For those football affectionados who love a “circus admosphere”, tomorrow is your day. Alabama has dominated the college football scene for 3 years and is again rated No.1 nationally. Alabama rolls into Texas A&M to visit “Johnny football”. The quarterback for A&M is Johnny Manziel, the cockiest little sh– to hit the football world in years. A&M was the only team to beat Alabama last year. Johnny taunts the other team. He runs. He throws. He creates pandamonium. Can he beat “bama” again? Tune in!
I am not an expert on food but I can read nutritional labels. The trend for 20 years has been to try and get people to eat healthy (to avoid open heart surgery and clogged arteries). The Cookie Company I worked for was constantly trying to come up with snack products that were nutritious and tasted good. We had a lot of scrumptions cookies like chocolate chip and macaroon sandwiches. Creme filled wafers. Chocolate covered mints. Whoa! Delightful but the calorie counts and fat content were very high.
Cookies fall into the category of “treats” so there is an expectation of indulgence. The goal of the Cookie Company was to develop more nutritious cookies and maintain high levels of taste. It was a never ending battle. Some cookies hit a nitch. For example, marshmallow cookies contain no fat but they are loaded with calories.
We did develop a creme filled wafer using “Nutri-Sweet” as the sugar substitute. At the time, every diet soda you purchased had Nutri-Sweet on the label and the connotation was that it tasted good and was also healthy. The creme filled wafer was a huge success for several years until people discovered that the generic ingredient of Nutri-Sweet was aspertame. The internet is filled today with testimony about the negative effects of aspertame so the Nutri-Sweet name died. In the end, the creme filled wafers are still being sold (as are many diet sodas) with aspertame in them. The wafer probably came the closest to fulfilling “tastes good and from a perception standpoint was good for you”.
So here is the story. Because I’ve had a few clogged arteries, eating healthy is “suggested” for my continued good health. Everyone is trying to encourage me with their creative recipes. Lots of spices. Your Mom has created a tomato based chili with spices from a local “spice shop”. It has been the best creation yet. Grasshopper No.2 knows how to cook healthy stuff and Grasshopper No.5 (who is gluten intolerant) is an expert on healthy cooking. Actually, your Mom’s knowledge of nutrition is amazing.
How do you create an alternate taste for a Johnsonville brat? What is the substitute for a holiday ham? Is there food that tastes better than apple pie with a sugar crusted top (and two scoops of ice cream). And so it goes. French fries? Hot dogs and potato chips? A summer sausage sandwich?
Presently I am in a learning mode. Different foods. Different tastes. I’ll let you know if I find any new dishes where the taste really “is off the charts”. I do appreciate the help of all those steering me towards a better life.
Love,
Dad