Comida in our house means mexican food.... thank you cooks at Catherdral High School and Pat's Grandmonther for introducing Jerry to Comida. It is hard to say how often we have Brisson Comida vs Ramirez Comida, then there is our own versions of Comida which is rather international especially from Germany, Spain, Italy, etc, and most recent addition Morocco.  

Picadillo and Spanish Rice was selected this week becaus of the purchase of a large package of lean hamburger without a specific meal in mind. As we are still in Shelter in Place it would make great leftovers plus the intitial saute of onions, garlic, beef and tomatoes made several packages of meat for tacos and burritos. 

Picture, Wednesdays simple supper the plate includes Rice, Picadillo and Greek Yogurt. Sometimes I served corn tortillas but not that meal. I don't freeze the picadillo finished. To include this recipe in Fast Suppers Category, I freeze the prepared meat just before the vegetables are added. I like my vegetables freah and potatoes as I have mentioned get meally unless they ahve been frozen commercially and I haven't found one I like in caldillo or other stews as the potato adds starch and thickness to the broth while cooking.

This weekend I hosted a cookie baking time with my Cookie Therapy Friend, Becky.....As winter gets long even in California...I don't want to remember what it felt like when I lived in real winter locations. Snow and cold is fun until you have to go to work or school in it for months. It is not about the cookies but the fellowship, memories, and making something with your hands. ife has been a bit hectic and I have not been getting my dose of creativity with food and fibers. In honor of Valentines Day 2020,  I am attaching my sugar cookie made  with Splenda. I am one of those folks that finds most cookies too sweet and pastries made with artificial sweetners bitter not sweet. 

This year we are planning something really different for Valentines Day. We are going Wine tasting along River Road in Monterey County in an area called the Santa Lucia Mountains. I made my mom's Valentine Cake and dinner will be our wine finds plus rice pilaf and fresh Salmon from Monterey Bay. 

​Splendid Sugar Cookie Recipe
from cyberchef  edited by Elsa from Food FUNdamentals, Salinas CA
INGREDIENTS
·         1 cup unsalted butter
·         ¼ - 1/2   cup Splenda  
·         2 large eggs
·         1 T. vanilla extract
·         2 2/3 cups flour
·         1 teaspoons baking powder
·         1/2 teaspoon salt
·         3/4 cup milk powder
·         *optional – add 1 tsp cinnamon and ¼ tsp nutmeg –an old addition to sugar cookies
·         2 Tablespoons warm water if needed
DIRECTIONS
Cream the butter, and add eggs one at a time and vanilla extract. Add in the Splenda and continue to blend until evenly incorporated. (too much splenda can be bitter vs sweet for some individuals so be slow to add more)
Separately mix the flour, salt, baking powder and milk powder. In thirds, gently add in the dry flour mix into the creamed butter mixture.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and once all is evenly mixed, there should be a dough. If the mixture is still too dry, add in warm water one tablespoon at a time until the dough is more consistent.
Place dough on sheet of plastic wrap, wrap well and chill for about 30 minutes.
After chilling, roll dough out to 1/4 in thickness and cut out shapes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake on parchment paper or greased cookie sheet for about 12-16 minutes. The bottoms of these cookies will brown slightly (browning occurs quickly, Spenda doesn’t brown well)
These cookies contain 18 count yeild, 149 kcal and 20 gms Carbohydrate
 
Finger Icing--Food FUNdamentals original: 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp coloring and 1 T of milk, the mixture should be a good spreading consistency. For 2-3” cookies drop one teaspoon on the cookie and spread with a few strokes to cover the cookie. Over working the icing will cause a dull surface.  Let dry in a single layer about 4-6 hours then the cookies can be stacked and stored in air tight containers at room temperature for about 3-6 days.  This provides approximately 4 gms of Carbohydrate
 
Variation: Divide dough into 1” balls and roll in sugar and cinnamon then flatten with the bottom of a glass for a sugar free snicker doddle.

RECIPE BACKSTORY
These are delicious and perfect for Holiday decorating! Make icing with Splenda and pipe designs and messages to your family and friends Tips: Sprinkle Splenda through a sifter over the unbaked cookies for an extra bit of sweetness. This recipe was edited to use Splenda Granulated with 1 gram of fiber. Purchase one 1/4 inch round dowel at your hardware store and cut in half. Be sure to sand the ends then, clean off any debris. Use these dowels when you roll out the cookies. Place the dough between the dowels and roll out the dough until your rolling pin hits the dowels. Then, you're at 1/4 inch!! Or just make sure you roll out each batch the same thickness so they cook evenly. My regular sugar cookie recipe hales from my mom's 1954 Better Homes and Garden Pink Plaid Book....second favorite is from King Author Baking Book.I beleive in not messing with success.
 

​Everywhere I turn this season all I see is pumpkin spice, I never use it! I like to control how much of each spice I add because I use fresh ingredients the sweet and savory notes vary by source and year. When I saw Chef Todd's email blast today, I just copied and pasted it here. My favorite way to cook in fall is roasting the veggies tossed in a little butter and olive oil sometimes I add onions and garlic and sometimes just fruits or ginger. Let the the flavor of the item come through. Simple prep makes easy to create and easy to clean up and more meals at home!!

I really think pumpkin pie is great with plain coffee, plain whipped cream after a meal that had no pumpkin spice in it as well! My last comment today is my Autum tradition is to return to old family favorites as the days grow short and cooler, and by Christmas I am feeling more like experimenting with new flavors or foods. This year it hasn't started due to temps in the high 80's and 90's, confusing me and the flowers. When it does start raining, I am going to perfect a lunchmeat loaf from Germany called Leberkas that always reminded me of how bologne should taste. It is a combination of beef, pork, bacon, onions and breadcrumbs. The commisary had it for a very short time this summer and then quit stocking it, ugh!! So out came the German cookbooks, now to remember how to cook metric without the German stove.

Happy Halloween and welcome to the "Eating Olympics"


Hey Elsa, it's Chef Todd!
It’s everywhere!Pumpkin Spice everything has invaded us!
But there’s SO much more to fall cooking than making everything taste like cinnamon and cloves.
Discover 3 Surprising Ways To Enrich Your Fall Cooking That You Might Be Missing in my brand-new FREE online class.
Click HERE to hold your spot right away.
What do YOU think?
Can you really cook with the unique flavors of fall?
Do fall foods have special nutritional benefits?
Is there an easy way to cook those scary fall squashes?
What will changing the types of rice and grains do for your fall cooking?
Will your soups, sauces, and gravies seem more fall-like if you make them darker, thicker, and more flavorful?
YES!
You can!
Yes you will!
Yes there is!
Yes, you’re darn tootin’!
And this FREE online class will help you do just that, enrich your fall cooking in ways you might be missing.
Click HERE to find a class time that’s right for YOU
Let’s start changing your cooking for the season!
To Your Enriched Cooking Success!
Chef Todd Mohr
[The Point:] If you really want to add new excitement and interest to your cooking, this free online class "3 Surprising Ways To Enrich Your Fall Cooking That You Might Be Missing" makes it easy!
Get all the details by clicking here

Dr Lucy Wills, 131st Birthday and discovery of Folic Acid as the nutritional factor and cure for macrocytic anaemia in pregnancy. Today we link her discovery to more than pregnancy although I do believe it is one of the most important steps. Today's blog is short and dedicated to Folic Acid and why we focus so much on green leafy vegetables! Many of you know as my career progressed I have worked with younger and younger clients. I love teaching the Rainbow! Life is complicated why do we insist on trying to remember all the micro nutrients? If your lunch looks blah or "Biege" it's probably all fortified or maybe not and definitely missing key vitamins, minerals and especially phyto nutrients. Natural does not come in a bottle or box unless it is freshl juices. 

​Happy Birthday Lucy and thanks from all the moms and babies since your discovery!

Sorry no pictures! We gobbled it up to fast...or the women embroidery group loved it although it had had a tough trip, I had to take the pan with raw dough to the office for a couple of hours, so I put it in a cooler with ice blocks. It rose anyway, then finding an oven at the meeting was fun. I finally served it with Desserts, I did let it rest 10 minutes but it really needs a 20-30 minute rest. The texture was much better on the piece I saved for Jerry. Don't be tempted to add more pepperoni, I do add about 1 TBS of cheese finely shredded but more again is a problem, the loaf sinks in the middle. This is made with white flour and I have added white chia seeds approximately 1 TBS-- it worked. If using white whole wheat, I would do 1:1 and add the whole wheat in the second half of the flour addition. 

It does take 3 hours from start to finish, remember that 2.75 of those hours are rising, cooking and waiting times not actual hands on prep. Baking bread is a great job for students, sewers, quilters, knitters, musicians or like me folks that must get up and walk around at least once an hour or more often.  I make big batches of lentil soup and freeze it in pt and qt containers and fresh bread and soup make delicious fast food. 
Pizza Bread 
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 pack dry yeast
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp garlic salt (or crushed fresh garlic)
1 ¼ cup water
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup pepperoni, finely chopped
optional: ¼ or slightly more shredded cheeses

Directions:
In an electric mixer bowl, mix half the flour with the yeast, oregano and garlic salt.  In a saucepan, heat the water, butter, sugar and salt slowly until warm (about 115ºF) and the butter is melted. (100-115 but not higher)
 
Add the liquid to the flour mixture and beat for half a minute on Slow in the mixer, scraping the bowl continuously.  Then beat on High for 3 minutes.  Mix in the pepperoni and the rest of the flour by hand.
 
Cover the batter and let it double (45-60 minutes).  Stir the batter down.  Put it in a well-greased pan and let it double again (30 minutes).
 
Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 375ºF oven.  Take the bread out of the pan.
 
Source unknown, most likely a magazine part of family file and adapted by Dr.Ramirez-Brisson, RDN, Food FUNdamentals

​

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For the March celebration of the Week of Love and the VMonologues, I presented on how to feed yourself easy, fast and nutritiously the Q/A was wonderful. I also served a breakfast of Oatmeal in a Jar. Oatmeal in a jar is a cute idea but for a large group not practical. When it is brilliant idea and technique is if you want to make a weeks worth of grab and go meals on your day off. We seem to be in a revival of how to do old fashioned fast. These fast techniques seem expensive and cumbersome. Go back to techniques, recipes and menues women used at home between 1920-1945. They had stoves, some had refrigerators and most had more than 5 children. 

Mother-recipes, these are recipes that are proportions and one varies the presentation, and flavors with different ingredients. This is one of those Mother recipes. I researched the DIY oatmeal in a jar and experimented, for the best outcomes use Old Fashion Rolled Oats and milk/milk alternative in a 1/1 ratio. The half pint jar is enough oatmeal for most, although online all the recipes are using pts. I found that was a 2 day or 2 persons meal. To that add 1/2-1/3 cup of fruit, my favorite was 1 tbs dried raisins or cranberries and 1/3 cup finely diced apples, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp molasses. This tasted like my recipe and if making ahead toss the apples in 1 cup of water with 1/2 tsp of honey to keep them from turning dark. You leave this mixture in the refrigerator over night or for at least 4-6 hours. Longer, such as 5 days is okay. Remember nothing should remain in the refrigerator for more than 7 days and may items have a 3 day shelf life. 
Here is the link! https://goo.gl/photos/JvYiiHHW62Gv5dSs8
other great ideas for fast breakfast are hardboiled egg and an apple or banana, PB and fresh fruit, PBJ sandwich and milk or alternative.....cold pizza and other leftovers!!!

Visit http://www.eatright.org/resources/national-nutrition-month. Locally, I celebrated it at Hartnell College and the Week of Love March 6-9 with a Breakfast presentation at 8am on the 9th. Breaking the Fast is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves. We would never think of driving off in the morning without putting gas in our cars yet day after day students, parents, teachers and too many others are out the door without even a cup of coffee? ITo arrive at my office I have to weave around the line of drivers blocking the driveway to the shopping center at Starbucks --Scarey! because I assume they may still be asleep! My morning ritual starts with brewing a gourmet cup of coffee in my french press, taking a moment to check my email and think about my day then breakfast, getting dressed and out the door. Yes, it takes getting up 1-2 hours before I leave the house but for me it is worth it. When I don't do it I forget stuff. 

The recipes for the events I did on March 9th and March 14th will be in a separate blog posts because I want to be able to fit them into their categories along with slide shows on how to prepare them. (sorry---I have a backlog of how to recipes to post) They are super easy with lots of variations. One of course is oatmeal done many ways and the other is silken chocolate pie. For now remember that those leftovers from dinner or you last take out are a perfect breaking the fast meal, get over that breakfast has to be breakfast items. I think eggs and toast or cereal and milk became breakfast because they are fast, simple have protein, fat and carbohydrates. Left over pizza and a glass of milk is a favorite of many teens it also gives them a reason not to eat the whole thing at once the night before. We didn't have leftovers until our son left home, he was the leftover king, he did not like eggs and was luke warm on cereal. Did you know in many countries folks eat 2 breakfasts and in Germany they even call it early breakfast and second breakfast. The Italians and French also start their days with an espresso and croissant or baguette and cheese. Slow down, cut your day down, when you leave your job no one remember how much you worked they may even hire two people to replace you! Now for students, it is more about time management and today's students have so many time eating activities such as social media, that is the diet we should be talking about!

Be nice to yourself! I have been know after a large heavy meal at night to opt for a soy latte and an apple or banana as my breakfast any faster it can't be. Maybe, PBJ or PB and banana--I like mine toasted! post your ideas....

Giant! ooops! The title on my last blog post is wrong! This is it not Bread.....all year long! I will try to fix but in the mean time go to Dec 5 and you will see a great recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh, Buen Provecho, Elsa