Posts Tagged ‘food’

Still Smiling?

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Posted 14 May 2010 — by FV
Category As I see it., Reveiws

I’m sure you are all dying to hear about my meeting with Eat n’ Park, but I have had a lot of information to compile and  needed a bit of time to write all about it. I will tell you this, the meeting went very well. Not just good, or even great, but very, very well. It has been almost 15 years since I worked for Eat n’ Park and a lot has changed.

However, I am the Food Vigilante and I have the truth.

I entered the meeting armed with information about hidden dangers in food. I was ready with a plan of shock and awe! The opposition had assembled… Kevin O’Connell, Senior VP Marketing…  Mercy Senchur, VP of Operations…  Regis Holden, Senior Director of Culinary Services…  Jamie Moore, Director of Sourcing and Sustainability. As I entered the Test kitchen at the Waterfront restaurant, I noticed that the other side had brought an Ace, a ringer, a secret weapon; none other than Mr. Brooks Broadhurst, the VP of Purchasing and Distribution. Oh, he’s also the son of Jim Broadhurst, long time Chairman and CEO of Eat n’ Park, aka, the Head Honcho!

I stood my ground and got right down to business. I rattled off facts about hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and preservative and sugar-laden foods that are killing society. I dug my heels in and talked about the dangers that we all face when struggling with reasonable food prices against poor quality. I had everyone’s full attention as I recommended possible changes that Eat n’ Park could make to positively affect the community that it feeds. I even presented a plan to further the community friendly reputation that this company is so proud of, including, of course, some help from yours truly.

After my presentation, I braced myself for a fight. I had taken a shot at the dangers of poor quality food as related to low cost, family-style dining. I’d noticed some agreeing nods as I spoke, I may have made some of the group think a bit. I waited for the first counter-attack. A throat was cleared from one side of the room.  It was Brooks Broadhurst. Even as he drew in air to express his first thought, my anxiety grew. Was I prepared for the debate about to ensue? Could I handle myself against these corporate heavy hitters? My mind raced as Brooks uttered his first retort.  He said…

“Well, Jim, we agree with you.”

WHAT?!?! I was all dressed up for battle and he says he agrees with me? Seriously, was this some sort of brilliant bait and switch tactic designed to lure me into demise? <sigh> No, it was not. Brooks went on to explain the great strides that Eat n’ Park has taken in the last ten years to avoid some of the exact hidden food dangers that I was just rambling on about. He spoke of the elimination of trans fats from the menu, use of organic-cage-free eggs in about 20% of their supply, the recent examination at lowering salt content and even the close examination of all products used, like traveling to Costa Rica to visit the origin of their coffee beans and Mercy Senchur and he taste testing plenty of horrible trans fat-free oils before finding the right one! Jamie Moore chimed in to talk about the local farm program that concentrates on purchasing products grown or raised within 120 miles of the Pittsburgh area. The group agreed that Jamie is the not-so-in-the-closet tree hugger. He was completely on board with everything I had to say. Brooks and Regis Holden went on to tell about the difficulties in matching high quality, nutritious food products with cost effectiveness.

The bottom line, as they say in the corporate world is this… It turns out that Eat n’ Park has been translating it’s community orientated attitude into the food that it puts in front of it’s guests. There have even been changes to certain menu items that the company never even advertises. Regis and Mercy explained that a number of items have been upgraded to a lower salt, sugar or fat content product unbeknownst to the guests. Regis also showed me a prototype manual giving all possible allergens in every ingredient on the menu, along with many examples of concerns for cleanliness, cross-contamination and recyling efforts.  Bravo!

The whole group agreed that even with the many changes made over the last ten years, that they are always looking for ways to improve the quality of the food served at Eat n’ Park restaurants. An admittance was also made that the Superburger with Fries and a Coke weren’t going anywhere. The demand is just too high. I guess that’s where I come in.  Until I convince the world that they are killing themselves with what they eat, they’ll continue to make demands for practically inedible foods. <another sigh> I am planning on visiting Eat n’ Park  and other lower cost eateries so I can build, for you, some safe meal combinations for you and your families when you want to go out to eat. If you’re not concerned about cost, you can visit high-end places that can offer a totally organic menu at higher prices, or you can stick with me and I’ll do the homework for you.

So, Eat n’ Park is not perfect, but neither am I and nor are you. Working in the right direction is what’s important and I am convinced after our meeting that they are doing just that. My thanks goes out to Kevin, Brooks, Mercy and Regis for their time and consideration, a true showing of hospitality. I officially remove Eat n’ Park from my “freeze and fry” list of restaurants. But, my offer stands to consult with the company as they continue to move toward healthier menu options, maybe an organic Smiley Cookie??

You guys have my number,

FV

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A garden, a grill and a guy.

5 Comments
Posted 05 May 2010 — by FV
Category As I see it., Evolution Of FV, garden, Really??

Tuesday, May 4th. Gardening day. I would like to share with you some more progress on the garden that the Duchess and I are working on so diligently. I also have a dilemma with which I hope you can help (scroll to the bottom of post if you can’t wait). First, let’s get to the garden.

The progress in the yard has been amazing. The old pool is torn down completely now, (a project started a year ago) the garden in all sprouted and growing and ready for the next wave of crops to be planted and there are tree removal and patio laying plans on the horizon. Today the Duchess and I weeded and then she secured the garden fence and tied lead strings to the fence for the pea plants to climb.

Go Peas Go!!

The garden is slowly, but surely, turning green.

You’ll notice a square in the upper left hand corner that will be the home to more veggies soon like cukes, zukes and peppers. Our indoor seedlings of tomatoes and peppers are itching to get into some outdoor dirt. The space where the pool was is currently a huge sandbox and the old deck has served as a makeshift shed. There’s Choc exploring!

The old pool is missed, but better things are to come.

We decided to cook over an open wood grill. In the ongoing effort to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup, a homemade BBQ sauce was to be made. I started with onions and garlic.

These were lightly sauteed and then I added one of the few safe non-fresh goods.

Nothing added, just tomatoes.

The recipe called for brown sugar. I am currently against the use of processed sugars, but still have some wool pulled over my eyes and haven’t gotten away from it completely.I compromised with a tablespoon of brown sugar and substituted honey for the rest of the sweetness. I didn’t have Worcestershire sauce so I added a dash of soy sauce. I also had to tinker with the vinegar to honey ratio to get just the right taste. The sauce turned out great and made the chicken just perfect on the open flame wood grill!

I baked some potatoes indoor and seasoned them for a quick stay on the grill with the chicken almost done.

For a vegetable we had roasted cabbage. Just cut into sections drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for about 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees or until the edges start to brown.

Yum!!

Everything about the day was rolling along very nicely until dinner time.

I would like to share with you and hopefully get some feedback on a problem I am having. My middle child, Choc, is a very finicky eater. I am scrambling for solutions to this situation. Yes, I, FV, am experiencing a food problem that I am having a very difficult time solving. Choc is an amazing kid, as I expect you would think I’d say. He is also a child who is stuck in the rut that I rant and rave about all of the time. He is, for lack of a better term, addicted to bad food. If it’s breaded, fried, smothered in ketchup or sugar, he’ll eat it. If not, well, the fight begins. As you may have gathered Choc’s Mom and I are divorced. I have the boys exactly 1/2 of the time. It is my opinion that the boys eat better with me than anywhere else.  Choc is a very intelligent and emotional young boy. He is very artistic and creative. You would think this would translate into food, but it hasn’t. The secret I have is that most dinner times are tainted by his obstinance to eating and my anger rears as a result. This kid can go without eating a single bite rather than eat the food I put before him. I have contemplated every angle of what shrinks might say. Here’s the facts…

1)Choc will eat every bite of a food he likes, i.e. pizza, spaghetti, breaded fried chicken or pork, ground meat from any animal and mostly all vegetables. He will NEVER turn down a sweet snack like cookies, cake or candy, NEVER!  (I don’t want to sound like a bitter ex, but these are the staples at his Mom’s house)

2)Choc will not eat any whole meats like chicken, steak or pork. He will eat fish, usually, and some fruits.

3)Eating seems to be an inconvenience at times for Choc.

4)It seems that, besides sugar, texture has a lot to do with Choc’s resistance to certain foods.

5)I feel like I am going to lose my mind over this issue. My oldest, Bird, is a year away from being a teenager and his appetite is growing everyday, but he really had no eating issues before. My youngest is still very impressionable and seems to follow suit if tensions rise over eating. Choc, sometimes, just refuses to eat.

Look, these things I know. Kids won’t starve themselves. I know my divorce has put some stress on the kid’s lives. I am not some crazy foodie parent putting vegan-friendly-organic-burger-shaped patties in front of my boys. We’re talking about meat and potatoes. I’m not looking for a litany of reasons this is happening, I’m looking for ways to break this trend of irrational food resistance. My dear Mom, TooRedLyn, would have just strong-armed the point (and the chicken) into my head. I am trying to avoid that method.

So, for the sake of my dear Choc, does anyone have any ideas I could try? I am humbly awaiting your advice.

“How does this make you feel?” -Siggy Freud

FV

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Veggie Testing

2 Comments
Posted 04 May 2010 — by FV
Category As I see it., Uncategorized

I thought I should really practice all that I preach last night. I gathered up my three sons, Bird, Choc and NB and headed for the local grocery store. No, we didn’t go to some haughty whole foods arena, nor did we go to bow at the Devil’s Empire-Mart. We actually stopped by the local Aldi. I am always impressed with the variety, seasonality and the freshness of Aldi’s produce. This was more than a grocery run, we were there to learn, well at least I was, I planned to drag my kids kicking and screaming into some knowledge if I had to. The boys impressed me as always. The older two are easily picking out some hidden dangers in many food products on their own while fielding many questions from the young NB. He tends to hold up every product he can find and ask over and over, “Dad, is this good for you?”.

I have been watching some biology lectures from some major universities. Sounds like a blast, huh? Well, I do this so you don’t have to; your welcome. More and more it is being discovered that any and all processed foods, preservatives, sugars and most oils are simply poisonous, at least on a molecular level. Foods that aren’t whole and as close to the source as possible should not be eaten. It may seem like too much of an absolute, but the world provides everything the body needs without us tinkering with everything we put in our mouths. I was sort of possessed by this idea and challenged my boys in the store to seek out products that either came straight from the ground or were an animal or from an animal. (don’t start shooting me questions about milk, I’m still on the farm fence concerning milk, I’ll keep you posted)

The boys quickly discovered, on their own, what I already knew. It is almost impossible to shop in the aisles of a grocery store. We had a lot of success in the perimeter, produce and meat areas. We picked out some red and orange peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and carrots. At home we had some fresh hot sausage and brown rice. Our plan was to taste all of the veggies raw, research their nutrients and then taste them cooked. So, Choc and NB gathered around the cutting board and Bird manned the computer. We started with the carrots. These were the favorite of the raw group. The boys had a lot to say about the sweetness of the veggies, especially the carrots and peppers. Even the mushroom had a sweetness after chewing a bit and these little fungi were the smash hit of the cooked veggies. I never thought I’d see three young boys fighting over the last mushroom! Bird read to us all of the nutritional information. We discovered iron, magnesium, riboflavin, calcium, vitamins D,C and B6 to name a few. I decided to take down the cereal box and show the boys the nutritional information. After Choc read he said, “Why do they make this cereal if all we need is already in food like these vegetables, and more of it too!?”. NB chimed in with “and we didn’t have to put any sugar on ‘em!”.

Now, my head almost burst with pride. Don’t get me wrong, my kids aren’t turning down a snack cake any time soon, they’re kids, but I think they get it. Here’s some shots of our veggie tasting.

In the raw.

In the heat.

A little help from our friend Olive.

Fresh hot sausage.

Please, any of my vegan friends, don’t cringe. I have some concerns with sausage. You have to ask your butcher what’s in it. Most of today’s sausage has sugar added in the form of dextrose or maltodextrose or fructose. These sweeteners have a two fold effect, they help the meat look more brown and allow the processor to use substandard bits and pieces of pork, lips and ***holes comes to mind. This is fresh sausage, even fully cooked it may look a little pink inside, this is a big concern for people these days, so meat packers add sugar to make the meat look done inside. This can be a double edge sword, as some people will consume under cook meat because it turns brown so fast due to the sugar. If you want good sausage, research your ingredients or ask your butcher. This sausage is nothing but pork and seasonings. We sauteed the sausage and added the veggies and brown rice. It was a simple meal, but loaded with good nutrition.

Last, if your a parent who struggles with finding time to teach your kids, feed your kids and play with your kids, look no more! In just a few hours my children and I learned some valuable science and culinary information, we made our cooking a game (took turns cutting and stirring and tasting) and we ended up with bellies full of wholesome food.

This isn’t brain surgery, as they say. Heck it isn’t as comlicated as removing a splinter. You can do this, don’t be afraid.

Chop, chop,

FV

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