Stop Blogging and Cook

It’s important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of
organizations or leaders. It’s the expectations that parents have
for their daughters, and their sons, too.
It’s the way we talk about and treat one another.
It’s who makes the money and who makes the compromises and
who makes the dinner.  It’s a state of mind.
It’s the way we live now.  ~Anna Quindlen (1952 – )

TODAY’S PREPARATION

REMEMBER HOME EC? GIRLS ONLY. BOO!
Cate of Show My Face host a meme – Six Words Saturday – and has some captivating bloggers who participate.  Welcome thoughtful visitors!  I hope you find something you like worth commenting about.

Marion Nestle, always on top of food goings on in her blog Food Politics, reports about a editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggesting a return of Home Ec classes to public schools to teach kids to feed themselves.  Sound familiar?  Well, it is an idea that seems to be catching on.

I began this blog in January of this year for just that reason.  It had been clear to me for quite some time that as a culture, Americans have been losing the ability to plan, shop and cook their daily food.  I was always amazed at people who didn’t know how to prepare even basic meals.  Of my friends, most of them didn’t bother to cook much and, of my single friends none of them knew how or had much interest in cooking.  I even knew a guy (married) who, by his own admission, didn’t know how to make a sandwich.

We need to begin to learn what makes a good meal and how to shop wisely for whole ingredients.  So, yes, we need to teach children.  But adults need to learn, too, supporting the collective efforts of the family to form good cooking and eating habits.  We need to teach – slowly over time – not only how to cook specific dishes, but how to regard food, learning to exploit its many flavors and textures, coaxing out all of the advantages for maximum nourishment and enjoyment.

But let’s not call it Home Ed, short for Home Economics, in the old traditional vernacular.  Let’s call it Food Ed, short for Food Education, because there is no substitute for a good education in all aspects of feeding ourselves.

Cooking, in my humble opinion, is the solution to many ills.  Here are just four advantages:

1. FEEL MORE SATISFIED If you cook your meals from whole foods you will have a tendency to eat less.  Cooking is very satisfying and the body recognizes a balanced meal when it’s had one.  The simple act of chewing real food (rather than eating nuggets, burritos, frozen dinners and other soft things with baby-food like texture) sends signals to the stomach that it is getting filled up.  After a meal of chewing real food, it knows it’s full.
2. FOSTER QUALITY TIME Involving the whole family in the food preparation process sends the consistent message that eating is important, that it is done every day, and everyone helps out.  Even the youngest of children can help by folding napkins and setting the table.  Kids want to feel useful, doing ‘adult’ things makes them feel as though they’re grown up. Most children will generally eat the food they have helped prepare.  Instead of approaching it with the enthusiasm of “Would you like to help Mommy with dinner?” just say, “Time to make dinner,” and then delegate even if it’s counting the number of carrot slices, or tearing lettuce.  If you have roommate(s), pool your efforts and eat together.  If you’re unencumbered and live alone, dine with a good book.  They make great company!
3. COOKING SAVES MONEY I know that conventional wisdom says that you can eat at a fast food joint for less than shopping for whole food, but I don’t believe it for one minute.  In a previous post, I composed a shopping list demonstrating that a family of four can eat a balanced dinner – chicken, rice, vegetable, salad and dessert – for less than twenty dollars.  Economies of scale work in your favor when shopping for weekly specials and buying quantities larger than single servings.
4. COOKING FOSTERS HEALTH Who doesn’t want to be more healthy?  Spending time in the kitchen can be more healthful than the equivalent time at the gym, so which would you rather do?  I’d pick the kitchen any day!  Eating well will give you energy to do what needs doing, and you’ll feel better if you’re not plying yourself with empty foods and unnecessary salt, sugar and fat.

If you were back in school today, how would you feel about taking Food Ed courses?

TODAY’S PREPARATION
I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about pea soup!  Way back in January when we discussed baking a ham, I promised that if you stay tuned, I’d tell you about Pea Soup.  I hadn’t wanted to get old and forgetful but I guess that’s what ‘s happened.  Sigh.  Anyway, pea soup is a snap.  In fact, I buy a ham just so I’ll have the bone to make it.  If you don’t have a ham bone, you can use smoked ham hocks from the butcher or grocery.  A substantial savory soup – creamy but made with no cream – it is one of those things that gets better each day you reheat it.  We’re going to make a big pot of soup, as befitting the bone from a smoked half ham. It freezes and travels to the workplace well.

Take care; because this is thick soup – it gets thicker with each reheating – and is prone to serious scorching.  Frequent stirring to heat slowly over a very low flame will give you good results.  For foolproof heating, use that double boiler for reheating small quantities or, put the whole pot in a 300ºF oven, reheating it while you’re doing something else.  It will take a little longer, but it will not burn.

Here’s how to know if you are scorching the pot:  if you can’t feel the bottom of the pot with the spoon or whisk, you’ll know it’s in the first stage, beginning to stick to the bottom.  If has just begun to stick, you can counteract this by vigorously stirring and, if you are able to again feel the bottom of the pot, you’ve averted disaster.  If, on the other hand, it has begun to scorch, you will see little brown bits come to the surface.  This is the scorched soup being scraped up from the bottom.  Immediately transfer the soup to another pot, even if you have to use two pots.    The important thing is to get the soup out of the pot that has begun to scorch.  If you don’t, the soup will have a burned flavor.  Not good.

So, pea soup, then is good with a crusty whole grain bread from the corner bakery, or a whole grain cracker.  With that and a hearty tossed salad, you’ll have a green genius of a meal.

Tags: gluten-free, healthy choices, real food, Soup, whole food