Eating Around the World (and Math and Statistics, too)

In the midst of the COVID-19 world crisis and complete shutdown, we found ourselves eating many of the same meals...chicken with rice, turkey with rice, pork with rice, and then surprise! those same meats with pasta or potatoes. Thankfully we had the choices, and frankly, I could eat chicken with rice every day. :-) hehe One night last week, T. came up with an amazing idea to "Eat the 7 continents" for dinners, being that there are 7 continents and 7 days in the week, that would work perfect. To arrange our menu for the week, the kids and I got out our DnD dice (haven't played the game yet, but we have 4 sets ready to go!). First, we #'ed the continents and rolled an 8-sided die to discover which day of the week we'd be eating from where. This week, we rolled: Monday-Antarctica Tuesday-Australia Wednesday-South America Thursday-Europe Friday-North America Saturday-Africa Sunday-Asia Since continents are large, we decided to dig deeper and assign a country for each day according to the continent...so, here came the DnD dice again, trying to find "fair" ways to pick the countries. Monday was easy. There are no countries in Antarctica, so we declared Antarctica as a food-storage, freezer-meal, traditional-expedition food night. Tuesday-Australia. At first we were going to just pick food from Australia. I got to play at the World's Fair in 1988 in Sydney Australia with the Golden Empire Suns Youth Band, so I knew that New Zealand also was part of the continent, as we'd visited many awesome places there, too. So, I inquired Google on how many countries are actually part of the Australian continent, and lo and behold, there are 26 (including dependent territories of Oceania). This is the list we are using: https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-australia-and-oceania.html (clever, huh?!). So, we 26 countries, we used a 20 die and a 6 die, but then, we could never get a 1, so, first we rolled a 4 sided die to see if we'd roll one die, or if we'd be rolling both. We didn't roll a one with the four-sided die, so we rolled both and got TONGA TONGAN RECIPES: Lime Chile Chicken: https://dish.co.nz/recipes/tonga-chilli-lime-chicken Boiled Taro with Coconut Milk: https://www.food.com/recipe/boiled-taro-with-coconut-milk-209574 Wednesday-South America. We used the DnD's 10 and 6. 15 countries, so if we roll a 16, that counts as 1 from this list: https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-south-america.html We rolled a 9 and got PERU Thursday-Europe. 51 Countries?! There were not that many when I was in Geography in Jr. High School! Anywho, there are now. Here is the list: https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-europe.html With 51 countries, which dice to use? Hmmm. 17x3? nope...no 17 sided dice, 20+20+8 will do. But first, we need to know if we're rolling 1, 2, or 3 dice...so, roll the 4 sided and see. If 1, then the 20, if 2, then 2 20's, if 3 or 4, then two 20's and one 8. Add them up, and see which country you'll be cooking from. We rolled a total of 8, so we're visiting BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA (literally have never heard of the latter). Friday-North America. How many countries in North America, I asked my daughter, "2! Canada and America!". Cue the laugh track! hahaha I asked her about Mexico...and then decided to look it up. HELLO! I'd totally forgotten about Central America and Caribbean! The pirates would be so disappointed... From the online list we learned there are https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/l/List_of_North_American_countries.htm Saturday-Africa. I remember 40, but that was also wrong! haha. https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-africa.html We rolled and got Ethiopia. Doro Wat stew and Injera bread. At first, I used this https://www.daringgourmet.com/doro-wat-spicy-ethiopian-chicken-stew/ and https://www.eatright.org/food/planning-and-prep/recipes/quick-injera-recipe I needed lots of substitutions, so I took a picture of the spices I put in: The meal turned out pretty good. Even the two pickiest kids gobbled it up...I think it was the bread on the side. :-)

Lentil Burgers from Meatless Monday.com

Lentil Burgers from http://www.meatlessmonday.com/lentil-burgers/ Brown lentils are spiced with red chili and thyme, topped with alfalfa sprouts and served on a poppy seed bun. These burgers are great on the grill and so hearty even the most devout carnivores will be singing the praises of the mighty lentil. This recipe comes to us from Trudy of veggie.num.num. Serves 8 For the lentil burger patties: 1½ cups brown lentils, rinsed and picked through 6 cups low sodium vegetable stock 4 garlic cloves, smashed 1 red chili, diced ¼ red onion, diced 5 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped 2 slices wholegrain bread, roughly diced or 1 ½ cups freshly made breadcrumbs salt and pepper, to taste 2 eggs, lightly whisked 1-2 tablespoons wholegrain flour To complete the lentil burgers: a little vegetable oil or cooking spray, to prepare the grill pan 8 slice of your favorite burger cheese* 8 tablespoons relish 8 sweet sandwich pickles 4 ounces baby lettuce 4 ounces alfalfa sprouts 1 avocado*, cut into slices 8 poppy seed buns, toasted * Optional. To make the lentil burger patties: Place the lentils in a large saucepan with the stock and smashed garlic. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Drain off any excess liquid and set aside to cool. Combine the chili, red onion, thyme and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Add the cooked lentils and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the whisked eggs to the burger mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined, adding enough flour to bring the mixture together. Form the mixture into large patties with your hands. To complete the lentil burgers: Prepare a large frying pan or Barbeque grill pan with a light coating of vegetable oil or cooking spray. Try using a sheet of lightly oiled tin foil on the grill if you don’t have a grill pan. Cook the lentil burger patties on the prepared pan for 4-5 minutes, flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side, or until both sides are golden and cooked through. If using cheese, top the cooked burger patty with 1 slice of cheese and place under a medium grill or broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Build your burger by spreading the bun with relish topping with a patty, then pickles, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and avocado, if using. Close the burger with the top bun and repeat the process with the remaining burgers.

12-23-12 Meal Planning

Sunday Breakfast = hot cereal, milk, scrambled eggs Lunch = pbj's, carrots, sugar snap peas Dinner = pork crockpot, spinach salad, rice and beans Monday Breakfast = egg-drop porridge, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, sugar snap peas Dinner = pork taco crockpot leftover with spinach and rice and beans Tuesday (Christmas) Breakfast = eggs, bacon, waffles, oatmeal Lunch = soup, cheese sandwiches or just bread Dinner = pie, Wednesday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, apple slices Dinner = Oscar Meyer Pork&chicken&turkey hotdogs, buns, broccoli Thursday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, apple slices Dinner = chicken breast, roasted cauliflower, spinach, carrots, brown rice Friday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's (H. will eat in cafeteria) Dinner = whole wheat pizza Friday, salad Saturday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's Dinner = hamburgers, chips, salad

12-2-12 Meal Planning

Sunday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, sugar snap peas Dinner = chicken crockpot, spinach salad, rice and beans Monday Breakfast = egg-drop porridge, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, sugar snap peas Dinner = Chicken taco crockpot leftover with spinach and rice and beans Tuesday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's (H. will eat in cafeteria) Dinner = Turkey sandwiches, spinach Wednesday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, apple slices Dinner = Oscar Meyer Pork&chicken&turkey hotdogs, buns, broccoli Thursday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's, carrots, apple slices Dinner = chicken breast, roasted cauliflower, spinach, carrots, brown rice Friday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's (H. will eat in cafeteria) Dinner = whole wheat pizza Friday, salad Saturday Breakfast = cold cereal, milk Lunch = pbj's Dinner = hamburgers, chips, salad

Pumpkin Sloppy Rachels

I invented this a few years ago for our pumpkin carving party. My son is allergic to tomatoes, so I decided to search for pumpkin sloppy joe recipes (since Sloppy Joe's was our main dish idea). All the pumpkin sloppy joes recipes I found had tomato paste in them anyways. So, this is what I came up with and everyone loved them. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Sloppy Rachels

Ingredients

1 T grape seed oil (or canola) -----OMIT if not lean turkey
1 package lean ground turkey (1 or 1 1/4 lbs.)
1/2 medium yellow onion--diced
1 clove garlic -- diced tiny
15 oz black beans (with juice)
20 oz can pumpkin -- make sure it is just pumpkin, and not pumpkin pie filling
10 shakes Chili Oil (about 1/2 T)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
water--add enough while cooking to keep from burning or boiling dry
salt and pepper to taste

Brown lean ground turkey in grape seed oil.
Add diced onion and garlic -- stir and cook until the onions are clear.
Add a little water to keep turkey from burning (1/2 cup)
Add black beans with juice and pumpkin
Add chili oil and Worcestershire sauce
Add water to prevent boiling dry (simmer for about 15 minutes to mix the flavors)
Add salt and pepper

Serve over split whole wheat rolls with a steamed green vegetable (broccoli looks good) and julienned bell peppers of a variety of color.

lentil mix -- our new staple.

1 1/2c. dry lentils
1 c. dry split peas
1/2 c. masala lentils (without the hull, orange)
6 c. water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 t. Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute
(1 - 2 cups minute brown rice at the end--DO NOT ADD NOW)

Put on high. BOIL for 1 minute, STIR, then COVER, and SIMMER for 25 minutes on medium-low.

After 25 minutes of simmering, stir it, poor in the rice to soak up the rest of the water. COVER, REMOVE from heat, let sit COVERED at least 5 minutes.

Serve alone, along side your baked chicken, use like you would rice pilaf!

Biscuits

YUMMY bicuits that T. made tonight:


Ingredients

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 Tablespoon sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup butter
* 3/4 cup milk

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.