The infamous French dip! A nutritional quagmire!

As a man who has often found himself on a perennial diet, I have had to make sacrifices especially when it comes to dining out! One of my personal favorite lunch combos has always been a French Dip with a side of fries! (And, yes, while I still order this meal from time to time, I do so while cringing a bit inside). Following are some dietary notes concerning just the sandwich (Note: The fries are a complete nutritional nightmare which I simply ignore).

Very High in Fat

A plain, commercially available French dip sandwich, like you might get from a bar or restaurant, may contain over 481 calories, (with more than half of these calories coming from fat). One popular fast food French dip sandwich has 33 grams of total fat and 25 grams of saturated fat. For a healthy adult following a 2,000-calorie diet, this amount of saturated fat is more than the 15 grams recommended as the daily limit. A French dip sandwich also contains approximately 60 milligrams of cholesterol, or 20 percent of the total cholesterol an adult should have each day.

Rich in Protein

A typical French dip sandwich provides about 18 grams of protein. For a woman between 19 and 70 years old, this amount is 39 percent of her daily protein requirement; for a man of the same age, it is 32 percent. (If you happen to be following some version of the Adkins or Paleo diet plan, protein is a good thing)!

Low in Sugar and Fiber

French dip sandwiches are rich in starch, but not in simple sugars or dietary fiber. A single sandwich may contain 50 grams of total carbohydrates, with only 2 grams contributed by sugars and 1 gram from dietary fiber.(Argh! Taubes and other low-carb enthusiasts say when we eat more carbohydrates than we burn for energy, our body ends up storing them as fat, and that this is the primary cause of weight gain and other related ills. ... Your body then produces extra insulin to bring your blood sugar down).

Dangerously High in Sodium

Commercial French dip sandwiches provide essential minerals such as iron and calcium but also contain a high concentration of sodium, with a single serving supplying more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that healthy adults should not consume more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. The CDC also advises that the elderly, African-Americans and people who suffer from hypertension, kidney disease or diabetes should not consume more than 1,500 milligrams daily.

Good Source of B Vitamins

The roast beef in a French dip sandwich is a good source of a number of B vitamins, including niacin, vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, riboflavin, Thiamin and pantothenic acid. These nutrients play a vital role in energy metabolism and in the production of red blood cells. French dip sandwiches are also high in vitamin A, which is required for proper cell reproduction, immune system health and the synthesis of the rhodopsin needed for your eyes to absorb light.

So, the bottom line for me becomes a question of frequency... as long as I order this meal very infrequently, I harbor a slim hope of dietary survival....

Glen Campbell with Rhinestone Cowboy!

Pure talent. Pure entertainer and a great individual!

Egg sandwich!

Once to you give up tracking your cholesterol levels, a whole new world of egg based recipes opens up! Today I decided to make a very simplistic egg sandwich for lunch.

Making a good tasting egg sandwich means using a good bread such as Sara Lee's Honey Wheat along with a single large egg and some mustard.  Add in a little fruit side and you're all set!

Iranian students protest mandatory headscarf rule!

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency says university students have held a campus protest against authorities' increasing pressure on women to wear mandatory headscarves in public.

The report says the students — both men and women — briefly scuffled with another group of Tehran University students who support the country's conservative dress code.

The headscarf, or hijab, is required in public for all women in Iran. Those who violate the rules are usually sentenced to two months in prison or less and fined around $25.

ISNA reported in May that a prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was sentenced to seven years in prison after defending anti-hijab protesters.

Iranian authorities have adopted a tougher approach toward such protests since 2017, after dozens of women publicly took off their headscarves. Fox News
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My opinion: As a well known far far Left supporter of all things tolerant, I would have to go with the societal morays, of what is in reality a rather Medieval philosophy, when it comes to addressing gender responsibilities. I'm just surprised that the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not gone back to the days of the burka as the standard mode of dress for otherwise brazen women on the streets. I mean, you only need to look as far as the streets of Dearborn Michigan in order to not only observe Islamic dress codes, but also the adoption by the City Council of Shariah Law.

Enceladus attacks!

Who knew that when the Cassini probe crashed into Saturn last year that the event would be taken by the inhabitants of the small moon Enceladus as a declaration of all out war!

But, that's apparently what happened after NASA scientists received a burst radio message that read '

Cryptologists quickly translated that into 'Hey Bro! WTF? We are a coming to pay you a visit fool!' They also sent a pic of themselves......................

Initially, the US military was very concerned, until that is, they learned that the size of the average Enceladian was only about 4 to 5 microns! (That's about the size of a large virus)! Much laughter then ensued after realizing that a million of them would fit into a small thimble....

That laughter was quickly extinguished, however, when it was also established that humankind would be easily killed en mass, if large numbers of of us became infected by this 'bug'! There was no built-in immunity and no cure to handle this novel invader! (In addition, the invader's ships would be very hard to spot on radar as even the largest battle-cruiser was only about the size of a golf ball)!

On Capitol Hill, the issue quickly became intensely political as the Democrats and the Republicans quickly took opposite sides, with one side wanting to welcome and then quarantine the armada, while the other side wanted to develop new rules to allow for open and free immigration of these 'friends from afar'. And, of course, nothing got done from that point on.....

Charlie's Steak, Ribs and Ale May 11th auction failed to capture a buyer!

Forsyth MO. - On a rainy and frankly a rather cold day in May, an upscale restaurant formerly known as Charlie's Steak, Ribs and Ale went on the auction block.

The owner's had hired Larry McKnight, owner of McKnight Auction Service and Reality, LLC as the agency that was going to do their best to sell the property lock stock and barrel. Mr. McKnight informed those assembled that the property was being 'sold as' is and that whatever price it was sold at would not have any hidden fees or attachments other than the regular closing costs associated with the sale of commercial properties. I estimated that the number of individuals was at about 25 plus. Sadly, the auction proceeded with not a single bid coming forth from anyone present.

Mr. McKnight did inform me that their company would explore 'other options', but to also make sure and tell anyone who had an interest in buying that they would work very hard to move this fine piece of commercial Real Estate. McKnight Auction is located at www.mcknightauctionservice.com!

Hot Dog with great condiments!

As bad as the average wiener is nutritionally, there is still a lot to be said for the All American Dog! This day, I just kicked it up just a notch with some great condiments!

I had a couple of Bananarama peppers that grew on a stem that had been cut down the year before in the fall and then left over the winter on my condo balcony. But, lo and behold, there was a couple of green shoots growing out of that old stem by the following February! I brought the pot back in and placed it on a south facing windowsill. Amazingly, I got two small peppers to grow by that April. I decided to harvest one and cut it up as a spicy addition to my hot dog!

When choosing a wiener, I almost always go with something by Oscar Meyer. I also like the Ballpark brand of buns. For my choice of condiments, I chose the above mentioned pepper that I diced; a couple of Mezzetta Hot Pepper rings that were also diced and then a dash or two of  traditional mustard and ketchup. And OK, at the last minute, I added a bit of sweet pickle relish just for the heck of it.

Now, for a bit of pseudo DanO culinary science. While I wanted the pickle relish to remain just as it was, I did not want to squander the subtle heats of the pepper rings or the Bananarama by leaving them as chunks! To that end, I chopped down both these guys to a really fine structure (DanO's method of blended taste distillation). That way, I got the 'essence' of minor heat with each bite.

The end result was a slightly warm dawg that was way too satisfying. 

American Beauty Rotini and sauce!

For anyone with an interest, Rotini is a spiral form of pasta that is known for the manner in which it can hold onto a good tomato sauce! I enjoy eating this form of noodle fairly often which might explain my growing waistline!

A 56 gram serving or 2 ounces dry pasta will fill about ¾ of a cup. Add in a couple of tablespoons of Hunts spaghetti sauce, some garlic bread and you will be pushing 400 calories!

After setting a pot of salted water to boil, I add the pasta and set a timer for 9 minutes on simmer. In the mean time, I will take about 2 to 3 tablespoons of Hunts Original Spaghetti sauce and heat that over a stove top on low. After the pasta is done, I strain the noodles and then add them to the sauce. A couple of minutes later, I'm ready to add them to a plate alongside a couple of slices of garlic bread!