Low Carb Mexican Food

It seems like an alien concept to speak of Mexican food as low carb (and diabetic friendly), but a link to just such a concept popped up on my newsreader today.  About.com, which seems determined to cover the universe in their little multi-page articles concerning what and how, has several pages devoted to low carb Mexican food.  The discussion ranges from Mexican dishes that are already low carb, those than can be turned into low(er) carb, and how to survive eating out at a Mexican restaurant. 

Much of it we knew already (meat, dairy, eggs, some vegetables), but I was surprised to read a recipe for the already-low-carb chile relleno.  I had always avoided those batter dipped chiles, thinking that the batter was heavily starch.  That's what I get for assuming.  Chile relleno's "batter" is whipped egg whites. 

I've missed years' worth of what promises to be a tasty treat.  On my next visit to a Mexican restaurant, guess what I will be ordering?

Twinkies are bankrupt!

For the second time in the 21st Century, which we all know to be still pretty new, Hostess Brands, Inc. has declared bankruptcy.  Hostess makes Twinkies and HoHos and all sorts of heavily processed, heavily sugared treats. 

The company is based in Irving, Texas, which makes this a bittersweet (no pub intended) problem.  One wants to lard (get it?) on the snark, inquiring how they missed the memo that diversification is a good way to deal with changes in the business climate (just how long did they think we wouldn't notice the obesity epidemic and make even a feeble effort to turn it around?).  On the other hand, oh, the humanity!  The employees and their families are likely to become victims if the company folds--and the retired employees, whose pension has been underfunded, are likely to become victims regardless of the outcome. 

I avoid all Hostess products because they would put me in a food coma.  Even so, I still crave Ding Dongs.  Put 'em in the fridge to get the chocolate coating cold and crunchy.  Nowadays I have to make do with the memories, so this bankruptcy is not going to change how I shop or eat regardless of the outcome.  I do, however, hope things work out for their employees.

Houston water still tastes bad

Just saying.

I've solved part of the problem with the bottled water that seems to take forever to consume:  a squeeze of lime.  The limes were 8 for $1 at Joe V's Super Saver (love that store--about which more later).  I didn't buy them with the intention of saving the water, but I had that light bulb moment last night.  Sure enough, a couple of squeezes of fresh lime and the bad taste was undetectable (to my palate).  What a relief.  I just hope the limes will last as long as the jugs of water!

The other part of the problem seems to be something that the City of Houston is going to have to tackle.  It seems that the taste of the water comes from critters (hopefully dead ones). 

Backing up a tad, Houston used to use ground water for its water supply, but over pumping the aquifer and sinking the city kinda indicated that it was time to look for another source.  Houston chose, among other sources, Lake Houston for its surface water/backup source.  No doubt there are a zillion contaminants in the Houston water supply, but the taste seems to come from those aforementioned critters:  cyanobacteria and actinomycete.   Cyanobacteria are algae, popularly referred to as blue-green algae and adored by dietary supplements fans.   Some of the bacteria in this family make toxins.  This is a bad thing, I would think.   Actinomycetes are bacteria from a family that produces a number of antibiotics.  This is a good thing, I think.  No word on whether they are dead by the time the water leaves the faucet or the bottling plant, but they seem to be always in Lake Houston.   The amount of bacteria depends on how long the water stays in the lake, gets diluted by rain and run off, and is pumped out (so saith the USGS). 

As it turns out the bottled water that we are drinking has been "carbon-filtered."  Not well enough to improve the taste, but making it more or less safe to drink.  A little lime juice makes it palatable.   And more rain would help the aquifer.

Healthy Eating on a Budget

Some meandering on the Internet a couple of days ago led me to a USDA web page devoted to "Healthy Eating on a Budget."  Be forewarned that all of the links on the page lead to PDFs, but do follow a few.

The first link takes you to "Eating on a Budget--The 3 P's" (plan, purchase, prepare).  Most of the recommendations on the one-page handout include things that we old folks know, but it's not a bad idea to review them and even think about why we do or don't follow them.  For example:

• I don't "plan meals and snacks for the weeks according to an established budget."
• I do "make a grocery list."
• I didn't used to "check for sales and coupons in the local paper or online and consider discount stores" but I do now (more or less).

Right now (knock on wood) my family is not on a tight budget for food.  It just happens that we are, well, thrifty, so we do tend to follow many of these tips as a matter of course.  However, I don't much care for rigid meal planning if I don't have do.  I actually did something like meal planning for My Prince's most recent visit for the Christmas holiday.  I listed, by day, planned breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and made a list of the items that I would need to buy to prepare these meals.  We never followed the meal plan and didn't get to many of the dishes that I had planned for those meals.  That's one recommendation that will only work if the whole family--at least all of those that are involved in the purchasing, preparing, and eating of these meals--sticks with the plan.  Easier said than done.

Of course, I do make a list before going to the store.  Assuming I don't lose the list (on Wednesday, I first left it in the car and then had to hunt around the store to find it after it fell out of my cart--oops!) and can find whatever is on it (imagine not having large containers of red pepper flakes at a store in Texas!), I still tend to "invent" menus on the fly as I walk the aisles.  That means I change my mind, add and subtract items as I go.  I consider a list more as an "inspiration" than a "prescription."

I'm not much on grocery coupons.  I don't like to fiddle with paper while I'm shopping.  A grocery list is more than enough for me to handle.  More importantly, many coupons tend to be for more expensive brands than I would normally buy.

If we were truly in a bind for grocery money, I would definitely have to change my ways.  As it is, it may be worth thinking harder about how doing even a little better planning might save us some money.

Take a look.  Did they leave something out?  Do these work for you?  Is there a PDF that you find particularly useful?

I plan to send the 3 P's to my grandson to start the discussion of how he can get a healthier diet on less money.

New foods (so far)

Google has a new interface for Blogger, its blogging software.  Pretty much like going snow blind, if you ask me.   Oh, well.

I always think I'm going to try new foods, but end up with (mostly) the same old ones.  On Wednesday, I tried not one but two new things!

The Oneth.  I love roasting ears of corn.  It's so much fun to go to a fair or carnival and find the vendor who roasts the corn.  Butter, salt, cayenne with that roasted flavor is just so yummy.  A couple of grocery stores on this end of Houston have food trucks outside their entrances that specialize in roasted corn.  I finally took the time to stop by one to get a couple of ears.

Sadly, they were out of whole ears.  The only choice was roasted corn in a cup.  So I tried it, replying when asked, "Everything."  I was expecting salsa or cayenne or something spicy.  What I got was butter and mayonnaise (heavy on the mayo) with a little cayenne and some lime juice.  Although there was definitely a taste of roasted corn, the result was very like an overdressed salad--way too much mayo and butter to enjoy the corn.  After a few bites, it became too much, and I didn't finish the cup.

Since the cup cost a whopping $3, I have to say I was disappointed all around.  I do intend to try again (someday) to get one of those roasted ears, but will definitely balk when offered one in a cup.

The Twoth.  Leeks are not entirely a new item in my diet, but I can only recall purchasing them once before my last shopping trip to Kroger. They are about to become much more common.

I had been slicing the leeks and adding them to soups and stir-frys but, for the last one on the bundle, I decided to experiment with the leek as a standalone vegetable.  I had a little oil left from pan-frying some breaded chicken breasts, so I sliced the leek and tossed it in the pan along with the leftover bread crumbs. I seasoned with salt and garlic powder and deglazed the pan with some chicken stock.  After reducing the stock, I served the leeks with the pan-fried chicken and some mashed potatoes.

Definite yum.  Definite addition to the diet.

Houston water supply

Hmmm. Having some trouble finding the source article for MSNBC's claim that Houston has some of the worst water in the country (not that I'm arguing with that), but I did find another tidbit on the 24/7 Wall St. website that talks about the elephant in the (Texas) room: water shortage. Houston comes in second, after Los Angeles, as the (big) American city most likely to run out of water. Here's what they say:

2. Houston, TX

Major Water Supply: Jasper Aquifer, Lake Houston, Lake Conroe
Population (U.S. rank): 2,257,926 (4th)
Population Growth Rate: 15.6%
Average annual rainfall: 53.34 inches

Throughout most of its history, the city of Houston primarily drew water from the Jasper Aquifer, located along the southeastern coast of Texas. Over the last 30 years, the city began to suffer from dramatic rises in sea level of nearly an inch a year. Geologists eventually realized that the cause was Houston’s withdrawal of fresh water from the aquifer located under the city. This discovery forced city officials to use nearby Lake Houston and Lake Conroe for municipal water instead of the aquifer. Since 2000, Houston has been the fifth-fastest-growing city in the country, and its presence in an area with high drought likelihood makes it an immediate risk for serious water shortages. [emphasis added]

The article, from an October 29, 2010, post on 24/7 Wall St., names its sources (what a refreshing change):

 24/7 Wall St. looked at an October, 2010 report on water risk by environmental research and sustainability group, Ceres. We also considered a comprehensive July, 2010 report from the National Resources Defense Council which mapped areas at high risk of water shortage conflict. 24/7 Wall St also did its own analysis of water supply and consumption in America’s largest cities, and focused on the thirty largest metropolitan areas. One goal was to identify potential conflicts in  regions which might have disputed rights over large supplies of water and the battles that could arise from these disputes.  And, 24/7 Wall St. examined geographic areas which have already been plagued by drought and water shortages off and on.

I'm still on the hunt for the origin of MSNBC's claim that Houston has lousy water (not that I am quibbling), but the discussion of water shortage--which we saw up close and personal this past summer--provides a nice focus for more thought about Houston's water supply.  It's more than just keeping the lawn green, aifinkso.

Severe droughts that could affect large cities are first a human problem. The competition for water could make life in some of America’s largest cities nearly unbearable for residents. A number of industries rely on regular access to water. Some people would be out of work if these industries had poor prospects for continued operation. The other important trouble that very low water supplies creates is that cities have sold bonds based on their needs for infrastructure to move, clean, and supply water. Credit ratings agencies may not have taken drought issues into account at the level that they should. Extreme disruptions of the water supply of any city would have severe financial consequences.

This past year we experienced months of drought and searing temperatures.  Lawns shriveled.  Old trees died or lost major limbs.  The City of Houston had to haul water to keep newly planted landscaping in the medians from dying--although they were too late for a goodly portion of that.  What happened in terms of water quality?  The mystery deepens?

Houston water quality

Uh oh.  A quick google for "Houston water quality report 2011" gives this as the first result:  10 Worst Cities.  The report ranks Houston as the 6th worst water quality in the nation:

6. Houston (City of Houston Public Works) Houston is the fourth-largest U.S. city. It gets its water from sources such as the Trinity River, the San Jacinto Rivers and Lake Houston. Texas conducted 22,083 water quality tests between 2004 and 2007 on Houston's water supply, and found 18 chemicals that exceeded federal and state health guidelines, compared to the national average of four. Three chemicals exceeded EPA legal health standards, against the national average of 0.5 chemicals. A total of 46 pollutants were detected, compared to the national average of eight. The city water has contained illegal levels of alpha particles, a form of radiation. Similarly, haloacetic acids, from various disinfection byproducts, have been detected. 

 And it tastes bad (not that the report said that--just me).

However, the news report from MSNBC, from which this quote is taken, does not link to the actual source report nor does it look at the mandated water quality report that I was actually looking for.  More research ahead, I see.  In the meantime, less drinking from those gallons of drinking water that My Prince and I bought before Christmas.