Day 72 Cook It Up Granny

Well, the raw plan went out the window today, but I still managed to feed myself pretty well. I should have remembered that Sunday is "lunch with Grandmother day" and there will never be a raw movement in her house. We had bell peppers stuffed with rice and cheese and a coconut cake, delicious but not part of my original plan, oh well, moving on. She told me today that she is leaving me her recipes, which makes my day. Tonight, I made my Grandmother's squash casserole, nothing raw about that, also nothing slimming about it either, lots of butter and cheese. We also talked about the way my Great-grandmothers used to cook, they started dinner right after breakfast and cooked all day long, they may have cooked every bit of nutrients out, but it was Southern cooking at it's best. When I would visit them as a kid, Nanny Ruby and Granny Minnie used to unload the fridge the second we pulled into the drive, pies, fruit, green beans, cornbread, fried chicken, potato salad, whatever they had. This was in addition to whatever was already cooking on the stove or in the oven, we ate good and we ate a lot, I'm sure I still have a biscuit or two on my butt from those days. My Grandmother told me the best story, I've heard it a million times but it's always funny. Once, back in the 60's my Grandmother made a brandied fruit cake and had some left over brandy marinated fruit in a jar, which she gave to Granny Minnie to make her own cake. About a week later, my Grandmother inquired about the success of the cake, Granny Minnie hung her head and confessed that she ate the whole jar of brandied fruit by herself, it never made it into any cake but I'm sure she wasn't feeling too bad about it.
I love those women and I'm happy to have whatever recipes are passed down to me, whether I use them or not.
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 42 Tanzanian Potato Balls or Little Bites Of Sunshine

Today, by a stroke of pure luck, I discovered Tanzanian food and thus my culinary salvation all in one fell swoop.  Thanks to a co-worker, who answered the call, when I wondered out loud, "what will I make for dinner?" Somewhere deep in the heart of cyberspace, there was an East African treasure, and I was smitten  by the ingredients, even before my trip to the market. Tonight I made Coconut bean soup and Tanzanian potato balls, which will now be the stars of my recipe box. I'm adding the recipes, from www.celtnet.org.uk with a few variations and tweaks from me.

Tanzanian Potato Balls
3 C. of potatoes
1/4 C. lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 C. chickpea flour
1 C. Coconut milk
3 C. Water
1/4 cup of fresh grated coconut
Oil for frying
Cut, cube and boil potatoes in water and coconut milk, until soft. Cool the potatoes and mix with lime juice, cayenne, coconut, and salt, form into balls. Roll the balls into flour and fry in oil until brown.

Coconut Bean Soup
1/2 C. of onion (chopped)
1/2 C. Green Peppers (chopped)
1 tsp. curry paste (I used red)
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs. butter
1 C tomato (diced)
2 1/2 C. Kidney beans
2 C. Coconut milk
1/3 C. grated coconut (not the sweetened kind)
3 C. Water
1/2 C. cooked rice
Brown the onions in butter, add green peppers, curry, salt, butter, and tomatoes, when brown. Add beans, coconut milk, water, and rice and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add grated coconut to the top of the soup.

I was so impressed with these two dishes that my interest has been piqued as far as other African recipes and I think I've found what I'm bringing for our office potluck in a couple of weeks. So, here's to whomever is bringing the lil' smokies and  the generic cookies......I win.
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 18 A Poem About Leftovers And Other Ramblings

I know some of you may be wondering, what ever became of the over spiced curry from earlier in the week, well, here's the truth, I haven't been able to face it. Since I cannot bring myself to eat it, I wrote a poem about it.

Ode To My Leftover Curry

I look at you every time I open the Frigidaire

Tupperware separates me from the napalm that is you

I am unwilling to unleash your spicy fury

Though I must face the dragon

Disguised as rice

Spicy rice…..my fear of you

Is bigger than my love for you

Ok, now that my tribute is done, I have a confession to make, what I'm about to say is most definitely not ethical but I'm pretty sure it's not illegal. About 2 months ago, I stumbled upon the Baskin-Robbins website and went a little crazy, signing up for free birthday ice cream. The site allows one to sign themselves up, as well as friends and relatives for a free cone on their birthday. I signed up a lot of people....like 20 or so, including people who may or may not live in other states and people who may or may not even exist. So, that being said, I had forgotten all about the free ice cream until I opened my email today and found that I have another birthday this month! I was really excited until I realized that Karma is alive and well and I can't partake of free ice cream, because it's fast food, son of a @!#$@#$!
On a happier note, I got through a staff meeting at Starbucks this morning, by sucking on a bottle of tap water and eating a can of cashews I got in my Christmas stocking last month, ya, not really comparable to an iced Carmel latte, and a carrot muffin, lemme tell ya!
For dinner I made Portabella Quesadillas with red onions and garlic. They were sooo good, way better than Bueno and much more satisfying! So, here ends day 18, another successful x on the calender and another day of unmatched will power. Go me!  http://www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com/