Food Stratification

My husband told me a story about being at a friend’s for a dinner party.  He was standing in a line waiting to serve himself some food and another guest said that the food being served was “peasant food.”  The food being served was traditional food here in New Mexico.  He was really offended.  I don’t blame him.  What is so terrible about peasant food aside from the word peasant which does entail some derogatory meaning?   The food on the other hand is probably some of the smartest food this person was going to eat.  When I was a kid, “peasant” food was pretty much all we ate and for the most part it was pretty darn healthy.  It was mostly vegetarian and low in saturated fat, high in complex carbohydrates and micronutrients.   Not all our food was this healthy.  I drank loads of Kool-Aid, ate salami and bologna regularly and cookies with whole milk were often the snack of choice.  However, at dinnertime, my mom would definitely conjure up something creative and healthy and really tasty.   On the occasion we did go out, it was a treat.  Convenience foods that were easy to make and overly processed were too expensive and I think my mother knew better.   I know that some of these foods would have made my mom’s life a bit easier. 

The weirdest part about convenience foods while I was growing up was that they were more expensive.  Only the more affluent people could afford them and they were extremely unhealthy.   I can remember schoolmates teasing me about what I ate.  I ate wheat bread instead of white bread.  I ate the crusts.  I didn’t eat the school pizza.  I ate vegetables.  It seems that this trend is still around because my son gets some flack from the kids at school, but the opposite is true.  The convenience foods are less expensive and more available and it is the more affluent that can eat healthier.  I am really interested in this shift and I think that I am going to have to research it more to find out why the change and why do so many people still choose to eat the convenience foods despite their income level?  I know a lot has to do with taste preference, and there is a way to change it, but it is an investment that so many of us are unwilling to commit to and I can understand the reasons why.  That is why I am committed to posting whole food recipes on this blog, most of which are gluten-free and whole grain.  I am going try something new and I need your help. I am going to post a daily menu for the meals I make that are whole and healthy.  You can try the recipes or give me your ideas of what you make and I can adapt them for my family to eat.  Here it goes, your suggestions are appreciated.  Meanwhile, I am going to research the shift in class eating habits.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	Hazelnut Mocha Oatmeal	Grape Nuts w/skim milk, raisins and almonds	Blue cornmeal blueberry pancakes w/pinon, butter, and maple syrup, skim milk	Choco Cherry oatmeal w/almonds and skim milk	Tropical Oatmeal w/lite coconut milk, pineapple and orange juice	Grape Nuts w/skim milk, blackberries and almonds	Egg Scramble w/corn tortillas, salsa and cheddar
Lunch	Ice Cream (bad)	Peanut butter and Jelly w/Milk	Leftover Rice and Ice Tea	Asparagus, tomato and Swiss pizza on puff pastry, green salad and ice tea	Some kind of veggie sandwich from Which Wich and Ice Tea	Leftover red pepper pasta, salad and ice tea	Birthday party so who knows
Dinner	Fried Bologna sandwich, hot peppers, Watermelon and Fritos	Pinto Beans w/ Cheesy Spanish Rice, including bell peppers, lean grass-fed beef and tomatoes	Grilled Chicken sub w/spicy mustard, lettuce and tomato Apple, celery waldorf salad w/walnuts	Roasted Red Pepper Pesto w/GF pasta. Whole plant salad Wine and water	Fresh caught stuffed trout W/garlic bread crumbs and veggies, parsley lemon pesto, salad and skim milk	Going out	Chicken bratwurst w/sauerkraut and mustard, sweet potato fries, corn on cob, milk
Snacks	Homemade gf Chex mix	Banana smoothie Bing cherries	Cherries and Larabar Homemade PB rice krispie treat	Peach Bowl of Choco Pebbles	Cottage Cheese and Pineapple Grape and melon slushie	Grape slushie yogurt	PBJ on wheat bread w/skim milk Snow cone

Notes: 

It is a big week for us due to my son’s regional track practice and events so finding time to cook will be challenging.

On Monday, we had just returned from Colorado so this day was a bust.  No more cheat days for the month.

Grocery bill this week was about $150 which is $25 over what I try to spend

Exercise included pulling weeds every day and watering, running for 30 minutes 3 times this week

What are your goals this week?

Recipe of the Week

Blue Pancakes w/Pinons

1 ½ cups of blue cornmeal

½ cup brown rice flour

1 ½ cups of blueberries

½ cup pinon nuts

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp xantham gum

2 eggs

1 ½ cups of milk or a mixture of buttermilk and regular milk or any milk of choice

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbl melted butter or oil

2 tbl softened butter reserved w/2 tbls of pinon nuts

Roast pinon nuts and combine dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients and adding more milk for your desired consistency. Add melted butter, blueberries and pinon nuts.  Heat griddle to 350 degrees and start cooking.  Meanwhile, smash pinon nuts and softened butter together, serve w/maple syrup.