Three Dollar Dinner

NanoWriMo and the art of story – and food

I was just sharing some thoughts on National Novel Writing Month (which kicks off today) over at Larry Brooks’ site Storyfix.com and realized they are worth sharing here too. This may seem off-topic for cooking, but I don’t agree. Read the rest of this entry »

Lazy Lasagna

LAZY LASAGNA

With the weather getting chillier in many parts of the country, this week I offer you delicious warm comfort food – Lazy Lasagna. Of course you can make this with as many organic or non-organic ingredients you want. I price it based on organic ingredients bought in Manhattan.

Like all the recipes at Three Dollar Dinner, this is a cheap organic recipe that is less than $3 per serving – home cooked, quick food that is so much more delicious and healthy AND cheaper than fast food. Read the rest of this entry »

Obama: Agribusiness vs. Agriculture

In 2007, then Senator Barack Obama took a very strong stance against the plight of the small farmer in America, going so far as to say :

“We’ll tell ConAgra that it’s not the Department of Agribusiness,” the Illinois Democrat said. “It’s the Department of Agriculture. We’re going to put the people’s interests ahead of the special interests.”

Even with a ConAgra headquarters right there in his hometown of Chicago, he was willing to come out and say what too few of the folks in DC say – that the giant corporate mega-farms are not only taking over the land that used to be plowed by small farmers, they’re also reaching into the small farmers pockets.

When farm policy gets made by people who’ve never spent a minute on a farm, it directly effects the food you put in your mouth. Farm policy driven by corporate profits means that every inch of the food chain is squeezed for maximum revenue, rather than maximum nutrition. If this means (as it does on the corporate farm) that seeds designed in laboratories will be sprayed with custom blended toxic pesticides to make production cheaper, then that is what will be done.

And if doing so requires that the agri-scientists who create those seeds and chemicals must also be trusted to attest to the health and safety of their creations, then the same Washington DC that makes farm policy will take their word at face value.

Yes, President Obama has bigger fish to fry than farm policy right now. But let’s hope that Michelle Obama’s garden is indicative that this is a President who believes in small farms – as he said back in 2007 – and who will eventually turn his considerable powers of persuasion towards getting healthier, less processed food into the mouths of all Americans regardless of income level. That may be the best health care plan of them all.

Growing your own organic herbs inside

If you want to grow your own organic herbs in a sunny window, you can do year round almost anywhere in the country. Check out these instructions from About.com – pretty basic – and just use organic soil and plants or seeds that were raised organically. If you don’t have a green market nearby that sells herbs, you can order baby plants from a place like Lingle’s Herbs or The Tasteful Garden Read the rest of this entry »

How to Handle Summer Vegetables via TheSimpleDollar

Trent over at www.TheSimpleDollar.com has some great ideas on how to handle the abundance of summer vegetables. You also can’t go wrong with chopping up whatever’s in season, throwing it in a pot with some water to cover and vegetable or chicken bullion and simmer for an hour. Serve with rice. Yum.

Andrea Moss over at Ecomii food blog has some great ideas for cheap meals even including organic food – more of a shopping approach than menus and recipes but still worth checking out.

More great ideas on sustainable, affordable cooking

Diane Hatz from Sustainable Table has a great post today talking about how to cook good healthy food on a budget, as well as ideas on shopping locally on a budget. It’s definitely worth reading for some good ideas as well as some really helpful nutritional information.

Make More Money or Make Food Cheaper?

Micahel Pollan via Grist talking about whether we should figure out a way to increase people’s salaries so they can afford expensive local organic food; or whether food should be made cheaper so they can afford it. I don’t know if the quote is out of context because I haven’t listened to the whole interview.

I love Pollan but this kind of philosophy makes me nuts. It’s a LOT easier to apply pressure on the “make food cheaper” fulcrum than to somehow raise everyone’s salaries so they can afford expensive food. It also misses a key function of economy which is that if the base salary of “poor-er people” rises, so too will costs of perceived “luxury” items.

Stop thinking of real food as a luxury item and make it a basic human right and you change the way you think about food access.

Linda Watson and CookForGood.com

Over at www.CookForGood.com Linda Watson proposes a similiar plan to www.ThreeDollarDinner.com with loads of great ideas and incredibly detailed shopping lists and menus. I cannot recommend highly enough checking out her site for more great low-cost awesome healthy meals.

Walmart is Going Green

Interesting information on the 100% renewable energy and zero waste initiative at WalMart. Still wish they weren’t putting local shops (and local flavor) out of business, but check out what they are up to in the environmental and organic arena. Motley Fool on Walmart