MEATLESS HIGH PROTEIN LENTIL STEW : FOOD BANK RECIPE

MEATLESS LENTIL STEW

This is a hearty stew and you won't miss the meat.

4 cups dried brown lentils (rinse and look for little rocks that might need to be removed. In my entire life I've only found one rock!)

One quart chicken broth (or use four packets from chicken flavor ramen noodles to flavor a quart of water.)

Two bay leaves.  (Some people say leaves of bay don't add any flavor to soups and stews but others say these leaves add soul - something no one can quite define but that exists!)

In a pot, cook the lentils in the broth. 

I bring to a boil, put a lid on it, and then lower the heat to medium.  At about the twenty minute point, when the lentils are softened, I shut the gas off and allow the lentils to absorb any broth left. This happens in about ten minutes. They should be soft and easy to chew.

Olive oil for saute.

One can potatoes (which are already cooked), drained, or boil and cut up one medium cooked potato.

One can carrots (which are already cooked), drained, or two fresh carrots sliced.

One can tomato sauce. (If herbed, you may not want to add more spices.)

One fresh onion diced; red especially good.

Two tablespoons oregano or marjoram dried herb.

Two tablespoons powdered paprika.

In a sauce pan, on medium heat, saute the onion, add the sliced carrots, then the cut up potato, then the spices. Add the tomato sauce last.  You want the onions and carrots and potato to be soft.  Stir around, add more olive oil as needed, add salt, about a half teaspoon, or as desired. Then add the lentils to the sauce pan and stir well. Continue to cook on low with a lid on over the pan for a few minutes.

If you use canned potato and carrots, the cook time in the sauce pan is less, but just use lower heat, because the tomato sauce will still need to thicken.

Part of the fun of this recipe is the differences in textures and colors.

*** Green and other colors of lentils will work but be sensitive to the cooking instructions on the package as they do have different cooking times.  Don't throw different colors of lentils in the same cook pot.

If you use the raman noodle chicken flavor packets, you can still boil up the dried raman and use it for another recipe.

CANNED FRUIT COCKTAIL - OATMEAL SWEET BISCUITS : FOOD BANK RECIPES

 CANNED FRUIT COCKTAIL - OATMEAL SWEET BISCUITS

Slightly Sweet and Pretty Too

Cupcake pans best.  No need to use papers.

The difference between a cupcake and a biscuit is the ratio of wet ingredients, particularly water, to dry ingredients. 

Wet Ingredients:

1 can fruit cocktail (usually mixed fruit that includes peaches, pears, grapes) including liquid.

1 large egg or two small.

Water : about a quarter to half a cup but watch the batter, add water slowly while mixing only if needed. Depending on the brand of fruit cocktail, you may not need to add more water at all. ***

1/4 cup liquid vegetable oil such as soy. (If you do not have oil on hand, plain yogurt can work.)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla substitute (Optional. If you use oatmeal cereal packets, the sugar and flavoring spices will change the flavor and you will not need vanilla or to add sugar.)

3 restaurant sugar packets (or about 1 level teaspoon of sugar). The fruit cocktail liquid in the can is likely all the sugar you will need to sweeten the biscuit so this sugar is optional.

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups white flour

2 cups oatmeal (quick cook the best)

1 full teaspoon baking powder

Optional:

Dry almonds. If your almonds seem too hard to easily chew, consider soaking them in clean warm water for ten minutes to soften them up. Walnuts are also good.

Instructions:

Use a few drops of vegetable oil to grease inside the cupcake tins.

Turn the oven on 425 degrees to preheat and plan to work quickly.

In separate bowls, hand mix the dry ingredients and then hand mix the wet ingredients, just enough for the wet to appear like a slurry.

Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and stir the mixture around just enough so it's blended; look at it and add water a little at a time only if it appears that there is excess dry ingredients in the bowl. ***

Stir in almonds.

Spoon mixture into the cupcake tins using a large spoon, careful to make each about the same size so they bake evenly. Makes about 12 to 18 biscuits.

Check the biscuits at about 15 minutes. Touch the top of a biscuit for firmness. It should give just a little and, after cooling, will be firm when done. Do not pierce with a fork like you would a cake. My old oven takes about 20 minutes.

Let the biscuits cool a bit in the cupcake tins before using a large spoon to scoop them out.

The fruit cocktail will allow a delicious and still wet fruit flavor to come through. Good for a desert or a take along breakfast or snack.

C 2024 Magyar American BlogSpot

Click the label Food Bank Recipes to get to other recipes posted.

COLD TUNA PASTA FROM BOXED MAC and CHEESE : FOOD BANK RECIPE

 Hello Friends!

This recipe is one of a few I've posted to help you make more of the free food that is given out at food bank distributions. People appreciate the help but I know from volunteering at a food bank that there is a lot of repetition. Some of what is given away comes from stores that are throwing it out and still getting a tax deduction for donating it even if it's clearly not fresh. A lot of packaged food and canned food is given away because at least it doesn't go bad right away. At the food bank I volunteered at, we rarely had time to check the expiration dates on meats, which were rare, and we barely ever got fruits or veggies. This is a variation on the popular "Mac and cheese" but you don't mix it with butter and milk to activate the cheese and eat it hot.

COLD MAC AND CHEESE PASTA

One box of Mac and Cheese - the kind that has a packet of powdered cheese or cheese substitute.

One small can of tuna fish

One can of peas (which are already cooked before canning)

One heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise (about eight packets of restaurant give away mayo)

One level teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

Salt as you please.

Boil the pasta, drain, rinse with cold water till cool, drain again so that there is near no water left.

Open the can of tuna fish, drain. 

Open the package of dried powder cheese and set aside.  Add the garlic powder to it if you like.

In a bowl add the ingredients as follows.

Tuna, peas, cold pasta.

Sprinkle the dried powder cheese over the mixture and stir in.

Stir in the mayo, mixing well.

That's it.  This cold pasta needs no refrigeration if you eat it right away. Makes about four portions.

C 2024 Magyar American BlogSpot

Click the label Food Bank Recipes to get to other recipes posted.

DONATING TO A FOOD BANK? : THE BEHIND THE SCENES REALITY : HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS AND MY PERSONAL BELIEFS ABOUT GIVING!

Having volunteered to sort and bag food for distribution, I'm aware that at some locations what is in the bag is pretty much the same every month.  Much depends on your location.  You may be eligible for food from a regional food bank - governmental - or from other locations, and there are some which have an agenda. Also if you are a senior, check with your local senior centers, you may be eligible for special distributions.

Please be aware of the following:

No food distribution needs your social security number. Even churches have been asking for this and I believe there is a potential for compromising your social security number - which has become a citizen ID number - for crime and privacy invasion. Most food banks do not put their volunteers through background checks. Churches are not social service with governmental ties. The only people who can or should be asking for your social security number is the social services of the United States or the state, and that is usually done in person at an intake. Seriously question and refuse any other church, non-profit, or other entity asking for your social security number. Never ever give it out over the phone.

If at all possible go to food banks that have a "no questions asked" policy.

Some churches are using giving out food, a Christian action, to pray over people in an attempt to convert them to their own beliefs.  I personally find this offensive.  If someone wants Christian credit for giving to humanity, let them have that credit with God, but some people are so hungry and poor that they go to a different food distribution every day or every week and are prayed over by many different faiths over that week. Implied also is that they would not need this food if they were not bad, or doing something wrong and that poverty is punishment.  If find this to be even more offensive.

The places I volunteered at had a no questions asked policy.

Being human and hungry is enough.

If you have never been to a food bank or food distribution in the United States, let me also tell you the following.

1) Food Banks and Distributions are often under special rules from the Health Department so that no one who eats that food gets ill. Food such as meats, fish, and produce is supposed to be picked up and distributed quickly -within hours - to eliminate the possibility that it may be spoiled or contaminated. They are taking a tax deduction in many cases. It is a win for them because they also do not have to throw the food out. However, the volunteer staff often does not have the time to inspect the dates on the food. I've seen spoiled meats and vegetables donated that were sorted and thrown out.  I've seen mold on bread. 

I've also been in a situation where I was the only person who showed up and had to do the work of several people to get bags loaded. 

You should inspect whatever you just got. 

Food distribution volunteers are supposed to be washing their hands, covering their noses and mouths with masks, and wearing gloves for sorting and bagging - but I can tell you that they are often not. Wash your own hands and wash fruits and vegetables, even if it looks like they have come from the store in a pack.

Sometimes volunteers with bare hands will remove bad fruits or veggies from a pack and repack.

2) Expiration dates are usually "sell by" dates. If something is past that date, the store will donate it, and it is still good, but it depends on what it is.  A spoiled part of an apple or onion can be cut off and can be seen but may not make it into a bag. Since I have a zero tolerance for food waste, I sometimes took these home knowing how to deal with them but in both cases some of the damaged or partly spoiled produce made it into compost.

Most canned goods are safe to eat for a few months or longer after the date on the can, but may loose some quality. Canned beans that have sat for a time can become gassy.  Be concerned about meat and seafood.  It should be cooked right away.

3) Although most food rescue groups are picking up from donating stores and distributing quickly, there are also "for profit" businesses that are acting as middlemen.  Some of them are moving food from one county to another and just the transportation time makes the distribution time a question.

4) For those who do not have a kitchen or cold storage, many food banks have what is commonly thought of as "homeless bags" and if this is you, ask for that consideration.  You may get salads that have been pre-packaged and have cooked meats in them. These need to be eaten right away.  If you open one and take a bite and the flavor of the meat is questionable, the whole thing needs to be thrown away.

DONATING TO FOOD BANKS?  CONSIDER NUTRITION

Years ago I met a man at my local library who was living in a van.  I got to know home better and he told me he was going to a local church for a food bag, but also mostly ate what was sold at the 7/11 store near the library.  What did he get in the food bag, month after month?  A can of apple sauce, a jar of peanut butter, lots of bread. He ate so much of these that he had an aversion to these items.  Peanut butter is thought to be a high protein option. Sadly there is a question about the oils used and how long they are unspoiled.

If a store has a commitment to giving food to food banks, besides what they are throwing out and getting a tax deduction for, they will throw the items that cost them the least - corn, carrots, bread, pasta... All of these items are high in sugars and carbs and can not only put weight on a person but move them towards diabetic sugar. 

Some people go through their cabinets and pull items they have not used that are nearing the expiration date. Others donate money or go shopping and then donate.

I strongly urge you to go shopping and donate because some of the places that are taking money donations go out and get the same corn, carrots, bread, pasta.

We're supposed to be keeping people alive and healthy.

Things that are rare and very much needed include:

Olive oil.

Tomato paste in cans.

Fresh (not green skinned or showing sprouts) potato.

Fresh celery.  Time permitting a stalk can be separated.

Fresh cabbage.

Fresh herbs (If you have a home garden, check to see if the food distribution can accept these. Some will take tree fruits as well.)

Brown rice.  (There seems to be a lot of white rice, which does have some nutrition but generally is inferior to brown and can put weight on.)  

Meat : Although the canned is more expensive per ounce than fresh meat, this may be a welcome option. Consider having ground turkey or meat packaged in one quarter pound packages.  (Call ahead to be sure that the delivery of these packets will be about an hour before distribution. The store is going to label them with the day's date.

What will be distributed but in general is not helpful:

Some church groups and boys and girls clubs make sandwiches and donate them. Often these are peanut butter sandwiches. One time someone was giving out bologna sandwiches that each had one cut olive in the middle.  They meant well.

Consider making fresh salads instead.

The problem is that there is a question about sanitation again. If you are determined to make any sandwiches of any kind, or salads, or any other food, your volunteers should be washed, gloved, and masked, and be wearing hair nets.  These probably should be give to a homeless outreach rather than a food bank.  

Donations are always sought and always appreciated. 

C 2024 Magyar-American  BlogSpot

COOKIES THAT INCLUDE OATS - NO VANILLA OR FLAVORING? NO PROBLEM! : FOOD BANK RECIPE WITH SUGAR SUBSTITUTES TOO!

When you're on a budget, or just plain broke, you may not be able to buy spices or food flavorings or the basic vanilla that is used in most recipes for cookies and baked goods.  

However, you can nicely flavor a basic healthy cookie by using the zest and juice of an orange or lemon. You can use very little sugar in a recipe and depend on raisins - or other dried  fruits to add the sweet. Looking over standard recipes for most cookies, there really is a whole lot of sugar being used - too much.  

Maybe you picked up free sugar packets when you had coffee out?  *** At the bottom of this recipe there is yet another way to substitute for sugar.

Food Banks give out a lot of oatmeal. Oatmeal as cereal is healthy for you because oats are supposed to lower cholesterol. The oatmeal comes in bags,  boxes, and as instant cereals. It's rather bland by itself.

These cookies are closer to a "health bar" than the usual cookie and have a lower guilt factor if you eat a few at a time!  They also provide fiber to your diet.

Oven temperature 375 degrees. Time to bake depends on how large you scoop the cookie.  A cookie lump using about a fourth cup of batter takes 20 to 30 minutes. Baking sheets do not need to be buttered or oiled but the bottoms of these cookies will be browned so lightly greasing them won't hurt. Since ovens have variations just watch the first batch you make and take notes.  These cookies will not spread out, so you can fit a lot of them on one sheet. The baked cookie is not hard, but dry, but for the sweet fruit.  The crunch comes from the nuts. You may not notice the oatmeal at all!

****

Wet Bowl Ingredients:

One egg.

1/3 cup liquid oil.  (soybean or vegetable OK)

1/2 cup water (plus more set aside to be added gradually, as needed.)

1/3 cup sugar - brown best - or less.***

The juice of one lemon. Or the juice of one half orange. Before squeezing make zest from outer skin of the lemon or orange and add to this mixture. I use the whole lemon peel or half orange peel.

Wisk these in a separate bowl gently to blend. 

Dry Bowl Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup wheat flour

3/4 cup dry oatmeal  (instant is fine)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder (not soda)

Any dry spices you wish to add such as pumpkin, allspice, or cinnamon, instead of the lemon or orange juice and zest.  Use one teaspoon or less.

Stir around with a fork to blend these dry ingredients well.

Fruit and Nut Bowl

Half a cup of raisins, small cut figs, cranberries, or as you like.  

Three fourths cup of nuts such as peanuts, almonds, walnuts.  Coconut flakes can be used. 

****

NO OIL?

Substitute in 1/4 up peanut butter or 1/4 cup mashed banana (blackened best).

***

Turn the oven on to preheat.

Gently pour the wet mixture into the dry and, using a fork.  Add extra water bit by bit as needed. You want a thick mixture, not too gooey or runny. Once you are satisfied that there is no dry flour - oatmeal remaining, fold in the nuts and raisins. Scoop out on baking sheets...  Do this by hand.  It only takes a minute, if that.

 ***

With this basic recipe, whatever you got at the food bank will work, just vary it as you want.

Some suggestions include peanut butter and walnut with raisins, almonds with banana and raisins using lemon zest and juice, orange and raisin or orange and cranberry - whatever combo you come up with.

SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:

Now, if you are low on sugar you can also add one flavored packet of instant oatmeal. For instance the MAPLE flavoring usually also has a lot of sugar in the packet, enough to flavor the whole recipe. The APPLE flavored instant oatmeal may be nice with some cut up apples and you can use apple sauce instead of oil.

You may also use 1/4 cup of jam or jelly instead of sugar.  Wisk it in with the Wet ingredients.

Be creative!

I made a batch of these cookies for a picky friend who usually takes one of those store bought healthy bars with him on the road and he loved them.  Two or three of these with tea can be breakfast.

C 2023 Magyar- American - BlogSpot

PUMPKIN PASTA SAUCE : UP THE NUTRITION ! : FOOD BANK RECIPE

American food banks get and give away a lot of pasta, in particular the typical "spagetti" also called Number 8.  Now this is a lot of carbs for the food value and you can get fat on carbs and still be starving for vitamins and minerals even though pasta does have wheat protein. The best way to add value to any pasta is the vegetables and herbs and spices that go with. Pumpkin adds lots of nutrition value to your meal.

When I was growing up we called spagetti "noodles," a term that seems to only be used now when the pasta is in a soup. Now the trendy term for noodles is pasta, and there is so much fun to be had with different sizes and shapes, all of which can be used for this recipe. I always break my spagetti Number 8 into thirds which makes it easier to eat, although you might have a fork swirling technique that loads the long cooked strands.

The reason you get cans of pumpkin puree in Food Bank bags is that most people only think of pumpkin for the autumn season and to bake pies for Thanksgiving. So stores and people donate the cans. It''s spring and summer time and you can make use of that pumpkin. 

Cook pasta and drain it.  Set aside.

Skillet pan on medium heat and add:

One or two tablespoons of oil; olive oil is best.  If you don't have that you can use butter, lard, or coconut; 

One large garlic clove chopped small.

Let the garlic cook for about a minute.

Should you open the can of pumpkin and find it has settled and it is watery be sure to drain the water with a sieve first.  You want the texture to coat the pasta. Add the pumpkin puree to the skillet.

Also add about one third cup of grated parmesan cheese.

And a couple tablespoons of warm milk or cream. (Room temperature is fine.  You just don't want refrigerator cold.)  Full fat coconut milk is a good substitute and used with coconut oil will give a somewhat flowery taste.

Slowly stir together all the ingredients for about 3-5 minutes. If you notice that the paste forming appears to be too thick you can add a tablespoon of the water from the pasta, which has some starch in it.

Then gently scoop the cooked pasta in and stir to coat it with the pumpkin sauce.

A sprinkle of more parmesan on top is nice.

Makes about four servings but I won't blame you it you eat it all yourself. This should nicely coat about 8 ounces of pasta which is about half a typical box.

You may also want to add onions or celery, chopped small so that it will cook enough in a minute or two. A little salt, a little pepper... 

Pumpkin is noteworthy for having over 200% of your daily Vitamin A. Over 30 % of Vitamin K. and over 25% of your copper.

C 2023 Magyar- American BlogSpot

EGG SUBSTITUTES - FOR YOUR EGG CRISIS BAKING!

EGGS provide valuable protein in our diets so we are in a crisis when we cannot afford them. However, we can use other ingredients to substitute for eggs in our baking, perhaps leaving the real eggs to be eaten boiled or scrambled.

Eggs provide a binder - a substance that holds other ingredients together - when we bake.

APPLESAUCE can be a terrific egg substitute in baking, especially because it ads a little flavor but not overwhelmingly so.  I've used this with success.

1/4 cup APPLESAUCE for every 1 egg - There is no fat in the applesauce so you may want to add a little more oil.

1/4 cup mashed BANANA for every 1 egg.  These do have oil but will add a banana flavor...  So you can make banana bread that is eggless.

FLAX SEEDS... ground.,,, also called "meal." One tablespoon seed to three tablespoons of water.  Let then soak and stir to get consistency.

TOFU - the silky soft kind (made of soybeans) and a fairly neutral flavor. 1/4 cup for every one egg.   Adds protein as well.

BAKING SODA and VINEGAR - helps the loaf rise.  1 teaspoon of soda to 1 tablespoon of vinegar.  Since baking soda is already in many recipes, I confess to not being sure how to adjust a recipe using this option.

PLAIN YOGURT  - 1/4 cup for every 1 egg.

BUTTERMILK  - 1/4 cup for every 1 egg.

PEANUT BUTTER - 3 tablespoons for every 1 egg.  Has oil. Influences flavor.

OTHER NUT BUTTERS - ditto.

CARBONATED WATER also called SODA WATER - 1/4 cup for every 1 egg. Helps the rise.

Now, almond butter or carbonated water might work if you're making pancakes.  Peanut butter cookies might be a better use for peanut butter.

I've had great luck with Yogurt as a substitute.

GELATIN - 1 Tablespoon gelatin to 1 Tablespoon cold water.  Like the FLAX SEED MEAL give it a stir as it's a binding agent. Then add 2 tablespoons of boiling water and stir some more... you should see that it's turning into gel.

I haven't tried this but a friend suggests that even flavored gelatin could be a great addition to plain cookies or white cake batter. Such as lemon or orange.

I hope these ideas will help you feel a little less deprived!

Coming up in the next few months, some How To's on making use of groceries one may find in a Food Bank box!

THE SAD STATE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY - FAKE EGGS TO DYE FOR EASTER - TWO FOOD BANKS INSTEAD OF ONE

I'm writing this post on March 10th, having just heard that an important bank that funds investments in the tech economy based in Silicon Valley, central California, has gone belly up. Like in the Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life, there has been a run on the bank, but it's not people physically going there expecting cash. Rather, upon hearing this was happening, people pulled their funds electronically. This bank failure is said to be the biggest since the crash that began The Great Depression.  I spend some time listening to various opinions about what will happen next. By the time this posts, I/we will all know if that bank failure has had a "rolling effect."

This past week or two I experienced some telling signs that our economy is not healing from the ordeal of Covid, that inflation is beyond the high being reported.

First it was going to the grocery nearest me, which I should name but won't at this point, a store that I have long suspected is gouging customers who do not want to put in travel time or gas money to buy groceries. I'm signed up for this companies special discounts for those enrolled. They are trying to break the union by having people register themselves out and by having people come and pick up their purchases through a pre-ordering shopping system. 

They also run coupons suggesting an item is free and usually there is such a run for it that that item that gets people in the store has run out before I get there.   Last summer they had a free store brand Pizza which was usually marked at about $2 to $3 dollars.  That same pizza was now marked at $6.99.

Seeing a box of 50 typical papery Made in China face masks for $5.99 there a couple months ago started me thinking they were gouging. Then I noticed their day old bakery items were marked double what they had been. The other day I went in to buy the laundry detergent I swear by, the Arm and Hammer 100 loads Unscented, which I last purchased for about $12 about a year ago. I was shocked to see this item marked at $23.00 for the same...

As a result I went to a pharmacy type store that is a chain about a half mile away. I searched for laundry soap and found NONE on the shelves.  So I went to the register and asked if it was possible that the product was elsewhere in the store.  Actually they had moved all the laundry detergent BEHIND THE REGISTER. The clerk told me this was because people were walking out - stealing - bottles of laundry detergent!  They did not have my brand.

I went to another store and saw what appeared to be white eggs in cartons.  It turned out that these fake eggs were crafts items ready for dying for Easter and offered as a substitute to those who CANNOT AFFORD REAL EGGS...  There is no indication the price on eggs is coming down, and some brands are $9. to $12 a dozen for the real eggs.  So kids will have fake eggs in their Easter baskets?

Finally a friend of mine headed for a senior center in another town where she was able to get some free groceries on Wednesdays. It turns out that, due to higher demand, they were going to do these food distributions by lottery and twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.  This food comes in from an outside organization not a governmental agency. They pick up food that grocery stores are supposedly are ready to throw away. The higher demand is because the extra money put into the EBT food cards from the federal government of the United States for Covid relief ended.  (This money also stimulated our economy.)

I needed some onions and also shopped for them.  The store I suspect of gouging wanted $1.69 for a pound of white onions. The "Mexican Market" a small chain that is probably not unionized, had them for two pounds for $1 but I didn't have an hour for the round trip. I found them at a "dollar store" (where near nothing is a dollar and where the register always ads on a penny)  where they were prebagged at three pounds for $2.  At home I found one big onion in there appeared to be moldering.

A young woman I know who works as a waitress for a chain said business wasn't down but the tips were (while the sexual harassment by men was up.)  Out to buy her own groceries after serving meals all day to others more fortunate, she loaded up on the cheap noodle soup packets for her own dinners.

As a result of all this, I'm going to try to post more recipes using food items that are often given out at food banks. Remember I have volunteered for a couple food distributions in recent years and have a good idea what is in those bags.

I will also be posting about EGG SUBSTITUTES for cooking soon.

During World War II, when food rationing was in place in England, they got one egg a week, one pint of milk, four ounces of meat... just barely enough... I believe people can make it through - when there is an end in sight.

Let us not forget that the Covid pandemic was very real. None of us could imagine when the first masking mandates began that we would be effected for YEARS.

I hope we are not headed for another Great Depression.

C 2023  Magyar-American BlogSpot

A HUNGARIAN- AMERICAN INTERPRETATION OF HUNGARIAN ALL SOULS and ALL SAINTS CAKE GIVING

In Hungarian tradition, which is surprisingly like the Mexican one, families take food to the cemetery.  They clean the graves, leave flowers and food for the ancestors. They light candles on the graves.  And they may also give "Beggers" who are outside the gates some of the bread or cake they brought with them.  It makes practical sense that the beggers should eat, for food can only be 'eaten' by the spirits who are in the next world. 

May I suggest that a way for Hungarian-Americans to continue this tradition is to donate to a food bank?

Though I'm no longer volunteering at meal or food bank - distribution sites, I've made some inquiries about how it's going at a local food bank.  I'm told that as the cost of living has gotten out of control, the contributions are way down, especially of the fresh produce, and so they are giving out more dry goods - pasta, rice, and so on, and even the canned goods tend to be potato and corn.  I can tell you that too much of these foods is not a healthy diet and the cause of weight gain and even problems with sugar. These carbs must be balanced with proteins and vegetables. I know that I myself sometimes make too much of a meal with them.

However, I realized long ago that the things that are given out - and sometimes that includes non-food items such as soap and shampoo and toothpaste - are still appreciated.  If a person goes to a foodbank before their money runs out, they may be able to spend on the items that they do not receive at no charge.

Most food banks cannot accept your home baked goods, even though the same baked goods could be given to a church bazaar or event. This is because of health department rules that aim to prevent food illnesses and also because of the rare but terrible events in which evil people intend to harm others through things they bake in or put in foods. Packaged and store bought items rather than home baked items are even required for schools. I sure wish we were back in the day with this.  As a result, what you donate to a food bank must also be purchased at a store.

Bread is something that is inexpensive for most stores to donate to food banks and so there is usually quite a bit of it given.  However, I noticed that my local stores that used to have drastically reduced day-old pastries and breads are also out of these items. 

Please consider my suggestion.

C 2022 Magyar-American BlogSpot

MEMORIAL DAY : SHOULD REMEMBER THE OLD PRICE OF GROCERIES?

I'm not sure most Americans are celebrating Memorial Day as

a remembrance of those who lost their lives fighting in our wars. 

Rather,

I think the day is perceived as a well earned day off,

 and a day to greet summer and to have

a picnic or barbeque outdoors.

The grocers are jammed with people buying 

hot dogs, chicken, ground meat for burgers, various

sodas and sparkling waters, fresh corn on the cob, eggs and potatoes for salad, and something else that has become unbelievably expensive lately : chips!

I suppose due to transportation costs, importing delays, the cost of living rising, and

an assortment of other issues, chips have become extremely expensive.

Looking closely at some of these products, it seems that the bags look about the same size but the ounces of product within has been reduced.

The leap of inflation has already made signs up at fast food restaurants

claiming up to $25. an hour pay a bit of a joke.

That's because a burger, fries, and a soda can easily cost $6.

C 2022  Magyar American BlogSpot

 

 

FOOD INSECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES ; MY FOOD "GIVE AWAY" VOLUNTEER GIG CONTINUES

A couple days ago I walked my dog over to the location where I volunteer on Friday mornings to process donated food and bag it for a GIVE AWAY. There was someone I wanted to talk to. I had never been by there on a Thursday and as it turns out, twice a month the food arrives the day before. 

I've decided to call our effort a GIVE AWAY because I saw the delivery and the small amount of storage and realized No, it is not actually a FOOD BANK. Though we do have some canned goods we are processing food the day before or the day of a give away and the rest of the time the space is used for other things. Since I was there, I was asked to help out and basically separated all the things that obviously needed to be put in a refrigerator. Though a small amount of meat and many prepared salads are given, these went in, along with yogurt.

The number one thing that is donated is BREAD - various forms such as sour dough, flatbread, rye, cinnamon swirl, French Loafs, Multigrain, and Tortilla.  There is such an abundance of it - and the store is likely taking a tax deduction, so I wonder, if the motivation to donate all that bread - wheat products - is actually the tax deduction.  Could the stores really overstock so consistently?  Sadly, an overabundance of wheat/bread in the diet leads to excessive calories and a fat belly, but I understand that it would all go into a landfill if it were not distributed. I won't judge it but I'd say most of the people who show up for free food are not very fat.

Anyone who is consistently using free food probably does this but if you're new to it, the idea is to get your free things first and then go shopping for what you still need.

Here is what happens when we volunteers meet on Friday morning. We open all the cardboard boxes and separate out the vegetables, fruits, salads, and other items, on long tables, watching for anything that is rotten. Often there will be a whole bag of something that has been donated because one item inside it has gotten mold or gone bad. Other times it seems something has been thrown in because it was left at a cash register somewhere. All the "bad" stuff goes into a container to be turned into compost for a garden.

It seems that once in a while we get cheeses, more often eggs, sometimes a meat product, such as a ready made meat loaf, or something frozen that can be turned into a meal. 

Once our tables are laden with all this, we take plastic bags and fill them, trying to keep heavy things on the bottom and be diverse in what we put in each bag. Sometimes it's kind of fun to think of the person who gets the bag and what a surprise it is for them to see what's in it.  I personally try to fill a bag in a way in which a meal makes sense.  If I put in tortilla's I'll try for some refried beans, onions, peppers, eggs in the bag too.

Once in a while we get a truly exotic product, and these are also distributed. In the last couple months we have seen gummy bear vitamins, hot sauces, strange teas, fresh ginger.

We know that a person may not like or use everything in their bag. The idea is that they give these things away to friends and neighbors rather than waste them.

When I first started I was startled to see some volunteers taking away a lot of food for themselves and their families.  I understand that his is typical however.

Finally, after about two hours of work, the bags are taken outside to tables under a tent and a line up forms. Usually within 15 minutes most of the people who are going to take food have shown up and usually within a half hour it is all gone. We typically make over 50 bags and if the line up looks sparse, we may give out more than one bag per person.

Most of the people who show up are on foot, some with grocery carts, some in cars.  When someone drive up in an expensive vehicle I can't help but wonder if they are just taking advantage.

I don't do everything every week. Sometimes I just bag. In the last few weeks I've been taking things to the tables. This week we had so many apples, we gave out whole bags of them to anyone who said they would like them in addition to their grocery bag. We had so much bread, same thing.

At the end of the session, other volunteers take about 10 bags to the closest homeless encampment where people do not wish to leave their tents.  We try to be sensitive to the fact that people in these tents cannot cook when we pack their bags. For some of the volunteers this is their reason why they volunteer.

Finally, on a day like we had where we literally had an entire box of apples and dozens of loaves of bread, these are taken to a local rehab or group home.

I like that nothing is wasted.

I believe that Covid-19 economy has a lot to do with what's happening here with food and "Food Insecurity," not having enough food.

There are still people in the hospital with Covid. Our governor has announced there are going to be $50 stipends given to people who get a vaccination and the rest of us are somehow submitted into a lottery for a million bucks.

Wish me luck!

C 2021 Magyar American BlogSpot

VOLUNTEERING AT A "FOOD BANK" in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Be you a true Christian or a Humanitarian or Humanist, you know that your fellow humans cannot exist without a most basic need for life. Food.

Around Christmas I posted an opinion that I reread a couple months later and I thought I'd been angry. 

Perhaps I should have explained that I had been encountering a great number of Holier Than Thou "Christians" who have an ugly, punishing attitude towards poor people, people who are often disabled, sick people. The attitude was "God is punishing them. They did something wrong."

There are tents housing homeless in increasing numbers around my part of town and the thought of being out there even one night scares the hell out of me. I had a taste of being a woman alone in the dark years ago. It happened in a simple way. I took a bus to a part of town that I didn't know my way around in to an electronics retail store and didn't realize that the bus service cut off rather early. I had a heavy package to carry. I sat waiting in a bus shelter for too long as I realised no bus was coming. This was pre cell phone. I didn't see a phone booth in a walkable distance. As it got darker, I decided I was better off sitting where I was than walking. The neighborhood looked creepier by the moment. I sat there all night, too cold to fall asleep, until a bus showed up at 5 am. 

Imagine what it must be to not even have a tent.

I've been involved in food distribution for some time, those without a requirement that the people in line be of a certain religion or give their names, or be citizens.

Unfortunately, Americans who never thought to get in line have been doing so. Especially old people on retirement.

I decided to volunteer for a Christian organization close to home to see how they do it. Previously the place I worked for that provides hot meals had closed down due to Covid -19 and reopened with a two person crew for Grab and Go.

I was surprised to learn that this food bank has multiple sources but a huge donor was Trader Joes, of my favorite grocers. A group leader told me they had done a pop-up distribution in which there is no announcement but as soon as people see, the lines form. They had given out 100 bags and ran out. She told me there is a food shortage. She meant in this country.

When volunteers arrive they have on masks and put on rubber gloves. A van arrives loaded with vegetables. Eggs, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy items appear but are rare.

Breads and desserts are plentiful. Canned goods from individuals not so.

Never the less in about an hour the cardboard boxes are opened and broken down and put into the dumpster, food is laid out by category, and the group fills about 35 bags, sometimes 60, with as much variety as can be arranged. 

People walk up or drive up to wait before we are done.

When the food bank opens only two questions are asked. Where do you live? How many in your family? Those bags are usually gone in half an hour.

If there is truly a lot left that food is taken to a rehab house. Any expired dairy is thrown out or rotting veggies put into a compost bin.

It's efficient and over quickly.

I recently met an immigrant from Central Europe who has a lawyer working on her citizenship. She expressed to me that all homeless are lazy people who do not want to work, or alcoholic or drug addicts. She is wrong. At the hot meals place a number of low income people who did not have enough after rent for food came. There were also homeless who lost their housing due to unexpected long term illness. 

Many loving and giving people who have wealth and security have been privately and quietly giving money to nonprofits through the crisis.

I encourage you to give up a coffee or a lunch and donate to a food bank instead.

To the manor born, oblige like a good noble.

Thanks!