Having grown up a child of food insecurity, I can tell you it stays with you for life. I understand people who grew up in the Depression who save everything. Most of those folks are gone or going now. I always need to know what my next food is, and when I will eat again. My oft-expressed mantra is “if I say I’m not hungry, start CPR. For real, cause my heart’s stopped beating. Yeah, I have a screwed-up relationship with food, I know.
Mother’s Day 2018
So it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow, which is great except Mom died. Wow, how to process that and experience my first Mom’s day without her?
Food is Love – Cooking Resources
In your quest to cook more at home, the following tools and resources are very useful to you as a new cook.
Cooking essentials
Here is a list of tools you will find essential in your kitchen:
Pots and pans
– Stainless – essential for searing and browning meat and sauteing veggies
– Non-stick – perfect for low to no-fat cooking
– Cast-iron – great for everything, especially long cooking and braising dishes
Knives
Spend money and buy good quality knives in a block, don’t forget scissors!
Utensils – plastic, wood, metal
Plastic and wood are a must when using non-stick cookware, metal when you have to really scrape something out of a stainless or cast-iron pan
Bowls
Limit yourself to 3-4 because that is what you will ultimately use.
Cutting boards
– Plastic
– Wood
Dedicate one board for just fruit and another for all else
Cooking web sites
There are countless web sites and blogs devoted to all things cooking. Here are some that will become your favorites:
All Recipes – who needs cookbooks when you have this huge database of recipes?
Pioneer Woman – Ree Drummond’s site is full of beautiful pics, stories, and down-home comfort food recipes.
Epicurious – when you want to branch out and challenge yourself.
She Simmers – Thai home cooking, consider the possibilities of TexMex, Italian, Iranian, Vegan. The number of cooking web sites is endless.
Finally, Smitten Kitchen. Deb Perelman cooks and bakes everything and is easy to follow and make. Make her blog part of your daily surfing.
Pinterest for all your cooking needs
We would do you a disservice if we didn’t mention Pinterest. Stop what you are doing. Go there. NOW. Need ideas for Memorial Day dishes? BAM. Party coming up and want a special cocktail? DONE. Need an easy slow-cooker oatmeal recipe? GOT YOUR BACK.
Seriously, Pinterest has it all, but be warned, it is horribly addicting and many hours can be lost searching for recipes and hairstyles and party ideas and….
Food is Love – Cooking at Home
Why you should cook for your family
Let’s face it, it’s easier to stop and pick up fast food for dinner on your way home from work than to cook at home. You had a long, tiring day and the thought of cooking makes you feel even more tired.
An article in Harvard Health Publishing through the Harvard Medical School reports the potential health risks for children who eat fast food.
Studies show “kids who ate fast food three times a week or more had increased risks of asthma, rhinitis, and eczema—as much as a 39% increase in severe asthma risk for teens and 27% for younger kids.”
A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine shows kids eat many more calories eating fast food or at restaurants than eating at home. Studies show kids consumed 160-310 more calories a day when eating out.
The good news is eating three or more servings of fruit appears to reduce the severity of symptoms for asthma, rhinitis, and eczema. Whole food brings back health.
Healthier fast food options
There are several things you can do to help you and your family eat healthier meals when eating out:
- Replace soda and juice with milk or water
- Don’t super-size, order smaller portions
- Choose salad or fruit options instead of french fries or onion rings
Cook for your family
We believe food is love, but we believe home-cooked meals are true love. You can experience many benefits to cooking at home, like saving money (fast food is expensive), controlling portions, reducing fats and sugar, gaining basic cooking skills (practice makes perfect), and having better tasting, good quality food.
We can teach you how
Food is Love offers classes on simple and basic home-cooked meals. You will learn how to use high quality fresh ingredients to make quick meals during the week.
You and your family are worth it.
Food is Love – Welcome!
Who we are
Food is Love started offering cooking classes five years ago teaching people how to cook. Brenda Nelson and Donna Glassman believe everyone can learn to prepare nutritious and tasty food.
What we do for you
We offer you the following hands-on cooking classes in our friendly cooking facility:
- 30-minute weeknight meals
- Slowcooker and Instapot meals
- Comfort food casseroles
- Sides and salads
- Grilling basics
- Cakes, Cookies, and Breads
You are supplied with everything you need to cook a complete meal. You will receive instruction on basic cooking techniques, cook (and eat!) a full meal, and get the recipes so you can recreate dishes at home.
What to expect
- Classes are 2-3 hours long
- Class size limited to 8 people, cooking in pairs
- All materials provided, including aprons, cooking utensils, and ingredients
- Hands-on cooking
- Expect to be on your feet, so wear comfortable clothes and closed toe shoes
Class details/register
Cost: $75 per person
Click HERE for dates
Register: 623.543.9876
Call today to register and secure a spot in our kitchen. Space is limited.
Location:
2412 W. Greenway Rd, Phoenix 85023
Phone: 623.543.9876
Fax: 623.488.0023
Diane Nash, Civil Rights Shero
Observing the MLK Observance
I was reading The Guardian’s coverage of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. I am drawn to this because I believe in Dr. King’s work and his philosophies of freedom and equality for all human beings, and peaceful non-violent resistance. I visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis one year ago this week, and was struck by this poignant memorial to MLK and the civil rights movement. If you’ve never been, you must go. It is well-designed, thoughtful, and evocative.
Breaking the Rules, or Not?
The article provides a link to Diane Nash, a little-known civil rights icon. Ms. Nash is an 
unassuming and courageous civil rights activist. As the article states “And while her contributions are sometimes overlooked in the re-tellings of the movement in favor of some of the more ostentatious male participants, few leaders from the earliest days of the movement have been as driven, unflinching and courageous as Diane Nash.”
The 2017 article about Ms. Nash is long, nothing short about it. There is a lot of history to cover and while I know it is best practice to avoid long stories and content, a short article just won’t cut it. I admit to being a typical reader (I may spend more than 30 seconds scanning a web page, maybe) who doesn’t like to read long articles. But I’m passionate about the history of this story and the writing is compelling and keeps my attention. I’m OK with them breaking the rules and writing this long and interesting story.
It’s All About the Headings
I have learned about the use of white space and headers to grab readers interest and give them a little taste of the paragraphs to follow. Readers need a road map to get them where they need to go. Jamiles Lartey, the author of this piece, does an admirable job with the headers. They are compelling and keep me reading this long story.
I really try to create interesting and different headers. I want to convey information in creative, compelling ways, not some dry, boring headers that may do just the opposite and push people away.
I also have to give kudos to the callout quote boxes that do a fine job pulling my eye. A lot of pictures are used for historical reference, and a picture of Diane Nash from the 60s and today anchor the story.
But Wait, There’s More!
The bottom of the article states it is the third in a series of interviews with women who changed our world. What, what, WHAT? I need to see the other two articles and hope for more. There are several links to articles about women and a link to their Lifestyle section, specifically for women. I think The Guardian US just got a new subscriber.
Seeing with a New Eye
I appreciate my ENG 554 Digital Communications class. I freely admit that I am no web or graphic designer, but I’m learning the elements of good design. We all recognize and appreciate good design, and its opposite evil twin, bad web design. I know that from here on out, I will be looking at media with a whole, new eye. I am interpreting and judging content in new and different ways. I’m grateful for the knowledge and critical thinking provided in this very interesting class. I have a long way to go and I’m looking forward to the journey.
Usenet Memories and a Recipe
I was reading Writing for the Web A Practical Guide by Cynthia Jeney and she gives a little history of the interwebs, I mean, the Internet. She talks about Usenet and I have such fond memories of it. Usenet and the World Wide Web were my playpen when I first touched a computer. You see, back in my day, waaaaaay long time ago back in in the late 70s, the only kids in high school who were allowed to see and touch a computer were the eggheads. The brainiacs. The smarty-smart pants math geniuses. Yeah, not me. I was not the brightest star in the firmament, at least not at that time. I was a late bloomer.
Anyhoodle, my Hunny introduced me to computers, Gods bless him, and it’s been a love affair ever since. One of my first forays was Usenet and rec.food.cooking. I remember being in awe as I shared recipes with people from around the world. I’m a foodie, remember? This was a seriously cool thing, well before WWW and food blogs.
I present to you for your cooking pleasure, Mexican Pot Roast. Make it, it’s a wonderful slow cooker recipe. I’ve been making it since 1995 and it’s still a staple in our house. Serve it over mashed potatoes and you will be in heaven.
Ah, Usenet, I remember you with love.
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me!
The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began…
Brenda Nelson - Storyteller 