Happy Easter

Hamburger and Pink Slime

I know where these tomatoes and peppers came from!

When I was a little girl, I used to walk over to Tony Sidowski's meat market and get hamburg. He used to take this huge slab of beef out of the cold closet, whack off a portion of it and I watched as he carefully passed the meat through three times. The meat was red with little white speckles. That was hamburger. That was DOSE hamburger- hamburger the way that God created it!

Somewhere along the way, hamburger turned an homogeneous pink. For a while I thought the difference was grass-fed beet because grass-fed beef is definitely red, while most beef today is definitely pink. Now I find out that the reason hamburger is pink is because they add pink slime!

That sounds bad-but now we're getting some Republican governors who claim that it's just beef. We see this factory tour where beef goes into a conveyor belt and these pink slimy pellets come out the other end. That might make some think that makes it meat-but first you need to understand what happens in the black box!

Wikipedia states that meat that has already been processed to remove all the edible meat, and heated to remove all the usable tallow, is the sent to a factory where it is ground up, steamed, separated to remove more fat, then sprayed with ammonia which is then converted to ammonium hydroxide (household ammonia) by the water left in the meat.

So, it seems that this is meat that has been processed and reprocessed to remove anything of any conceivable value, then processed some more to add fillers to meat that can technically still be called meat.

Our ancestors couldn't eat it. We weren't created to eat the connective tissue, grizzle, and cartilage that is in pink slime, but now thanks to modern technology, we too can play the role of bacteria in consuming these waste products.

I think that it is time to either find a market where I can choose the meat, see it ground and watch it wrapped- or get a grinder and grind it myself. Just another hazard of getting too far away from our food!

Saturday at Busch Gardens

 Rob and I went to Busch Gardens on Saturday to see Herman's Hermits.  They were my favorite teen-heartthrob band in the 1960's.  I know all the songs- you can ask Rob because I sang all the way through!

 Here was a cool tree photo I caught while we were waiting to get in.

 This is the top of the same tree.  Doesn't it look like I always have my head in the clouds?

 Peter Noone looking straight at me!  I would have died if I was still 14!

 This is how trees look in Tampa right now.  Want to get as many shots of the flowers before they fade.  People think there is no spring in Tampa- but I think this time of year when all the trees bloom is our spring.

But of course this is Busch Gardens, so there is no tree without a roller coaster.

This week in the garden

Florida State Fair- lots of pictures later...
Faith Formation Retreat- stories and pictures later...
This week's loot from Cheyenne's

 My herb garden

 Greenery

 My vegetable garden- three sisters in the middle- has an ear of corn!

Off to Busch Gardens to see Herman's Hermits and the new ice show!

A Day Without Walking

Weight loss: gained 2.2 pounds yesterday, down 2.0 from max weight.  Gained 0.2% body weight (net change 0), BMI went up 0.2% (net change 0) according to my fat loss monitor.

Something I might see on my walk at work

Yesterday, I did not do any walking. I had every intention of walking at work- even linked to this really great map of Walking trails at work. This map even has trails mapped out- with number of steps along familiar places pre-counted. It is easy to convert to miles- just divide by 2000 steps.  The equivalent walk to my long block is the combination of yellow and red trails.  The door out of my building is in the middle of the north side of the red loop.  Tarek's (where I can buy lunch) is on the south side of the pink loop.  My plan yesterday was to go over to Tareks, buy lunch and do the loops on the way back.  This is definitely NOT a good idea.  If you are going to walk at lunch- do not have hot food in your hand- you will go inside and eat it- and NEVER get outside to walk.  New plan is to walk in the morning- AND to walk at work BEFORE I buy my lunch.

This is my plan for the walk at work: Start out at the top of the red loop- walk clockwise around the red loop until getting to where the red and pink loops join.  Then walk over to the pink loop and walk clockwise all the way around until I get to Tarek's where I buy my lunch.  Walk back to the beginning of the pink loop over to the red loop and continue on the red loop back to my office.

In the meantime, need to get on my morning walk now- because there is no time like the present!

Super Bowl Sunday

Reblogged from http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/2011/10/black-bean-butternut-squash-chili.html

Cilantro is front and center in this pic!

Weight loss: 1.2 pounds yesterday, down 4.2 from max weight.  Gained 0.2% body weight but BMI went down 0.3% according to my fat loss monitor.

Here was our pre-Super Bowl meal:
 First we started with freshly made warm from the oven Double Corn Bread (recipe from Thy Hand Hath Provided).  Then we topped this with leftover Black bean and butternut Squash Chili that had been left over from earlier in the week.  This is an easy recipe that can easily be started in the crock pot before work and be ready when you get home.

We had reheated the chili in the oven topped with Amish Colby Cheese from Cheyenne's.

On top of that we placed the salsa I made tonight (2 small tomatoes, 1/4 yellow bell pepper, 1 scallion, handful of cilantro from my garden, sea salt, juice of one lime, and freshly ground black pepper. The final topper was fresh whole sour cream. Yummy!

For Super Bowl snacks, I had a beer (Samuel Adams® Alpine Spring) and some tortilla chips with more of the same salsa (had to make two new batches for Rob and I).

The walking went quickly but may no longer be enough- did have pain and swelling during choir today. Like many others, woke up too late for walking before work today- will try getting some in during my lunch break.  Looks like lunch will be Tarek's special for today- tortillini marinara with a caesar salad. 

Teach Faith Formation tonight, so will get home after 8- hope Rob will have supper ready.  It is such a luxury to have a grown son who can cook have supper ready when you get home!

Love always,
Mary Rose

Progress

Yesterday walked around the long block, watched Pioneer Woman, thought about making her Strawberry jam(have the strawberries, went out to eat, went to the movies with Rob.  Lost 1 pound, 0.4% of my body weight and my BMI went down by a tenth of a point.  Need to get to walk now.  Talk to you later.

Love,
Mary Rose