and purchase enough food for one month, (not counting milk and extra fruit/fresh vegetables I buy mid-month) and I spend less than I spend when I shop locally for 2 weeks. To me it makes sense to shop there. But I can't drive 3 hours round trip every day.
I seem to have fallen into a Dave Ramsey/Dr. Colbert conundrum.
Last night, feeling discouraged I prayed that God would show me how to cook healthy foods for my family. He alone knows my true financial state, He knows whether or not I can really afford all the supplements Dr. Colbert (who has no vested interest in the supplements) recommends.
Tonight, we're having chicken. I am not sure how I'm going to fix it yet. I could roast it, but there has to be a different way to cook it. I have no idea how to cut up a whole chicken. Julia Child in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, gives a tutorial complete with pictures, but I'm not sure. And if I did manage to cut it up, the only other way I know to cook chicken is to fry it. And I already know that isn't healthy.
So if you have any whole chicken recipes, I'd love to hear about them.
I was somewhat surprised when I bit into my Culvers cheeseburger, that it really had little flavor. The fries? Oh my. Don't even go there. They tasted like cardboard...or at the very least chemically induced food product. I am sure at some time or other those fries started off as a good healthy potato, but last night I wasn't even sure they could truthfully be called "food".
I'm reading "Eat This and Live for Kids" by Dr. Don Colbert with Dr. Joseph Cannizzaro. I started it about a month ago and that is what has really kicked me into gear for eating healthy. I don't think we necessarily ate horribly unhealthy before, but there was definite room for improvement. This book is simply chock full of good tips. I won't spoil it all now, I'll wait for the review but I have learned so much!
We are now consciously eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. I'm not sure I'm always getting in the vegetables, but considering I didn't eat them before, any amount is better. I have eaten so much fruit in the past few weeks I am positive I will turn into a piece of fruit if I eat another one.
I have often heard that the nutrients of our fruit and fresh vegetables are in the skin. I have stopped peeling my potatoes and carrots. I don't peel apples, grapes, peaches, plums or pears. But I read last night in the book, if I don't buy organic (and really who can afford to all the time exclusively buy organic?), I should peel them. Because the skin is where most of the contaminants are located.
This book that in the beginning filled me with such a longing to eat healthy, cook healthy and ditch not only fast-food but all restaurant fare for one month, is leaving me wondering if there is any way to really eat healthy at home. Yes I can do what I can to cook healthy food. But if our "healthy" food is so contaminated, why bother? If I'm going to get contaminated food whether or not I eat healthy, what is the difference? Other than processed food isn't even real food at all.
I have started shopping at Sams to save some money. And thus far I've not noticed a huge savings, but I just started too. Dr. Colbert says one should shop every couple of days, if not every day. Our food should be consumed the day we buy it. For me, that isn't really feasible, which I know lets me off the proverbial hook, but still I wonder.
Our local grocery stores are hideously expensive. I shop in nearby town at Sams and spend less than half of what I spend shopping locally for a month. I shop and purchase enough food for one month, (not counting milk and extra fruit/fresh vegetables I buy mid-month) and I spend less than I spend when I shop locally for 2 weeks. To me it makes sense to shop there. But I can't drive 3 hours round trip every day.
I seem to have fallen into a Dave Ramsey/Dr. Colbert conundrum.
Last night, feeling discouraged I prayed that God would show me how to cook healthy foods for my family. He alone knows my true financial state, He knows whether or not I can really afford all the supplements Dr. Colbert (who has no vested interest in the supplements) recommends.
Tonight, we're having chicken. I am not sure how I'm going to fix it yet. I could roast it, but there has to be a different way to cook it. I have no idea how to cut up a whole chicken. Julia Child in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, gives a tutorial complete with pictures, but I'm not sure. And if I did manage to cut it up, the only other way I know to cook chicken is to fry it. And I already know that isn't healthy.
So if you have any whole chicken recipes, I'd love to hear about them.
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