Alfredo sauce...solved...maybe

Well, I tried a white pasta sauce today and it pleased 3 out of four Johnson's who tried it. One person said it was disgusting. No, it is not who you think, it the elder Johnson male, who refused to eat dinner because he thought my food was disgusting. Whatever...seriously...everyone is a critic. Well, now it is your turn to see if you like this version or do I do back to the drawing board and create another sauce.

Here is what you need:

one brick of cream cheese
one stick of butter
one cup of milk
one canister of Parmesan cheese

That's basically it. I melted the butter first (over medium heat), then I melted the cream cheese into the butter. Next, I incorporated the milk with a whisk (to get rid of any lumps). I season with barely a dash of garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. I sprinkled Parmesan cheese in at the end. Here is where you have to adjust things to your taste. Some recipes call for tons of cheese, I chose not to. My reasoning is I am going to put it on top, why waste it to melt in the sauce where I can not taste it? When I served it, I did sprinkle some whole milk mozzarella and provolone cheese on top, but that was just because it was here. Also I served it with linguine, not fettuccine .

Let me know what you think. If you decide, you do not like the flavor, we will have to develop a flour based recipe.

Review of Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism Part one

This is the first of at least a twelve month series of the books I will be reading as part of my New Year's Resolution. Although, I already told you; my resolution is as follows. Read twelve books that I have started previously. These are books laying around the house that I have had good intention on reading, but never found the time during my university days to sit and read a real book.

This will be extremely informal just like the blog. I have down enough academic writing to make my eyes bleed. However, I want to share this journey with you to encourage you to read and expand your world by way of literature. I have narrow interest so most of the books will be about history in general, issues relating to the African Diaspora, religion, and self improvement. There will be a few wild cards, but do not expect many. 

Overview

Christopher Columbus and Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism is authored by John Henrik Clarke. The book contains 11 chapters and approximately 123 pages, which makes it a quick and easy read. The subject of this book is to first examine what was precipitating issues that made the slave trade possible, both in Europe and in Africa. Although brief, an examination of how the events that occurred in Europe and Africa in the 14th and 15 century, lead to Europe's rise and Africa's demise.

The Nature of the Gathering Storm

This three page chapter sets the tone of the book. John H. Clarke prepares us for the journey ahead by taking us back to the Europe of the Middle Ages. During that time, the inhabitants of the land were nearly destroyed. The plague, the Crusades, and internal turmoil were all ripping the area apart. So the question is risen how could a people in such distress conquer and annihilate so many people. This is the most important point of the book, and one of the most powerful quotes,
"there weren't enough soldiers in Europe to take the continent of Africa, India, the Caribbean Islans, and both South and North America...the greatest achievement of the Europeans was the conquest of the mind of their victims."
Clarke outlines four ways this mental deception took place.

1. The myth of a people in darkness waiting for another people to bring them light. I have to admit this one knocked my socks off. My introduction to Christianity was by racists, who had always painted the portrait of the heroic missionary going to save the savage brown beast. Whether we are comfortable admitting it, that perception follows you all the days of your life. I have always justified slavery because it saved us from a sinner's hell. You are taught to never even question what happened because we are better off because of it.
2. The myth of a people without a legitimate god. I can see the ramifications from the Ivory Coast to the shores of Honolulu how the religion was used to strip peoples of their identity and sense of self worth. And how religion was raised as a murderous banner to hide behind while raping and pillaging land after land and people after people. I do not believe that we left the true God back on the shores of the West African coast, but I do believe we lost our ability to see God through our own eyes and own history.
3. The myth of the primitive and aborigine. Different does not mean inferior. The adobe houses made of mud in the America southwest or the tree house of the tribes of the South American people did not make them savage, it meant they were more resourceful and had a respectful way to live in harmony with nature.
4. The myth of the invader and the conqueror as a civilizer. Here Clarke again says something so powerful that you have to step away to catch your breath before proceeding...he says that no people ever spread civilization at anytime or anywhere in all of human history through invasion and conquest....the invader destroys civilization in the name of civilization. From the halls of Montezuma, to isles of the West Indies to the Taj Mahal and everything in between...ancient and strong empires had existed for millennia until first contact with the like of people like Columbus. 

The reason why books like this are important to me and should be to any person of any nationality is best summarized by Clarke...not only did they colonize history...they colonized information about history...they colonized the image of God...You have to look back to understand how we got where we are today. For me it is not only why did the slave trade occur, but why are we still victims of it today.

Winterpalooza aka Snowpocalype!!!

I wanted to stop by and give some helpful hints concerning weather related disasters, calamities, and other types of trouble.

Power up/Power down

When there is a threat of severe weather, my top suggestion is to make sure all your devices are charged. Your phone is your lifeline out. Charging your computer could provide you light and entertainment if the lights go out. Yes, you will not have any internet access without electricity, but your dvd drive works. So does the lame pre-installed apps. When you have the money, you might invest in a battery operated usb charger for such an occasion as this.

Next, you need to unplug all essential equipment if the power goes out. There will be a surge of electricity when the power comes on, and it might fry your device. DO NOT trust the power strip for protection. It is a glorified extension cord, it will not protect your equipment.

Food in the fridge will stay good for almost a day if you keep the door closed. Take out what you need, and leave it alone until the lights return. Candles are great, but flashlights are better. Neither you or the baby can burn the house down with a flashlight. You can get some long lasting powerful flashlight are a reasonable price, a thought for the future.

Water

Of course, you have heard to drip the hot water in one of sinks. I vote for the kitchen since it is further from your room and you do not have to listen to it drip all night. Next, you need to open any cabinets and door that have water pipes in them. You want to keep the heat circulating around these pipes. Yes, you are letting warm air out, but in this case, it is a sacrifice you have to make. Leave the heat going!!! If not for your own warmth, you have to keep the house warm. 

Cold Air

Skin exposure to this air could cause frostbite, but it is very hard to breath as well. It can cause weather related asthma symptoms. My advice is always be over prepared this time of year. Extra gloves, hats and scarves tucked in your bag. If you accidentally get wet, you need your defense against the air to be dry. Our baby friend needs to wrapped like you are swaddling her. No exposure to the air at all if you have to go out. For you, cover your entire head and face minus your eyes with your scarf. 

Inside the house, if you have drafty windows, use a rolled up towel to block the drafts. If you are without heat, waiting to be rescued, remember heat escapes from our extremities. Protect your hand, feet, and head above all else. A final word about frostbite. Frostbite equals nerve death and amputation, not something to be fooled with.

Well, now you are modestly prepared for the impending disaster...next time I think I will remind you to buy a shovel...just sad....

Chicken Dinners

You asked me for chicken salad and I have been trying to think of what else I could combine with it to make a substantial post. First the chicken salad. Again, I am not a person who does do the same thing the same way twice. But I will give you groundwork on how to make a basic chicken salad, and you can take it from there.

List 'o ingredients

• Two chicken breasts cooked (store bought rotisserie is great!)
• Mayo
• Grapes (optional)
• Apple (optional)
• Pecan (optional)
• Relish (optional)
• 2 Eggs (optional)
• celery (optional)
• red onion (optional)

With almost all the ingredients optional, not much of a recipe.  Well, yes it is. Here is why. First, you do not need all these ingredients to make it taste good. It depends on what you like and do not like. Let's analyze what the different options bring to the table.

The grapes of course bring color, texture and sweet flavor. The apple provides more color contrast, more texture and a different layer of sweetness. Pecans, walnuts or cashews add crunch, and a unique flavor, and even a sweet undertone. The next two are more "traditional" salad ingredients, the eggs and relish. The egg in salad acts as a filler and binder.Do you need it chicken salad ? No. It is how I learned to make it from your grandma. The relish is another filler, and it adds a sweet crunch, and a little texture. You could add eggs relish, mayo and chicken and call it chicken salad. Celery adds big flavor and big crunch in a salad, whether it is tuna or chicken salad. Mandatory, no. Delicious, yes. Finally, red onion can add more color, flavor and stank. So I would proceed with caution on the red onion. It can be very strong sometimes, and other times it can be mild. You could use a little bit of sweet yellow, which would add flavor, but no color.
There you have it, chicken salad in less than 550 words(I think)

Bonus recipe:

Flaming hot chicken

I like hot foods, even more than your brother believe it or not. I just do not get a chance to express my true affinity to all things spicy because the rest of your family are chumps, yeah I said it. So here is how I would fix chicken wings if there was anyone else but me to eat it.

Here is what we need:

• bag of wings
• bottle of Louisiana hot sauce
• fresh jar of cayenne pepper
• garlic powder
• seasoning salt/pepper
• frying oil

Ok here is where the fun begins. You are going to marinate the chicken wings in hot sauce. It has to be Louisiana because it has a higher cayenne to vinegar ratio than Frank's, hence it should make your scalp tingle. You need to poke hole in the chicken wings with a fork so the hot sauce gets to the bone. Be generous with how much you put on there. I would let it sit for a few hours, but not overnight. The acid in vinegar begins to cook or breakdown things that soak in it. Soggy chicken is not my thing.

Next, after it has stewed in hot sauce juices for awhile...let's fry these bad boys up. You are going to season the flour with the cayenne, salt/pepper and garlic mixture. Coat the chicken well, and fry the wings until golden brown. If you were feeling super freaky, you could dip the cook chicken in another hot mixture, but we will stop here for now. Let me know if you are brave enough to try it.

God beckoned an angel

One of my pet peeves is made up names. All names get their meaning from somewhere so I am going to remove the curse off your child's life and give her name meaning and her life direction.

I remember the first time I noticed it. The look of pure love and unadulterated adoration I saw from her eyes. I knew in that instance there was finally someone on this Earth who loved you as much as me. Then this weekend, it hit me, her presence in your life was not because she needed you, you need her.

You needed someone to help you to grow up. You needed someone to get you off the path of go nowhere, and redirect your steps back to the promise land. You someone that you could feel connected to. You needed someone to help you not feel alone.

This little girl is more than a mere baby. She is an angel sent by God to draw you back to where you belong. So I have broken down her first name to mean God beckons. How did I get this. Well, yah means God. Ani means beckons.

After a natural wildfire, the earth is scorched. It seems that everything as far as the eye can see is annihilated  Behind the scenes,the miraculous is happening. As the old matter decays, it makes way for the new life that is waiting underneath. Overtime, what once looked like destruction comes back better than ever. Being a single mother can feel like the world is being destroyed all around you. But if you let God make you over again, you can have a new and better life. What was meant for evil, God can work it out for your good.

Chicken Two Ways

This originally was supposed to be a post about Chicken Parmesan  but seeing that you eat less than a kids' size portion of food, I thought I would figure out how you could make two unique meals out of one pack of chicken. First let's tackle the shopping list. Here is what you need:

• One package of thin cut chicken breast
• Panko or Japanese style bread crumbs
• Eggs
• Pasta sauce of your choice
• Box of pasta of your preference
• Bag of Italian blend shredded cheese
• Parmesan cheese

I. Ok let's fix the chicken.Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Take out one egg and add one tablespoon of water and mix them together in a wide flat dish. This is called an egg wash. This will make the breadcrumb adhere to the chicken. Next, place about a cup of the breadcrumbs in a zip top bag or in a container so can dip the chicken in the breadcrumbs. Now, season the chicken to your liking. I keep it simple, but you can overboard if you want to. Also at this point, add some of your seasoning to the egg wash too, it will ensure layers of flavor. Add enough oil to the bottom of the hot pan to cover it, you are not deep frying here, just enough oil to cover, more can be added if it gets soaked up by the breading.

Now time to cook the chicken! Dip the season chicken in the egg wash first, cover both sides. I know it will be slimy, get over it. Put each piece of egg dipped chicken in the breadcrumbs. Make sure all the chicken is coated with the crumbs. Place the breaded chicken in the pan, making sure that the pieces are not touching. If your pan is not big enough, the chicken will not brown, it will just be a gooey mess. Cook the chicken on the first side until golden brown. BUT do not keep checking it!!! It needs contact with the pan to get crispy. If you keep fiddling with it, it will not cook properly. So since these are thin cut pieces, check the first side after about five minutes.

When the first side has some golden brown color, flip it and do the same to the other side. You do not want to over cook the meat. If there are spots that are not the right color for you, you can flip it back over at the end for a few seconds, but do not turn the meat into chicken jerky. Once you have browned the chicken, drain it on paper towels and set it aside.

II.  Rewind....if you are going to eat this as Chicken Parm, then you need to be boiling a pot of water for pasta and preheat the oven to about 400 degrees for the second part of the chicken. So let's proceed like you did all that already. Take two pieces of the cooked chicken and place it in a baking dish. Pour some of your favorite pasta sauce on top. It does not need to be hot already. Next, layer on some cheese. I have used slices of provolone in the past. I did not find it very flavorful, but it melts nicely. Any way, put the chicken in the oven, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly. This gives you just enough time to cook your pasta. Since you are feeding just you, I do not see a reason to dirty an entire dish to warm up the rest of the sauce. You can toss the hot pasta with the sauce before serving and that should be just suffice in getting warm. Now if you were fixing a large version, yes, you will have to pull out a pot and heat the sauce, but not for just you. Take the chicken out of the oven, serve with you pasta, add some bread or salad and you have a meal! Hooray!!!

III There should two extra pieces of chicken left over. If you slice this chicken into strips, it becomes chicken fingers. You could chop the chicken and put it on a salad. Add two slice of bread, bacon,lettuce and mayo, it becomes a sandwich...you get the point. One package of meat can turn into multiple meals for you. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out.

A Recipe for Disaster

Today's post is not about food, but it is. Today will go down in one of pivotal life changing moments. I have been through too many in my short life. Today I had to deliver the news that my husband's mother has Alzheimer's and has severe heart disease. We have weathered of plenty of storms in the course of our marriage, we survive this one as well. Nonetheless, my heart bleeds for him. He has had navigate this world with no father, now the only parent he has ever had will die a slow indignant death not suited for any decent human being.

What does this have to do with food? Everything and nothing at all.  Medical science is not yet equipped to tell us what percentage of our health issues are genetic, environmental or lifestyle related. With the absence of that information, the only thing that we can control is us. A part of me is sad, another is angry, another part is bewildered that food is a culprit making me a caregiver at the age of 35. No one knows where the changes in the brain came from, or when the damage to the heart occurred, but I can tell you being fat, black and stressed out did not help. I carefully entitled this post recipe for disaster because it is the combination, not just one layer that has my husband facing being a orphan.

I do not believe "soul food" kills people. His grandmother is over eighty and she is fine. My grandmother lived to over 90, and the list goes on and on. So what is the difference between one generation to the next? Well, one main difference is the Big n Tasty with cheese. I wholeheartedly believe there is a significant difference when you eat something like a burger and fries at at home than when you eat a McFaux sandwich. The pork that was used to season that food, is in stark contrast to us throwing back a large order of tips and washing it down with a 2 liter of bubbly brew. The true essence of "soul food" that I am trying to give you in my lessons is about learning to make due when resources are scarce. Soul food is about taking the time to enrich your food with flavor and love. There is no love in what I call terrorist chicken, which our patient in question has eaten many a tray of wings from.

Another key ingredient in this disastrous recipe is laziness. Years of being encouraging her to go for a walk just to enjoy nature and tranquility were met with cries of boring and I don't want to. Now said patient can not barely walk and has the cardiovascular health of a fatten duck ready for the slaughter. I recall all the years of fighting you to go outside even when you did not have someone to play with. I wanted you to learn how to be content alone and learn how to get your body moving whether you had a friend in the world or not. I might have fallen short on that goal but I did try. You still have good years ahead of you to make some good habits. Do not lay around waiting for life to excite you, get up and do not let life pass you by because it will, quicker than you think.

The last diabolical addition to this stew is isolation. To coin the cliche' that no man is an island, is so true. I have been humble by this experience in so many ways. It is easy to feel invincible when you are young and healthy, but the time comes when we all need someone to care and be on our side. I talk alot about burning bridges. Yes, you should be careful of what bridges you burn, but some of them do need to be destroyed. I can think of a certain bridge I wished you would have torched a LONG time ago, but oh well. In addition to paying attention to the bridges you burn, you also need to build new bridges in your life. Find new positive connections, meet new people, find new ways to serve your fellow man. I am a private, secluded person, but I am not isolated. I know how to reach out to other when I need it. You never want to find yourself painted into a creepy lonely corner.

To wrap this up, I am upset that decisions not to lose weight and eat right then is punishing my husband now. The worse thing you can do as a parent is make your kids suffer for your bad decisions. I am glad to do God' service in this world, and I will do what He ask of me in this situation, but this should not be, and it is just sad, just really sad.