dA McNugget

Yum!  or NOT...

Supposedly there are 38 ingredients in a McNugget from McDonald's!  Yikes...
The ones derived from corn include (taken from The Omnivore's Dilemma):

1. corn-fed chicken
2. modified cornstarch (to bind the meat)
3. mono-, tri-, and diglycerides (keep fats and water from separating)
4. dextrose
5. lecithin
6. chicken broth (to restore flavor)
7. yellow corn flower
8. cornstarch
9. vegetable shortening
10. partially hydrogenated corn oil
11. citric acid
12. some wheat in batter

This is the inside of a Nugget before cooking AKA Mechanically Separated Poultry (source).

OMG.  How can you feed this to your kids or yourself?

I don't even enjoy looking at it anymore so its really not hard to pass on eating it.  I guess the more educated you make yourself on where your food came from the easier it is to pass up this kind of shit.


I once heard that you can save a McDonald's burger for a year and it wont change color or shape.  What do you think of that?  Wanna try it? 

absolutly crazy leftovers!

Started out being Turkey and Cranberry Ravioli by mixing:

ground turkey (1/2 lb dark meat preferably)
cranberry sauce (4 tbl)
bread crumbs (2 tbl)
chopped parsley leaves (2 tbl)
egg (2)
freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt

Mix all ingredients together in large mixing bowl

Then Eric called to say the store did not have wonton wrappers AND I thought what could I possibly do with this mixture...AHHHH ?!?!

AND it...

Ended up turning into Turkey Enchiladas by adding:

Salsa (around 2 cups)
Black Beans (one can)
grated Pepper Jack Cheese
Green Chili Enchilada Sauce (one can)
flour tortillas

Add salsa and beans to mixture

I poured Sauce on bottom of baking dish

Put about a half cup of turkey mixture in tortilla with some cheese

Rolled it up and set in dish. Repeat

Cover with more sauce and Cheese (but we ran out and Eric said it's probably a good thing... hehe)
Bake 350 for 30 minutes

Turkey Mix and iPad for help

Before going into the oven

Yum! Sorry for the messy plating :(

What do you think it taste like??


real gOOd :)

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Relax

We have had a full house since Wednesday and now plan to relax for a week before my mom comes to town.  Starting out today with Pho 79 and eating leftovers for dinner.  I want to make ravioli's with turkey and cranberry mix inside!  

TV today:
Football (boo)
Top Chef Texas 
The Walking Dead
Kendra
Bad Teacher (I've heard this is a horrible movie)
I wish Brother and Sister's was still on too :(

PS: Katie WON her Chopped challenge!  

Food for Thought: 


From: The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Feedlot Making Meat
This quote is in reference to corn fed cattle:


"... the health of these animals is inextricably linked to our own by that web of relationships.  The unnaturally rich diet of corn that undermines a steer's health fattens his flesh in a way that undermines the health of the humans who will eat it.  The antibiotics these animals consume with their corn at this very moment are selecting, in their gut and wherever else in the environment they end up, for new strains of resistant bacteria that will someday infect us and withstand the drugs we depend on to treat that infection.  We inhabit the same microbial ecosystem as the animals we eat, and whatever happens in it also happens to us."

Feedlot

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Gobble Good Thanksgiving...

We hosted our first Thanksgiving ever!! 

It turned out wonderfully delicious...

Pre-Thanksgiving Prep Wednesday night... WOW it made the next day much easier...

Herbs and such



For My Dad!

Grocery List... hehe

Brussel Sprouts and Green Beans

FULL Fridge!

Thanksgiving Day...

Herb Butter

Carrot, Celery, Onion Stuffed

Bobby Flay Recipe

and Roasted in Chicken Broth

Eric basted it every 20 minutes...

Side Dishes too:

• 1 lb baby onions
• 1/4 cup wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 bay leaf
• fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup raisins

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. 

• cauliflower
• broccoli
• natural yogurt
• grated cheddar cheese
• mustard
• sour cream
• breadcrumbs

Boil broccoli and cauliflower for about 10 minutes.
Mix yogurt, cheese, mustard and sour cream together
Place cauli and broc in baking dish and top with sauce mixture
Sprinkle breadcrumbs over dish
Bake then broil dish to perfection

• 2 cups OJ
• 12 oz cranberry
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 orange zest
• 1 cup walnut

Put juice, cranberry and ginger in pot and simmer 10 minutes
Remove from heat add sugar, zest, and nuts
Cool and serve

Scalloped Corn from Angelique

Pear and Apple Pie from Diane

Pumpkin Pie from Diane

"The Gangs All Here!"

So Full...

I'm Grateful for LOTS!!

Proud BFF Today

My great friend Kathryn Tjaden is a finalist for a Thanksgiving contest on the blog Siriously Delicious-link! 


Rules:
1 appetizer.
4 Thanksgiving-themed ingredients.
You must be able to prep and assemble the recipe in 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
SAGE. CANNED CORN. BREAD CRUMBS. APPLE CIDER.

Check out her recipe at

 http://siriouslydelicious.blogspot.com/2011/11/siriously-chopped-thanksgiving_21.html 

or on

her blog at Ridiculous Business-link!

This is the most impressed I have ever been by Katie...hehe
But for real, she followed the rules and ended up with a delicious creation.  I hope she wins... 


Love you KT!

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Cage FREE EGGS

Sparboe Egg Farms: Watch this video by clicking on the link or below.  The link will take you to a website with more information.  The video will just make you sick and hopefully start to rethink your choice in eggs. 

MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND CHANGE YOUR HABITS!

Some of Our Free Range Costa Rica Friends....

Good Morning with the Meyer's

I love starting the day with my favorite person and a full tummy. 

xoxox

French Press coffee maker is da bomb!

Two Cage Free Eggs (over easy-but Eric always ends up with hard yoke) and HaSHbROwns.
I got to pick what he made :)

Frank's RedHot to top it off.

SpoT: "I want some too"

Max: "Pleeeese Drop sOMe!"

Free Range Turkey pLeASe!!

On Saturday, with our Cuisinart Food Processor I had made some Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and thought it was gross.  Eric said he would turn it into delicious pasta sauce with heavy cream and let me know it tasted exactly like it should.  I guess I didn’t know what red peppers taste like… opps.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Garlic
Lemon zest
Kosher salt
Herbes de Provence
Lemon juice
White balsamic
EVO
3 jars of roasted red peppers, drained but not rinsed

Pasta Sauce

Mushrooms
Onion
Spinach
Sweet bell peppers (fresh)
Heavy cream
Parmesan cheese
Salt/pepper
And ALL THE Roasted Red Pepper Sauce…

I LOVED it!!! 

Under 30 minutes (not including the sauce I made at the beginning of the week). 

Eaten with pleasure over a hot plate of noodles… if only we had a bottle of wine.

Step One...

Step Two...Eric's Creation

Step Three... eAt!

PS: Make sure to order a Free Range Turkey (about $2.30/lb... not sure what TM turkey cost so I can't compare).  But the Turkey we make and eat on Thanksgiving will have roamed the earth at one time enjoying life.  Yummmm... I'm grateful to be higher on the food chain. 

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Extreem Couponing

This show is GROSS!  I thought I'd get into watching it so I recorded the series.  About 2 and a half episodes in I became disgusted.  They were all grocery store couponing and it was hard to watch the carts get filled. 

Lets see how much sugar we can feed to our family for less than $2! 

This is America people...educate yourself on how bad this type of food is! 

"The Cookie Jar"

"hoTDogs"

GROSS...

Yummy!

Some of the meals made in Our HOME since we last talked:

Caprese Salad- Mozzarella, Tomato, Red Onion, Salt, Pepper, Balsamic Vinaigrette

Leeks- Hard Boiled Egg chopped and placed on top, Dijon Mustard, Lots of butter

Risotto- Chicken stalk, sauteed mushrooms

Sugar Cookies- prepackaged just add oil and water

Some Dishes!!  Our dishwasher has been broke for three weeks...

MAX in my classroom... CUTE!

Katie and I did LOTS of cooking of the last week.  She made the Leeks and Risotto.. it took a long time but turned out amazing!  She didn't leave me the recipies but I'm sure I can post them in the future.  I'll add a more detailed post soon. 

What did you eat this weekend?  Any TM?

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