Sauerkraut, wiener and potatoes!

A wiener, sauerkraut and a half baked potato! What a great luncheon idea! True, many folks do not like (even hate) sauerkraut, but I would say to them, 'Sie wären ein mieser Deutscher'! As man man with just a bit of pure Aryan German blood flowing in his veins, I fully embraced the concept of eating semi-rotted cabbage soaked in vinegar! Mein gott!

My other signature lunch time meal, which also employs a wiener, is the Anthony Wiener Pork N Beans dish I created some time ago! (And no, the picture at right is not one of Anthony's actual penis, as I've been told it is too small to photograph)!

This SWP meal, as I like to call it, goes together like a dream in that you only have to bring a hotdog wiener to a boil, nuke a small russet potato for about four minutes, add some sauerkraut and then nuke the whole mess for another two minutes or so. As a finishing touch, I also often add a dab of sour cream to the potatoes. Bon appetite!

Nutritionally, this meal is relatively low in calories and carbs! At about half a buck in cost, it's also kind to the pocketbook.

What's with the potatoes, bread and gravy!

What started out as an impulse buy at a local grocery store has quickly bloomed into an ongoing catastrophe as what had been a successful diet effort had turned way south!

I bought a single packet of brown gravy after it caught my eye in the herb isle of my local grocery store. I'd been primed for this as I'd also purchased some biscuits earlier in the the day. A quick nutritional look informed me that this was not a really bad idea. I mean 70 calories was no biggie. And for the first couple of breakfast encounters, I did faithfully adhere to just one biscuit and 6 grams of gravy... That was a few days ago...

On what was otherwise a really nice weekend morning, I arose a tad hung over after having gone out on the town the evening before. (Actually it was more like a night of utter debauchery which also involved some power drinking... but, I digress).

So, there I was in the kitchen that morning, in my robe with my fly away hair making breakfast. I made up a nice omelet as had been planned, but then I began to add some potatoes and shredded bread – I thought 'Why Not?', at the time. Yes, I think that was definitely the moment that things began to unravel for me...

Later that same day, it came to me that I would really enjoy ordering a Big Mac and fries from the McDonald's that stood not three miles from my door. (In the back of my mind I could hear the 'diet meter' clicking away. Truthfully, the food was all it could be and more)!

Way too late into the diet game, I realized that once you fill up a previously shrunk down stomach, it more than willingly expands. And with that expansion come intensified hunger pains. Swell.

So it was, as the evening fell, I found myself seated in front of a large plate of Penne pasta as viewed from over a rather large tummy......

The potato and cheese bomblette!

I decided on one cold and icky February day to make up a sample batch of slow cooker cheesy potatoes – a recipe I spied on Facebook a week or so back.

Rather than embark on the full blown recipe that would serve 6, I decided to throw together what I called a potato bomblette! A single serving amount that I could make ahead of time, keep in the fridge and then use when I was ready.

Ingredients:

220 grams red potatoes, cut into chunks

2 slices of bacon

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 tsp Ranch seasoning and salad dressing mix

1 tbsp chopped chives

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the bacon in a frying pan over med-high heat – cook until crispy. Break into small pieces. 
 

Make a pouch of aluminum foil as shown. I used a small glass bowl to aid me with this. Coat the inside of the foil lightly with nonstick spray. Place a layer of potatoes evenly into the pouch. Top with little of the cheese, onion, Ranch Seasoning and some bacon. Repeat until you used all the potatoes. Hold a little of the cheese back for use later on.

Seal up the little potato bomblette and either store in the fridge overnight or throw right away into a slow cooker set to low for 7-8 hours (or on high for 3-4 hours, if your in a hurry). Remove, then carefully open the foil and plate. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and nuke in the microwave for one to two minutes to just melt the cheese. Finally,  sprinkle on the chives and serve at once!


I went with the low setting and made this up at 10 AM one morning, then sat down to a steak and potato bomblette meal! 

While the cheesy potatoes were good, I still prefer British fries - http://forsythkid.blogspot.com/2014/02/steak-and-eggs-at-home.html

The lowly potato! Food fiend or friend?

Of the many produce items, I buy each week, the lowly potato remains one of the best deals out there. Oftentimes, a five pound bag of Russet potatoes can be had for less than $3! And, while this tuber has gotten a lot of bad press as being too fattening, I still make it a regular addition to my dinner table!

With over 5,000 varieties to choose from, world-wide; the potato can be found in many sizes, textures and colors! In my local area, here in southwest Missouri, the most common version offer at the local grocery store is the Russet potato. A baker-type tuber whose flesh is white, dry, and mealy; it's good for baking, mashing, and even French fries if you happen to own a deep fryer!

As a food, a potato contains a host of vitamins and minerals, as well as an assortment of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids along with natural phenols that make it very good to consume over the long term. The fact that its flesh contains a lot of starch also means that it contains high levels of carbohydrates! About one calorie for every gram eaten, on average. Not necessarily a bad thing! But, the main reason potatoes have gotten such a bad wrap it the way people eat them; i.e., in the form of greasy French fries, potato chips or loaded down with fats such as butter, sour cream, melted cheese and bacon bits. That's sort of like eating a carrot with a spoonful of lard! Such treatment can make even the baked variety a potential contributor to cardiovascular disease. But, take away the extra fat and the deep frying and a baked potato is an exceptionally healthful low calorie, high fiber food that offers significant protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer.

In my diet conscious world, I will typically microwave a whole potato and then will then cut it in half, saving one for another meal. I will also refrain from using real salt or butter. That way, I'm getting all the good with little of the bad effects. The potato half pictured above weighed in at 150 grams and contributed only 100 calories to this complete 460 calorie meal!

So, the bottom line is that yes, you can enjoy this wonderful food as long as you use some common sense in the manner and quantity that's prepared!