Steve's Random Thoughts » Food

Got Life?

Steve — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:46:53 +0000

There are different levels of life that are more valuable and worthy of protection. For example, I value my children above a coyote. If a coyote attacked my kids I would kill it to protect my kids. Only weirdos would have a problem with that. But at what level of importance are things placed? It’s called the circle of life. Lions eat other animals which eat the grass which grows better where an animal has died and fertilized the ground. I consider myself pro-life. But only to a point. We just had a baby born to our family. (Yes, Mom. More pictures will be coming.) At 8 pounds and 12 ounces she is definitely alive. She was also alive before she was born. Any mother-to-be who has felt her baby kick her can tell you that. It is inconceivable to me that anyone could kill an unborn baby because it is not wanted. Babies can feel pain before they are born. Nebraska passed a law protecting pre-born babies based on this fact. We know that dogs and cats feel pain. My otherwise very quiet cat lets me know very loudly when I accidentally step on its tail. For some reason it likes to get in my way going down the steps but then stop right in front of me. It could be considered wrong, unethical, or immoral to intentionally hurt a mammal. But what about a mosquito? Is it wrong to hurt them? What about trees? Can we cut them down for firewood? The tree is alive. But it is not of the same type of life. A fish is alive, as is a cow. I eat them both and I never stop to wonder if they would rather live than be my lunch. The bird in my attic is annoying me. Can I remove it without fear of some government agency throwing me in jail for harming an animal? This country has really got some issues mixed up. The balance of nature should be respected but not worshiped. Some life is worth protecting while other life is not. My baby had fingerprints at 8 weeks of age. She is far more important to me than any animal. So I was wondering, where do things belong on the value chart of life. As you can see below I put humans first. See if you agree with the rest.

Humans
pets
plants grown for human consumption
animals grown for human consumption
mammals
fish and birds
insects
plants
algae
Congressman

Yellow Squash

Steve — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:56:50 +0000

What in the world do you do with yellow squash? I have used those things for decoration in the fall but are they edible? I found out today that you can in fact eat them. And they don’t taste nearly as bad as I thought they would. I always though yellow squash was for baby food because babies don’t know any better and will eat anything you give them. But with the right helping ingredients they can taste ok (or better). At least, Lisa and I thought so. Three out of four kids still don’t like them.

So anyway here is what I did. I’ve only done it once so don’t write any nasty comments if it doesn’t turn out right for you.

Cut the yellow squash in half the long way. (Did I need to mention to wash it first?) Slice it kind of thinly. Throw it in a pan with some olive oil or bacon grease. Dice up a small onion and mix that in. If you haven’t yet turned on the burner now would be a good time. Things take forever to cook when you don’t turn the stove on. That reminds me of a toaster story; I’ll tell you that one some other time. Cook over medium-lowish heat. (I learned that word in cooking school.) LOL Add salt and pepper if you want to. I have to add pepper to part of it after it is cooked next time or Michaella won’t eat it. If that works then two out of four kids will approve and my ratings go up significantly. Cook the squash with a cover on for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring it occasionally. I usually use olive oil for cooking but we tried it with bacon grease the first time and it was pretty good. Maybe it wasn’t as healthy that way but the nutrients from the yellow squash make up for it, right?

Stop and smell the broccoli

Steve — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:10:56 +0000

Sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses. Or sometimes, listen to your kids. It can be great therapy. Tonight at Giant Eagle, our local grocery store, I had Caleb (5) and Hannah (3) with me. Hannah wanted to walk this time instead of riding in the cart. Caleb pushed the cart. He usually does. Hannah said, “What is next?” I said broccoli. “Oh, good, I love broccoli. Broccoli, broccoli, broccoli . . .” Their cheerfulness could be heard half way across the store. I didn’t mind tonight. That place needed some cheering up. Everything in life is exciting from their point of view. With each new aisle we entered they joyfully announce the number. “We’re in aisle 5!” “We’re in aisle 7!” It was just such a happy time for them to be walking through the grocery store and enjoying life. Pointing to everything, “Are we out of this?” “Are we out of that?” Yes get one of those. No, we don’t need that. “Are we out of this?” And on it went. At times I wish I were five years old and completely oblivious to the world around me except that which I can see from our house. What a different world it was back when I was five. If I could go back to that time I would. I would live more fully in the moment. I would do more things. I would push myself more and have more experiences. I would make more friends. I would hit my brother less; well, maybe. And when I turned 16 I would have borrowed as much money as I could and invested in Microsoft.

PS Once we got home, Hannah would not eat the broccoli.

coconut recipes

Steve — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:59:31 +0000

What do you do with a coconut? If you ask my wife she would tell you to throw it out. But that would make a very short post. Instead, I have a couple of coconut recipes for you.

These are not time tested, professionally reviewed coconut recipes. I just made them up. But I’m entitled to my opinion and so are you so take some notes. First a bit of background. I always liked shredded coconut on the various things my mom used to put it on, which wasn’t often. Occasionally, between those coconut recipes she made, I would find the bag of shredded coconut and help myself to a handful of it. I grew up liking it. My wife Lisa did not. I got away with it last week because it was a homeschooling lesson. The kids got to see me break open a coconut with a hammer. Then I offered them a piece to eat and they ran away. Sometimes the kids are like me and sometimes they are like Lisa.

Anyway I looked up some health benefits of coconuts on google and Lisa said I could eat it. (How nice of her.) The coconut was ok but I was thinking coconut milk might be nice. The coconut didn’t come with much milk so I bought a can of it. To my surprise it was a bit chunky and the flavor was a bit strong. Now what do I do?

I don’t want to drink it straight (any more) so I came up some coconut recipes that are edible. I love hot chocolate. I usually make it a bit too hot and add some milk to make it creamier and bring it down to the right temperature. I just added some cold coconut milk instead for a great flavored treat. I also added a little coconut milk to a basic vanilla shake. I added some coconut milk and a banana. Yummy.

I hope you like my coconut recipes. I suppose you can use coconut milk in cooking too but I haven’t ventured out that direction since I’m the only one in my family that would eat it.

Sweet Potatoes

Steve — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:38:50 +0000

I am by no means an expert chef. But I have spent a bit of time in the kitchen.
I guess it started in Jr. High when I got up before my Mom and taught myself how to make pancakes. (Side note, in my office chair I just rolled over an envelope lined with bubble wrap that had fallen to the floor. Makes a very cool sound. Anyway, back to the story.)

muppets swedish chef

I am at times referred to as the Kitchen Commander and Chef. I sort of came up with this recipe on my own after much trial and error. (Second side note, no trial this week. Jury duty got called off. I’m back on jury duty call next week.) So this is what I came up with. If you like sweet potatoes you should like this. If you don’t like sweet potatoes, get over it, they are good for you.

So here it is.

Mix together all ingredients:

40 oz can of sweet potatoes (drain the liquid)

¼ cup milk

¼ cup (or slightly less) brown sugar

2 Tablespoons of butter (don’t use margarine, it will kill you)

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Microwave this until hot, use a hand mixer or power mixer until it’s mixed up good. It kind of resembles a thick apple sauce texture at this point. I like it like this but my son likes to add cool whip to the top. We have a family of six and I double this recipe. This is guaranteed to please your mouth and belly or your money back, minus a 15% restocking fee.

Table Scraps

Steve — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:11:08 +0000

If you have been following my blog for any length of time you probably know by now that we have four kids. Our dining room table often has things under it that for the sake of time I will not elaborate on today. It is common however to find some fragments of food on the floor following a meal. And sometimes it does not get cleaned up right away. As I was bringing some things to the table tonight for dinner I noticed some vegetables on the floor under the table. I don’t know how long they had been there but I decided to throw them across the room and to pick them up later. I hope they don’t rot in the meantime.