Fast Food

We hear a lot about fast food these days. It's unhealthy. Portions are huge. Fast food places even have (gasp!) TOYS for kids (Hey, guess what - grocery stores have toys for kids and even have products that promote with toys.  Do we sue the grocery stores, too????)

Oh, I know that we don't need to be eating fast food everyday.  But I'm not totally against fast food places. Especially having lived in a country, when our four kids were young, where there weren't any kid-friendly, fast food places to stop at when we were making long trips. On a long trip, dragging four tired little kids into a "regular" restaurant to wait on their meals, is no picnic .... which is what we usually did - picnic (because it was also quite costly to eat in that "regular" restaurant with four kids).  And having a picnic in the car  when it's pouring rain outside is no picnic, either. There were many times back then when I wished we'd come upon an honest-to-goodness fast food place. ( Now this country has plenty of fast food places.... ours and theirs. And they are always full.)

However, the fast food place is not my topic here.  Fast food is.  Homemade fast food.  Did you know that you can make fast food at home often FASTER than you can get it at the fast food places?  And, you can make perfectly healthy fast food at home. AND you can serve totally "normal" portions of your fast food at home. Oh.....and get this:  you can actually serve your homemade, healthy, small-portions of fast food at home WITH the toy of your choice, if you so desire.  And no one can sue you for doing so, either (not yet, anyway)!  :)

"Fast food" took over my thinking the other night when I was tired and aching, and didn't feel up to doing a lot of cooking, even though I love to cook. Going out to eat somewhere didn't appeal to me. Just too tired.  So was my husband.  Hence, the "fast food" thoughts - only I wasn't thinking of the hamburger-french-fries kind of fast food.  I was thinking of the "what's-in-my-kitchen-to-fix-quickly-and-easily" kind of homemade fast food.

So I peeked in the pantry to see what lurked there. Onions caught my eye.  Opened up the fridge to check it out and saw those pretty little yellow summer squash.  Cucumbers. Couple of left-over pieces of steak. Some fresh okra.

Hmmmmmmm, let's see. My mind told me to grab those veggies and that left-over meat and get busy "fast fooding".  So I did.

Getting out my great old cast iron skillet, I put in a little olive oil and heated it.  Peeled an onion and sliced it into the skillet. Took several of those little squash and sliced them into the skillet with the onions (the squash were already washed). Stirred everything.  Cut the ends off the also-already-washed-okra and sliced them into the onions and squash. Stirred.  And the cucumbers?  Didn't you know that you can cook cucumbers?  I peeled a couple of them and sliced THEM into the mixture.  Stirred again. Mmmmmm.  Was already smelling good.  Added some salt and pepper, lots of garlic powder and a sprinkling of Herbes de Provence spice.  REALLY smelling good at that point. And almost done. Those veggies cook quickly; only a matter of a few minutes until they were done to my liking (which isn't mushy). Then I took the kitchen shears and snipped up those two pieces of left-over steak - right into the skillet full of veggies. Stirred around a bit until the meat was good and hot and, voila, my fast food supper was done - quickly.  Less than thirty minutes; probably about twenty minutes or so. Just before serving I stirred in a little green salsa. Oh, and I also sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top.  My husband and I both loved it.

So, you see, you CAN fix fast food right at home.  This version, and many other versions.  Be creative.  I often fix a mixture like this and serve it over rice or some sort of pasta.  Sometimes I add slices of green and/or red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, celery, leeks, potato - just any veggie you have and happen to like. Often, too, I will add chopped-up fresh tomatoes (hard to come by this summer in drought-plagued Kansas) or a can of crushed or even whole tomatoes.  Add meat. Or not. Any left-over meat: hamburger, steak, sausage, chicken, left-over hot dogs, etc.  Add any kind of spices/herbs you and your family love. Add some cheese as it cooks, then sprinkle some on top. This is such a versatile "fast food" that you are sure to come up with SOME kind of combination that you and your family will enjoy.  I often cook up a huge pot of rice (usually brown rice) and let it cool, then divide it up into quart-size freezer bags to have on hand for a fast food meal.  You don't even have to thaw it; just put it into the mixture and stir around until the rice has thawed and separated into the rest of the food. I also do this (cooking a big batch) with pasta.

The point is: homemade fast food IS fast. And good. And can be healthy. And can be served in the right portion sizes to your family. This is only one example of a really tasty homemade fast food dish; there are so many others.  So - if you have worked all day outside of your home and come home dead tired, or if you have worked all day inside of your home and are already home dead tired - don't despair.  You can still enjoy a homemade meal that doesn't take up a lot more of your time and energy.

You will enjoy it. So will your family.

Do fast food!

"Green Things"

Kansas pioneers, I remember reading, were always so thrilled when spring arrived and they began seeing green "things" growing again. After their often-times long, hard winters, as they kept trying to stretch their provisions, I can well imagine their relief and delight at the arrival of Spring. And green things.

I'm not a pioneer; but,sometimes I have to do some "food stretching", too. Not for the same reasons the pioneers had to - all I need do is run to the grocery store any time throughout the winter. Depending on finances - which is what MY "food stretching" hinges on.

Still...I can relate to the excitement of Spring that the pioneers had. During the winter my mind harbors visions of - no, not sugar-plums, but GREEN THINGS. Not just any green things. My mouth waters with the anticipation of fresh green salad fixin's popping up from the newly-awakened earth. When I notice the first Spring flowers (which I also love) pushing their way up from the ground I know the green-salad-stuff can soon be planted.

Nowadays my husband does most of the planting. He loves it, and is an old hand at it. He prepares the ground and plants. We both wait and watch for the salad-bowl-green-things to grow. I pick (he does sometimes)and prepare a salad.

And, ooooooh!, the subtle but distinct taste of just-pulled-out-of-the-dirt lettuce makes the long winter longing for "green things" worthwhile. So good. So much better than the grocery store lettuce. Yes. It is better.

Along with the tasty and pretty green things are the young scallions and the beautiful, bright red radishes. Mixed all together, they combine to form a most delicious and very healthy salad. One of life's small pleasures, for sure.

There is, however, a difference between pulling my green-things salad fixin's straight from the dirt and buying a bag of ready-to-eat lettuce at the grocery store. The store-version comes already clean and ready to throw into the salad bowl.

MY lettuce comes with dirt, pieces of dried leaves, maybe a bug or two - and has to BE cleaned before throwing it into the salad bowl. So - I give it a quick rinse in one side of the kitchen sink, while filling a plastic dishpan on the other side of the sink with cold water. Then, all of my green-things fresh from the garden are plunged into the cold water and swished around and around several times. Still not done, though. I then grab a handful at a time for a final rinse-and-check under cold running water, where I may still unseat a final bug or blade of grass.

When pronounced clean the green things fill the basket of my French salad spinner; a very inexpensive plastic one bought when we lived in France years ago and still working. Spun dry, the lettuce is then transferred to a plastic bag (a recycled grocery bag or a large freezer bag), with a clean rag or a couple of paper towels on the bottom of the bag to catch any left-behind moisture. My treasured and cleaned green things are then stowed in the fridge veggie bin where they last several days, depending on how fast we eat them up.

A little work ...but, SO worth the effort.

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A favorite, simple fresh-from-the-garden "chopped" salad:

Put washed and spun-dry garden lettuce or lettuces (we have two kinds, so far)and some fresh spinach leaves (also in our garden) in a large bowl ... chop it up with kitchen shears ... add cut-up green onions,cilantro or parsley, red radishes, celery, bell pepper, green Granny apple, dried cranberries, a few walnuts or pecans and sprinkle in some freshly-grated parmesan cheese. Shake a bit of garlic powder and freshly-ground pepper into the mix.

Our favorite dressing is just plain old HOMEMADE vinaigrette. Toss it all together and, Yum!
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Enjoy this garden-fresh salad as a first course, as a side salad with the meal or add some left-over meat(s) (chicken,beef,etc.) and enjoy it as the meal itself. The salad may, of course, be altered in many ways ... with the greens as the base for ANYthing that suits your taste. Get creative and mix up your own "house salad". :)

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A simple French Vinaigrette (makes about 1/4 cup)

1/8 tsp salt
1 Tblsp red wine vinegar (or more or less, to your taste)
1/2 small shallot, or small green onion, chopped fine
3-4 Tblsps olive oil
fresh herbs, chopped (optional)
2 Tblsps Dijon mustard (more or less, to your taste)
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Put all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake well to mix.

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(I make vinaigrette all the time without a recipe; don't be afraid to do so. I usually make about 2 cups at a time ..... adding the olive oil, vinegar and mustard to taste. We like the vinaigrette with less vinegar "sharpness" and with lots of the mustard. I usually make it in a bowl and mix it all up with an old-fashioned "egg beater", before putting into an old vinegar cruet.)

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If the Squash Bugs Missed Them ...

We haven't had much luck with our garden squash this year.  The squash bugs didn't spare us.  Come to think of it, they didn't last year either. :(  Some of our friends have had the same problem - but there are SOME friends who have had success.  And, thanks to their generosity, we have been "kept in squash" this summer.  Yellow squash.  I like other kinds, too.  But YELLOW squash is my favorite.

I have tried various recipes for the squash, but have to say that my absolute favorite way to eat yellow squash is probably the simplest way of preparing it.  We enjoyed it again for supper this evening: slice small yellow squash into a skillet with a little olive oil (I also love using bacon drippings), some chopped fresh garlic, chopped onion, salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste.  Stir-fry for three to five minutes and, presto!, it is ready to eat.  Enjoy!

Of course, there are any number of ways to "ad lib" this recipe.  Sometimes I throw in some fresh, chopped basil - or sage - or thyme ... or all three!  It's great with some good  crispy country bacon chopped into it. And, if the bacon idea grabs you, you'll probably also love some slices of good ham ( I LOVE country-smoked ham) to go along with the squash.  Then, there's always any kind of cheese to sprinkle in ... maybe a little cream ... etc.  Use your imagination.  Don't be afraid to experiment.  For me, part of the fun of cooking, is the "creativity" of it ... sometimes I follow a recipe completely; but LOTS of times (maybe most) I'm not afraid to stray off on my own.  A little of this; a little of that.  Have to say that there have been few times that something's turned out really bad (but don't ask my husband about the sweet-and-sour rabbit when we were young marrieds and only had a can of pineapple and a jar of home-canned rabbit from a friend in the cupboard.............).

Eat REAL food - including squash-bugless yellow squash - and  enjoy REAL taste.  :)