A new recipe's at my food blog!

Check out the link HERE and at the top of my sidebar!  If you like to have friends in for a drink or like to serve something before dinner at a dinner party, you will love the Rice Krispies Cheese Crackers whose recipe I've just put up at Mac'n GeeeZ, I promise!  They freeze great so you can always have a few ready to go when friends drop in. . Enjoy!
z

"that's all, folks!"

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone.

—Rod Serling

And now that TWILIGHT ZONE is in American prisons, where all prisoners can't eat pork anymore because Muslims don't want it served.  Check this THIS article out, in which you'll find the paragraphs below:

"In a federal lawsuit, death row inmate Abdul Awkal complains that the state is restraining his religious freedoms by not providing meals prepared according to Islamic law, known as halal, while at the same time supplying Jewish prisoners with kosher meals. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, prohibits Muslims from eating pork.
Awkal, joined by a second inmate not on death row, says the vegetarian and non-pork options aren’t good enough. The inmates say food must be prepared in specific fashion, such as ensuring that an animal is butchered by slitting its throat and draining its blood, to conform to Islamic beliefs.
Prison guidelines for Muslim inmates already provided that meals will be “free of all pork and products containing or derived from pork.”

So, if Jews get Kosher food, why can't Muslims get their Halal food?  The Jews are happy eating their kosher meals, apparently......they don't have such a problem that they have to remove ALL PORK which apparently "assures religious practices aren’t jeopardized by pork coming into contact with other food during preparation."

Does it strike you odd that a Muslim has convinced ALL OHIO PRISONS that they can't serve pork anymore at all because HE won't eat it?     Now, this isn't a huge deal, but it does seem like The Twilight Zone when, IN AMERICA, ALL people have to give up something because MUSLIMS won't eat it...what's up with that?

Is this KOSHER to YOU?

geeeeeeeeeeeZ!!

z

Fried foods not a direct heart risk! Oh, for JOY!

Any study, particularly one this big, just has to be posted here because I absolutely love fried food, fried fish in particular!    It's the OIL, folks...check this out!


A new study has found that there is no direct correlation between the amount of fried food people eat and their risk of heart disease. Instead, the research found that long-term heart risk depended more on what kind of oil was used in the cooking process — olive oil and sunflower oil are considered the healthiest.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, studied the eating and cooking habits of 40,000 people in Spain for nearly 15 years. The Mediterranean diet favored by most individuals in the study leans heavily on fried foods, particularly fried fish, but also the healthier olive and sunflower oils for the frying.
The Telegraph reports that study participants were then broken into four different groups, based on how often they ate fried foods. Over the course of the study there were 606 medical cases linked to heart disease, but those results were fairly evenly split between the four subsets. More from the study:

"In a Mediterranean country where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no association was observed between fried food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death."

Professor Michael Leitzmann from Germany's University of Regensburg said in the study that two similar research projects found comparable results showing no direct correlation between fried foods and heart disease.
"Taken together, the myth that frying food is generally bad for the heart is not supported by available evidence," Leitzmann wrote."However, this does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences," noting that the fried foods have higher calorie counts and are linked to obesity and high blood pressure.
Now, before you throw caution to the wind and sign a Jumbaco petition, bear in mind that not only do those fatty foods contain more sodium and calories, most Americans use less healthy oils to fry their foods. And even more damaging, re-used cooking oils reportedly contain higher levels of saturated fats, which are linked to poor heart health. (Z:  I know for a fact that many Brits use the same cooking oil, left in their frying pans for weeks....be careful, stop doing that)
As Victoria Taylor, senior heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, told the Telegraph, "We currently recommend swapping saturated fats like butter, lard or palm oil for unsaturated fats as a way of keeping your cholesterol down and this study gives further cause to make that switch...Regardless of the cooking methods used, consuming foods with high fat content means a high calorie intake. This can lead to weight gain and obesity, which is a risk factor for heart disease.

Z:  Be careful what oils you use, eat fried food in moderation, but EAT IT!  It's delicious and, if you use olive or sunflower oil, most of us will be just fine........it's Saturday, go get some fish and chips :-)
z

Broccoli or Fries........is that a choice? :-)

SSSSSHHHHH!!!   DON'T TELL MRS. OBAMA!  But, did you see THIS INFORMATION?
A new study shows that junk food does NOT cause obesity in Middle Schools.
Nobody's for serving bad food to our kids, but most of us feel it's up to the parents, not the government, to tell our kids what to eat. 

Another aspect of the article says they're going to be offering more vegetables for school lunches. Here's my fear:  the kids'll be tipping their veggies from their cafeteria trays right into the garbage.   More tax dollars down the drain and the kids get none of the vitamins.  It's kind of like McDonalds, which "responded to the demands of REGULATORS" and "decided" to include apples instead of fries in children's Happy Meals...(though I'm not sure that makes them very HAPPY anymore?)......Ever hear a kid say "Mom, can we go to McDonalds ....their apples are SO GOOD!"

I'm for educating parents (as if most don't know broccoli's better for kids than french fries, anyway?) and letting them suggest to their children what's best to eat.    Get the government OUT of it.

You have any solutions to getting our kids to eat better?  Aren't mine better than the government's? How about veggie burgers that taste like real burgers in schools?   At least they get their taste buds happy and some veggies in them.  How about whole wheat pasta?  Don't change the menus, fix the recipes? 

z

My food blog's got a new post!

Check it OUT!   Got a FAVORITE FOOD?

Enjoy!

Obama's WAR ON FOOD

Here's a president who doesn't like the term WAR ON TERROR, something to really worry about, but he'll back a WAR ON FOOD, as headline in the following underlined link suggests; a war against US.   THIS is a rather perfect example of the sneaky freedom-snatching ways of the Left.  WHAT CHILDREN EAT should not be a GOVERNMENT DECISION.   PARENTS make those decisions.  And LEAVE MY GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ALONE!

Remember when McDonald's had to acquiesce to giving APPLES in Happy Meals?  The threat was "no apples, no toys can be given away" if they didn't.  Have you any idea how many perfectly good apples will be thrown in the trash when they start this practice?  Have you ever heard a kid say "Mommy!  I just have to have an APPLE!" as they drive into McDonald's, or EVER, for that matter?

But, you see, the sneaky part is that the Left can say "Really....?   You don't WANT your children to be HEALTHY?  WHY NOT?"  ("Really, you don't want abortion on demand? You don't care about a woman's 'right to her own body'?"   "Really?  You don't want 'undocumented workers' coming into America, are you RACIST?"   "Really?  You don't believe gays should marry, are you a HOMOPHOBE?"     REALLY?   REALLY?)


EDUCATE the parents and the children.  EDUCATE them, give them choices.  Put an apple in their lunch they take to school but let them have a small burger and fries once in a while!  I stood up here at geeeZ for Michelle Obama when we all heard she'd had a cheeseburger and fries in a place that has particularly good ones.  I got creamed by my rightwing friends who thought she was hypocritical, but her eating a hamburger wouldn't have been like if Nancy Reagan had done CRACK when she pushed  "Just say no" to drugs!    It's a BURGER!  This is a normal woman of normal weight and normal health just wanting a delicious cheeseburger ONCE IN A WHILE...what's the big problem?  I eat very healthily but, I have to say, once in a while my car just drives itself to KFC or Carl's Jr or I find myself ordering macaroni and cheese in a favorite spot for it.   It's not ME, it's the car, it's my cravings :-)  (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!)  I know better; but I'm HUMAN.

STOP taking away our freedoms, please.  Obesity's apparently on the rise, young children are getting diabetes, nobody wants that, but EDUCATE THE PARENTS......most parents know what's good for their children, anyway.  If your kid's fat, have them eat better, take him for a walk, but let US have the option of treating normal children to something delicious and supposedly so bad for them just once in a while, OKAY?   And please don't start counting how many times I slip up....that'll be the next thing; wait for it.


z

Breakfast is important........

Do you eat breakfast, and what do you usually eat?

Join us at Mac 'n GeeeZ and talk about the first meal of the day!  Thanks

Now go see that Archie video you missed, down below;  you'll like it, I swear :-)

Check out the OBA-MAO Chinese goods below!

TUNA!

We're TALKING TUNA at Mac 'n GeeeZ..come on by!

My Food Blog has another new post........

Please go by Mac 'n GeeeeeZ and tell us your thoughts on my favorite dish!  :-)  Thanks!
z

Hot DIGGITY! mmmmmmmmmmm

I don't know why I blogged this...maybe because I had a "certain medical test" yesterday and all I could think of was FOOD on Thursday! (ya, you know the test!) :-)    What do you put on your hot dog?   If you put catsup don't let me know;  I'd hate to think less of you (Smile)
Okay, now that you're drooling, look down below and TALK POLITICS!!
z

Michelle Obama's splurge

So, Mrs. Obama had a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate malt and it was 1,700 calories.

Do you begrudge her this meal and accuse her of hypocrisy, as some are doing now, or do you think it's good to eat sensibly (as she lectures) and splurge once in a while?
I'm for the latter and think she's taking undeserved heat........YOU?

geeez

"I love coffee, I love tea, I love the Gaza Jive and it loves me......*.."

WHEN A FLY FALLS INTO A CUP OF COFFEE

The Italian - throws the cup, breaks it, and walks away in a fit of rage.

The German - carefully washes the cup, sterilizes it and makes a new cup of coffee.

The Frenchman - takes out the fly, and drinks the coffee.

The Chinese  -  eats the fly and throws away the coffee.

The Russian  -  drinks the coffee with the fly, since it was extra with no charge.

The Israeli  -  sells the coffee to the Frenchman, sells the fly to the Chinese, sells the cup to the Italian, drinks a cup of tea, and uses the extra money to invent a device that prevents flies from falling into coffee.

The Palestinian  -  blames the Israeli for the fly falling into his coffee, protests the act of aggression to the UN, takes a loan from the European Union to buy a new cup of coffee, uses the money to purchase explosives and then blows up the coffee house where the Italian, the Frenchman, the Chinese, the German and the Russian are all trying to explain to the Israeli that he should give away his cup of tea to the Palestinian.---
BEAMISH'S ADDITION is SUBLIME : American leftwinger would work towards the day everyone has a fly in their coffee.


Excellent, isn't it.   Aren't YOU percolating just reading it? 

Let me add one:

The American leftwinger - sees the device the Israelis invented, wonders why the Palestinians couldn't do that, and swallows the Palestinian fly-jive whole.
\
*My title is from JAVA JIVE, a song made most famous by the Ink Spots and Manhattan Transfer.
Z

A Persian waiter gave me a lot to chew on.............

My sis, mother and I had lunch with the Axis of Evil Tuesday.   There's a Persian restaurant that's been in my neighborhood for years and I'd never tried it for some reason.  Finally, a dear Persian friend who happens to have been a Muslim but converted to Christianity, invited me to go there about 2 months ago.  It's fabulous food and I've been back about four times since.  More than you need or want to know, but it sets the stage for this story:

Yesterday, we were served by a waiter I'd not had before.  He was very charming and friendly.  We talked about the name of a yogurt/water/ice/dry mint drink the Persians call DOUGH (pronounced DOOGH) which we Armenians call TAN (pronounced tawn)....it's very refreshing and delicious and my grandmother used to make it a lot so drinking it brings back happy memories.   When "Mo" the waiter told us the word for it in Turkish, I asked "Are you Turkish?"

Mo said "No, but I wish I was!"    I asked him "Where are you from??"  "Teheran......but I don't like to say so because I don't like being part of the Axis of Evil!"    I said "But, most Americans don't dislike the Persian people, we dislike the government.......and I wish our government had helped the Persian students last summer..."  He said he wished that, too....... I asked him why he thought we don't like the people and he talked about the hostage situation you will remember finally ended the day Reagan took office..." those were regular students who took your Americans hostage........those weren't government people but they were influenced by them!"   He added that he didn't blame Americans for feeling as they do about people from Iran. 

The time with him was like a look into a Persian heart, a look I'd never imagined.  I was so glad to meet him and to hear how he feels and I knew he couldn't be alone in those feelings.  He said he's been here four years but he has very little accent...he told me most people in Iran speak English.  Mom asked him if he was an American citizen and Mo said "No, not yet, but I hope to be."  Then I joked with him that, with Americans of Armenian descent, like we are, saying you're Turkish to us could be a bit of a problem!" and he laughed and gave us the statistics of the Armenian genocide, years and numbers of dead...this guy is no dumby.

The food was good but the conversation was better.  I think understanding happens when we hear the people, not their governments.   I wish you could have met Mo.

By the way....next time you make Basmati rice, first saute finely chopped cilantro and green onions and then throw them into the water in which you're going to steep the rice........OH, man, was that good.
Z

Dunkin' responsibility...........

Wouldn't you think a diabetic would want to control what kind of sweetener went into her coffee?
A woman is suing Dunkin' Donuts because they put real sugar in her coffee........and she suffered diabetic shock from it.  In my opinion, there's a big HOLE in this case!

Here's Z as the Judge:  "Madame, this court and Dunkin' Donuts, I'm sure, is sorry for your having been ill, but nobody did this on purpose and, in the future, please know that you should take responsibility for your condition and control your own coffee and sweetener.  Order your coffee black and carry Splenda in your purse. Grow up.  Case dismissed."

How about you?
(I wanted to post an image of a donut, but my favorite are glazed and I found out no food stylist can do them justice!)


z

School lunches......they know better than the parents in Chicago schools?

THIS STORY is absolutely amazing.........A Chicago school is now banning lunches brought from home because the school doesn't think they're healthy.

Oh, and by the way, because Conservatives think that is UTTERLY INSANE does not mean we don't think children should eat healthily...just wanted to beat my lefties to the idiotic punch. :-)

Continuing on..........the following paragraph caught my eye:  "During a recent visit to the school, dozens of students took the lunch (provided by the school) but threw most of it in the garbage uneaten."   Z:  Our tax dollars at work.

What I wouldn't necessarily mind is guidelines given to the parents at the beginning of the school year..maybe encouraging certain foods like fruit and vegetables and discouraging too many sweets, who can argue that?  But, banning lunches from home??  Mandatory eating of what the school thinks is right, really?


What do you think?   Would you even agree with guidelines?   Do you agree that parents should send what they feel is right, or do you think the school's right?

My favorite thing at my high school cafeteria was a little plastic bowl with a lump of mashed potatoes and gravy! (I'm practically drooling look at the image to the left!)  I have to admit it isn't the most healthy thing I could have chosen but it sure tasted good.  And, we siblings used to tell Dad, who grilled big, fat, juicy beef burgers, that we preferred the half oatmeal/half beef , very thin little patties they served at school, poor guy!   How about you?  What was your favorite thing to eat at school and what do you think of this Chicago's school's rules?


z

Chocolate........

This looked SO good to me I had to post it....chocolate chip cookie chocolate ice cream cake.............mmmm    I hope you're smiling :-)

And yes, I hope to resume my Mac 'n GeeeeZ Food Blog very soon..........I promise. (I think!)

z

SUPER BOWL FOOD

Please go to Mac'n GeeeZ, which I may be putting in full force again (or half force, which would be a step in the right direction after so much time off!).......tell us (here or there)
WHAT ARE YOU EATING WHILE YOU WATCH THE SUPER BOWL TOMORROW?  
And, tell us which team you're rooting for in my post below!  Thanks..

Drink that Coke fast...it might be your last

How is government working to limit your scrumptious individual liberties? Let us count some of the ways…

• As we’ve reported, officials in Boston, Mass., are contemplating a ban on “sugary” beverages from the vending machines of all city municipal buildings in an attempt to whittle down public employees’ waistlines.

• Likewise, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom used his executive order power to ban sodas and other sugary beverages from public building vending machines, replacing them with diet drinks and soy milk products.

• In a separate executive order, the San Francisco Mayor also single-handedly banned the use of city funds to purchase bottled water. “[Bottled water manufacturers] are making huge amounts of money selling God’s natural resources. Sorry, we’re not going to be part of it,” he said.

• In New York, a Brooklyn Democrat introduced a bill in the state legislature earlier this year to ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking.

• The New York Times dubbed the state of California a “national trendsetter in all matters edible” when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill in July to ban trans fats from the state’s 88,000 restaurants.  “Under the new law, trans fats, long linked to health problems, must be excised from restaurant products beginning in 2010, and from all retail baked goods by 2011.”  Other places that have banned trans fats include New York City, Philadelphia, Stamford, Conn., and Montgomery County, Md. — a suburb of Washington, D.C.

• In perhaps one of the most outrageous cases of regulations restricting small business, health officials in Oregon shut down 7-year-old Julie Murphy’s roadside lemonade stand in August for failing to secure a $120 “temporary restaurant” license.

• Kids may also be also be getting the shaft in San Francisco where officials are launching a campaign to ban “Happy Meals” or any other meals that come with a toy.  The so-called “Healthy Meals Incentive” would ban toys if the food contains too much fat, sugar or salt.  It wouldn’t be the first time meal-time toys would be nixed in California; earlier this year, Santa Clara County approved an ordinance “to break the link between unhealthy food and prizes.”

• New York City has banned school bake sale as part of a new wellness policy that also limits options in vending machines and student-run stores.  Proceeds from the ventures generally used to help help finance school-related activities like pep rallies and proms.

• Under state laws in Texas, a single piece of candy landed a 10-year-old Brazos Elementary School student in detention for a week in May.

Z: And, of course, the Leftwingers will say "But, how can anybody argue with this?  Sugar isn't good for you!  Extra weight isn't good for you! ..etc etc."   See the cunning, conniving excuses?   Do they not realize that FREEDOM is being able to be FREE to eat and drink what you want...?  Don't they see that WE can decide what we're going to eat and drink?  And, one by one, these ridiculous government limitations are happening............when will they stop, when we're all little vegans running around in Mao jackets?
The above information is from THE BLAZE, a new internet site by Glenn Beck.
Please, if you don't like the messenger, nobody cares, no comments necessary, because the points above are irrefutable and that's what I'd like to address our comments to.  Thanks..

z

TOYS are TOO TEMPTING??

A group is suing McDonald's because those little toys in the Happy Meals make it just too enticing for the kids and they get FAT! Check this out from the linked article: "At some point parents get worn down," Jacobson says. "They don't always want to be saying no to their children. We feel like an awful lot of parents would be relieved if this one pressure was removed from them."

Maybe we should ban all toys altogether? Parents just can't TAKE the pressure!! Boy, MINE sure had NO PROBLEM WITH PRESSURE. "NO" was heard, loud and clear...and our answer was "OKAY....darn" (and they had BETTER not hear the 'darn') And, darned if I didn't respect and love both my folks..........and still do. (I'm thinking they should kill the clown, too...he's kind of fun and enticing, isn't he?)

Would your parents have bowed to YOUR 'pressure'? ("but, I HAVE to have a HAPPY MEAL!!") or were yours more like mine. Why has it changed so much and is this giving in to our kids better for society? I sure don't think so.
z

Who cooked THIS UP?

"Former TV Chef Accused Of Cooking Up Murder Plot"

HERE is an article about a former Food Channel chef who's "under arrest in an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving homeless people, Santa Monica police said."

Do titles like the clever one above bug you? While I admire the creativity, isn't it a little unseemly? Inappropriate? Seems like it coarsens us, inures us...........What do you think?

If he goes to jail, will they be saying HE GOT HIS JUST DESSERTS? :-)

z