SPAMtastic

Spamboy, this post is for you :)

SPAM (the kind you eat, not the crap that gets sent to your inbox) is a pretty big deal in these parts.  I'm not sure why that is (I guess I need to scour the interweb to find an answer).  Apparently, Tabasco sauce is the drink of choice to swill it down with.  Did you know that there are many varieties of SPAM (hot n spicy, turkey, original, reduced sodium, bacon, garlic, lite, hickory smoked- the ones in bold are ALL pictured)?

I did not.  That is until I moved to Guam.  Where not only is SPAM eaten regularly, it is also discussed quite frequently.  After listening to, but being unable to participate in several SPAM related conversations (other than awkwardly interjecting the tidbit about having a friend whose nickname is Spamboy in desperate attempts to remain in these conversations) because we had no recollection of ever wittingly eating SPAM, Don asked me to pick up a can.  We hemmed and hawed over what type to buy, there are soooo many choices after all, and finally- several months ago- picked up a can of Hot & Spicy SPAM.

For the entire time we've owned it, it sat on our pantry shelf.  Mocking me each time I struggled with coming up with an idea for what to eat for dinner.  It sat there so long, I grew quite used to it sitting there, it became almost pet like.  I would open the door, acknowledge it's presence and then grab food I actually wanted to eat.  That all changed yesterday, when after yet another SPAM related conversation, Don asked me to make SPAM for dinner.

I am not a huge fan of processed foods, there is something especially unappealing to me about who knows what animal parts ground down and pressed into an oddly shaped tin can.

But being the dutiful wife with a husband about to have a rough week at work (and who had her own major craving for processed meat in another form- chili dogs, but was too lazy to do anything about that) decided it was time to break out the SPAM.  But how should we eat it?  How do you cook such a delicacy, it does need to be cooked right (actually, no according to the label you can eat it straight out of the can- blech)?  So, I turned to the most trusted source I could find (after not getting a response to my SPAM SOS from my SPAM eating neighbors) and found millions plenty of SPAM recipes on line.  I settled on SPAM fried rice. I figured we like everything that was going into the rice, except possibly the SPAM, so if the SPAM was as revolting as I imagined, we could just eat around it.

And off I embarked, on my first ever attempt to cook and eat SPAM.

When the food you are about to consume comes sliding out of it's tin with a "jello like sucky noise" (thanks Kristen for that dead on description) and looks like this and smells like cat food, it made me thankful that I am not pregnant.  Because had I been with child, I would have been puking.  SPAM smells, it really has an unpleasant smell.

Luckily, the recipe suggested smooshing it before cooking...

I am glad.  Once I did this, I was able to pretend I was just browning up some canned tuna (which is odd too and probably not something I would do). The things we let ourselves believe to get through the tough times...

Anyway, once the SPAM was all good and brown, I followed the rest of the recipe and this is what we ended up with.

Maybe we've all eaten SPAM before?  Doesn't this look really similar to the fried rice you get at just about any Chinese restaurant?

And to be perfectly, 100% honest it wasn't that bad.  It was spicy. It was salty.  I can almost see where the affection for SPAM comes from.  But I also know what it looks like and smells like before it's cooked and that's why SPAM probably won't be a regularly featured item on our menu.  Except for one small problem, Price LOVED it.  He had seconds last night and leftovers at lunch today.  I'm trying not have hurt feelings that he loves SPAM and dog food more than  as much as all of the really good stuff I cook.  I'm now seriously worried that people have just been lying to me all of these years when it comes to my cooking.  So, now I've opened a can of SPAM and my own can of insecurities, but I'll save all of that for another post.

From Scratch

I love to cook.  I love beautifully photographed and wonderfully written blogs like the Smitten Kitchen and Pioneer Woman Cooks. Maybe one day when my blog and I grow up, we'll be as awesome as sites like these (a girl can dream can't she?)....  In the meantime, you get this latest post.

I do not, have not, nor will I ever claim to be a nut of the health variety (although, I have recently reacquainted myself with the inside of the gym), yet as a mom I have become a bit more in tune to what is in the food we buy.  I am really careful about what Price eats (ok, maybe not thhhaaattt careful- I let the kid eat cheeseburgers anytime we go out to eat because I am sick of packing his meal think he's old enough to eat off the menu sometimes).  I was really careful (almost to the point of being obnoxious) as I introduced solids to his diet.  But, so far (knock on wood) he hasn't really shown any sensitivity to anything, and he likes to eat.  These days, he's really into meat- but that's another topic.  Once we moved in to our house, I bit the bullet and started letting him eat what we eat, rather than making him a separate meal.  He's done really well and has packed on some much needed poundage.  Knowing that he's eating what we're eating has made me more sensitive to what I am cooking.  I am not talking about fat content or counting calories, but looking at ingredients in the food.

When reading food labels, one should really have a dictionary.  I don't know what most of the multi-syllable words are, but I know they are preservatives or additives or dyes or corn syrup.  And I don't know how I feel about all of these things going into my child's body.  I know that foods with a lot of preservatives are usually easier to fix, but they also usually have a lot of sodium.  I know many people think organic food is a crock, but at least you know (or at least you think you know) what's in it.  Unfortunately, in Guam organic isn't really an option.  So, I've decided to try and make much of our food from scratch.  I won't do everything from scratch (because I do hope to have a life at some point), but I just think if I can make 1 meal a week with foods that aren't overly processed I'll be doing a good thing.  So, tonight I started my project.

My mom sent me a new Pampered Chef baking stone for Don's birthday (long story, not to be divulged here) that I've been dying to use, so I thought I would make a pizza.  At first I was going to buy a pizza crust at the store and just add my own toppings, but after reading the ingredient list, I decided that this would be the "from scratch" kick off meal.

I found a recipe for pizza dough on RecipeCzar.com.  Gathered all my ingredients (for the crust and toppings) and was off.

Ok, so I forgot to take a picture of ALL the ingredients- basically my plan was to make a BBQ chicken pizza with black beans, pineapple, cilantro, mozzarella cheese and diced tomatoes.

Once I gathered all of the ingredients, I realized/remembered that I didn't send any measuring devices in our unaccompanied baggage (Note to self- pillows, measuring cups and spoons should be sent ahead!).  So, I improvised- I used baby products that, thankfully, had the capacity on the bottom.  And I used a bottle liner to measure liquid.  I can be pretty thrifty when I need to.

The pizza recipe I used did call for yeast, which I had on hand, but only called for the dough to sit for 5-10 minutes rather than waiting for it to rise.  The recipe also only called for 6 ingredients compared to the 8 million listed on the packaged crust.

After I made the dough, I put it in the oven to cook for 5 minutes and got the toppings ready:  chopped the pre-cooked chicken, rinsed the black beans, opened the pineapples...

Pre-cheese, and I forgot to add the bbq sauce- oops!

Cheese=yumminess, I could eat cheese all day, every day.

All done! It turned out really well.  The crust could have used a little more salt and sugar (but I didn't have measuring spoons, so for winging it, I think it turned out well). And the overall taste of the pizza would have been better if I had added the BBQ sauce before baking, but it worked out ok, because it was the most processed of all the ingredients, so I was ok that Price didn't get any sauce.  The main thing was, both the boys liked it.  It was inexpensive and only took about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Now that I know how easy the crust is to make, I'll be experimenting with toppings.

Mr. Potato Head!

Price loves to eat, especially when he gets to feed himself. Tonight he ate (or rather played with from the looks of things- potatoes, brocoli, turkey and butternut squash).

The Little Things

It's amazing to me the changes Price goes through on a daily basis. It seems like just about every day he does something that he didn't do the day before. Being able to witness these changes is one of the joys of being a stay at home mom. For instance, yesterday when I was feeding Price his breakfast, which consisted of homemade, organic baby food carrots, peas and green beans with a side of oatmeal, he was gumming/chewing his food. When we first started feeding him, the fod went in, but it came back out on his tongue as he figured out how it all worked. I had never noticed him using his jaws to work on his food until yesterday. He also really loves to help us feed him. This is ok, as long as we're not in a hurry and don't really care if he ends up with his food in his hair, on his face and stuck in the creases under his neck and between his fingers. It's so funny because when he first started eating, I thought we had somehow gotten a kid who wasn't going to be a messy eater (which I couldn't understand since at 34 I can hardly manage a meal without spilling anything on myself or those sitting near me). His first attempt at cereal was documented, but somewhat disappointing because of the lack of mess. He's making up for it now! (Pictures to follow soon).