Wednesday: Let’s taco ‘bout lard and cheating

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

“You were able to budget for coffee?” I asked incredulously on Wednesday morning as a co-challenge co-worker walked into a meeting with a cup of joe. “This is free work coffee!” he exclaimed. Of course. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

The topic of “cheating” on the challenge has come up several times this week. On day one I walked into the office and was immediately offered kelp cake, which tastes just like zucchini bread. I hesitated; was that allowed? “Well,” said the chef, one of our Americorps volunteers, “I’m offering it to you for free, and I’m on food stamps myself, so I think you’re safe.” It was delicious, but I felt guilty that Carson didn’t have access to the same free calories.

Later that day we had a meeting that included sliced apples and almonds as free snacks; I ate my share and took some home to Carson. Was stealing free meeting food cheating? On day two the same coffee co-worker was fading: “I need some protein!” I offered him almonds from the stash, which he gratefully accepted.

A friend sent me this message: “Might your meat be a little bit of a ‘cheat’ since most low-income folks don't have the bucks to buy in bulk or buy a freezer?” I had thought about that, too, but EBT can be used on meat at the farmers market and there are often good deals (like on John Ford Ranch’s ground beef).

Ironically, my efforts to avoid “cheating” backfired: I caught some flak from the Gardens Project coordinator for my decision NOT to eat vegetables we grow ourselves. “Creating access to healthy food for low-income people is the whole point of community gardens!” he admonished me. Considering that I originally came to NCO as a Gardens Project volunteer, you’d think I wouldn’t have been so dense. Of course we should get to eat the food we grow! This was a relief since this week we harvested the last of our tomatoes and green beans, the persimmons in our backyard are starting to ripen, and we are flying through the produce I bought. Carson ate a persimmon in celebration.

Ultimately, there’s no such thing as “cheating” on the challenge. There are no CalFresh Challenge police. There’s just our own willingness to engage in an experiment designed to increase our awareness of the struggles faced by many, and make us appreciate what we have.

Breakfast: Fried eggs and French toast; black tea

Conspicuously absent: syrup

After Tuesday’s boring breakfast I woke up on Wednesday inspired to make something delicious. By using one of my allotted eggs and a little milk I made French toast, and served it with two fried eggs for Carson and one for me. He was happy until I said syrup was off-limits (“What??”) but doused it in honey instead. (What would we do without honey this week?)

Lunch: Chicken soup

This was even better the next day, and we still have some left over!

Dinner: Tacos

I couldn’t believe how much food we had at dinner; it felt like I must have done something wrong in my calculations. When Carson’s sister and her boyfriend came over to watch the baseball game, I didn’t hesitate to invite them to eat with us.

The night before I had soaked a bag of pinto beans, and they cooked in the crockpot all day with a small smoked ham hock. I will admit that I never start with dried beans because it seems like a hassle; I’m kicking myself for ignoring this cheap and delicious and EASY ingredient! The beans were dynamite. (Note: add a bay leaf to cut the “emissions” that are commonly produced by eating beans.)

I would like to take a moment to defend lard – this villainized fat with a terrible name has an unfairly bad reputation. A quick internet search reveals such encouraging headlines as “Why you need to eat more lard” and “Why lard’s healthier than you think.” Some facts about my new favorite fat:

• Pure lard contains no trans fat.
• Lard is 60% monounsaturated fat, which is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease; most of that is oleic acid, which lowers cholesterol.
• Lard’s smoke point is high, which makes it great for frying (burned fats turn carcinogenic).

The key here is “pure.” The stuff Crisco sells is filled with chemicals and preservatives. To get the kind of lard I’m talking about, you need to get your hands on some pig fat from a pig that led a good life (its diet matters!) and render it yourself. Bonus: pork cracklins. Ask any farmers market vendor that sells pork if they have fat for sale; the answer is probably yes.

Anyway, back to our lard-infused dinner (the secret to awesome Mexican food, I’m convinced). I cooked a pot of brown rice with cumin, tomatoes, and lard. I sautéed onions, peppers, and kale in cumin and lard. I chopped a tomato and salted it, and since we had guests eating a portion of our food I felt like I could afford to add something I hadn’t budgeted for: CHEESE! I had a partial block of Tillamook pepper jack in the fridge so I grated some of that up, and put it on the table next to the Tapatio.

Meanwhile, Carson was busy making homemade tortillas. Speaking of easy – you wouldn’t believe how simple this is. Just buy a bag of masa, add water (more than it calls for), roll flat or use a tortilla press (also pretty cheap and available at any Mexican grocery store), and cook on a dry pan for about 30 seconds on each side. Our guests were raving and made plans to buy a press immediately.

The tortillas were especially good – the best Carson has ever made. “I think I finally mastered this tortilla thing,” he said as we were all busy building and devouring our tacos. “Did you do anything differently?” I asked. ‘Yep,” he said. “I added lard.”