May Be Foodless Friday: Food Trends

My husband recently forwarded my this link: http://labs.timesonline.co.uk/blog/2009/06/05/what-britain-eats-three-decades-of-grocery-shopping/. It is an interactive wheel showing what British people eat. I'm not British, but I found it interesting... I almost wish the US would do the same. On second thought, I'd be worried about what it would show!

The trend I find most interesting is the increase in sales of what they call 'ready meals' including takeaways (take-out or delivery). To me it show how conveniences have a way of slowly sneaking in. I find it interesting mainly because at least the frozen pre-made meals that I have tried are not that great. I find they tend to be over-salted but generally under-flavored or cheaply made. I do understand take-out though. The hardest thing for me to understand is why people pay extra money for food that could be so much better. I find it difficult to eat something that I could make better for half of the cost (this includes eating out, but I do enjoy that on special occasions, or when I'm totally overwhelmed by life.)

What do you find interesting about this wheel? Don't miss the different categories on the left side. It's fun to just play around with it! I'd love to hear about what stands out to you.

No Thursday post this week...

Time ran away with me so this is it today.


...crickets chirping...

BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizza

Today's recipe is an easy one, yet a very delicious one. I don't use barbecue sauce a lot, because I don't really like it a ton, but Hubby loves it. That said, I REALLY enjoyed this meal! It is quick, I had them made, in and out of the oven within 25 minutes. These are a great treat when you want pizza but are not in the mood to make a crust. Or you have a couple of extra tortillas that you want to use up (that was my case.) I served this with a salad and watermelon.

BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizza

First, place tortillas on a cookie sheet. Spread a layer of barbecue sauce on each tortilla. Use as little or as much as you want to. As you can see, Hubby likes barbecue sauce more than I do, so I put more sauce on his.

Place a layer of cheese on top of the barbecue sauce.

Add toppings (about 1/4 cup cooked chopped chicken and 1/3 cup onion slices - cut in half, you can also add some green or red bell pepper if you wish.)

Top with another layer of Mozzarella cheese (as little or as much as you like - as you can see Hubby also likes more cheese than I do. You can also see the dot of cheese in the middle, yeah, that is for Hubby as well. He loves melted cheese!)

Place cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Print Recipe 

Tuesday Treats: Honey Vanilla Pears

I found a recipe for using pear halves and grilling them using this taste combination. I decided to try this combination with using canned sliced pears and just cooking them in a skillet. I tried it out two weeks ago and as Hubby and I were eating them, he asked, "do you know what these need?" I immediately though cinnamon, and said so. He said, "no cream." Brilliant!
We had 3 more large cans of sliced pears and so I made them for a dessert social that our church's womens' group was having. One of the ladies there told me that she couldn't tell that they were canned pears because they were so good!

Honey Vanilla Pears

Melt 1/2 Tbsp butter in a medium or large skillet.
Add 2 Tbsp honey and 1 tsp vanilla extract
Add 1 can (29 oz) canned, sliced pears - drained.
Stir the pears and sauce.
Cook until heated through (I boiled them for about 3 minutes.)
Place the pears in a bowl. If you have lactose intolerance, stop here. If you don't keep going, because it gets better.
Pour cream (or half and half) over the pears. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Printer Friendly

Meals September 7-13

This past week, we actually had a few days where we didn't eat at home, so I haven't made as many meals as I had planned to use up my pantry items, but I can't complain about the great food and friends we spent time with! Tonight is the last night I'm actually going to cook dinner before we move. We'll be having leftovers tomorrow, a friend is bringing dinner Tuesday and we're going to a favorite Mexican grill the next night. The menu for this past week was:

Monday:
$15 Chicken (Named because that's about what you'd pay to buy this at a restaurant)

Tuesday:
Chicken Italian Pasta

Wednesday:
Potluck dinner farewell (we took crackers and bean dip)

Thursday:
Chicken Italian Pasta

Friday:
BBQ (Fall Social with my husband's department)

Saturday:
Dinner at our friends (Thanks Ben & Crystal!)

Sunday:
Southwestern Chicken Skillet with Cornbread

Be sure to vote on which of the recipes you would like to see. This poll is going to be going all week and the recipe will be posted next week. Wednesday I'll be posting a recipe of my choice due to the move. Poll will be closed in one week, on Tuesday at 8 PM.

Just to let you know and thoughts about today

I mentioned briefly that I will be moving next week. I can't believe that it is really next week, I still have half of my apartment to pack, but hey, what can I say, I work better under stress! Just to let you know I will have posts next week, the only difference is on Wednesday I'll be posting a recipe chosen by me from the past month. I will still be letting you vote on which recipe from this week you want to see, but I'll be posting that next Wednesday (as I will not really be cooking next week!) Tuesday I will be turning off comment moderation and doing word verification until I get settled (I personally hate word verification so I don't like to inflict it upon my readers). I will respond to any emails and comments sometime during the week after we arrive (Sept 21-26). We'll be packing up Wednesday, and driving Thursday-Saturday, so I have a pretty busy week ahead of me.
So we're moving to live with my parents for a few months, for a couple of reasons. We have only seen them 3 times in the past 2 years, my Hubby is finishing his Masters Degree and doesn't need to be on campus as he only has his thesis to write so it is a great time to spend time with family, we get to help my mom with my brother and sister so she can have a bit of a break (she is also helping take care of her parents who have declining health), and because the economy still stinks!

On another note, I hadn't realized it was September 11th until I started reading other blogs. Then I started remembering what I was doing 8 years ago... I was just starting my second semester of college. I remember going to request a copy of my social security card so I could start working on campus. I remember walking to campus and cutting through the business building, where they had CNN on the TV screens by the exit and how many people were standing by watching the screens, a lot more than normal. I remember going to a University wide moment of silence and prayer (it was a religious university). I remember going to a Folk Dance class and everybody just wanting to actually dance in that class instead of focus on the events. It was kind of a neat experience because in that class we learned about other cultures from learning about their cultural dances. I loved it, and I also loved the joint decision by the class to participate in cultural dances as a way to make our world seem smaller and more united.
I remember that evening standing on the third floor of the apartment complex I lived in and seeing a huge flag at half mast and the setting sun (it was a beautiful sunset, very colorful) behind it. When I think about 9-11-2001, I will always remember the flag waving in the sunset. It was amazing, it was symbolic.

May Be Foodless Friday: Giveaway Winner Announcement

The winner for the Potato Bag Giveaway is:

Comment #4 (Chosen by Random.org)

Amy Thorning said... I loooove fried potatoes esp. the crispy ones.

I'll be sending an email your way to get your address to send it to you. I hope you get as much use out of this as my husband and I get out of ours!

Remember those of you who entered this contest will get an automatic entrance in all future giveaways!