TOXIC WASTE

Note: this is not a healthy food, nor does it look good to eat, but it tastes good--appropriate for humor at parties for children, at haunted houses, or to "celebrate" Earth Day.

2 12 oz. pkgs. white chocolate chips
4 cups mixture of any of the following (or similar items): Cheerios, and other shaped cereals, broken melba toast, small pretzel sticks,...
food coloring
sprinkles

• Wrap a cookie sheet in aluminum foil
• melt white chocolate in microwave safe bowl for 1-2 minutes (careful not to burn)
• mix with non-flakey cereals, melba toast, and/or small pretzels
• mix until all is well coated
• sprinkle with small drops of various food coloring
• mix until just beginning to look disgusting
• spread on cookie sheet
• sprinkle with various colored sprinkles
• let dry; remove the foil and break the mixture up into small pieces
• store in plastic container.

Balance: Food and Exercise

Has anyone seen Food Inc.?

I love to cook.  In fact, even though I'm overweight, I have to say, it is NOT because I nibble and eat what I cook.  I cook mostly healthy food. Granted, there are moments when I really desire a something chocolately, but when a doctor (or my mother) accuses me of eating too many sweets, it is usually ungrounded.  Usually.   I have  learned not to stress-eat, as I'm told it's called: to eat to calm the nerves.  If I do stress-eat, it is either cheese or chocolate.  I don't see a large problem with this because it doesn't happen often (usually at the end of the semester, when I'm grading like a crazy person, or else when I have to start a new project, such as a book chapter or journal article, but not always).  It's a problem, I admit, but not a big one, and not one I am not able to fix.

I believe in balance: so much "bad" food along with the "good" food, so much exercise, so much relaxation, so much work, so much money saved, so much money spent,....  Balance is the key, and that includes a balance of stresses in one's life. 

However, attaining such balance is difficult, as it is difficult to attain any other type of illusion of control over anything.  Sometimes I have it; sometimes I don't.  I keep trying.  It's all I can do. 

Respect for Belief

I try to respect all beliefs--as long as that belief does not endorse abusiveness, violence or some other sort of deconstructive force against mankind and/or nature.  So, for example, I respect Christianity, but I do not respect those factions of Christianity that oppress women, gays, or other groups of people,  nor do I respect those factions that protect individuals who abuse children.  I believe that there is a little good in every religious institution, as well as a little bad--and I respect that fact as well.

There is a difference, of course, between belief and religion.  Many denominations of Christianity see homosexuality as a sin, yet many homosexuals hold Christian beliefs.  One may be a Christian, a good Christian, and not be considered a sinner for also being a homosexual.  And that is just the Christian world.  To put it another way, as Karen Armstrong observes, "There are some forms of religion that are bad, just as there's bad cooking or bad art or bad sex, you have bad religion too."  Just because the Catholic Church has been protecting leaders within its institution who have broken sacred vows of trust (molesting children, for example), does not mean that pedophilia is a part of the Catholic faith.  Likewise, what one believes within a particular religion does not speak for the religious institution as a whole. 

Religious institutions seem to inspire both the worst and the best parts of humankind.  Armstrong thinks that "one of the reasons why religion developed in the way that it did over the centuries was precisely to curb this murderous bent that we have as human beings."  I think that is possible, but I also think the opposite, that religion developed to channel that same murderous bent: from crusades for Christ in the Middle Ages to Jihad terrorist acts today.

What I believe or don't believe--what you believe or don't believe--is personal and therefore sacred.   Don't tell me what I should believe, and I won't tell you that your beliefs are wrong (with exceptions as stated above).

Recipe: Lentil Tofu Storm

Okay, I haven't tried this one--I just made it up, so I'll comment on the made product later on.

2 cups lentils
3 cups water
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 package chopped firm tofu
1 bottle dark beer

• Mix the tofu and the dark beer in a glass baking dish.
• Tightly cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator over night (24 hours).
• In a large pot, cook the lentils in the water on the stove, over medium heat, until just tender (about 20 minutes).
• Drain the Lentils.
• Push the tofu to one side of the baking dish.
• Pour the lentils and beer into the baking dish, beside the tofu.
• Pour the chopped onions and cheese into the other side of the baking dish.
• Thus, you will have three rows of lentils, tofu and cheese & onions.  With a spoon, stir from the outside edges in a circle, moving toward the center, so that you have a swirl.
• Coat lightly with more parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
• Bake 400 degrees (Farenheit) for 20-30 minutes.
• Serve with Naan bread, crackers and/or tortillia chips.