What's Your Choice?

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have very strong feelings about the way people, Americans specifically, have become mindless cattle.  When it comes to food, eating healthy, buying sustainable products, living "green", and making the world a better place in general, I will yell at the top of my voice until everyone around me starts thinking for themselves.  Stop letting the government, big pharma, and lobbyists decide your options, forcing shit down your throat you don't need.  I'm not Polyanna.  I know how the world operates.  And I know we all have choices.

I choose the good stuff.

I am very passionate about food.  Healthy, fresh food that is not processed, or with as minimal processing as possible.  I am an advocate for cooking with and for your family, sitting down at the table, and sharing a meal.  Shut off the TV, the XBOX, the computer.  Turn on some nice music, sit at the table and have a conversation with your loved one or family.  Ask them how their day was.  What did you learn at school today?  How was work?  I thought we'd go see so and so this weekend.  See where I'm going with this?

I know there are people out there that work very hard.  Three jobs, crazy hours.  Truck drivers, airline pilots, businessmen that travel for work that can't get home every night to see their family.  But when they do get home, sitting down at the table with their family should be a priority.  That's just me.  Maybe I'm the abnormal one.

This is what greeted me when I entered the market this morning:

Now, I'm all for being frugal and saving money in this very bad economy.  As a private chef, I am well aware that luxury items are the first to go in tough times.  People can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone hire someone like me to do it for them.  But this just makes my blood boil.

People have busy schedules, kids, errands, etc.  They believe they have no time to put a decent, nutritious meal in the lunchbox or on the dinner table.  They are told they have no time because of the way marketing is skewed toward making them believe it.  The "convenience" of the options pictured above are very appealing to a haggard young mom with 2 kids pulling on her leg, and wanting a lollipop.  I understand there is a market for these items.  What I can't wrap my head around is the fact that you can buy this shit for a $1 each.  Or better still, go to any grease factory, heart-attack-waiting-to-happen, fast food place and feed your family off the $1 menu.  I know those places now offer healthier options as well.  IT'S A CHOICE.  I get it.

I don't get that you can't buy organic produce and sustainable meat at reasonable prices because the government and food/drug lobbyists want it that way.  So much at stake.  So much money to make.  So many prescription drugs to sell.  That "healthy" (pun intended) bottom line for the quarterly report to the share holders.  Let's keep the cycle going.  No one is paying attention.  It's quick and easy.  And so is that pill that will fix your bad cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and liver.  Oh, and let's not forget about the penis pills.  Does your cock need a shock?

I regulate my liver functions, cholesterol, heart, and bones through nature.  Vitamins that are all natural.  Granted, all the pharmaceuticals are coming from plants as well, but they are being chemically manipulated.  Have you actually listened to the side effects to some of these drugs?

I'll use Lipitor as example #1:

"Blinding headaches, nausea, vertigo, disorientation, memory loss, extremely dry eyes, pain and stiffness, abdominal pain, muscle pain, weakness, spasms".


I'll use Chantix, a drug to help you quit smoking as example #2:

"Some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions while using CHANTIX to help them quit smoking. Some people had these symptoms when they began taking CHANTIX, and others developed them after several weeks of treatment or after stopping CHANTIX. If you, your family, or caregiver notice agitation, hostility, depression, or changes in behavior, thinking, or mood that are not typical for you, or you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, anxiety, panic, aggression, anger, mania, abnormal sensations, hallucinations, paranoia, or confusion, stop taking CHANTIX and call your doctor right away. Also tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems before taking CHANTIX, as these symptoms may worsen while taking CHANTIX."

SIGN ME UP FOR 5 PRESCRIPTIONS!!  Can't wait for that mind bending trip.  Like a roller coaster, only you didn't get to ride.  What the fuck is wrong with these pharmaceutical companies?  And any person that would actually want to take these drugs?  I get it.  It's a CHOICE.

I honestly believe it should be called "Sick Care', not health care.  The healthy people that CHOSE to eat right and stay out of the doctor's office and off the easy medication should be rewarded and have lower premiums.  The people that CHOSE to eat poorly, are obese, just don't care, won't lose weight or change their habits, and take the pills for an easy fix, should have to pay more.  Now, I understand a lot of people have congenital issues with their health and NEED to take medication to regulate those issues, even though they live a healthy life and eat well.

I just want people to read the labels on these "easy fix meals" and decide for themselves.  There aren't labels in the produce or meat aisle.  Now why is that?  Oh yeah!  IT'S FRESH!  And if there are labels on any of the processed, seasoned, mystery meat in bag, read it and know that your're being tricked.  If your 7 year old can't pronounce an ingredient on the nutrition information label on those frozen dinners you love so much, you shouldn't be ingesting it.  PERIOD.

A good rule to live by:  Only eat what will eventually ROT.  If it could survive a nuclear holocaust, three ice ages, and a meteor hitting the Earth, I'd just say NO.

But that's my choice.

What's your choice?

Cheers,

LMS

Who's Excited? I AM!

Hello kids.  It's been awhile, but I've been in kind of a "if-it's-not-good-enough-to-come-out-of-my-own-mouth-it's-not-good-enough-for-cyber-space" kind of mood of late.

But something changed all that today.

My "cousin" Carolyn, (long story long) is in advertising, marketing, web design, project managing etc., who works from home, has a client that is working on a website to rival those of recipes.com, foodtv.com, and cookingchannel.com.  He is looking for a chef/demonstrator to do videos for his website. He asked her if she knew anyone, but she had no idea. he called her back and she thought of me.

And "cousin" is a loving term.  Her parents were my God-Parents, and my parents' best friends, so respectfully, I grew up calling her parents Aunt and Uncle and her and her 3 siblings cousin. She was even named after my mom, who is her God-Mother.  There you have it.

Back to why I'm blogging again.

I will be doing the video demonstrations for the website and YouTube channel right from my own kitchen.

This is my dream job. PERIOD.

This is the exposure/platform I have been hoping for ever since I submitted an audition video for The Next Food Network Star, August 2009.

I have no expectations, other than to do the very best I can, be myself on camera, and teach people about my passion for food. Hoping to make others passionate about food in the process.

This could not have come at a better time as The Moonlight Chef is not doing very well at all right now as far as bringing in business.

The wind from one door closing opens the door in another room. Or so the proverb goes.

Who's excited? I AM!!!

Cheers,

LMS

Case in point

I have not posted in a long while.  When I created this "blog", I decided immediately that I would not write anything unless I felt compelled to write.  In a free thinking, cathartic, stream of conscious thought, idea.

Something happened today that prompted me to put my thoughts out into cyber space.

Casey Anthony. Not Guilty. As judged in court. By that of her peers. PERIOD.

While I do not know the ins and outs of the case, and honestly do not care, I do care that the public wants to bash and criticize the American Justice system.

What I believe personally will have no impact on the outcome of this trial, nor will it bring back that pretty little baby.

Is Casey Anthony guilty?  Was OJ Simpson?  That's not for me to decide.  The court of public opinion and the 3-ring circus that is the Media seems to rule these days.  Reporters should report the news.  Not create more melodrama.  I can't watch news programs for that reason.

I believe in the United States Justice System, and I do believe in honest lawyers that are hard working. HONEST.

In retrospect, Back to the Future II had some sense to it: "The justice system works swiftly, now that they've abolished all Lawyers."

Case in point.

Cheers,

LMS

Birthdays and Centerfolds

My husband's birthday is tomorrow.  He'll be 37.  For his 40th birthday I have Fantasy Baseball Camp with the Boston Red Sox planned for him and his twin brother.  Or a week at Spring Training.  So excited!  I want to go, too.

But back to the present.  I haven't purchased a gift as of yet.  He didn't ask for anything, nor does he really need anything right now.  I was going to get him a Wii, an iPad, or triplets on a trapeze.  All seemed superfulous at this point.  We hardly use the Original Nintendo/Super Nintendo, we both have fully functional computers, and he never has time to fuck me stupid, let alone the triplets I might supply.

I had the greatest idea to be a Playboy Centerfold.  Now I've come up with the most scathingly brilliant idea of making a faux volume!  Dated on his birthday, with articles and jokes written by friends, advertisments that are all inside jokes  And even those annoying little postcard "subscription" papers that fall out of a magazine.

Not sure where this is all leading, but now I have to figure out a new plan.  I have to come up with something fantastic, for my equally fantastic soulmate.  He deserves the Moon.  I'm always more prepared than this.  It's not fair to him.  I'll sleep on it.  I have all day tomorrow to come up with something.

Until then, I have birthday candles and Playboy Centerfolds to dream about.

Cheers.

LMS

Wine, weed, and whining.

I have been flying on civilian airplanes since I was 18 months old.  All shapes, sizes, models.  Fixed wing, prop. You name it.  When I was around 8 years old, Mumah and I went to visit my Grandparents in Florida.  On the way home, there was a terrible storm that the pilot tried to avoid, but did not succeed.  It was an awful flight, and I never forgot it.
I absolutely LOVE to travel.  I love driving anywhere and everywhere.  "Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us".  I've been to California, Canada, the Bahamas, and everywhere in between.  I'm the dog with it's head out the window wanting to see and experience everything the world has to offer.  I adore the Travel Channel and want to be the female version of Anthony Bourdain.  He's my hero, and in my honest opinion, the second coming of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson himself.

After that particular flight, I've always had trepidation about flying.  But I always enjoy the excitment of getting on an airplane.  I actually love to fly, but the whole fear of not being in control rattles my brain.

This brings me to the topic at hand:  An impromptu trip to Amsterdam.

I'm excited, in a holy-crap-I'm-going-abroad-for-the-first-time-in-my-life kind of way.  Amsterdam would not have been my first choice of European cities to visit.  France, London, Rome.  YES.  Amsterdam has this haze (yes, puns a go-go) of strange press for it's tolerance of marajuana use.  I'm not even interested in the weed, space cakes, mushrooms, or any other drug laden edible that can be thrown at me.  I am interested in the food, the canals, the beautiful architecture, and the culture.  Mostly, how Europeans exist and live.

I'm terrified to get on an airplane for that long, over the "Pond", and to another Continent.  This should be a time of great excitment.  But my brain cannot shut off about the "what ifs".  I know, very deep down in my soul, that it is not my destiny to be ended in an airplane crash.  But I will always worry, as a dog worries a bone.

In order to be forward thinking, embrace the chance of a lifetime, and just stop worrying about what is out of my control, I should drink some wine, smoke some weed, and quit whining about the "what ifs", and be grateful for a once in a lifetime experience.

Cheers.

LMS

Fading away.

This is where it all begins to fade. No one knows exactly where or when it all began to fall apart. But this is the moment. Right now. Right here. I snap my fingers and it's begun.

Cheers.

LMS

Pavlova and Turtles.

I keep thinking about it.  Keep wondering and making myself a maniac about it.  Why do we have to get old?  There are breeds of turtles that can live over 300 years.  But humans, if we're lucky, crank out 60 really good years.  Because honestly when you think about it, we don't start "living" and appreciating life until MAYBE high school/college.  Then the years at the end of our lives are not so great, depending upon the genes you get dealt.  Shitting your pants, memory loss, broken bones, etc.

So, starting at age (insert your "start age" here) what kind of life have you had?  Will you have?  Now this does not apply to everyone, OBVIOUSLY.  I have a Great Aunt at age 98.  My Father is going to be 75 this year and is in great shape.  Save the cancer.  Twice.  Broken hip, dislocated shoulder, screw driver up the nose, catching his nuts on a flagpole cleat while trying to catch the flag before it hit the ground, both knees replaced, and light one kidney.  And now potentially an issue with his bladder.  Other than that, he is on point!  Sharp.  Funny.  Quick.  And one of the most brilliant you will ever encounter.  Not only by his intelligence, but a human soul.  An artist.  A great beacon if you will.

Whilst on Staten Island today, driving along Richmond Avenue, my mom pointed out that the snow had this sheen to it.  That nothing could get through it but a jack hammer from all the snow/ice/melt/refreeze.  I told her it reminded me of meringue.  A Pavlova dessert, all glossy and pretty with fruit.  The snow did have the perfect sheen to it though.  Maybe humans could be preserved, or at least live a little longer, and make like a turtle.

Cheers.

LMS