Grub to keep you fed

 Now when I get the chance, I like a Burger King Roadhouse Burger. Nothing like 2 big burgers with bacon, cheese, onion rings, and bbq sauce. Alright so when I make at home, I like to do this 300-400g of ground beef McCormicks steakhouse onion Burger seasoning 50g or Cajun seasoning Worchesterchester sauce 12ml Nice buns Marble cheese Grilled onions HP sauce Maritime Madness Hot Sauce  An egg Mix the seasonings to the ground beef with an egg, plus the Hot Hot sauce to taste. Squish it all together form into patties and cook either on BBQ or pan Serve on buns with cooked bacon put the cheese on top serve with either fries or potato crisps.  Picture to follow

 I fried 2 onions in feta cheese, parmagean and cheddar then added a can of cream of mushroom soup, once pasta added I have a nice sauce on some pasta

  Years ago, I read a book about a British special forced member who noted that in Malaysia they served fried egg and peanut butter sandwiches.  Of course the British army always made Egg banjo sandwiches  Hearty and filling. 4 slices of ancient grain bread  4 eggs fried over heard 100g of peanut butter  Fry eggs, toast the bread. Spread peanut butter on one piece of toast per sandwich  Put together and enjoy 

 The first time I remember ever having pizza must have been around 1980-82. I know that my hometown of Stewiacke had a Pizza shop open up. In fact a lot of local pizza shops opened up all over rural Canada. You can even make simple pizzas at home. These ones I made with pita as my crust then I added salsa as my sauce. I had a mixed pack of deli meats of pepperoni, salami, ham then I added marble cheese. I also made some cheese ones of feta, parmasean and cheddar.  So some good grub.   

So a buddy of mine chatted with me and invited me over for a BBQ. I asked what to bring he said no worries. But I took chips and salsa  So a good old fashioned Sunday supper. Mashed potatoes with carrots and big honking beef ribs. The type Neanderthals gripped with 2 hands to savor. Which I did

 Or how my Irish grandfather called it the crotch lunch. Egads you say! These wonderful triangle shaped sandwiches found at every church celebration, or funeral is what I'm talking about today. Give me a can of tuna, ham, fake crab, chicken, mystery meat, eggs Mix with mayonnaise, some relish or chopped Cucumber or pickles serve on the bread you like cut into triangles. Now what's with the name. Well as my grandfather explained in one had you have your mug of tea or cup of coffee, in one hand is a triangle sandwich but where do you put the rest. Your sitting on chairs or standing no tables. So once seated, you lap (crotch) becomes your serving area. I woke up this morning opened my fridge and a plate of these were dropped off by a good Fri who knew I was at work but who knew I'd appreciate them at work. Most certainly  Now I'll remember my grandfather who definitely had wit

  A very basic pasta dish I made up with stuff from the fridge and lager. I boiled up the pasta for ten minutes. I opened a d drained a van of peas and while the pasta was boiling I crumbled some cheddar to add to the Spinach and 4 cheese pasta sauce. I then tossed everything into a small sauce pan then plated.  Made enough for tomorrow night.

 Being a bachelor again, and being on a tight budget, I try to keep my takeout foods down.  Places I will visit I try to limit to 20.00 and even that usually once a month. Here in Nova Scotia, there are several gas stations which have basic foods which are cooked or prepared.  Otherwise i do give a shout out to my neighbors The Beefy Weiner. they make great hot dogs and hamburgers and sides.  

  The humble PB and J. The staple of many school lunches until peanut allergies got too much. It probably is still in many lunch boxes of workers who don't have access to cafeterias or restaurants while on duty. I've used Planters Peanut butter and a seedless Rasberry jam on Ancient Grain toasted bread.  Simple yet satisfying and it keeps you warm and fed.

 Life hasn't always worked out the way we want it. With the rising costs of living and changing jobs there are times I have had to swallow my pride and utilize the kindness of others in local pantries for those in need. In fact I've actually had to dip into a food bank. I was very grateful to be able to access Military rations on my last exercise to help expand my Meals while working. MREs and my ration pack helped save my day several times. Once I'm back on track, I shall help those in need.

 That in itself was a bit of a challenge. I knew that I had a furnished apartment. I knew I had a fridge, stove, bed, sofa, table and chairs. One tends to forget that when moving into a new apartment that there are a few things missing.  It doesn't help when your flight arrives in town in time but your drive had to save a bunch of kids from a Polar Bear. Right. Nanook said hello. So drive takes me to the store and I felt like I was in a crazy game show. The store would close in 20 minutes.  Bugger. So I grabbed a cart and started to fill it with enough food for supper and breakfast.  I did remember to grab a kettle to boil water for tea. Total cost was around 250.00 which my drive the Housing director paid for. It took me a month to pay her back. She was kind. So I got into the apartment with what luggage I had plus supplies.  Great. I first noticed that itxwas a bit cooler. The heat had been left on at 12c since July. It was now late September. It was not 12c o...

 From September 2022-June 2023, I worked for the Nunavut Department of Education as an ESL, ELA or Grade 9 teacher. I did all three in 9 months. Sanirajak, Nunavut formerly known as Hall Beach was established around 1956 as a DEW line site. By 1993 with the huge budget cut to the military, the DEW line site was modernized and downsized to become part of the NWS, one of the NORAD components. The town frew up around the base and has 2 stores. COOP and The Northern Store. I usually went to the Northern to get food. Nunavut is very isolated from the rest of Canada. There are no roads connecting the communities or to the rest of Canada. Everything comes in by Sealift or flown in. The Arctic has its charms. It has a harsh climate and 2 interesting times of year. No daylight and then 6 months of it. After awhile as a single guy living up there, you really wanted toctry and liven up your food. So I ordered in about 300.00 worth of spices, sauces to make what I enjoy. So I ordered Pad Thai ...

 One of the items I picked up from the discount meat market a month ago was Thuringer sausage by Schneider meats of Canada. It's a nice country sausage which can be eaten hot or cold. Good for a hearty meal. Now from time to time, when I post my foods on my Facebook, I'll get comments likewhere are the vegetables. To which I replied potatoes, onions, carrots and Brussel Sprouts are vegetables.  Brussel sprouts one of my favorite vegetables.  Cabbages after taxes as my Dad calls them. Back in the 1980s when my parents were busy, I wad tasked as a 15 year old to help with making supper for them my younger sister who wassa toddler and myself. For green vegetables we'd buy McCain frozen vegetables in boxes, big enough for one meal for 4 people. Open the top slap in some butter AND dash on some onion salt. Dad found my choice of Brissel sprouts a bit monotonous one month. Anyway I was getting old enough and the Liquor control board in Mova Scotia changed the laws to allow pubs...

 Something which I'll pick up from time to time is the 10.00 frozen pack of hashbrowns, onions, peppers and bacon sold in Canadian supermarkets. It's supposed to be a quick breakfast thing for families to make. Add some eggs and you have your meal. I tend to flash it up a bit. I'll add bbq sauce, cajun seasoning and I'll try to scramble my eggs. It's hearty, keeps me fed and makes a good enough dish to throw into a container to take for lunch at work. Most of my work sites are in guard houses which may or may not have microwaves. So I make something which I could eat cold if needed.

 Growing up in a Scotch-Irish family was interesting. Food were of the usual meat and potatoes variety. My Celtic ancestors were frugal hearty people. Making a living farming crops on terrible land or raising livestock. But whatever they did it fed them and kept them alive. Back on St Patrick's day, I decided to make this in lieu of Irish Stew or Corned Beef nsd cabbage, 2 dishes that yes I'll eat but are not necessarily meant for St Patrick  I fried up my steak with onions and a steak seasoning I had, then boiled up my potatoes, carrots and cabbage together.  I mashed the veg up and added some Irish cream coffee creamer into. A bit sweet but it did add a flavor. I made a pan gravy as best I could with a flour slurry and bouillon  I had.

 I have read on some Social media sites that comfort foods like Sloppy Joe's are going out of style. I guess those who write those sites order lots of takeout then. Growing up, one of the other foods Dad would like to cook was chili. Ground beef, onions, green pepper, Manwhich would be added to a pot, simmered and served. Ifxwe had hamburger buns put it on that. Now my Mum enjoyed cheese. Dad is lactose intolerant .  So there was always the inevitable battle of cheese or no cheese. I remember as a toddler having a verbal back and forth with Dad Dad: Yuck cheese Me: Yum yum cheese. Mums version of cheese however I could understand Dads reaction. Mum would slather either Kraft processed cheese or cheese wiz on everything.  It took me years to enjoy cheese slices.  The dish I made up here was another night of what do I have that I can cook fast and enjoy spice and cheese. So I added shredded cheese to my chili and served on pasta as I had no buns, tortillas or taco shel...

 Curry. An Indian spice I had an early introduction to. My parents had coworkers who were from Delhi, India. I got hooked on Indian cuisine from then but didn't eat it again for nearly 20 years. As I got into my teenage years I began to spice up my foods as a way to see how hot u could eat them. After living in Korea with their red pepper pastes I then went to Japan. Rice and fish are nice, artistic done there but rather on the salty side. So I began to make curries from pouches. And I haven't stopped since. I wasxable to get some cheaper steaks from a discount meat market and wanted to make a good gravy. Except I didn't have any. So I made a curry gravy. Yes, the succulent taste of beef with saluted onion with a Pataks Hot curry sauce on spiral pasta did the trick. All I did was fry the steak and onions together then added the curry sauce. I boiled up the pasta drained it then poured the curry sauce on the pasta plating the steak in as well. Hearty and my hair was sweating

 I've always enjoyed Chinese food. Going to the restaurants and ordering dishes made with different spices and sauces made me always happy for special events. Except for one time when my mom and I visited St John's Newfoundland in the summer of 1982. The Chinese restaurant that we went to at the time, not too sure what they were thinking of but the decor inside was quite nice. But 1982 Newfoundland I think didn't have a lot of Chinese influence in it. All I remember is Chinese food was frozen  Chinese dinners that you get in the supermarket.  It was all right but definitely not something that we have been having. I had a similar experience in Nunavut in the local store. The lady who ran the snack bar, Donna had heated up some Chinese food from the freezers to sell for lunch. No one ordered it. I cam through after school and i bought it. It was alright. Not gourmet but hey you got what you could in the north. Usually this Chinese chicken dish kind of might be of the same w...

I added my Bannock to a Pork stew I made.  My Dad, Robert L. Redden have always been close. He is professional bagpiper, retired army officer, retired teacher and an expert on 18th century Highlanders and reenactment. Back in 1984, we recreated the 2nd Battalion 84th Regiment Royal Highland Emigrants which had been raised in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution  Bannock as we knew came to Nova Scotia from the Scottish settlers. It is a basic way cooking bread over an open fire. My fondest memories are Dad teaching us to make it while in uniform. Getting our hands all doughy making them into pattiesxwhich we cooked on cast iron fry pans over an open fire while on events. Dipped in maple syrup. Oh my Making them in the house doesn't have the same taste but still they stick to you. When I went to Nunavut, the Inuit made it asxwell. They had a bit of a twist, somehow they fried or baked it. I'd always have with them in the staff room of the school with jam. When my groceries...

 Chili. A hearty food, a comfort good, a real mix of cultures. In 1999, I took a teaching job in Japan. I was in Ichinoseki, Iwate prefecture. Now Ichinoseki was on the main JR Shinkansen line which meant I could take a train down to Sendai about once a month to get my favorite Tex-Mex ingredients  Until one evening I found myself with a taco seasoning, Tabasco, cheese but no beans. So I went to the supermarket and got a can of beans. The can had a picture of brown beans, fine. I added them. They were Japanese red sweet beans used in traditional winter baking. I made my Chili. It was both sweet and spicy. Not a total disaster, but a learning experience.  Jump ahead to last Friday night. A long work day. I came home, I had 3 cans of beans a block of cheddar, and some Maritime Madness Hot Sauce. Oh and a green pepper and 4 small Onions.

 Over the years I've cooked many foods and I've decided to start this blog. And I forgot to take a shot of my first one Grilled Cheese with Tomato soup. I have 2 stories with this This first would probably be from being babysat and this was an easy one to feed several kids The second story comes from my friend Sgt Ray Bull who served in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps as a cook. So I asked him what meal would you need to make to feed a battalion out in the field. Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup. Even Tick Hillier insisted he do this. So for me while on duty at a worksite this is what I did  I took a loaf of Ancient Grain bread, buttered one side with margarine, added 2 cheese slices to the unbuttoned slice buttered it and set our toaster oven to grill. I took a basic can of Tomato soup, added to a glass bowl, heated it up without adding water or milk. I then dipped a finished sandwich into the soup and ate. I could do in my messtins