Author: the outside lane

Happy. That about covers it.
Beauty, economy, Food

Hungry in the Summer and in Sahel

the outside lane

If you have eaten a meal in the last few days, please take a moment to consider your good fortune.  If you have been able to feed your children, please take a moment to consider yourself very blessed.  Remember that there are people around you who are starving, and who watch their children starve, and please remember that summertime is one of the worst times for hungry families. 

During the school year, kiddos at least have access to school breakfast and lunch.  In the summer…those are just two more meals for families to try to figure out.  The North Texas Food Bank offers children meals during the summer at their Kids Cafe.  This is a great place to share what you have, even if you are donating just a dollar or two every month.  Every cent helps.

The North Texas Food Bank has a program to help children at risk of food insecurity and chronic hunger over the weekends, as well.  Doesn’t “chronic hunger” just break your heart?  I can’t stand it when I think Thor has been hungry for more than an hour.  I can’t imagine him being hungry for days on end.

Lainey, of Lainey Gossip, posted this today and I want to share it with you.  First and foremost, I recommend helping the hungry where you are, but we must also always remember the people who live in other nations, who have less than nothing. 

Last year we saw the worst hunger crisis this century in the Horn of Africa. Now a similar crisis is spreading across the continent’s Sahel zone.The hunger has reached crisis levels in countries including Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad. Across the region, erratic rainfall, endemic poverty, low crop yields, and rising prices for staple foods have combined to create this crisis.

The Humanitarian Coalition member agencies are already hard at work across the Sahel. Their ongoing projects in the areas of water and sanitation, food security, education, and women’s empowerment are helping vulnerable communities counter the effects of food shortages.

The Humanitarian Coalition is currently appealing for support to address the drought and food crisis in the Sahel. 80% of donors give on-line. Here’s how your gift would help:

$50 – buy milk to treat a severely malnourished child for 3 weeks
$100 – feed a family for 5 months
$250 – feed 5 families for a month
$500 – pay a nurse for a month, to care for malnourished children

Please click here to support the Humanitarian Coalition.

Again, I encourage you to share as you can.  Even the smallest donation helps.  And if you can encourage your friends to donate, so much the better.  Ten friends with a dollar each can make an impact.  Ten friends with five dollars each can feed hungry, little children.  Ten friends with ten dollars each can feed one of those hungry families for 5 months.

Uncategorized

Current Event Housekeeping

the outside lane

Chick-Fil-A

I have been eating at Chick-Fil-A since you could only find them in malls in Georgia.  I have loved their food almost as long as I have been a conscious being.  But I would no more eat at a restaurant that hung out a sign shouting, “Straights Only,” than I would eat at a restaurant that used its profits to whisper the sentiment.  I will miss those nuggets, though.  Oh well.  I can learn to make them.

The Colorado Shooting

Thor asked me about this.  You know how Jesus said that we would always have the poor with us?  Well, we’ll always have the criminally insane with us, too.  There will always be people who enjoy inflicting pain and suffering, and there will always be victims of those people.  If we ever encounter such a person, I told Thor, we must keep our heads and be calm, and we must not let fear get the better of us.

Gun Control

Bull.  I will always come back to this:  Making it harder for the normal people to get guns does not keep you safe from the nuts and criminals who are looking for a way to wreak havoc.  I am not personally interested in owning guns, even though we do.  However, I am very personally invested in the idea that private citizens’ rights to bear arms must be upheld.  I do not want to live in a place where the only people allowed to carry weapons are the police force and the military.

 

The TomKat Divorce

Why is it that I fall in love with Tom Cruise’s wives the moment they leave him?

 

 

Beauty, Friends of Mine, Women

Bunnies! Panties! Girls!

the outside lane

Girls’ Night In tonight.  It was a great party courtesy of Amanda, the amazing sugar waxer from Bella Bunni Spas, and her magical massage therapist, Brenda.  Not only did they bring the spa to us, they brought gift certificate giveaways–really good ones, too.

Another great Girls Night In with these fantastic ladies. Some of my best friends in the world!

Amanda and Brenda bring the spa to your party, and make pretty delightful guests themselves!

Amanda and her sugar waxing set up–she turned our office into a spa!
Brenda brought her massage chair and worked out all the knots.

It was a simple spread tonight, just some snacky things to beat the munchies, and a few fun drinks.  Tasha had specially requested a drink called Pink Panties, and I think we were all pretty glad she had!  Mmmm.

Simple snack spread including summer sausage bites and cheese, asparagus tarts, hummus and pretzel chips, and chocolate covered almonds and malted milk balls.
Angela brought margaritas, and Tasha requested the Pink Panties.

Pink Panties Recipe:

  1. 1 can of Pink Lemonade concentrate
  2. 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
  3. 1 cup of frozen strawberries
  4. 3/4 cup top shelf Vodka

Drop your strawberries and pink lemonade in the blender, and liquefy, then add the ice cream and vodka and blend until smooth.  Designate a driver, then Serve immediately.

Jamie (who can make ANYTHING) brought homemade limoncello that was fantastic!  Halfed with lemonade, it was even tastier.  Definitely need a designated driver for that one, though.  Whoo!

Thank you so much to Brenda, Amanda, and Jacque for bringing the spa to the party, and we were wowed by the great gift certificates! Check out Bella Bunni and get the girls together at your place!

 

 

Uncategorized

I’m With the Band

the outside lane

It’s funny how fans separate and sort themselves out.  For example:  I heard and loved Duran Duran’s music a full two years before I decided (and yes, it was a willful decision in order to keep the approval of my best friend.  when I first saw them, they frightened me.) to have crushes on them.  Thus, my fandom is superior to someone whose attraction to the band started with their looks.  However, though I was given a number of rarities as gifts, I have only ever bought the studio albums and two videotapes when I was in junior high, so my fandom is inferior to those who have every B-side, Japanese special, and live rarity.  And, I’ve only gone to three of their shows, so my fandom is inferior to those who never miss a local performance.  Then, there are the super fanatics who attempt to collect bodily fluids, and they feel superior to the rest of the fans, but the rest of the fans know better.  Got me?

I overheard these two little girls arguing over which of them was the better One Direction fan, and it made me smile.  Things like that are very important when you are thirteen!  I considered sharing the above with them, but decided that having an old lady butt in on their heated discussion would only ruin their fun.  Because, when you are thirteen, not only are those conversations serious and important, they are also great entertainment.

It’s the same thing with sports.  People who love the Yankees for the rich history of the team’s players feel superior to those who love the team for the number of wins.  People who loved the Mavs when the Mavs were in the toilet feel superior to those who jumped on the bandwagon in 2011.  Ditto Rangers fans.  (I love the Braves because they were my grandfather’s team–and Mark Wholers was my first sports crush, and the Yankees because they are my mother’s team, and I like the Rangers because of Stockholm Syndrome.)

I pretty much admit inferiority in all things fandom.

Chef Lane, Food

Chef Lane: Some Lamb, Some Radishes and Some Kale walk into a kitchen…

the outside lane

You all know I got a haul from Bountiful Baskets, and that I had no idea what to do with some of my produce.  Namely, I had two huge bunches of kale and a bunch of radishes, and not a clue what to make of them.  I’ve been hunting down recipes and making them my own, and so far, I’m having a lot of fun and success.  Tonight, I made a dinner of grilled lamb (cooked on The Griddler, thanks Dad and Barbara!), sauteed kale, and grilled radishes.

Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it?  Surprisingly, it was delicious!

Lamb, kale and radishes. Surprisingly delicious.

You will need:

  • 6 boneless Lamb chops (They come 3 to a pack at Kroger)
  • 2 bunches of kale
  • 1 bunch of radishes
  • 3 large cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup veggie/chicken/beef stock (you pick)
  • 3 Tbs Sesame Oil
  • 2 Tbs Sesame Seeds
  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 2 Tbs garlic paste
  • 1 tsp Miso
  • 1 ice cube
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Herbal Sea Salt to taste

I love this herbal sea salt by Caber, called Seasonello.

I use this all the time. I love it for seasoning lamb.

My dad and his nifty wife, Barbara, bought us The Griddler the last time they were here.  They use it in their RV for a lot of cooking, and after telling me how easy it was to use, and to clean, I told B I wanted one for Christmas.  Dad and Barbara brought us one the next day.  It is amazing!  I love it!  I love it most because it is so easy to clean.

Anyway, while your Griddler or grill, or oven are pre-heating, salt your lamb with the herbal salt and set it aside.

I have a really cheap vegetable slicer that I bought at Kroger.  I call it the Slice-o-matic.  It looks something like this:

It slices your vegetables into wafer thin pieces! Just watch your fingers.

Use your Slice-o-Matic, or whatever you have handy, to slice your radishes into very thin rounds.  Do the same with your 3 garlic cloves.  Cut up your butter into tiny pats in a small, broiler safe baking dish, put your radishes and garlic in the dish, drop the ice cube in the center, then cover with foil.  Broil for 25 minutes.  (You can skip the baking dish and just put all of this in foil, edges wrapped up so as not to leak butter everywhere, and put this on the grill for 20 minutes.)

While your radishes are going, put half your sesame oil in a large saucepan with all of the garlic paste.  Heat until the oil is bubbly, then add your cup of stock and Miso.  You will have taken the leaves of the kale off the stalks, and ripped those into smaller pieces.  Put those in your saucepan and mix until your leaves are all covered with the oil, garlic, and stock.  Cover and cook on high for 5 minutes.  Remove cover and reduce heat, simmering until the liquid is nearly gone.  Add in the sesame seeds and stir.

While the radishes are going, and the kale is cooking, throw your lamb on The Griddler.  5 minutes for rare, how B likes it, and 8 minutes to medium, how I like it.

Serve and be surprised!

The kale has a really nice texture and the miso and sesame oil give it a great flavor.  The radishes come out with a very potato-y taste.  I was hoping B would like it, and was thrilled when he ate all the vegetables.  That’s pretty rare.  When Mom came to bring Thor home, I had her give it a taste, and she especially liked the kale.

This recipe yields dinner for 2 adults, with 2 servings of leftovers.