Common Cuisine |

This is a good afternoon snack to get the kids used to consuming less sugar, without trading flavor. Place it on a plate with some carrot sticks in the late afternoon, and it just might disappear!

3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 small cucumbers, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
4 to 6 pieces of butter lettuce, for serving

Combine yogurt, mint, lemon jice and salt. Mix well. Add tomatoes and cucumbers. Toss.

Spoon mixture into lettuce cups. Serves 4 to 6.

Are your kids picky eaters? Young children are notoriously finicky when it comes to eating stuff that’s good for them, but parents and caretakers are still in a position to influence the eating habits of the next generation. I read the other day that the primary vegetable consumed by the under-5 crowd is french fries. Don’t know about you, but that gives me a bit of a shudder as I think about the future.

Here are some ideas for how you can work together with your young ones to develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

1. Plant a garden. Even something as simple as a few potted herbs in your windowsill can be a source of fascination as kids experience the thrill of planting a seed, watering it, watching it grow, and then using bits of it in meal preparation.

2. Expose children to veggies frequently. A plate of cut up strips of bell pepper on the counter before dinner may be met with upturned noses; but if no other options are given, it just may disappear into young tummies wandering through the kitchen in search of snacks.

3. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Continue to expose your children to veggies and healthy choices over and over, and what was once a strange new food will eventually become familiar. Kids are not fans of new and strange, but may more readily attempt something they have seen on their plate several times before.

4. Set a good example. For some reason, my kids will scarf food off of my plate, when they have already rejected the exact same food on their own plate. When kids see you eating lots of veggies, whole grains, and plain yogurt, they are more likely to develop a taste for it themselves.

5. Build your meals around vegetables, instead of making them an afterthought. An appropriately built meal consists of half a plate of veggies, with the other half divided between protein and grain foods. Get out your spice box, and utilize that herb garden to vary the flavor and smell of your veggies.

With patience and persistence, your kids will expand their tastes and develop healthy eating habits that will benefit them throughout their lives.

8 oz sweet hot pepper jelly or jalapeno jelly
8 oz cream cheese
1 box crackers

Place the cream cheese on a plate. Pour pepper jelly over top. Serve with crackers.

Apparently, last week’s volcano eruption in Chile blew enough greenhouse gases into the global atmosphere to undo 5 years of our best efforts to reduce emissions. It kinda serves to defeat the purpose of what we are doing, if the goal is to leave a zero carbon footprint.

Yet, conservation is never wasted. There is still truth in that the less we consume, the less we pay for utilities, fuel, and commodities. Saving money is always good, and putting less in landfills allows us to enjoy the parts of our country that have not been converted. While I don’t know who to believe as far as how critical of a difference this belching volcano makes in the global equation, I still feel justified in doing my part to steward my personal resources.

This week I conserved gasoline by making all my shopping trips (4 stores) in one circuit, and picking up my daughter from school at the end of it. I calculate that the total driving distance was 20 miles, with 12 of them being part of my daily school run anyway. Since I live 9 miles from the nearest grocery store, you can see that I really put those additional 8 miles to work for me. Gasoline cost to drive my car 8 miles: about $2. I am pleased.

Brie is a soft cheese with a mild buttery flavor. A brie appetizer will give your gathering a touch of class.

A full wheel of brie is about the size of your hand, and comes encased in a white rind. This rind is perfectly edible, although no one will shame you if you discreetly slide yours off into the trash.

1 wheel brie
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely diced*
2-3 Tbsp sliced almonds
Hearty crackers

At any point during the day of your party, melt butter and olive oil together in a skillet. Add chopped garlic, and saute for about 2 minutes, so that garlic is aromatic and slightly softened, but not burned crispy brown. Store covered in a bowl on the countertop until ready to proceed with baking.

Preheat oven to 350. Place brie wheel in a pie plate, and pour garlic mixture over the wheel. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 20 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the rind has not ruptured and allowed the melting cheese to run all over the plate. If this does happen, the only damage is cosmetic. And those who enjoy brie will not care.

Pull out the plate, spread the perimeter of the plate with crackers, and set the plate on a trivet or hot pad in the appetizer serving area. Add a 2″ dip knife and serve hot.

*To easily peel a clove of garlic, lay the flat blade of a chef’s knife across the clove. With the heel of your hand, give the blade a quick blow. This will crush the garlic, leading to three results: the papery cover will be much easier to remove; the clove will be flatter and easier to chop; and the bruising action will release the oils in the garlic for greater smell and taste enjoyment.

For the third week in a row, I went shopping yesterday with a plan and a goal. The plan was a list almost entirely made up of sale items, involving four stores. The goal was to spend less than $100. I really need to look at some old bank statements since I don’t have a clear idea how much I was spending on food each week before that. But I know that every single week I go over my goal, and I have a sense that it’s by $30 to $50 if not more.

THE PLAN
At Sam’s Club I got 3 lbs of bananas and 4 packages of english muffins (we go through about a package a week), for a total of $9.40. I also try to gas up my car there, but had just made an emergency stop the day before, so did not this time.

At HEB I bought some deli roast beef to get free deli cheese and spicy mustard. I got strawberries, green beans, asparagus and honeydew all on sale. I brought the green beans home, washed and cut off the ends, and will use them for snacks for the kids this week. I also picked up olive oil with a $1 coupon attached, and local coffee beans for less than the national brand. This is also where I picked up organic apples. Total: $37.92 except the receipt didn’t show the right discount for the cheese and mustard, so I went to the customer service desk and got $1.07 returned to me. I decided to call that my “Eagle Eyes” money and put it in a jar for a special occasion. Revised total: $36.85.

At Albertson’s I collected yogurt (their store brand is Justin’s favorite), crackers, Zatarain’s, bratwurst and deli turkey on sale, as well as sale cookies plus coupon giving me 2 packages of Fudge Stripes for $1.17 each. Next time, I’ll skip the turkey sale, as it was not in line with my standards. My standard in deli meat is to stick with the kind without fillers, such as Boar’s Head and Kretschmar. It doesn’t go on sale more than 50 cents a pound, but that is one of those areas I have decided not to compromise. Total at Albertson’s was $19.39.

I finished up at Kroger, where I typically save 10% with my Kroger card without trying too hard. This time the receipt showed a bottom line savings of 33%. I chose all items that were on sale, such as kiwi, limes, cherry tomatoes, butter gold potatoes, and cheese. I also chose this week to stock up on SunChips and granola bars on sale. I used a coupon to get a $2.99 toothbrush for $1.19. At Kroger, I spent $34.34.

THE GOAL
After adding it all up, I see I spent a grand total of $101.05 but taking into account my Eagle Eyes correction of $1.07, I squeaked in under my goal at $99.98! It was very encouraging to see that despite visiting four locations, I was still able to spend less overall.

Time spent shopping was about 2 ½ hours, including driving time (of at least 30 minutes). My toddler escort did pretty well, although he was laying down in the cart trying to fall asleep by the last stop. Time planning was not well organized as I was simultaneously clipping coupons, going through the sales flyers, meal planning and making my shopping lists. I estimate it took me about two hours to do all of that, but I think as I do it more frequently, I will develop a system. Once summer comes in a few more weeks, a friend and I are going to spend Monday mornings doing this project together, while our kids play together.

CONCLUSION
By carefully choosing sale items, I was able to save a lot of money while only using two coupons for a total of $1.75. As you can see, that was still an important factor as it kept me under my goal. But I definitely think I am on the way to developing a system with hitting the different stores, and planning meals from the sales instead of independently.

This shopping trip is only part of the equation. Now I need to stay out of the store for the rest of the week by managing the amount of food I have in stock. Then I need to do it again for the next two weeks in order to stay on budget for the month. It takes work to plan this much, but I feel like a valiant warrior when I save money for my family.

I headed over to our local farmers’ market a couple weeks ago to scope out the scene. Around here the market runs year round, although there are far more vendors in the summer months than in the winter.

I went looking for lettuce, and was pleased with what I found. There were romaine and spinach to choose, plus tomatoes and green and white onions. I bought two gigantic heads of romaine, which have lasted our family over a week so far. The second head is still hanging out waiting for us to need it, but it looks like it will last still a few more days. Maybe next time I will just buy one.

I got a few bonuses, too. From the romaine vendor, I received some sprigs of dill and a sprig of Thai basil for drying. And from the spinach vendor, I picked up two bunches of red scallions for a few cents. They have a woody flavor I could (almost) eat raw. Our baby-shower chicken salad the next day was bumped up from terrific to unbelievable by the addition of these sweet onions.

I saw a vendor of local honey, as well as one selling natural soaps and lotions. I used to wash my hair with a natural soap bar that left my hair so clean it became curly. I look forward to testing these soaps sometime in the future, to see if they have the same effect.

My daughter and I spent time at the table of someone selling potted cactus and other plants. She had an emergent butterfly drying out on her shoulder, that she had found in a bunch of parsley someone was purchasing earlier in the morning. Looking at this dark beauty was a very neat experience for my daughter and I. After taking several pictures of this wonderful example of God’s creation, I purchased a small cactus plant and we continued with our round of errands for the morning.

Total investment at the market: $7 for two heads of romaine, a bunch of spinach, two bunches of red scallions, a handful of herb sprigs, three onions and a cactus plant.

Now that I have a better idea what to expect, I think I can be better prepared to visit at least every two weeks (it is a 30 minute drive). I plan to regularly purchase tomatoes, lettuce, and honey. And after enjoying my bonuses so much, I think I will go prepared to spend a few dollars each time on something surprising. !Viva la aventura!