How to make a 100% home grown bread

 I've subscribed to Shawn Woods on YouTube for many years now. He has identified as something of a survivalist and lives in a rural part of Oregon - which explains how he harvested salt from the Pacific Ocean.

Either way I see this project of producing his own bread with his own wheat and his own salt is a fascinating project to share on here. His point with this exercise is to show us how easy it is to produce your own bread and making it with your own ingredients. 

You don't have to go to the store!

Alas there isn't a body of saltwater near Chicago. And I don't know too many people who harvest wheat in their backyard in a major metropolitan area. And of course to further harvest wheat to produce flower that seems like a time consuming process although resources are available to make that work.

Would you be willing to experiment with this process? [VIDEO]

Mr. Beat discusses every US President's favorite beverage

 

[VIDEO] Who knew that Obama preferred tea over coffee and liked beer - even had some brewed in the White House. Who knew that Donald Trump was a "teetotaler" and liked to drink Diet Coke. Also who knew that our current President Joe Biden also was a teetotaler and also preferred not to drink any alcohol. Biden also likes Gatorade and as most of the men who held the office of the President likes a cup of coffee.

If I ever become president we can add an Arnold Palmer, lemonade mixed with iced tea. That's awesome now if I could make my own.....

Mr. Beat: Kansas and Nebraska compared

 

[VIDEO] A while ago I shared a comparison video between Nebraska and Iowa two midwestern states. Now how about another comparison between another pair of midwestern states Kansas and Nebraska - wait there was a Congressional act named for those two states right?

Anyway Mr. Beat didn't release a video last Friday so today I will offer this treat for you all. In the more recent comparison video Mr. Beat didn't discuss the Runza sandwich. In this one he does and you might have heard about it from Geography King also.

Also both states I've passed through on the way across the country. I noted that Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislature. Kansas has some very well known political figures such as the late Bob Dole. Both states trend Republican. 

I could go on and on however once you watch the video, hopefully you learn something new.

Mr. Beat presents: Every Presidents favorite food

 

[VIDEO] Perhaps you might want to try some of these yourself. I wouldn't mind pickled herring - the favorite meal of Grover Cleveland the 22nd and 24th President - although I hardly see that in a grocery store. And maybe some "hoe cakes" which is the favorite food of our 1st President George Washington. Oh and I almost forgot if it wasn't for our 3rd President Thomas Jefferson we wouldn't have another popular American dish mac & cheese something he discovered overseas.

Perhaps some of you have your own favorite dishes to share.

Sorry to throw this in at the end, but who knew that the 26th President Theodore Roosevelt liked fried chicken. Check out the kind of meals he liked and what was served for a birthday during his time in office.

Make some cheese

 

[VIDEO] This video is something different for this morning and somewhat reminds me of what you might find watching PBS or WTTW on Saturday's. Though probably not quite like this going so retro to show how people used to live centuries ago.

I shared a video a few days ago about a YouTuber's effort to help insure that the hungry will be provided for. This video is a bit different it shows how people provided for themselves in a different century. Here they show how everyday people made cheese.

It reminds me of a field trip back in the day where our class went to Lincoln Park Zoo and there was a farm exhibit there that shows how our food is raised. It showed the many byproducts of cows or chickens which of course includes the meat. 

In this video we see how everyday people made cheese back in the day. And lets say if you listen and watch Deanna Berkemeier of Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford, NY you can make your own cheese at home today and using the dairy products you can buy at your grocery store. You don't just have to buy your cheese at the grocery store no more than you must buy your food prepared by someone else.

Daily Dose Of Internet: Hamburger left in a closet for 24 years

[VIDEO] I just got to say how disgusting to see a McDonald's meal that doesn't decompose after 24 years. It doesn't look bad just stale, brittle, dry, and the bread doesn't mold. All of it left in its original packaging. It would be quite a find if it was found in a home that you just moved into. It causes me to wonder what's in the food at a McDonald's that it doesn't in anyway break down.

Of course that and other vids contained therein of an informative, educational or entertainment purposes. As is said in the video, I hope you learn something new or this video had made your day.

I hate to do this a day after sharing a long ago video from Mr. Beast delivering food to North Carolina food pantries.

No one should ever go hungry...

[VIDEO] If I ever come upon a significant amount of cash, one thing I would like to do is donate money to a food bank. I do believe barring anything else, everyone should be able to eat. And I wish I had shared this earlier in the pandemic once the nation started these lockdowns.

Going downtown every now and then you find someone begging for money to eat or asking for food. And it seems as if they have no excuse if there are soup kitchens or food pantries available so that if you're hungry you can eat. No need to beg you will be provided for.

So this is why I'm sharing this video. YouTuber Mr. Beast aka Jimmy Donaldson does a number of outrageous videos and occasionally gives away money to people in challenges. There was one video where he took over a closed bank branch and gave away free money. Of course let me emphasize many of his videos shows a young man having a lot of fun with his friends.

Of course as a young man with over 42 million subscribers he's not doing too bad for himself. And from his activities, he's done well enough to provide over $1 million dollars of food to North Carolina - his home state - food banks.

RELATED LINK: Greater Chicago Food Depository

Op-Doc: The Truth Behind Calorie Labels

[VIDEO] I've got to admit I've become a fan of Casey Neistat. You might know him from an HBO series that you likely never watched or from his YouTube fame. Before he was a serious YouTuber, he was mostly a film maker and what you see above is the type of videos he'd post before he started "vlogging".

Though not a stickler for it, I'm all in favor of insuring that the public, especially young children, begin to develop healthy eating habits. I've never understood how the calorie counts are determined at a number of fast food restaurants around the nation (ex. McDonald's). Well Neistat who made this video for the NY Times back in 2013 takes a look at this issue.

The next question is do you believe these calorie counts are accurate when you order from menus that provide this info?

Running time for the above "op-doc" is slightly less than six minutes.

Konkol: Roseland's Only Steak House Survives Tough Times Down At 'The Ranch'

Yolanda Pierce at right and two of her workers - Photo by Mark Konkol

All the times I passed this place on Michigan Ave and never been inside. It seems to be one of the few consistent businesses on this stretch. It survived a long time and apparently still does although times and demographics have changed since this business opened in 1969.

On a morning stroll, I hiked west from Pullman and under the 113th Street viaduct that leads to the wrong side of the tracks.

I walked past Palmer Park, where the faint scent of marijuana hung in the cool, humid air, and headed up the hill toward Michigan Avenue — Roseland’s once-vibrant shopping strip now populated by hustlers, pimps and dealers who openly cater to the vices of the addicted, the desperate and the damned — on my way to “The Ranch.”

That’s what locals call the neighborhood’s only surviving steak joint, where you can get a T-bone, charbroiled just the way you like it, with a baked potato and salad for less than 20 bucks. And they serve tasty breakfast — two eggs with hash browns and toast for under $5 — all day long.

The late John Kapsaskis opened The Ranch Steak House at 11147 S. Michigan Ave. in 1969. Back then, Roseland was home to mostly blue-collar white families who later fled to the suburbs when black folks moved in and good-paying steel mill jobs dried up. His son, Dino — “The Greek Cowboy,” as one photo behind the counter calls him — kept the family steakhouse going even as the neighborhood’s population changed and its economy slumped.

Inside the front door is a far different world than the one left behind on the sidewalk. A set of bull horns hang from the ceiling. A sign welcomes customers to a dimly lit dining room decorated with carved Indian chief statues and faded photos of cowboys, those rifle-toting white men on horseback from Hollywood westerns.

Yolanda Pierce runs the ranch although the family who owns it no longer appears to be involved. Pierce's ex-fiance who's family runs the business is out taking care of his elderly mother in Greece. So now it's Pierce:

She’s the blond-haired, blue-eyed gal, a former hair stylist from Griffith, Indiana, who runs The Ranch now that Dino Kapsaskis — the owner and her ex-fiance — packed up and moved to Greece to take care of his 93-year-old mother.

Pierce’s friends tell her she should be angry that Kapsaskis left her to run The Ranch by herself, unsure if he’ll ever return.

“Even though he is my ex, this is his business. Dino could have sold this place. He always said business is business. He felt like he was doing me a favor. If I go anywhere else I’ll make minimum wage. What can I do?” Pierce said.

“We still care about each other enough to keep it going. I’m not mad at him. He did what he had to do. I’m taking care of my mother. I take care of my daughter. I do what I got to do.”

If you read the rest of the article she'll not that this place considering it's location isn't making a huge profit but she emphasizes how she helps her employees:

She doesn’t just do it for herself and her own family. The Ranch is the lifeblood that keeps a lot of people — her dishwasher, waitresses and cooks and even Kapsaskis, whom Pierce sends cash she considers “rent” — on the winning side of “the struggle.”

“They say when you eat at Outback Steakhouse or one of those chain places you’re paying for the owner's private jets and fancy houses. What we make helps everyone here. Nobody makes a lot of money. Here, you’re paying for our people to buy clothes for their kids,” Pierce said.

“I just feel like I don’t care if it’s a struggle. I’m gonna keep it going and that’s how Dino feels, too. No matter what, we’re going to try to keep The Ranch open for as long as can. Either things are going to get better or … whatever.”

I suggest you read the whole thing. This is a course on how to run a business in a difficult community to own a business. You may not agree with everything Griffith says about parking meters or minimum wage

Here's hoping The Ranch survives for any position renaissance that I expect Roseland to one day have. Especially when the CTA Red Line is finally extended further south. Plus I hope that the Pullman National Monument will have an effect on the surrounding communities as well.

No kid hungry

[VIDEO] NOTE: The video above is a preview for the documentary Hunger Hits Home. You can watch the documentary directly from the Food Network website via the VIDEO link in the brackets.

I saw a few minutes of this documentary on the Food Network this morning. This is an ongoing concern here in these United States where we're concerned about our young people struggling with hunger.

While this blog hasn't consistently tackled this issue we have posted about it on occassion. What was shared here at one point was an appearance on C-Span's Washington Journal was actor Jeff Bridges and Bill Shore talking about hunger in America.

In my mind yeah hunger is an issue but so is health. We want to teach our young people to eat healthy and that's as important as ensuring that they have something to eat.

BTW, over the years I have been tempted to share programs from Whole Foods Market to help schools start gardens. I know that they're not the only player as far a grocery stores in this activism. Perhaps to help not only the issue of hunger but of nutrition there are ways to attack this issue as well.

Tribune: Starting this fall, free breakfasts, lunches available for all CPS students

I can't believe according to this article, school lunches in elementary school could go for $2.45 on average. When I went to Bennett-Shedd it was .75 and went up to .85 cents. Perhaps the quality of food today is much better.

Regardless CPS has found some money to provide free meals to all students. That's certainly excellent news:

The high number of students living at the poverty level in the district qualified CPS to meet the required threshold for full reimbursement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to CPS officials.

In the past school year, lunch at a typical elementary school  for students who didn’t qualify for assistance cost an average of about $2.45. High schools charges slightly more.

The district expects to serve 72 million meals to students in the coming year, two million more than during the last school year.

“If a student eats that day, the district gets reimbursed,” said Leslie Fowler, executive director of CPS’ nutritional support services. “But if they don’t eat, then CPS doesn’t get reimbursed and there’s no cost associated with that meal. We can’t predict what they do or don’t do, but we hope we can encourage them to participate.”

In the past, the school district’s free and reduced lunch program for financially eligible students was fraught with fraud. Several CPS school officials, including principals and assistant principals, were accused by the district’s Inspector General of providing false income information on applications for the free lunch program.

Sooooo, I don't have children yet, however, as a parent I would have fought tooth & nail not to pay over $2/day to feed my child. They'd get sent to school with a lunch from home at the very least.

Still this development under which this program has been expanded one thing is for certain CPS is dominated by low-income students.

2 Investigators: Chicago Schools Flunk Food Inspections

If I recall correctly Bennett nor Shedd has a kitchen, but it would be nice to know which schools were inspected and flunked. Whatever the school in question that flunked inspections our students deserve better!

The Chicago Public Schools are constantly being scrutinized for improving test scores and academic standards.

But who’s watching to make sure the school’s kitchens and lunchrooms are being kept up to safety standards?

CBS 2’s Pam Zekman reports.

Since 2011, 244 of Chicago’s 681 schools failed at least one inspection, according to a review of city health department inspections by the 2 Investigators. That’s 35 percent with at least one failed inspection.

The Anton Dvorak Elementary School had the worst record. Since 2011, Dvorak has failed city health inspections six times for reasons such as no hot water in bathroom sinks, food kept at unsafe temperatures and more than 200 rodent droppings found in food service areas.

I'm glad that CPS has someone working on the problem. The next step is to talk about nutrition, of course!

[Leslie Fowler, executive director of Nutritional Support Services for CPS] says she will improve school lunches system-wide by making sure proper procedures are followed, implementing changes that will prevent future lapses and increasing oversight.

Her message to staff: “Don’t let me find out that a student is harmed at your hands. This is unacceptable. Not on my watch.”

All of the schools in this report eventually passed inspections, including most recently Hirsh, where the kitchen is now open and the staff replaced.

You know, I don't like to post reports like these. Not to associate stories like these to my old elementary school. This is just my way of keeping an eye using my various news sources to keep an eye on the school system as a whole. I would prefer to post more positive stories although there are certainly some negative stories to go around!

Hat-tip District 299 blog!

Through exotic produce, Chicago schoolkids learn to eat healthy - Chicago Sun-Times

Through exotic produce, Chicago schoolkids learn to eat healthy - Chicago Sun-Times

I still believe our young people should be exposed to those foods that are healthier for them. Of course that doesn't mean that we keep our young people from bringing a lunch from home.

Rutabaga. Star fruit. Jicama. Uglifruit. A lot of adults would have a hard time even identifying any of these in a fruit-and-vegetable lineup.

But not Louis Martinez, even though the first time he held a star fruit, he didn’t know what to make of it.

“It made me laugh,” said Louis, a 10-year-old third-grader at John Hay Elementary Community Academy, a Chicago public school in Austin, a neighborhood not known for having exotic supermarket produce sections. “It’s shaped like a star.”

Laughing’s OK with Wayne Williams, the principal at John Hay. It’s one of 14 Chicago schools where a federal grant is bringing produce to the kids. But at John Hay, the principal and third-grade teacher Jorie Schneider amped things up a bit. They’re mixing the mysterious with the mundane.

Chicago elementary principal Reason's "Nanny of the Month"

[VIDEO] The Principal at Chicago's Little Village Academy is Reason's Nanny of the Month. The critique is over her attempt to protect students from unhealthy food choices. Mainly banning lunches brought to school from home and forcing students to eat food provided by the cafeteria. Of course that does no good if students refuse to eat the food provided by the school's lunchroom anyway. :/

Public School Bans Homemade Lunches

[VIDEO] This video is out of Chicago's Little Village Academy where the principal wants to protect her students from unhealthy food choices. Doing so means preventing children from bringing to school their own lunch and forcing them to eat whatever is in the school's cafeteria. Even though as reported in this video from FOX News, the students may well not like the food and choose to throw it in the trash.

At least it's not CPS policy to do so and that the Principal made the call on this. I would be highly upset about this especially if I know to give my child a healthy sandwich, a juice, or even a piece of fruit. Who is this person to say that I as a parent (not a parent yet, personally) don't know how to make healthy food choices?

UPDATED 6:00 PM District 299 has other related links to this story.

It’s Breakfast Time, and Education Will Pay

This article from the Chicago News Coop details how at elementary schools throughout CPS, children can now eat breakfast right in the classroom. What was once a voluntary program of breakfast in the classroom is now mandatory. Even worse they say because of this what is already the shortest school day among elementary school districts in America's largest cities have gotten a lot shorter.

A typical day for elementary school students in Chicago is five and a half hours. Comparable to when I went to school years ago from 9 AM to 2:30 PM. Of course I have noticed that students at Shedd go to school at least 15 minutes longer than I used to. Thus it seems their day ends not at 2:30 but at 2:45.

According to this article officials at CPS says that breakfast should take no more than 10 minutes, unfortunately:

It gets worse. Schools like my son’s may stagger lunch due to inadequate space. At his school, kindergartners go at 10:30 — a little more than an hour after they’ve had breakfast. Isn’t that nutritionally sensible!

Colleen McVeigh is a teacher who was a consultant to the AUSL network, a group turning around some very tough schools. She taught at 14 of the most challenging elementary schools. Each started the voluntary program and, she informed me, “the notion of taking 10, even 15 minutes, is total garbage.”

Ms. McVeigh said that 25 to 30 minutes of instructional time went poof. Younger kids are, well, younger kids. They need help to open cartons or peel oranges, spill milk, etc. When she caught the drift, she wound up not arriving at her assigned school until 9:20, as was true with many students, she says, because of the breakfast delay.

So what might the students be losing during the course of their school day?

So chew on this: children are losing, perhaps, 20 minutes each day. That’s 57 hours over 170 school days, or more than 10 days — of instructional time.

OK, here's an idea give an extra half-hour at least to the school day. That is start school at 8:30 AM instead of 9 AM. For those student who want breakfast they should arrive at least 30 minutes before the start of classes for the day. Make notification to parents to let them know that breakfast food is available to them.

This may not be the best solution but I've put mine out there at least. There are some who could use a good meal before they start the day. Especially for the sake of their own nutrition.

 BTW, check out the Capitol Fax. In addition to a discussion about campaign finance in Illinois, they also posted this very article near the bottom of the post there. Check out the comments made on this very issue although you would have to thoroughly read the comments to find the ones about breakfast in schools.

CapFax is an adult blog, but don't expect anything vulgar there.

Childhood nutrition legislation

This segment aired on C-Span's Washington Journal this morning:

Tracy Fox talked about childhood nutrition legislation and its impact on schools, and she responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. This program was part of a week-long "Washington Journal" series on food policy in the U.S.

I would like to refer you to another segment from C-Span talking about childhood hunger here on this blog. Perhaps different subjects but similar tracks as we talk about what children are fed in our schools.

Campaign to end hunger

I posted at The Sixth Ward about our schools not allowing food grown in actual gardens at Chicago Public School facilities and serving them in school cafeterias. The premise started with what was discussed at the LSC meeting for Harlan High School that I attended last month. I even provided a link to the grocer, Whole Food Market who want to help provide public schools with salad bars.

Now this video (embedded above) from C-Span, features actor Jeff Bridges and Bill Shore talking about their efforts to end hunger by 2015. Of course the discussion went from the issue of hunger to nutrition. They talked about how most school lunchrooms don't even have kitchens to prepare meals. Duration is 40 minutes.