Get More Bang for Your Food Budget Buck Part VI: Getting Portion Sizes Under Control

It's been awhile since I have had the time to post to the series, so let me dust off my keyboard here...

*blows on keyboard, dust cloud results. Cough! Cough!* 

If you are just tuning in, I've been talking about practical ways to stretch your food budget with practical tips and small changes that will produce big results over time. Kind of a get rich slowly mentality. Anyway, let's get started.

Today I am going to talk to you about portion control. Wait, wait! Don't go back to Bookface yet. I know a few of you balked when I talked about adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet and beefing up recipes by substituting vegetables for some of the meat. It will be okay, just hear me out and take it under consideration.

Everywhere you turn, you hear about how much we over eat. That is no surprise. But what are some of the reasons we overeat? Aside from the efficiency of getting tasty grub down our gullets, portion size is another major contributor. I hear people all the time talk about how their grandfather ate bacon, eggs, and gravy covered biscuits everyday for breakfast, followed by a big hunk of meat and potatoes for dinner every day for 50 years and didn't have a lick of health problems. He could eat those things and still maintain a healthy rate for several reasons: 

• Grandpa wasn't sitting in front of a computer/TV 10 hours a day. He probably had a labor intensive job at a factory, shipyard, mine, or farm where he could work off a lot of those calories.
• Entertainment usually involved outdoor activities (exercise), and walking places was a lot more common than driving.
• Finally, portion sizes in the United States have steadily increased from the 1950's. Grandpa was probably having a plate full of meat, potatoes, and butter soaked vegetables, but a standard dinner plate back then was around 9 inches. So, he was actually eating less than he would if he were eating off dinner plates manufactured today which are around 12 inches. 

Here's a visual:

  



                                                          Image courtesy of correct-weight-loss.net



Naturally, the same sized portion of steak will look much smaller on the 12 inch plate than it would on the 9 inch plate. This optical illusion tricks us into adding more food on our plates, and consequently, eating more calories. This is a lot why a lot of schools and cafeterias style restaurants have removed lunch trays because it reduces waste (saves money) and forces people consume less. (Because they can no longer pile the tray high with extra helpings, eat until they are stuffed, and throw out what they don't/can't eat.) My step dad used to say that when he was in Vietnam, all the mess halls had signs that said, "Take all you want, eat all you take. This was a food conservation slogan used in the United States armed forces starting in 1943, during World War II. I'm sure kids and young adults now days have never heard this. It's still an important message today, but for different reasons. I think they are taught "More is always better."

It finally sank in a few years ago for me, after hearing two different men talk about weight loss in the same way. Both men talked about how they had to change their mentality regard food to conquer their overeating. One talked about how we are taught from a very earlier age in this country that everything is a limited commodity. (Last chance to save! This deal is running out! Hurry! Don't miss out! Buy now, limited time only!) Because of this, we act impulsively. We covet. Don't think this applies to food? What about the McRib? (Which, by the way has it's own Facebook page and locator website!) No? What about Girl Scout cookies? I mean who would normally go to the grocery store and by 15 boxes of cookies at once?

Ugh, thin mints.

His point was that if we continue to see food as something that will be of limited availability, we will naturally hoarde consume more. Now, before you get on a high horse about people around the country not having enough food, yes, I know there are people who cannot. However, the average American  family can go out any buy more food when they need it.

The second man was very obese before his "I can always get more food" realization. I wish I could find his blog to let him tell his own story, but alas, it is lost to the interwebs. Basically, he talked about how he would sit at a meal with his family, eat his first plate quickly, with his mind looking forward to the second plate. As if the first plate of food was an obstacle that had to be overcome to get to his "real meal". After the second plateful, he would eat off his wife's plate or kid's plate. After many arguments with his wife about this, he finally snapped to the "I can always get more" mentality. When he came to accept that, he realized that there was no need to rush to the second helping, he could enjoy the first. The weight started to fall off right after that. Imagine, as a consequence, how much money they saved not having to buy as much food.

You have to keep telling yourself, "It's no big deal, I can always get more." This is the hardest obstacle to using smaller plates. This takes practice, I'm still working on it all these years later. Dessert and pizza are the hardest for me. I just have to keep telling myself that if I am still hungry when it is over, I can order another slice of cake, or get myself another pizza. However,  most times I don't because I feel too full. Once it starts to click, you will stop piling you plates as high, going back for seconds and thirds, and feeling more satisfied with the portion that you have taken. 

Personal story: When adding dishes to our wedding registry, I purposefully disregarded the saleswoman and registered for the 9 inch salad plate as our dinner plates, and the 12 inch plates as our "chargers". (As opposed to the 12 inch dinner plates with the 14 inch plate chargers.) A "normal-sized" dinner plate now looks like a 9 inch plate to us after only a few months. As a result, we save more money on food because we eat less and throw out less without really even trying. In addition, our waist lines are as thankful as our pocketbooks.

Give it a try and see how much you save in groceries. Let me know how it works out for you!

Rotten Bananas: Take 2

We buy an awful lot of bananas around this joint, and dammit if they don't go bad before we get a chance to use them. I think I've Banana Breaded out everyone, so I thought perhaps a banana pudding would be a better way to go this time. I know it's almost foolishly simple to list how to make it here, but there are some people who cook so bad, they may need my assistance in getting it right. So, here we go.

Ingredients
1 box of instant vanilla pudding
2-4 medium sized bananas that are as spotty as a Las Vegas Grandma's forearms, chopped into small discs
1 box of Nilla Wafers Cookies
2 cups of cold milk

In a bowl, whisk together the instant pudding and the 2 cups of milk. It will soft set in about 3 to 5 minutes of whisking. When it soft sets, put it in the fridge to chill.

Next find you a good casserole dish or a large bowl to make make the final product in. You can get all Polly Perfect on it and make concentric circles of wafers and thin banana slices if you like. I, on the other hand, just made a bottom crust of cookies, the slapped a good mess of naners on top of those.

Fuck Polly Perfect

Then, you will need to add your chilled pudding. You can do a thin layer, then add some more bananas, wafers and more pudding. Or, you can just dump in your pudding like me. No appreciates your artistry here.

After that, you can add a nice layer of bananas and wafers to the top portion. I like to crumble a few for texture and prettiness. You don't have to. You can be all pirate's treasure on yours and trick your guests into thinking they are just eating plain pudding until they chomp into some mystery item. Is it banana, cookie, or toe nail? Only you will know the truth and you can giggle menacingly at their psychological torture. BWAHAHAHAHA!

On Nom

Sunday Suppers: Homemade Veggie Broth to Chicken Noodle Soup

A recent gift of homemade chicken broth got me thinking about how to make my own stock at home. I go through so much stock nowadays because of all these high-falutin' recipes that it is becoming rediculous to spend that much money on a can/box of stock. I thought the easist broth to make would probably be vegetable, plus it would clean out all those random veggies that were racing sneaking towards going bad. There, how's is that for being green and not wasting money?

I found a simple recipe that basically says take any aeromatic veggie, chop into 1 inch chunks, and boil with some spices for about 30 minutes. They listed a variety of vegetables you could include, but here is how I rolled:

4-5 ribbs of celery with some leaves
1 large onion
3 large carrots
5-6 cloves of minced garlic
Hefty sprinkle of thyme and parsley
2 bay leaves
a good pinch of salt

Nom

Some other veggies you may consider including: Green onions, mushrooms, potato peels (washed of course), bell peppers, chard, pea pods, basil, fennel, eggplant, corn cobs, asparagus butts, you name it.

First thing you got to do, aside from cutting your washed veg into 1" chunks, is throw about a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of  a soup pot and heat to high. Then, throw in your 1" chopped veggies. Enjoy how aeromatic your house is about to smell. I seriously dragged Jon off the couch while he was The Sweet 16 to come and smell. I was in foodie heaven. If Julia Child's house had a smell, it probably smelled like this...and butter.

Moving on.

Let your veg weep (let go of water) for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir frequently lest you have a charred flavor to your broth. Add 2 quarts of water and then BTB-RTS as Chef Anne would say. (Bring To Boil - Reduce To Simmer). Simmer for 30 minutes uncovered. This is how it will start to look

Om Nom

The next step is to seive out the solids and take only the liquid bits.

"taking the liquid bits"

Then, you are left with all the veggie mush. The broth recipe said to discard the remaining veg stuff. I thought that was a lot of hooha. What a waste. I sat around and thought about what I could do with all that awesome veg, and EUREKA! I got an idea. All of that stuff goes into a chicken noodle soup, so that is what I made. Saved time and money.

Because we aren't big chunks of veggie eaters, I took about 3/4 of veggies and pulverized them in a food processor. That gave me a nice thick puree that fattened up the broth a little. I added some more water and some chopped up chicken breasts. Again, BTBRTS for about 30 minutes. Season to taste.

About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, add some noodles. I, unfortuantely, added the noodles like 45 minutes ahead and they got a bit mushy. My bad, I was waiting on a loaf of bread to bake. Oh well, lesson learned. Not bad for a first try though.

Chicken Mush-Noodle Soup

Ghetto Dishwasher Among Other Hovel Accoutrements

Top tray will drop copious amounts of glass on your foot and floor.

Twist tie for holding on the top rack. Obviously, our landlord's solution works PERFECTLY.

For your listening pleasure, Eric Cartman sings, "In the Ghetto"

Where did we go wrong with our food?

I was reading a news article today about "how the government doesn't want you to know about the chemicals in our food". The article states that there are over 62,000 chemicals that the food industry at large does not have to report to federal regulators. WTH?! Where did we go wrong?

I'm reminded of a certain foreign friend (no, not WeeFee) who once commented about how beautiful our food looked here in the US, but basically that is was tasteless, or worse...tasted like fertilizer. Sadness...

Now, I'm no hippie, but supporting chemical free, locally produced food seems like a logical idea. I love farmers markets simply for all the neato things you see, and all the rich smells and colors. I want to grow some of my own food to some extent, like wonder-woman/super-mom BFF Sam. However, living in a tiny apartment doesn't lend itself to gardening too well. And don't all you city dwellers talk to me about balcony gardens...it just wont work here. For a veggie or fruit plant to produce, it needs full sun most of the day. My balcony is wedged between another building and faces north. No dice, not even for those wacky upside down tomato dillys.

 I was reading about organic gardening, and found that before the WWII, most people were getting/growing their foods in sustainable ways. However, the war created a great demand on food stuffs, and the introduction of chemicals and injected hormones became a common way to increase crops in a time when rations were uncertain. Since then, this continues to be the standard. Growing up, I didn't think anything of it. We didn't wash our fruit when we brought it home from the store. We ate the grapes right out of the bag. Some experts say grapes are some of the worst chemical holders. sigh.

Sorry for the rant, but as a country, we need to make a return to natural food. Call me a little narcissistic, but where ever the US leads, other countries will follow. Now don't get crazy and go on the raw tangent either. Let's not get too hasty. Just try to get as chemical free as possible. The only way this will happen is if people quit buying processed crap food. It's called the Power of the Pocket Book people. Think about it: Processed foods are so soft and tender because the processing component takes the work your jaw and stomach used to do. That is why these foods are less satiating. They just move right through your bloated, American gut because there is less work for your body to break down this "food". Because there is less to break down, it has to be injected with chemicals to keep it soft and fresh. Eww. Just Eww.

Another thing to consider: when you buy your food from local sources, you are buying American. I know that is REALLY important to some folks. That means one more American farmer has a job, is making a living supporting his family, and is not on the welfare rolls. That is probably the most important thing to remember.

It is scary how people have become so separated from what their food is and where it comes from. It honestly astonishes me. Sam teaches high school English. When she used to teach in a lower income school, her high school students couldn't tell her where hamburger meat came from. Their answer: The Poor People "Grocery" Store. They serious had no idea that that plastic pack of hormone-laden, meat product once belonged to a cow.

Kail's father, Mutt, owns cattle. Kail is no stranger to the slaughter house, the circle of life, or whatever you want to call it. Kail's father's ire still rises when he recalls an encounter with a pack of high school girls at a gas station a few years back:

He was taking a bull past its prime to the slaughter house and had to pull into a gas station to refuel.  A gaggle of silly girls got off a nearby school bus to get some snacks at the gas station. They came over to ooh and aww about how cute the bull was, and inquired to where it was being taken. When Mutt told him the slaughter house, they all started crying and calling him an animal killer, etc etc...as silly teenage girls are wont to do. Mutt notices one of the girls is eating a sandwich:
"What's in that sandwich?" he asks.
 "Roast beef," she snaps back in a sassy tone.
"What do you think roast beef is?" he prodded.
*blank stare*
"You're eating cow right now!"
*horrified, look on girls face* She runs back to the bus crying.

Parents, it's time for an intervention. Get your kids off the interweb, PlayStation, sexting, or whatever mischief they are getting into right now and ask them if they know where hamburger, or pork, or poultry comes from. Please post what they tell you. I'm dying to know...