Friday, January 27, 2012

Let's Face It, I'm a Foody!

I've always enjoyed eating good food, who doesn't?   Now that the children are grown and we only have two mouths to feed instead of 6, we can actually afford a little more expensive variety.   I can splurge on impulsive buys at the grocery store now.

I was in our local HEB  which is about 35 miles from our home.  It was 1 pm and I was hungry.  My protein filled breakfast taco had long worn thin and the aromas reaching my nose in the grocery store got my salivary glands flowing.   I actually was there to pick up some magnesium glyconate to help me sleep.  I have gotten into this irritating habit of waking up at 3 am and not being able to go back to sleep.  Maybe I need some Melatonin also.  Part of the problem could be from a pinched nerve in my lower cervical vertebra waking me up or it could be random text messages on my cell phone advertising loan money.  The pinched nerve is probably due to a knitting marathon I had going for over a year or maybe I went too deep into a yoga move, possibly cobra which I am not accustomed to doing.  Or maybe it is the black dog "Shadow" howling at the coyotes who are in mating season at this time.  The pharmacy did not have my magnesium so I decided  to browse through the store, of course looking for free samples

I came upon some wonderful Beemster Cheese, sampling two kinds, several times before finally deciding on one with field garlic in it.  I needed a good bread to go along with it so I helped myself to several generous samples of different kinds of bread at last choosing a sourdough square.  I had my mouth and hands full of bread as I encountered the free sushi samples.  The sushi maker asked me which I would like to try and I told her I wanted to sample all of it.  I then placed a couple boxes of sushi in my basket.  From there I ventured to the seafood isle where I discovered Atlantic Salmon at a decent price.  I really prefer the Steelhead Trout but it is rarely on mark down.  I asked for a pound of the salmon.  One can't be choosy about fish when they live in the Texas hills.  The Atlantic Salmon was farm raised.  I stood there a while wondering how it could be farm raised when it was suppose to come from the Atlantic Ocean.  I decided there must be fish farms built along side the ocean where they trap and raise the fish?  Sounds good to me.  It is much better than a cat fish or bass caught from the local creek.

From there I made my way to the chef center where a cute little chef was preparing pasta with Vodka Sauce and shrimp with french bread..  Did I want a sample?  Of course I did.  Also for sampling was some nice french bread cut into chunks that I could dip into a wonderful olive oil dipping sauce.  Oh my it was a delicious full bodied olive oil, not at all like the one I had in my pantry.  I stuffed myself for a while and then noticed that if I purchased a bottle of the olive oil for $9.99 I could also get the Vodka pasta sauce, a french baguette and a package of pasta free.  It looked like a deal to me.  As the the cute little chef was loading my basket with these goodies I mentioned to her with my mouth full that I was a "foody".  She said, "I can tell that by the things you have in your basket".  She probably meant by the amount of food I had in my mouth and the crumbs on my sweater!

Before going to the check out I picked up some ripe tomatoes and a package of raspberries, feeling very excited about how pleased my husband would be with my purchases.......and of course he was.  I left the store with several meals in my bag!  The salmon and salad would make one meal, the pasta and sauce another, and the bread, cheese and olive oil dipping sauce another.  Add a nice bottle of cab or merlot to these and who could ask for better?



HEB has this new deal, or at least it's new to me,,,,it's the meal deal where if you buy something you get all these other items free.  Last week we were there and bought a pasta sauce, got a box of yekky rice crackers,  some pasta, and a bottle of canola oil which I consider pure poison.  On our way out the door I dumped the "poison oil" into a food barrel for the needy.  I felt kind of guilty doing that considering the thought that if I couldn't tolerate the taste or smell why would I give it to a needy person.  I'm still pondering that.  I remember when I could purchase a large bottle of sunflower oil for $2.00.  Now the cost of sunflower oil has gone through the roof.  I don't know why...but it's got to be some sort of political ploy in my opinion.  I'm not buying it though.  I'll stick with olive oil and if I have to fry something that requires a lot of oil I'll just buy Wesson Oil or some generic veggie oil.  The smell and taste of Canola oil makes me nauseated.

I can't figure out why Canola oil(rape seed oil) is better for a person than corn oil.  And what's so bad about a little corn syrup.  As I recall my mother telling me that's how they made baby formula back in the day.  She mixed it with something and I thrived on it.  Honestly I don't believe corn syrup, corn oil, butter, eggs and real milk are bad for a person.  I think what's making us so fat and sick is fast food and packaged convenience foods.  In my opinion that's not even real food.  We drank fresh milk from the cow, with real cream on it and ate fresh butter, veggies from the field and corn syrup on our pancakes.  My grandmother fried the extra fat from the chicken, hog and cow and those were our chips.  I never ate chips of any other kind and didn't know what pizza was.  But I was very familiar with beans and rice, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and homemade pies.  I never ate a doughnut or a hamburger with french fries.  I didn't even know such a thing existed  I never drank cokes either, just milk and water.  We were healthy. We ate real food!

We had every childhood disease that came along and no immunizations.  I stepped on rusty nails and never had a tetanus shot.  I got chickenpox, mumps and more than one kind of  measles.  I had a bad reaction from the first polio vaccine and lost the use of my legs for several weeks.  I was a lucky girl because eventually I got well and walked again.  Damn that vaccine.  I had my tonsils removed just because it was the thing to do in those days. I never went to a dentist till I was 16 years old.   I'm still here and pretty healthy too and I'm not a young chick any more but I feel strong.

I have progressed a bit, at least I get my teeth cleaned on a regular basis now.  I don't get a flu vaccine, I would rather fight the disease.  I have agreed to get the pertussis vaccine to protect my grandchild who is soon to arrive.

I still love real food better than stuff from boxes.  My husband makes an awesome granola with oats, flax, wheat bran, oat bran, sesame seeds, raisins, dried fruit and shredded coconut.  It is so wholesome and satisfying.  A cup of that for breakfast will hold off my hunger pangs till mid day!

The salmon turned out to be really good, seasoned with salt, pepper, a little cayenne and basted with olive oil and fresh lemon,  then cooked on the grill. For another meal I mixed the olive oil with olive oil dipping spices and toasted slices of the sourdough bread, then cut them in chunks for dipping.  Oh my it was good along with the Beemster Cheese.


A little fresh garlic added to the olive oil and spices



Before going home I stopped by my mom's to share the french baguette with some olive oil mixed with spices and a bottle of wine.  When food is good I feel the need to share.

I feel very fortunate to have indulged in such wonderful nutritious food and always think of those without.  Every day I send positive thoughts into the universe that no person will go to bed hungry.  That all little tummies will be full and satisfied.  We can only hope for a more balanced world.



No comments:

Post a Comment