by Roxanne -

An Economist Gets Lunch

With wheat prices spiralling out of control and food costs going up – we decided to get more creative about eating, and eating well.

I thought that Tyler Cowen’s new book An Economist Gets Lunch: new Rules for Everyday Foodies (Dutton: 2012) might help with that. For example, he suggests using Asian groceries for a more inexpensive, wider selection of greens (Hmmm, there’s a Vietnamese grocery just around the corner . . .).

However, many of his suggestions were tired; when traveling we already know to ask the locals where they eat, for example. Likewise we know to check ethnic restaurants in neighborhood strip malls away from pricey downtown areas.

Nevertheless, his idea to turn any Chinese restaurant in this country into an excellent Chinese restaurant was a good one; ask to speak to the chef and requesting what he would make for himself with tofu.

But on other fronts, I wondered how much was he paid by big agribusiness and the genetically modified food industry to wax on about how wonderful these industries are? The reality that economists are funded in academia by big agribusiness seems especially obvious here. Plus he ends up refuting his own glossy account of agribusiness by explaining at length, later in the book, how much better Mexican beef is because it’s grass fed, or how much better the tortillas are, handmade using local corn, etc. So Tyler which is it? Is big agribusiness creating better food or not?

Toward the end of the book he lost me when his section on France failed to highlight the fabulous street food (can you say golden mushroom crepes anyone?) and fresh fruits/vegies available at any Parisienne neighborhood, morning market – not to mention the delicious and inexpensive table wines at even the local Monoprix. Made me wonder, was he actually in France?

This led me to question overall what he writes about hunger, food distribution and the food industry. He may be an economist, but he’s a privileged, American, white male who doesn’t know much about the complex problem of hunger, countries made poor (by rich ones) or multi-national corporate interests when it comes to food.

by Roxanne -

Bottled Water? Yuck!

Pacific Ocean Trash

In my mind, anyone still selling, using or buying bottled water, or soda in plastic bottles, thus contributing to that massive sludge of garbage – primarily plastic bottles – floating around the south Pacific, is either living in a cave or brain dead.

Get a clue. Drink tap water or get a reusable water bottle. Then use it.

Same goes for plastic bags.

You may also like Kowalski’s Grocery Store and Fiji Water.

by Roxanne -

Vegie Smoothies

Farmers’ Market vegies means a summer of vegie smoothies. They are a great breakfast, lunch or snack to go. In our kitchen we use whatever happens to be in the fridge.

Green Smoothie
Photo TwoPeasAndTheirPod.com

In the picture above I used broccoli, carrots, banana and melon. Add a bit of honey and almond butter if you like. Fresh mint or a bit of lemon juice could have been added as well. Puree, chill, and enjoy a great tasting light green, vegie smoothie.

Today I tried fresh red beets, carrots, cantaloupe with an orange. Add a bit of coconut milk and puree. Chill and keep the entire pitcher in the fridge. Enjoy. The color here is beet red. You could substitute strawberries, an apple or a pear for the orange.

Any way you slice it – it’s refreshing, it’s easy, no cooking, uses local produce, it’s cool, it’s delicious and it’s healthy.

You may also like One Artichoke, One Lemon.

by Roxanne -

Vacation Eats

Tired of campfire cooking? While on vacation we are trying some new restaurants and doing a bit of eating out. But we can’t eat out all the time. Most nights we fix dinner for ourselves.

Vacation food you fix yourself has to overcome a number of hurdles: it has to be easy to find and easy to fix, fast, healthy and of course taste terrific. Who wants to cook or build a fire after hiking or a day trip – or when it’s NINETY degrees like it is tonight?

We’ve found a few standbys that can’t be beat and we’ve been putting them to the test this week. First – the Caprese salad. I can throw this together (tomato, mozarella or your cheese of choice, basil or cilantro), drizzle with olive oil, grind pepper and salt on a plate and serve with crackers or french bread. Easy, healthy, fast and delicious. Eat outside or in.

Northern Minnesota has fabulous smoked fish – salmon or whitefish, caught in Lake Superior. It’s very inexpensive, unlike at home. Up here it makes a nice add-on.

Last night, DH did a version of the Caprese on steroids, adding smoked fish and a few other fresh vegies. Of course he doesn’t throw his on the plate like I do – he has presentation skills 😉 Lakeside dining with a view.

In the morning, French roast coffee in the coffee press requires only boiling water for perfect coffee. For breakfast we like Greek yogurt with granola and fresh fruit. Today I added fresh strawberries and bananas – plus walnuts.

We like to use simple, fresh ingredients. If you have a small fridge or cooler these ideas will work.

This has been a great trip, but tomorrow we head home. We’ll likely stop at the Duluth Grill on our way out. Duluth Grill is another restaurant that serves local food and fair trade whenever possible.

If you liked the pics from our trip – check out the rest on the InnerPacific home page, “Retreats Online” – click on the retreat entitled North Woods Retreat.

You may also like Summer Fruit Salads and Strawberry Soup.