respublica

Alternatives to beef?

This article from CNN just takes the cake, or hamburger if you will. There is big concern over beef consumption causing health problems and climate warming. It seems cattle pass a lot of gas which gets up into the atmosphere and changes things. This gas passing is politely described as emissions. So they have offered alternatives or substitutes which you can try to reduce your beef consumption.

If you're not willing to quit beef cold turkey, try substituting a third or so of the ground beef with vegetables such as mushrooms.

Change the meat from beef to chicken. Chickens emit ten times less greenhouse gases than cows. Hogs are ok in this regard too.

"Ditch the meat altogether". Go with a veggie burger. There is even a veggie burger sold in California that looks and performs just like red meat. It even bleeds beetroot juice when cooked. 

Bug burgers! Seriously, this is a thing. Insect meals supplement diets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the trend is starting to creep into Western cuisine, (Germany) with some restaurants offering insect-based menus and some mainstream European supermarkets starting to sell edible insect snacks or bug burgers.

Germany developed a burger made from mealworms that is now stocked in more than 1,000 supermarkets across Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

This makes me glad we live in America.

Lastly there is now artificial meat. Fake meat developed in a lab but not really available because it costs 330,000 dollars. Also named clean meat, it is produced by extracting stem cells from animals and then growing and multiplying those cells in a lab to create a piece of meat. This may take a while to catch on because of the cost.

This is one of the weirder food stories I've seen in some time.

 

 

Where are the malted milk balls?

This is a crazy time of year in the food world. I've posted before about how empty the shelves are for the original Tricuits during the holidays. It's already started, folks. There are dozens and dozens of the weirdly flavored tricuits but the family size boxes are few and far between. 

But the nuttiest thing I've discovered is the total absence of malted milk balls, either dark chocolate or milk chocolate variety. I guess you can still find them now and then in the stale-ish candy aisle, but just try and find them in candy stores or stores which have the bins where you fill your own bag. I learned this last week while looking to replenish our supply of dark chocolate milk balls at the candy store across from the seminary. They have some of the best, silky smooth beautiful chocolate milk balls. The owner said she couldn't get them from her supplier for whatever reason. A couple days later I was in Dierberg's which has an aisle of nuts and candy which you fill into bags. They were totally empty while the other candy varieties were full.

What's the deal here? I've googled it, but nothing comes up.

Appliances drive me crazy

We've had a boatload of appliance breakdowns in recent months. Some say things like this come in 3's and it seems to be true. Our refrigerator stopped cooling, the air conditioning system stopped cooling and needed replacing, the glass window in the oven has a vertical crack and now the garbage disposal has quit. There have been more, but my mind refuses to go any further in case the dishwasher wants to join the club.

At least with the disposal I have a few things I can try to get it working again. The first thing to do will be take an allen wrench and work it around the hole on the underside of the unit. Hopefully it just got clogged over Thanksgiving and a bit of back and forth will help. But there is no wrench under there with the disposal. Most times an Allen wrench comes with the unit and is either attached or sitting under the sink somewhere. Hopefully I can find one around the house that will fit.

Car heater issues

Our car heats the drivers side, but not the passenger side. This is a new thing and what happens is, the passenger side gets cold air while the driver gets the warmth. I googled this issue and there were lots of people who had this problem before we did and the advice varies in difficulty.

I guess it's time to take it in and let the experts deal with it. And, if we both go somewhere together, we'll take my truck.

Of all the snow pictures...

The front page of the Post-Dispatch stopped me in my tracks this morning. I'd bet thousands of pictures were taken of yesterday's snow and this was what was chosen. I had to stop and ponder what possessed this guy to go out in his bathrobe to shovel snow, I mean, it would be still be there if he'd taken the time to dress warmer. And, how did the P-D photographer just happen along when he was out there?

I guess that is what a good front page photo does, it makes you stop and give some thought to what's going on.

Branding the Two Americas

It's a good thing the election is getting close because news outlets have reached the point of absurdity in attempting to define liberal and conservative Americans. Take this Simmons Research survey posted by Politico, "Do you eat Republican Cheese" with a sub-title reading, "The Two Americas, a snapshot in brands."

The point is to inform us on the differences in products purchased or eaten by republicans and democrats and thus our cultural/tribal thinking. I mean, this is seriously off the wall. I'm putting up the survey graphic, but you'd see it better if you clicked the story link. The cheese preference which heads up the story title isn't even real cheese in either case. The category isn't even cheese, but dairy. Liberals supposedly prefer Stoneyfield Yogurt while conservatives go with Kraft Velveeta.

Neither are really cheese and with this first brand I can see that the survey publisher and Politico are defining liberals as more sophisticated and educated and refined. Take the magazine preferences they show: Liberals- The Atlantic, Conservatives- Guns & Ammo. And, under Health and Beauty Product we see, Liberals-Burt's Bees Lipstick/Gloss and Conservatives-Right Guard Anti-Perspirant.  Under meat preferences, liberals-Aldells sausages, conservatives-Swanson canned meat.

Come on. Was this really necessary? It's embarrassingly bad and insulting. One more reason why journalism is viewed with some skepticism.  Most of us eat food we like without worrying about politics

click to enlarge or check out the actual story link

 

An incomplete story

Last night I was watching the local news and this story popped up. "I-70 is backed up for several miles after man found stuck under the Blanchette Bridge."

The story continued on local news tv this morning as we were told rescue workers had to shut down the bridge in order to get crane equipment up there in order to lower a basket to bring the guy up. So that tells me they couldn't get down to where he was any other way. What we didn't learn and still haven't at least not yet, why was that guy down there in the first place and how did he get there. Did he have a phone to call for help, otherwise how did anyone know he was there. It was dark and drivers above wouldn't have seen him.

Things I wanted to know. Now almost 12 hours later we learn, "The man had allegedly found his way onto a maintenance walkway along the bridge, which led him to a ladder on a lower surface. After the man realized he was stuck, he called for assistance. The reasoning for the man walking along a restricted walkway was unclear."

He did have a phone it seems. I'm still curious as to how someone gets to where he was on foot and why.

Squirrly support

More and more people have the need for support animals. Most often these animals are dogs, the traditional support for the blind and handicapped. Now we're seeing many people who need an animal with them for emotional support, dogs of all sizes, cats, chickens, snakes and now squirrels.

A woman was taken off a Frontier Airlines plane last night when she attempted to fly with her support squirrel. Surprisingly, I have no words for this.

Trash eruption

Here is a story I would not have expected. They got me at the headline: "Yellowstone Geyser Erupts, Pours Out Trash Dating to the 1930's. The Ear Spring Geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupted last month with its most violent display since 1957. But even more notable was what came out with the water that spewed up to 30 feet in the air: 80 years worth of trash.

80 years worth of trash flew 30 feet up and out of the geyser. 80 years worth of trash. What the heck are people thinking out there that it seemed ok to toss junk into the geyser? Actually the articles of trash found were on the small side according to the list in the story-dozens of coins that people threw in to make wishes to just plain garbage: aluminum cans, plastic cups, cigarette butts, a broken bottle, etc. A baby pacifier dating to the 1930's was considered historic and will be put in Yellowstone's archives.

After the eruption all kinds of stuff was strewn around the opening of the geyser any of which, small or not, could plug up the whole works. At least it was not a catch all for people getting rid of old refrigerators and couches like we used to see in rural area woods.

Just another day at work

Katie walked by the elevator in the hallway of her office in the Dirksen Senate Office Building yesterday during the Judge Kavanaugh hearings and this is what she came across.

Protesters crammed into the elevator and truth be known, they were also lined up in the stairwell. A circus. I had to take a picture of her picture because the way she took it, turned it sideways on the webpage. But you get the idea.