Fast Food Salads

[MauEvig]

Sounds like an interesting book to check out, I'm sure he gives some good perspectives on farming.

I've heard about that with tomatoes, I didn't know how true it was. But considering how bland they are compared to garden tomatoes, there might be something to that. Growing conditions and type of tomatoes might be other considerations.

A fun experiment might be to save the seeds of a store bought tomato and try to grow them.

I actually watched a video where a guy attempted to grow seeds from tomatoes he got on a Subway sandwich. He got pretty far with it, but sadly the plants died before producing anything. It might be something fun to try. Growing from seed is really challenging though. I often just opt to buy the plants. The wind knocked over my green house before anything sprouted, so I was a bit upset this year. The tomato plants I got were from the school PTO plant sale. They weren't too expensive though, and they support the PTO. Plus I volunteered that morning, so I was able to pick out some good ones! 

Back to the fast food salads topic, I decided to try an experiment playing around with the food apps on my phone, and hypothetically you could turn any McDonald's or Wendy's sandwich into a "salad." All you need to do is remove the bun, and add extra lettuce and tomato.

The downside to McDonald's though is that they up charge you for this. As if fast food didn't already cost enough!

Now Subway has always offered the option to turn any sandwich into a salad, so that's something to think about.

As far as custom orders go, unless it's a place like Subway where you specifically pick out what goes on it, I've always been kind of sheepish about asking for custom orders. The app allows me to place a custom order without feeling embarrassed. I also have social anxiety, so that doesn't help any. (You wouldn't know it how I can strike a conversation depending on the situation though. XD) I always felt bad if I did custom order something, because I felt like I was A. Making the restaurant do more work and afraid the cashier would feel stressed over it, or B. I was always told not to be picky or complain. You get what you get and don't have a fit, and while that's a new saying I've picked up working in elementary, it's basically what I've been taught growing up. It's just a nice little saying to help kids learn to be grateful for what they get.

But you know, my GP seems concerned about my overall health and well being. And I'm almost 40. It's probably time to start changing some habits. And if that means a Big Mac salad instead of a Big Mac sandwich...I guess it won't be too bad.

On another note, there's several videos online that reveal the "secret" to Big Mac sauce. I tried this one, but I heard 8 teaspoons of white pepper, apparently it's 1/8th teaspoon. Don't make the same mistake I did, unless you like extra peppery Mac Sauce.

I will note though that "Dusseldorf" mustard tastes really good by itself. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to regular mustard now. It's a little hard to find though.

Here's the recipe by the "Fast Food Secrets" guy:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/q80l0DS0zjs

[Murfreesboro]

When I was a kid the word on the street was that McDonald's "special sauce" was Thousand Island dressing. Couldn't prove it by me.

Our church has a large expanse of land in front of it that can't be used for building because it's too wet. Several years ago our minister decided to have volunteers in the church plant a garden and give away the food to the needy each Saturday. Every year it grows bigger, and yesterday they gave food to 123 people, who then made prayer requests we honored in church. Well, the tomatoes are over-producing this year, and after the giveaway they still had five or six tubs of tomatoes, which they offered to the congregation. I got enough to make a tomato pie tonight, so that's what I intend to do.

[Andybev01]

If you haven't already watched the miniseries 'Temple Grandin' , based on the life and career of the high-spectrum autistic engineer, I suggest that you seek it out.

She developed a method of cattle handling from farm to table that was so humane that it was endorsed even by animal rights organizations.

Aside from that it is a wholly engaging look into one of the most fascinating people that you will ever watch.

It stars Claire Danes as the adult Grandin and it, deservedly so, won all of the major awards that a television biopic could.

[MauEvig]

I've heard of Temple Grandin. She wrote the book "Thinking In Pictures."

I forgot about her accomplishments in the cattle industry. Wasn't she a veterinarian?

The lady I used to work under at the high school wanted me to read her book, but I never got around to it. I think she was trying to prove a point with me. She was trying to get me to accept an earlier diagnosis I had prior to getting the ADHD diagnosis. Don't get me wrong, I support mental health, and I support people getting the right supports but she was insistent and it really annoyed me.

But I'm sure Grandin is a great lady and is otherwise a wonderful person. I'll have to check out the series sometime.

Murf, I think it's great that your church is using it's resources to help feed those in need. What a wonderful way to use a community garden! It's great that the garden itself keeps expanding. If you ever find you have more tomatoes than you need, perhaps you can can them. I'd like to learn the process myself, but I never get enough tomatoes to can. Perhaps that's a way the church could contribute in the colder months, or perhaps build a greenhouse so they can keep it going year round.

I hear it's not thousand island dressing, but the similarities can make people think so. But one thing is for sure, I'm not putting THAT much pepper in my next batch.

[Murfreesboro]

In the summertime, they give away the produce on Saturday mornings, and whatever is left over is offered to the congregation on Sunday morning. If anything is left from that, the produce goes to the Catholic church nearby, since they maintain a food pantry. However, the minister's wife is an excellent cook who offers spaghetti suppers to the congregation during winter months (mid-week services during Advent, Lent). She often uses the left over tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce and then freezes or cans it for winter use.