Thursday, March 17, 2011

Day 10: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   My picture looks cute, right?  Well, I need to come clean with you guys.  So that's cilantro that is sprinkled on the clover and I went to eat it and almost threw up.  It tasted like dirt.  I tried to mix in some dressing and gagged again.  I threw it out.  I couldn't do it.  So my husband and I went out and bought some Minute rice in the hopes that I can keep that down.  I mixed most of the pre-made rice I had with some chicken and broccoli and figured that I can eat that for lunch.

What if I did have to eat it, even if it tasted like dirt?  What if it WAS dirt that was mixed in there?  Just a few of the questions that have been in my head today.

Have you ever heard of Homeboy Industries?  I loved the book Tattoos on the Heart and got a chance to eat at tacos at their Homegirl Cafe.  They share a thought of the day daily (duh) and I liked the one for today.  So here you go:
Thought of the Day, from Mary Ellen Burton: Tipping her hat to the Irish legend of St. Patrick, even though there aren't a lot of Irish here Homeboy Industries! She asked us to think about the contradiction in St. Patrick's analogy of the shamrock; every person is incredibly unique, and yet there is a universal togetherness. We are all our very singular leaves, yet we belong together as one shamrock.


She also shared a quote by her friend, Sister Peg Dolan: "Each person alive is a word spoken by God only once." This, Mary Ellen said, is true, we are all a stamp of our own upon the earth, but inside of each of us is the same tangle of beauty and fear and wonderful things, and we would do well to remember that as much as we are unique, we are all made of the same stuff.

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I know I said no more about food waste, but I thought this was awesome.  I'm part of the Lutheran church and have been doing a Lenten study entitled "God's Math Doesn't Just Add Up, It Multiplies."  It often has me looking at the ELCA World Hunger organization and what they're doing in the U.S. and around the world.  Here's a story from their website in the Domestic Hunger Grants Section:

Senior Gleaners of San Diego County
Gleaners Relief
ESCONDIDO, CA


Ann Evans (left) and Denyse Haney, volunteers at Senior Gleaners“I put in a lot of heavy hours, so some days I can hardly walk,” says Ann Evans (pictured left, wearing a hat), a retired Associate in Ministry who volunteers at Senior Gleaners of San Diego County. “But I forget about my pain when I see the excitement of the volunteers and the people [we] help.”
Senior Gleaners of San Diego County was organized in 1992 to tap into the skills of senior volunteers (age 55 and over) in gleaning excess food that would otherwise be destroyed—food found in area fields, grocery stores, and packing sheds. The collected food is then distributed to 45 food-giving agencies in San Diego County, which in turn make the food and fresh produce available to people living in poverty.
Ann, a member of Ascension Lutheran Church in San Diego, is a volunteer coordinator for the South County portion of Senior Gleaners. She supervises 55 volunteers on a daily basis and has been involved in the program since its beginning. Most Gleaners work once a week for about four hours, but Ann is the exception, usually putting in a seven-day week despite arthritis. “My doctor says I should quit,” Ann confesses, “but God lets me do it!”
In 2006, more than 5,500 clients (from babies to senior citizens) were served by Senior Gleaners. The 65 senior volunteers worked for 10,000 hours to collect and distribute nearly 500,000 pounds of food.
ELCA World Hunger—through the domestic hunger grants program—recently awarded a grant to Senior Gleaners to fight hunger in the United States. The domestic hunger grants program is one primary way your gifts impact people who are hungry in the United States.
—Material for this story was contributed by M. Laurel Gray,
President of Senior Gleaners of San Diego County



If you would like to read the story on the website, you can just click HERE.
If you would like to donate to the ELCA to help fight hunger in the US and around the world, please feel free to visit HERE.

2 comments:

  1. I loved the pic!!! Happy St. Patrick's to you too!

    I am sorry your rice didn't turn out good! it is dried cilantro right? the secret is fresh cilantro and used at the end just to give a hint of flavor... anyway... Here is my easy rice recipe for you:

    There are several ways you can make it (I make mine in all those different ways) You can fry the rice (about a cup) in about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil -medium heat-, stirring so it doesn't stick, add 1/2 chopped small white onion and 1 clove of garlic (chopped too) once the rice changes color (when you see that some of the rice gets a little golden) add 1 3/4 cups of hot water and 1 1/2 cubes of chicken bouillon (I use Knorr Suiza or Maggi) and a little bit of black pepper, cover with a lid but leave a little bit uncovered and reduce the heat to low, try to leave it like that (no more stirring) for about 9 mins. and then check how it's doing (if it's still too hard and the water is almost gone add a little bit more) at this point you can also add corn or any other frozen or canned vegetables you want (if you are using any fresh vegetables then you should incorporate them when you add the hot water -that if it's zucchini or very small chopped potatoes/carrots), put the lid back (now closed tight) and let it cook until the rice is ready (about 6-7 more mins) ... When it's ready uncover so it doesn't overcook in its steam.

    You can also use tomato bouillon instead of the chicken one (Knorr Tomate) or 1 cube of chicken bouillion and a small can of tomato sauce (and reduce the amount of water u use) if you make red rice (with the tomato bouillon or the tomato sauce) you can also add some chopped fresh cilantro when the rice is almost done (it adds a nice flavor).

    I hope it turns out good for u!

    Paloma.

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  2. I have to agree with Paloma, fresh cilantro is the way to go, and taste as you go. Cilantro can be very strong! Mike put too much in a salsa he made once and I compared it to the overwhelming taste of too much onion with an extra bitty/bitterness. So, my recommendation, fresh and conservative.

    There are a lot of gleaners in FL. Lots of abandoned citrus fields to pick clean! But I love the idea! :)

    Hope tonight's rice is tastier!

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