Silly Sunday: Cauliflower

My husband refers to cauliflower as the broccoli-want-a-be, but why would a cauliflower want to stoop so low? It's a beautifully unique vegetable all by itself. This delicacy started appearing on tables during the reign of Louis the XIV. Furthermore, although most cauliflower we buy is white, it also comes in green, orange, or purple. Broccoli is always green, and according to Kermit the Frog, "It's not easy being green." Cauliflower is low in fat and high in fiber. It also costs more than broccoli because it's better.

If you don't like to eat cauliflower, here's another option. ☺

#GBE2: Strength

Strength, if only. How many times have I struggled with those darn pickle jars only to have my husband swoop in and open them with a single twist? I've eaten spinach for years, but I'm starting to wonder if some well meaning adult made up this strength bull just to get kids to eat healthy. The only folks I ever saw get strong from eating spinach are Pop Eye and Gilligan. Remember when he found the crate of radio active vegetable seeds? What a great show!

Since I'm a doubting Moses (Doubting Thomas comes from Christianity, so I can't claim him), I did a little spinach research. Back in the late nineteenth century, some doctor put a decimal point in the wrong spot when writing down the iron content of spinach. Everyone believed his bogus document thinking that spinach had ten times the iron content than what it actually had. Like, no one questioned it? 

Wee! Playing with decimals could be fun. 

Friend:   How fast were you going?

Moi:        750 MPH.

Friend:  How much weight have you lost?

Moi:       230 pounds.

Friend:  How old are you?

Moi:       Five.

The last one might be believable, but the one about spinach? I guess if the right person says it, folks will believe anything. Just look at what people swallow from politicians.

But back to spinach: 

I knows it! I knows it!

No one found the mistake until 1937! By then, it was too late. People bought into the myth about spinach making you strong.

It may not make you strong, but there are nutrients in spinach so it's not a bad thing to eat; however, forget that gross canned stuff that Pop Eye dumps down his throat. Give yourself a real treat with fresh (or frozen) spinach leaves, garlic, pepper, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. Top with paprika and nuke in the microwave. 

I didn't cook this, but it looks yum!

Hey look! Last week I had a political blog, now I've got a foodie blog! This will drive Reg nuts, if that boy ever comes back. Teehee.

If you cook my spinach, and eat it, you'll be getting iron and magnesium which is helpful for healthy muscle growth. Plus, it's good for your heart and doesn't make you fart. 

Sorry about the fart comment, but what did you expect from someone who is five.♡

#BFF: Food

When I was a wee little girl, I ate two things: hot dogs and jello. The hot dogs had to be peeled of skin and cut into little round pieces while the jello was usually red.

My frantic mother rushed me to the doctor and asked, "What do I do?"

"Feed her hot dogs and jello," the doctor said.

(Reminds me of the old joke, "Doc, it hurts when I do this!"

"Don't do this.")

So Mom left me alone and with little fanfare, my food jag slipped away. Today there are very few foods I don't like. Don't get me wrong, there are many things I won't eat, but it's due to diet, health, or religious issues, not from stamping my feet like a two year old.

I still love hot dogs (even after the events from my A-Z hot dog post). Here is a picture of my lunch. Yes. That's a hot dog hiding behind asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. I count carbs, so you're not seeing a slice of bread, but I did eat a delicious 13 carb fiber brownie for dessert.  The vegetables are about 5 carbs per serving, and I probably have at least four servings on the plate, so I think I'm good. If not, I will instantly balloon out and have to throw out the few things that didn't shrink in my hot closet, but that's okay too because my kids have directions via Rita Rudner.

They've grown up hearing, "If I'm ever on life support, don't pull the plug until I'm a size six."

"Yes, Mother." They roll their eyes and never find me even slightly funny.

Back to the carbs. I started counting carbs in April and since then I've shed about twenty pounds. I don't eat much in the way of sugar, but that's nothing new. The thought of a glazed donut makes me want to gag, which is ironic because my WIP is a story called MRS. ZIMMERMAN'S DONUTS and involves a little boy who's deprived of these and other delectables from his over protective mother.

I don't eat pork as a poor attempt to follow at least one kosher law. If I were truly a good Jew, I'd give up my favorite traif, shrimp, but it ain't happening. At least not outside the home.

I like wine, but every time I drink a glass, my blood sugar spikes. I'm not a Diabetic but the disease runs heavily in my family and that's the main reason I'm carb counting. I have a pre-Diabetic diagnosis and don't want to take it any further than that, so I figure I have a choice: Eat healthy and lose weight or get the disease and lose the weight of a leg or two. I choose the former. Yay! Blood sugar was 93 this morning.

As for foods I don't like, I hate liver, olives, sweet pickles and relish. I'm not a big fan of okra, but it has more to due with the slimy texture than the taste. It looks like snot and doesn't score too well on my appetizing meter.

Now that you know my food issues, I leave you with a musical number on the topic. Signing off from the Methodist Germantown Hospital. Surgery was a success, and I'm going home today. I hope the dogs don't attack me when I head through the door.

Beware of Dogs

Enjoy one of my favorite songs about a yummy food that I won't be eating for awhile.