Today my fellow Word Counters and I are sharing our monthly group post. The bloggers who are joining me this time all picked a number between 12 and 74 and sent it to me. I gave the numbers out as assignments to other bloggers who are then challenged to write something (or a few somethings, as the case may be) using that exact number of words. Today we all share what we came up with.
I got the number 52. It was submitted by Diane of On the Border.
As I've been doing in these Word Counters posts, I've chosen a theme and am using my word count multiple times in keeping with the theme. This month I've chosen the theme Food Woes.
~ We've all been through a frightening time. For me, it was made worse by living in a state that never issued a stay at home order. And although stores had safety requirements, many customers didn't wear masks or gloves, forcing me to relinquish those places to them and order most groceries online.
~ I can't order (some) groceries online. A random stranger can choose packaged foods, but fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins? Hell no. I tried, I really did, but was miserable with what I got and ended up driving fifteen miles west to a rural store with fewer customers to happily make those choices.
Chicken and Mashed Potato Casserole
~ Then there was Hubs. No sooner did I have what groceries I needed, in the house and had committed to not going to a store again for at least two weeks, he had a medical issue that required completely changing his diet. Really? Right now? Guess I just needed a bigger challenge.
~ And PurDude, living eight hours from mom's cuisine who can't even make a sandwich because it's too much cooking. I may be exaggerating, but not by much. He's had a service deliver five meals a week, but knowing he was getting take out for the rest was an added stressor. Thanks, kid.
~ I'm grateful. Whatever food issues I've had, lack of choices, shortages or diet changes, I could make do. I've been constantly aware of the people who were food insecure before this public health tragedy and those who lost their income, who have only themselves to depend on. They remain on my mind
Here are links to the other Word Counters posts:
Spatulas on Parade
Messymimi’s Meanderings
On the Border
Spatulas on Parade
Messymimi’s Meanderings
On the Border
Chicken and Mashed Potato Casserole
©www.BakingInATornado.comPrintable Recipe
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked potatoes (hot)
4 TBSP butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 TBSP dried chives
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups cooked asparagus (can use broccoli), chopped
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (can use turkey)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (can use provolone or mozzarella)
about 2 tsp paprika
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.
*Mash the potatoes with the butter and sour cream. Mix in the chives, salt and pepper and grated parmesan cheese. Spread about half of this mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
*Top with the cooked asparagus (or broccoli), then the cooked chicken (or turkey), then the shredded cheddar (or provolone or mozzarella) cheese.
*Spread the remaining potatoes over the top. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover with tin foil.
*Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Isn't it funny (not funny) how the stories of 'rationing' and 'going without' in the days of WW2 and the Depression in the past have suddenly become the present?
ReplyDeleteAnd last November has become the 'good old days' of just plain ignorance and bliss?
I, too am grateful for shrinking choices instead of no choices.
Thank you for this today, Karen! Something we all need to think about!
I long for those good old days, but I know that if we ever get back to any semblance of normal, it will be a new one. I truly hope we're all better for it, but I will always mourn those hundreds of thousands of people we've lost through all of this.
DeleteI am grateful that we are in a position to be able to shop early in the day, and have a car. Some of our shopping has been in a rural store that, at least up through last week, was only allowing two people in at a time. We are paying more to get local meat where the farmer knows the local meat packer). And, a New York bases supermarket is working with former restaurant food sources to allow them to keep going, although a major supplier to restaurants in the Northeast, headquartered near Binghamton, just filed for bankruptcy. Shortages are certainly better than the alternative. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI agree, times are tougher than we'd been used to, but we're lucky that we can make due with what's available.
DeleteThe world isn't that bad but many think it is
ReplyDeleteLife is definitely a lot more challenging right now, and there's so much anger and civil unrest. Maybe it could be worse, but it sure could be better, and I hope that happens soon.
DeleteThis sounds delicious but I might have to wait until my daughter moves out to make it. She's almost 21 and she has just developed an allergy to dairy. I'm worried the cheese will be too much. However, this is getting pinned because I want to be able to make it!
ReplyDeleteMy husband now has to severely limit his fat intake, I've been working with fat free and lower fat cheeses, looks like we're both facing challenges. Hope you do eventually try this recipe, it's true comfort food.
DeleteA friend of mine tells a story about her mother, newly married at the start of WWII, who went to the PX for the first time, and the next day brought back the sack of flour she'd bought, telling someone, "It has bugs in it." The person working there shoved the bag back into her hands and said, "Sift it, lady, there's a war on!"
ReplyDeleteWhen this mess started, one of my elderly clients, elderly enough to have lived through that war, was very picky about groceries, what kind of items she wanted, only the square buttery crackers never the round, etc. After one shopping trip where i realized she was just going to have to accept a substitute for something, i went back to her house, told her my friend's story, handed her the groceries i'd managed to get and said, "Make do, lady, there's a pandemic on!"
She got the message.
It's difficult because there are certain items I have to have due to Hubs' dietary restrictions, but I've learned to take what I can get and make it through the week. I still feel grateful that what I do get, I can make work.
DeleteI'm very thankful when all this started. We have a local farmers market that began delivery. It was all beautiful and for a very small fee they brought it to our door and left it. Our stress was my husband losing his job and the lack of availability of items. We survived and pushed through to the other side. I pray others do the same.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking dish and one I hope your hub was able to enjoy with his new restrictions.
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade
If it's not one stress it's another. We're all going through a lot, not just concerning food. I do hope, though, that we're taking this time to rethink what our normal was and strive for a better future.
Delete