Rock The Guac!

I’ve been on a big Guacamole kick lately. Eating it, making it and saying it, it’s been a big part of The Food Guy’s life. It’s a simple homemade treat and easy to make.

I was pleasantly surprised when I went to the grocery store of the department store chain downtown near my work and found they had Guacamole.

There’s nothing better than doing some work and munching on some chips and guac, and there’s nothing better than taking a mid-day break to stroll through a grocery store. Ahhh…therapeutic.

The one thing you always hear about Guacamole is “it’s high in fat, but it’s the good fat.”

Really? There is good fat now? Give me a break. Yes, I know some fats are essential. But saying it’s a good fat is like those people who in 114 degree heat say, “it’s a dry heat so it’s not bad.” Whatever, 114 degrees is still mighty freakin’ hot.

If I eat the two packs of guac that come in the box I bought – guac only not including the chips – that’s a total of over 700 calories and 52 grams of fat. I mean, who really eats only a couple of bites of chips and dip and quits? Most chipper and dippers I know are all in – you eat as much as you can until satisfied. But it’s the good fat right? So I am okay? Again - give me a break.

Guacamole has become one of the many foods I’d like to see featured in an all-you-can eat eating contest. It’s a great treat, but don’t get brainwashed into thinking it’s a health food. It has lots of good nutrients, but fat is fat, good or bad. And on that note, I’m off to get the second package of guac to continue my eating adventures and add to my daily fat intake.

No doubt, now is a good time to rock the guac!

Why is Tortilla soup Tortilla soup?; Cracker Showdown – The Saltine Takes on All Comers!

Eating some tortilla soup from Panera right now. It’s decent. But it got me thinking – why is it named tortilla soup? What part of a tortilla is involved in a somewhat spicy soup with chicken, black beans and corn and tomatoes and other seasoning/spices?

I guess it depends on how you view the word tortilla. To me a tortilla is the white, floury shell I use to eat tacos. Although, there are tortilla chips, which are corn-based and fried/baked to create a chip. But with this soup, what is tortilla about it? The shavings they give as an add on? It’s not enough to validate it being called tortilla soup. I mean, I put crackers on chicken noodle soup and I don’t call it cracker soup.

With chicken noodle soup it’s self-explanatory. It’s noodles, small pieces of chicken in chicken broth…hence, chicken noodle soup.

Tomato soup? Tomatoes.

Potato soup? Potatoes

Chicken Wild Rice soup? Chicken, in a thick cream base, with wild rice.

So where does Tortilla soup come in with this soup? It should be more Santa fe soup.

On another note, you ever think about why we add salty crackers to soup? Soup is like 900 times your daily intake of sodium, then we just add more sodium to our soup? But it tastes good, and it’s not the same without them. Saltines get dominated in so many ways by other crackers. No one goes to the store excited about saltines and you don’t get recipes on the back of saltines box. But with Triscuits, Wheat Thins, chicken ‘n a biscuit, even Ritz crackers or cheez-its are all are more popular. But, the question is – are saltines used more? Sure, you can make snacks out of those other crackers (for example, take some spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, pour it on a triscuit, add some cheese and nuke it and you have a quick delicious snack)…or, how about cheese and crackers, it’s never cheese and saltines. It’s cheese and Ritz or some fancy schmancy dinner cracker. Those crackers are for people who think you can’t drink domestic beer anymore. There’s two groups – those who have a party with some ritz, triscuits, wheat thins and Coors Light, Mich Light or Bud Light, and those who have the fancy crackers, fancy cheese, wine and a combination of Heineken, Amstel Light, or some other import or microbrew (anyway that’s an entirely different topic).

Saltines are like the fish everyone catches but no one wants to eat unless they have to. It’s like say, the perch. People would much rather catch the walleye or crappie or sunfish, but in reality, the perch is good eating. People would rather buy the triscuit and wheat thin or Ritz, but the Saltine can hold it’s own. With people eating so much soup – even tortilla soup with no tortilla’s, the saltine just might be the most used – and underrated cracker out there.

EAT!

If you're up early to eat, brag. If not, don't

Why do people who get up early brag about getting up early? You don’t get a prize. When is the last time a co-worker or friend said “I got up at 8 a.m. today” like it was supposed to mean something. But sure enough, you can bet someone very soon will say “I got up at 5 a.m. this morning” and think you should be wowed by that (like the person who I work with who just said that, for example).

I get up early, but I go to bed early, so what’s the difference if you go to bed late and get up later? Or, if you go to bed early and sleep late? Get what you need to done in-between that and it doesn’t matter if you get up late, early or in-between. Now, if they got up early and said “I got up early so I could eat 6 White Castle cheeseburgers to start the day.” Then that’s a good reason to brag about getting up early. Or, “I got up early, had some leftover pizza, then went back to bed for a while.” That’s another good reason.

But why is someone special just because they get up early? Unless you have a good reason (like getting up to eat) – not just because that’s when you start your day, you aren’t any more special or important than the next person.

This was not so much food related, but hey, how about this: I got up early today and when I got home Food Gal had already made me toast and hard-boiled eggs for breakfast – and packed a lunch of pasta salad and an apple. By 9 a.m., the pasta salad was gone.

Hey, maybe this getting up early thing is something to think about – because then you can eat more earlier! But it still doesn’t make you any more important or give you a reason to think people should care.

Meat Store Methods and Beef Stick Schemes

I went to the meat store tonight. There is a new meat store in my town. I went to the grocery store to get some chicken breasts quick, then realized I should go support the local butcher. I made a quick run through the store and got slices of cheese, bananas, sandwich pickles and chocolate milk – all quick things on an end aisle.

As I was at the meat store getting chicken, a guy got 3 pounds of ground beef. As the butcher took a big heaping pile of beef (a great sight indeed) and put it on the scale, he came to 3.4 pounds. He politely asked the customer if that was okay, and he said yes.

It got me thinking, you know, I am sure people in deli’s and at meat stores do that on purpose. If you think about it, they grab a pound of deli slices here, a few pounds of beef there – all day long every day. You know they can get a pretty good idea of how much they are scooping up after doing it everyday, and I can guarantee most experienced butchers or deli workers have an idea of how much they are scooping up. It might be tougher with say, turkey vs. salami, because they are not as proportionate, turkey is more thick, while salami is lighter and fluffier and round. But I am always amazed at the deli worker – usually a middle-aged woman – who can pick up a pound of roast beef, and get it right on the money – one pound exactly. What a great skill – and efficient too, because then she can get back to making potato salad.

But really, adding excess in a secretive way is a good tactic, because if you do go over, people are still going to buy the meat. Why not get a little extra while you are at it? Butchers and deli workers are all about the profits as well.

I pulled a quick on the butcher though – and I had the last laugh today. I got some chicken breasts and some marrow bones for the dog. I was eyeing up some beef sticks on the top shelf – after I paid. I asked how much they were and started going through my wallet – even though I knew I had no cash on me. I said “sorry, I guess I’ll have to try them next time.”

Since I was a paying customer, the butcher wanted to promote the product to me, so he reached in and gave me a beef stick for free. It was quite tasty.

So, while butcher and deli workers might try and pull fast ones when weighing meat, I pulled a fast one with the old “I don’t have any cash on me,” trick…although it was true, I didn’t.

Samples are great, and any butcher worth his weight in meat will gladly give a free sample. For that, I will definitely be going back – even if they do pull meat schemes of their own.

Pilot's and Popeye's Fried Chicken

Had Popeye’s Fried Chicken for the first time ever last night. Was quite tasty – had the spicy cajun chicken breast. I was debating to eat it since I just had a cheeseburger and fries and four tall glasses of beer. But, I was near a Popeye’s and had to try it

It was pretty good – but I’d be cautious about eating a lot or on a regular basis.

My flight was delayed for a few hours so I had some down time. When I was eating the Popeye’s, I saw what turned out to be the pilots of my flight eating Popeye’s. They even passed me getting on the plane with a bag of Popeye’s.

As I flew I wondered if they were eating the chicken, digging through the bag as we were flying. You know, like one does when driving, yet on a plane.

Pilot A: Hey Dewey can you pass me a leg?

Pilot B: Sure, oh wait, I ate the leg, you get the thigh.

Pilot B then reaches over to Pilot A and hands him the chicken.

I wonder if, when eating and a piece of chicken falls down and Pilot A has to pick it up, what the risk is when flying, and how it differs than when driving?

It then got me thinking….what do you do when you are a pilot and just ate, and then get gassy? You can’t really roll down your window to let the smell out?

Pilot A: Uh-oh, I think I am going to fart.

Pilot B: Aww man, come on, roll your window down if you do.

Pilot A: Ummm, I can’t really.

Pilot B; Man, you stink, that’s awful.

I think pilots deal with the same food issues the rest of use do. They eat, pass gas, and share and talk about food like the rest of us…they just can’t roll the window down.

Counting Cards? No, Counting Chews

On the flight down the man next to me was devouring a burrito he brought on the plane. I was really impressed by the way he ate it, and just seemed to enjoy the tasty looking burrito.

As he was sitting there, I watched his every move out of the corner of my eye, and then I did an unoffiical survey and counted his chews for each bite. His least amount was 11, and the most was 19. It took him 6 bites to finish the burrito, and he had 11, 13, 17, 15, 17 and 19 chews of each bite before swallowing. In a few bites though, he would chew about 12-14 times, swallow, then continue chewing. I just was so happy as I could imagine the joy he had as the tasty food slid down his throat to his belly, satisfying the hunger and taste buds.

It got me thinking…do you ever count your chews before swallowing? How many chews do you have per bite? Something to think about next time you eat.

Breakfast Buffets

Had some great food on the trip. Included was southern fried pork fritters, cheesy southern grits with rock shrimp and red peppers (fantastic), beef tenderloin, tortilla soup, spinach, and one of the greatest breakfast buffets I have ever been a part of. It had everything. I went heavy on the fruit and yogurt (and of course the bacon and sausage). I don’t like to overbeef at breakfast so I avoided the French toast, pancakes, syrup and other pastries. But I had some scrambled eggs, stuffed roma tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, berries, a few hashy b’s and lots of orange juice and water.

I’m not a big breakfast guy, but this was a big breakfast for The Food Guy, guy. It was fantastic.

At an evening dinner I made friends with one of the chefs who carves the meat. The second time I went up he spotted me and had my beef ready. I asked him if he got it ready and saw me coming and he said “Oh yeah, from about 100 yards away I knew you were coming.”