We're delighted to share our Aunt Nettie with you. She's agreed to answer any questions you might ask about food, its preparation, and even clean-up tips. But we have to prepare you. She just might want to come right over to your house and help you fix dinner.
To send any questions to Ask Aunt Nettie, .
Susan M. asked Aunt Nettie for a little help. She writes:
Aunt Nettie,
My 13-year-old is a vegetarian, though she eats eggs and dairy. What do you recommend she eat that is filling and will forestall hunger the longest? She wants to do a 1-day religious fast, and I'm trying to figure out what is best to give her just before--pasta, peanut butter, brown rice???
Here's what Aunt Nettie suggests:
Howdy Susan,
Have y'all had a chance ta read through the Vegetarian Basics 101 on our web site? It's jes' a lil' ole primer fer newcomers to the veggie world an' it jes' might be of some help ta y'all 'n yer daughter.
Now fer some suggestions fer some hearty eatin'. Y'all might start the day with some nice hot cooked cereal. Now make sure it's 100% whole grain cereal. The health food store in yer area might have some nice choices. My own personal favorite is Cream of Rye an' I serve it with some soy milk, raisins, date pieces, raw nuts, 'n some raw sunflower seeds. I sorta make a breakfast sundae with all the fixin's. Serve the cereal along with some fresh fruit 'n some herbal tea. Now with the whole grains, soy milk, an' nuts 'n seeds there's plenty o' protein ta git her day started.
Fer lunch, fix up a nice sandwich with hearty whole grain bread, a lil' soy mayonnaise, some sliced marinated tofu (that's what you can start fixin' right after breakfast. Marinate in some soy sauce mixed with lemon juice, a little maple syrup, chopped garlic 'n ginger). Add a few slices o' avocado, some tomatoes, 'n lettuce ta make a right thick sandwich. Oh, yes, some sprouts are right nice, too.
Put some carrot 'n celery sticks on the plate, maybe some bell pepper strips (red's my favorite), some cherry tomatoes from the farmers' market ('cause they're sweet 'n juicy), an' some o' yer daughter's favorite olives. Now that's a lunch fit fer a growin' girl!
Dinnertime's my special meal o' the day. I jes' love lentils. Ya don't have ta soak 'em ahead. Jes' cook 'em 'bout 25 to 30 minutes, then season 'em with salt, pepper, a couple sprinkles o' cinnamon, a dash o' cloves, an' maybe a tad o' lemon juice. Some brown rice goes real nice with lentils.
Fer dinner I simply can't do without my great big crunchy tossed salad an' I'll bet yer daughter can be a big help in the kitchen with the salad fixin'. I start with some romaine lettuce and maybe a tad o' butter lettuce fer variety. Then I chop 'n chop jes' 'bout anything that shows up in my 'fridge. There's radishes, cucumbers, celery, carrots, peppers, snow peas, turnips, jicama, sprouts, kohlrabi when it's in season in springtime, green onions, 'n whatnot.
Some nice fresh multi-grain bread might go nice with dinner and check the recipe index in the web site fer my recipe fer a tofu spread. It's sumthin' ya can keep on hand that makes fer a perfect sandwich fillin' too.
Now, if that darlin' o' yers gits hungry between meals, a handful o' raw nuts er some peanut butter might be the fittin' thing. A little extra fat's a good thing ta chase off them hunger pangs.
Well, Susan, I sure do hope this is a help ta git yer daughter all geared up, an' wish yer daughter a right fulfillin' religious fast.
Yer ever lovin',
Aunt Nettie
Our Aunt Nettie has a head like a hard disk. It's filled with gigabytes of information about food and cooking. And she's just itchin' to share her learnin' with city folk who live in mortal fear of the stovetop.
Aunt Nettie grew up on the farm. She did not eat out of a can or reach into the freezer. There was no microwave to pop her food into. Everything she made was from scratch. All the food she ate was natural, without pesticides. It was grown right there on the family farm, and she had to cook to survive. At eighty-three years young she still leaps and bounds around the kitchen and can shake, rattle, and roll those pots and pans with the best of them.
Nowadays, Aunt Nettie just shakes her head and complains, "Nobody cooks anymore. They have no idea about puttin' a meal together." She's on a mission. She wants to help those younguns eat better so they can grow up healthy like her own eight kids.
