Where Did I Put My Mentos?

I want to move to Belgium.
So, what do the Belgiumers, er, Belgiumese, uh, Flemish, Flems...
Okay, what do the "Great People of Belgium" do on a slow day?

Try to break the world record for simultaneous soda fountains caused by dropping Mentos candies into cola drinks, of course!

For the full story and more pictures, head to The Telegraph.
Wanna see it?
Here's the set up with some fun music and the pre-show explosions.

Here's more splashage.

Looks a bit sticky.
Looks like...FUN!

Day 5 - Look Who's Coming to the Cafeteria

Well, I'll be wrapping up the 5 day challenge today.

I found out that eating a diet of consisting of 1 cup of Cream of Wheat, 1 egg, and a half cup each of rice and beans...didn't make me hungry. My tongue was bored. My tastebuds went on vacation due to the blandness. (I didn't use seasoning other than a pinch of salt.)

I was amazed that even though I was only eating an estimated 411 calories a day, I wasn't hungry. That's what happens, I guess when:
1) Your body starts to slow its metabolism down
2) You have a BMI Index of 36.4

A lot of what I've been thinking and learning it still in progress. I will likely have a follow up someday. But, for now, there's just too many things rolling around in my noggin.

Switching gears...

Today my sis got me thinking about school nutrition.
Chef Jamie Oliver has been working hard to shake things up in UK.
You can read Jamie's 2 page Manifesto on his site.

Here is an excerpt:

1. In schools: make cooking and life skills classes compulsory for all kids so they learn about food and good eating habits while they're young.

2. For teachers: recruit and train new cookery teachers, otherwise the new right that kids have to cookery lessons just isn’t going to happen.

3. For heads: empower heads to make every school a junk food free zone.

4. For parents: educate parents and help them to understand the basics of family cooking and responsible nutrition.

5. For dinner ladies: invest in dinner ladies with proper training and enough paid hours to cook their food with fresh ingredients.

6. Commit to a ten-year strategic plan and fund a long-term public campaign to get people back on to a proper diet and empower/persuade (and possibly scare, if needed) the public to make better choices.

Hungry for more, I stopped off at the USDA Healthy Meals Resource System and see what it has to say on nutrition.

Know what I found?
Each state has a periodically updated List of Chefs who are...
"willing to volunteer their time in schools to inspire children about cooking."

Check your state.
These talented people have volunteered their assistance.

Why not take them up on it?
Maybe you can cook up some interest in both the classroom...
And the lunchroom.

Day 3: Things We Don't Discuss In Polite Conversation

On the short list?
Salaries.
Cancer.
Poor people.

Imagine a lunch table at work.
People munching on their various sandwiches, salads, and french fries.

Person 1: Yesterday my kid came home talking about Earth day - which I'm fine with. He ended up going through our trash - pulling things out and putting them in the recycle bin.
Person 2: Yeah, my kid came home talking about conserving water, how much food is wasted, and just how many kids are dying from hunger around the world.
Person 1: I hate that. Forget "around the world" - let's start talking people here.
Person 2: Okay. (Waits.)
Person 1: What?
Person 2: I thought you wanted to talk about hungry people here.
Person 1: Uh, no. Not really.

"Not really."
Who really wants to talk about it?
Not many.

Seems to me that many are divided into two categories.
Category 1: Those who have all the answers.
Category 2: Those who are tired of being judged.

Is there a Category 3?

Proposed Category3:
Those who want to learn.
Those who don't have the answers.
Those who aren't so much pointing fingers, but rather saying...

"There's an obvious problem here.
Anyone willing to talk about it?
Learn about it? Grow?"

The reactions I've had from friends and acquaintances, new and old, about this "5 days on $2 or less" project have been varied.

Let me reiterate...
This was supposed to be a "learning" project.
Not a "solving" project.

Why would I bother to do this?
Some might argue...
"Obviously, people who eat only plain white rice each day are hungry and malnourished. Duh."

Okay.
I guess I'm a slow learner - because, for me, well I need a project like this to get facts out of my head and into my heart.

This is not about the stomach.
Sure - to the extent that being hungry is a reminder that every 5 seconds a child dies from a lack of food - it is. But, largely, this isn't about the stomach.

When did the learning stop?
When did raising an issue, asking questions, wanting to learn...become wrong? Do we have to have all of the answers all of the time? Is it impossible to say, "I don't know and I think I should learn more?"

It's truly amazing to me how many folks will take the time to share how they feel about this project - calling me a woos since I'm not REALLY starving, and that things like this should be done in private anyway.

Okay, I'm not starving.
So, I guess I can't learn anything from it?
Hogwash.
That's all I have to say about that.

Now, as for the "this should be done in private" crowd.
What I'm doing is about learning.
Thinking.
Growing.
It's about not HAVING the answers.

It's about learning that there are even MORE questions.
It's about others like Pari taking a similar, yet different path, and sharing what he's learning along the way.

I'm not saying I'm "holier than thou."
I'm saying, "I DON'T know. "

I should know more.
And, I'm trying to learn."

Know what I've learned so far?

"In America we don't talk about hungry people.
We write a $25 monthly check and sleep well.
And, there's nothing else to learn."

Hogwash.

So, come with me for the rest of the ride, if you wish to keep reading.
Leave a comment if you have a blog or website you think would foster learning.

Oh, today's food?
You know...the usual.
Cream of Wheat, rice and beans, and an egg.
And, even more food for thought.

Day 2 - Well, THAT's bland.

So, Day 1 was:
Breakfast - 1 hard boiled egg and coffee
Lunch - 1 cup of plain white rice
Dinner - 1 cup of plain white rice

I wasn't so much hungry as my palate was bored.
I have never before longed to reach for a piece of gum or candy. And, I started to wish for a vegetable or a piece of fruit. (All of which sit in my pantry.)

Wow, I yawned a lot through the afternoon and evening - even though I wasn't really sleepy. I went to bed early and tossed and turned all night - like the night before. Yet, for the second day, awoke feeling utterly refreshed - almost energetic.

Day 2:
Breakfast - 1 cup of plain Cream of Wheat and small coffee
Lunch - 1 hard boiled egg
Dinner - will likely be 1/2 c. plain rice with 1/2 c. beans

Tomorrow I work both jobs.
Many of the folks at my second job are doing the "5 days on $2 or less" program, too. It will be interesting to see what we all look like at 8pm - after working 12 hours on essentially 3 cups of starch and a chicken nugget of protein.

Observations:
I really thought I would be hungry.
I'm not.
Though, yesterday my stomach hurt a bit.
(I think it didn't like digesting rice for both lunch and dinner.)

I thought I would be sleepy from all the carbs and lack of sugar.
Actually, I'm pretty darn wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

So far, this hasn't been too hard.
But, I DO wish the Russian army would stop walking across my tongue... barefoot.

Day 1 - Taking a Deeper Look

Yes, today is Day 1.
(Please read the post "How the Other Half Lives" for further explanation.)

And, I'm been thinking a lot about perspective.
For some reason an episode of "The West Wing" popped into my head.
I loved that show.

Anyway, there was an episode about how skewed the standard world map is. How, if drawn closer to scale, it would look something like this.
(Click the photo to supersize it.)
Okay, by raise of hands, how many of you really knew Africa was THAT large and the U.S. was that small?

So, I wondered, what would a map drawn by population look like?
(Again, click for a larger image.)
Wowee, that's a whole lot of green and yellow.
China and India, for those of us who have canceled our subscription to National Geographic.

Now, I'll toss in one more.
Yes, let's just concede that you can manipulate statistics to attain a desired result. But, still. This is amazing.
Now, that last map is going to ruffle some feathers. If you want more information on how that map was designed, head to World Mapper.

The basic categories are:
"Infectious and parasitic diseases,Respiratory infections,Maternal conditions affecting women before, during and after childbirth,Perinatal conditions arising in babies before or within one week of birth,
Nutritional deficiencies - conditions due to food, vitamin and mineral shortages.
These conditions caused 32% of all deaths worldwide in 2002, an average of 2968 deaths per million people."

Anyway, that's what I'm pondering right now.
I'm not so concerned about who's numbers are more accurate that those of another agency.
It's the overall picture that's rolling around in my noggin.

Let's not forget our own country.
(Click to enlarge.)
Oh, I suppose I should mention food.
Last night, prepping for the week, I made 6 serving of rice and portioned them out into grab and go containers. I also made 4 hard boiled eggs.

For dinner, since I was scaling down, I had 1 cup of rice and and a hard boiled egg.
I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.
I think it was having the egg so late in the evening - about 10 pm.
So, I'll having my portion of protein in the morning from now on.

Well, today is Day 1.
Breakfast was a hard boiled egg.
Lunch and Dinner is a 2 cup portion of plain white rice.

Oh, and I did have coffee this morning.
I decided that living with a caffeine headache was not something I wanted to experience during this exercise. So, I'll be having a small coffee Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Well, I'm off to nuke my rice.
Hmm.
They don't have microwaves in the desert...

Oh, and I want to mention that at least one person I know is coming along for this ride. Pari is beginning the "5 days on $2 or less" challenge tomorrow.

Right now, he expects his meal plan will look like this:
Breakfast: Tea, Sugar, Oatmeal w/ butter and sugar
Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwiches.
Dinner: Ramen Noodles w/ egg and mixed vegetables.

You can read more about his plan at his blog LECTORI SALUTEM!. Be sure to look around and read his other posts, too. It's food, politics, religion, tech and...life related.

This guy is about the most level-headed person I know. I truly feel he should be working as an ambassador for...something. He's one of those people who you just KNOW has the potential to change the world for the better. (Granted, I think we all do.) But, he likely does. Each day. One person at a time.

Anyway...
If you feel like joining Pari and me on your own eating "5 Days on $2 or less" plan, jump right in. Leave a comment below, if you wish. And, include a link, if you plan to blog it.

Okay, NOW, I'm really heading to the microwave...
D.

T minus 1 - Random Thoughts About Water.

Well, last night I started tapering down.

Those who have read my last 2 posts are aware that beginning Monday I'll be eating more like "the other half of the world."

I've decided on a plan which includes five days of rice, beans, plain oatmeal or Cream of Wheat, plain tortillas, and maybe a vegetable or small bit of meat. The meat will be the size of a chicken nugget, by way of example.

And, I've decided against trying to see what I can do with those items. No gussying them up. Bland and boring is part of the deal.

I hit the Jewel and bought Cream of Wheat, rice, eggs, beans and tortillas.

An aside.
Geesh. In a non-Hispanic grocery store it's hard to find yellow corn tortillas. I bought fancy-pants white corn, but I'll be getting yellow tomorrow when I drive through an area with Mexican markets.

Beans.
I should use dried beans, but quite frankly I don't eat beans.
And, I don't know beans about...beans.
So, I bought 1 can of red beans and 1 of black.

I'll admit that I did have a brief thought,
"Oh, I can make a nice 3 bean salad with..."
Sure, because in the desert you have vinegar just chilling in the mini-fridge.
OK, maybe just a cup o' beans, then.

Eggs, you say, are not on the first list.
You're right.

But, I figured that rather than cooking a large portion of chicken or beef - just to freeze it - lest it go to waste since am only eating a chicken nugget portion, I'll just use eggs. One egg, one meal.

Did I just use the word "lest" in a sentence?

T-Minus 2 Days
So,I decided last night to taper down a little.
Dinner was Cream of Wheat - although, the way I made it, you dry-wall types might recognize it as Spackle. This morning's breakfast was...Cream of Wheat, with some additional water.

T-Minus 1
Now, since my 5 day challenge is not officially starting till tomorrow, I did finish off a bowl of sliced peaches which were already open in my fridge. Lunch was two tortillas with cheese. I won't be having cheese next week, but this was still tapering down from the nice Chicken Cavatappi pesto pasta that it my usual Sunday lunch.

Dinner was a headache, with a few onces of coffee to see if we could make the headache go bye-bye, and a cup of white rice.

Then I poured myself a nice tall glass of Brita filtered water. And, I made note that I should probably be sure to have a nice tall glass of water with every meal. First, to fill up the tummy, and second to combat any dehydration - since my food intake was not exactly going to be high in moisture content.

Water.

You know, if I'm eating "how the other half lives," THEY sure don't have Brita filtered water. And, they don't get tall glasses of it with every meal. They're lucky if they get a tall glass a month.

I don't think I'll be giving up on water.
But, I do think that I'll be a little more grateful while drinking it this week.

Thus ends Sunday's ramblings.
Did I just use the word "thus?"

Food For Thought.

Following up on my previous post...there are choices.
Do I do rice for a week?
Beans?

Do I tailor my consumption and include only foods which would be available to a person in a specific county?

For example, mangos would be available to a person in the Dominican Republic.
Bananas, to a person in Guatemala.

(Papayas, too, would also be available to a person living in the D.R.
But, honestly, even fresh papaya makes me feel as though I'm gnawing on a dirty sweat sock.)

About a year ago, someone I know challenged herself to go 14 weeks living on the dehydrated packages from Breedlove Dehydrated Foods.

In a nutshell, Breedlove packages dehydrated meals that are used to provide food to hungry people both here and abroad. I read that they were made available to Katrina victims. (I doubt anyone was jumping for joy over them. I've eaten some - they're not exactly jambalaya.)

It looks like this.
Anyway, this gal I know set her goal of sustaining herself with this dehydrated soup. After 36 days she had to modify her diet to include a bit more. Her friends, while very supportive of the project, were quite concerned. And, she admitted that signs of malnutrition were setting in. If you want to read about her project, these are her 6 posts on hunger. (It starts at the bottom of that page.)

Another interesting project is from a guy who took on a month long challenge. He writes: "I’m only spending $30 on food. The only exception will be things that are freely available to the average person (salt taken from restaurants, sauce packets from Taco Bell, free coffee from an office). Buying in advance is fine, but at the end of the month, it all has to add up to $30 or less." His daily posts can be found at Hungry For a Month.

Anyway...
I'm still pondering how I'll eat next week.
And, I'm asking Jen if I can purchase any of her dehydrated soup from last year - if she has any left over.

Either way, these blogs, along with messages from friends...
Have been food for thought.

How the Other Half Lives Eating on $2 a Day...or Less.

Someone I respect...
Has challenged me to eat for 5 days on $2 a day or less.

Sure.
I can do that.
Can't I?

Approximately 1 billion people live on even less—only $1 per day.
I'm exaggerating, right?
Wish I were.

Head on over to Bright Hope for more information.
I have volunteered there in the past.
I love Bright Hope...and the way they help and empower others.

$2 a day.
Hmm.
My breakfast at BK this morning was $4.51

If I'm gonna do this...
April 21–25...
I'm gonna need a plan.

Well, if I decide to mirror what most of the world eats, then my meals would consist mainly of plain oatmeal, or a tortilla. Or, rice and beans. Or, rice with small bits of fish or chicken. Perhaps a vegetable.

Starch.
More starch.
And, a bit of protein.

And, we're not talking a HUGE bowl of said starch either.
We're talking small.

Portion sizes are much smaller. One cup (8 oz.) is a generous portion. Meat is a luxury, with the average African consuming about ¾ ounce per day—the size of a small chicken nugget. Fresh fruit is rare, available only if locally grown and in season.

Can I be honest?
Really... honest?

I am not sure I want to go that far.

I wonder what it would look like to eat on just two American dollars a day.
For example, I usually buy a box of pasta when it's on sale for $1.
So, checking the box, each holds 6 servings.
Okay, so each 56 gram serving is .17.

Well, I have a digital scale.
I can measure that out.

(Interestingly enough...
That 56 grams of pasta is prolly the entire day's portions for many.)

So, I think I might do that.
Use the threshold of $2 a day or less...
In terns of what $2 costs me.

I don't think I'll count spices. Or, condiments.
Though, I might make homemade mayo just to make myself work for it.

If I roast a some chicken I can make the protein go a long way. Might be a good time to pull out the chicken adobo recipe - chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, and a bay leaf slow cooked and eaten over rice.

Come to think of it.
I bet it was created out of necessity.

If someone had an old hen - slow cooking it would break down the fibrous muscle. And, the vinegar, that's made with fermentation, right? So, could be made cheap. Soy sauce, is that more fermentation?

I've digressed. I'm avoiding the truth.

So, I'm making concessions.
HUGE concessions.

I'm making choices, allowances, for myself that most can't.

I'm not eating the sparce way a huge portion of the world's hungry eat every day.
But, I'll at least become MUCH more aware of the cost of food.

And, I have a feeling that even WITH the concessions, I'm gonna be hungry.
Considering the reduction in total volume - likely very hungry.

Oh, man...my coffee alone costs $1.87.
This is gonna be a long 5 days.

But, sometimes it's good to be reminded...
"How the other half lives."

The Great Depression.

This will not be a cheery post.
You've been warned.

I was looking at images over at Shorpy.com.
Searching on the term FOOD, I came across the photo above from 1940.

And, this photo, by photographer Carl Mydans, taken in 1936.
Over at Shorpy, you can see photos in high resolution, you can purchase copies, and you can comment on them. The comments can be very interesting.

Back and forth the comments went.
Was the photo staged?
Did negatives back then provide such high resolution?
(Apparently, yes - especially large 8x10 glass negatives.) Wouldn't a family that poor be taken care of by neighbors? Wouldn't someone provide them with better clothing? So many comments, ranging from how many sets of clothing a parent had to the burden of hoarding places on the next generation. You can read them all here.

Then, as an example, Dale Caruso posted a link to a You Tube video which he has compiled. The Face of the Great Depression. Powerful stuff.

Here's Dale's video..and my comments following, regarding the picture, the video, and hoarding.

It's amazing...the impact one photo can make on one life...71 years later.



Two things struck me about that picture: the caked on dirt on the mother's feet and the smile on the boy's face. Sure, I had heard the phrase, "dressed in flour sacks." But, there's something about an image - seeing it. It hits home.

About the video, The Face of the Great Depression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSShPnOS15Y
At first, honestly, I thought, "Can't the pictures move faster?" Then I looked, and listened, and let time stand still for a brief moment. By the end, I was crying. The license plate in the last photo was 1939. My mother would have been 13.

NOW IT GET IT. Well, I'm beginning to. A second generation child on the South Side of Chicago, she always told stories of a her gang of kids distracting the cart owner so other kids could run by - stealing whatever vegetables they could grab. They would start little fires at the curb and roast them on a stick or boil them in a pot of water. She said that's why, as an adult, she hated boiled onions or potatoes. But, the stories she told, of washing out her underclothes each night, sleeping 4 to a bed, lard and bread sandwiches...I somehow cleaned up the images and made them all pretty. I left out what it smells like if you haven't had a bath. Or, what it must have felt like to really, really be hungry.

Mom hoarded. Born in 1926, she left me the legacy of wall to wall, floor to ceiling piles of National Geographic magazines and "collectors" tins."

"These will be worth something someday," she chided...and promised.

They weren't.
Well, some of it was valuable - more from memories of her than replacement cost. More than anything, I wish she could have culled her stuff so she had more room to live.

Sure, it was a burden to empty. But it was easier for me to let go of her junk than it was for her to unload the fear of being "without." I can live with that.

Everyday I understand and accept her more.
--D

The Eyes Have It

First, I am way too young for bifocals.
But, THAT'S another post...

This post is about eye health.
And, its relationship with food.

I asked my eye Doc,
"So, besides keeping my blood pressure low,
and doing all I can do not become diabetic,
what else can I do so keep my eyes healthy?"

He stopped and smiled.
(I'm guessing he doesn't hear that question enough.)

He said those first two - low high blood pressure and not being diabetic - are huge.

Gi-normous.

After those, he said there is more and more evidence to support that the recommendation of eating your veggies - those dark green leafy ones - had much merit. He said that everyday there is more uncovered about phytonutrients and polyphenaols and that it's no coincidence that we are seeing Lutein being added to daily vitamin pills.

Then he wisely added that vitamins are best absorbed by eating the actual food.

"Oh, that's not a problem," I assured my Doc.
Matter of fact, I grew up liking spinach, and I make a darn good home version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana which includes kale.

The links above are to interesting articles from the Agricultural Research Service division of the USDA.

Darn, good reading.
My optometrist and eye highly recommend it.
*wink*

I should dig up that Zuppa Toscana recipe that my sis gave me...
And, post it.

Amazing Site with 100 Year Old Photos

The original is huge. And, copies are available for purchase.

It's a Jack Delano photo from January 1943 showing two policemen talking in the waiting room of Chicago's Union Station.

If you love photos, or history, or photos of history...
(ok, you get the point)

Then, you need to head to this amazing site - Shorpy.com - to take a look at their offerings.

Want to see the photo above in full size?
Shorpy - Union Station 1943

This gal will likely be purchasing a large copy of this moment in time.

For me, Union Station has always been wondrous.
Commuting through it everyday only increased its hold on me.

So, if you like history,
"Do not pass go,
Do not collect $200,
Head straight to Shorpy's site!"

Hey, look who's talking about us...talking about them?And, now we're talking about that!

Seems our post on February 5 post about Smalltown America has garnered a bit of attention.

The company has added a "publications" page to their site which includes links to articles who give kudos to their concept. And, we are listed. ;)

So, if you want to read the page that gives a link to this site which gives a link to their site which discusses their very interesting concept of bringing back historic hotels that have fallen into disrepair....go here.

Man, how I wish this were Groundhog Day.

But, seriously...I wish Smalltown America all the best.
-D.

On the Road: The Kindness Of Strangers

Disclaimer:
I was lucky.
And, I knew better.

Dad was a Chicago cop.
Heck, I was a Law Enforcement student myself.
But it turned out alright.

Years ago, driving home from college, my car broke down on a small road across from a farmhouse. It musta have been Easter time, because I remember when the nice lady asked me inside, her girls were glued to "The Wizard of Oz."

I needed a belt, the nice farmer said, and he called ahead to the Dixie Truck Stop. I was a little scared when he asked me to hop in his truck to take me there to pick up the part. But, his wife and kids seemed nice enough. So, off we went.

Now, thinking back, I have no idea why he asked me to go with him.
It was a 5 minutes drive.
He could have just driven there himself.

Perhaps he just wanted the company.
Maybe he had had enough of the Emerald City.
Maybe he wanted to show the city girl what a truck stop - a REALLY NICE truck stop - looked like.

Maybe it was empowerment - perhaps he would do the same with his girls years from now. Show them how to take care of their own cars.
This is where fan belts come from.

Why'd he take me there? I'm not really sure.
But, the truck stop was huge.
Clean.
Amazing.

We got the part, headed back, and he started putting it on - there on the dark road. Local law enforcement stopped by, offering his assistance. If I remember correctly, I think Mr. Farmer asked Mr. Policeman (who he knew by name) to go get the metric set out of his barn over there.

Yeah, I was driving a Datsun.

So, there were were - the 3 of us.
In the dark, on an otherwise deserted road.
And, I felt completely safe.

No, it was more than that.
I felt cared for.

In no time flat, I was off again.
Of course, the nice farmer didn't let me pay him for the part or his time.

Just wanna put in a good word for Illinois farmers.
That one was sure raised right.

As for the truck stop, well, it opened back in the 1920's as a mechanic shop offering sandwiches. By the 30's it had a restaurant with cabins out back. It remained in the same family for 4 generations - until 2003.

I haven't been there recently.
Some say it's closed. Some say it's just disgusting.
(If you think I'm mistaken, please let me know.)

Hopefully it will be purchased by someone...
who wants to bring it back to its full glory.

Rest in peace, Dixie Truck Stop.
And, thank you, Mr. Farmer.