It's ALL About the Food!

Saving Dinner is one thing. But even the Dinner Diva herself, Leanne Ely, would agree that the quality of life is more than dinner...SNACKS are important, too!

Time was when a 5 cent candy bar did the trick. Now, I'm giving away my age! As the price went up and so did my weight and cavity count, candy bars just did not cut it. We had to resort to-dare I say it- HEALTHY munching!

I know, healthy snacks may seem to be an oxymoron. but let's examine the issue: the food that's grown in soil lacks the nutrients the soil does not have to offer. Couple that with the fact that American food is processed literally to death. Inedibles such as msg and sweeteners are added, as is processed salt, icky oils and other gross things that, admittedly, taste good. One of my mentors, Dr. John Cortner, used to wail about pasteurized, homogenized milk being "congealed junk". Some folks cannot afford or have chosen not to supplement their food intake with whole foods supplements. Worse, they may be taking over the counter products that are lacking in quality and frankly, whole foods.

So, what's a mother to DO? What IS there to snack on, if we can't choose from long aisles loaded with chips and dips and microwaved stuff. SIDEBAR: Please, dear visitor, do NOT use microwave ovens. We are talking about HEALTH here. END SIDEBAR.

Well, apples are good and goodness knows that Southeast Nebraska has loads of apples this time of year. All types and colors. Leave the life giving peels on and slice them. Simple. Quick. Yummy. A shake of sea salt will bring out the sweetness and flavor of the apples.

You could even dip those slices in peanut butter, almond butter, hummus, or one of those new protein powders made from sprouts. NOW we are talking HEALTHY! That's what we DO here...

How about keeping a stash of peeled hard cooked eggs in your fridge? You can quickly chop some celery and onion and toss in some commercial pickle relish. You mix it all and spoon it into lettuce leaves for a tasty wrap! THAT is a SNACK.

The old standby of stuffing ribs of celery with cream cheese or cheese food or shredded cheese is okay but why not jazz that idea up a notch? For health's sake, use almond butter or creamed spinach leftovers or tiny ribbons of dried beef.

Tiny grape or cherry tomatoes make a terrific and healthy munchie. Wash tomatoes of nearly the same size and place them on a deli lid (you know, the lid from the Dream Whip). Lay a second lid on the tomatoes and slide your knife between the two lids from one side to the other for a PERFECT half slice to your little tomatoes! Sprinkle a tad of sea salt, a pinch of pepper and a teensy weensy pinch of sugar over the whole works and snack away. ( I saw these techniques done on Rachel Ray, who credited an intern on her show for the slicing tip and I saw someone on The Food Network season tomatoes thusly.)

Here's hoping I have whetted your appetite some. For Saving Dinner , you and Leanne are on your own!

I truly wish you WELL.

Mother Connie Sez, "She COOKS!"

For me, cooking is great fun.

The challenge of coming up with 3 interesting, nourishing meals every day is one in which I take great delight!

For example, there is such satisfaction in taking the foods I prepare for one meal and morphing them into a completely new preparation for the next meal.

When God was a little boy, I sold cookware for a living. I would enter the 'sanctuary' of the kitchens of those who hosted a meal and I would prepare the foods to show off the cookware.

The only downside to that was that the menu never varied.

We all know that variety is the spice of life, so now, while I still enjoy that same set of cookware used for umpteen demonstrations, I have augmented my kitchenware with a little of this and a little of that. Call it, and me, 'eclectic'.

I have a favorite knife that is very similar to the one Rachel Ray uses on her TV shows. I have skillets that do not match my original set but they work to make me feel comfy in my style of food preparation. I don't labor at cooking. It feels like play to me.

Here's my technique, if you want to define it as such:

I hang on the fridge with the door open, surveying what is on hand for the day's good eating.

This happens when I am getting the cold foods out for breakfast.

When I have an idea of the protein that will be the centerpiece for the meal, I hang on the cabinet doors to see what will go well with all the protein I have chosen.

What happened on Saturday was that I had the "L" word on every shelf of the refrigerator. Leftovers.

I used a leftover steamed potato, added the dab of au gratin spuds that awaited attention, and cooked up another tater that shared the pot with some fresh cauliflower.

When all had cooked and drained, I added the au grain potatoes, an extra slice of cheese and moistened it with some buttermilk.

Tasty! Tasty! Tasty!

As much as Norm and I enjoyed that side dish, we did not eat all of it. On Sunday, I took some chopped onion, chopped celery, bread crumbs and ground beef, added a couple of eggs, a smattering of seasonings, and stirred up what looked like you'd expect hamburger patties or meat loaf to be.

I patted the meat mixture flat on waxed paper and poured the potato mixture on top of it. Then I rolled up the waxed paper til the meat connected. I dropped the entire roll onto an oiled baking sheet and put it into the oven on a 275 degree oven for a very long time. The top of the roll was brown and crusty and that was the clue it was cooked. Oh, how divine that smelled! It did not smack of leftovers. It was delicious!

Someone suggested to me that you can cook once and eat twice. Sounds like a plan to me.

I've been eyeing that set of skillets on http://www.motherconnie.com/ .

Aren't skillets like shoes in that you can never have too many?

Online shopping is so easy. I think I'll order myself a new set of skillets with a knife to match. While I'm at it, I'll be ordering a new bamboo cutting board.

After all, we need to think green, don't we?

No matter WHAT you think, I hope you'll be brave enough to leave a comment. Mother Connie herself will moderate your comments, so please let the world know what you think about cooking, being green, online shopping...or leftovers!