Balance of Food

Appreciate quality in grocery staples when shopping

$2.49

That was the price of a gallon of milk at my local, large grocery store. The price at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through the height of the pandemic. If you could carry 2 gallons of milk, you could get the pair for $4.

As prices went up this winter and spring because of inflation/supply chain/greed, the price went up to $2.79, a whole 30¢. You could still get the milk for $2.49 if you had the loyalty card.

Then the loyalty price went away and the 2/$4 also departed. A lot to complain about in this world: a 30¢ increase in milk after 2 years isn't so bad.

Then one day I go to buy milk and the brand is gone. No milk to be found. That could be the supply chain or whatever.

Unlike some shopping, I needed milk. You have to be careful about buying milk; no ultra-pasteurized milk.

I drifted over to the organic section. My store carries organic milk that hasn't been ultra-pasteurized.

UHT milk provides longer shelf life but nutrition and taste are lost

$5.49

A 220% increase from the $2.49 price. 34¢ vs. 16¢ per 8 oz. glass.

With organic milk, the cows are treated better and the milk is more nutritious. There is a stigma against organic milk for some people.

The other major factor was organic milk is the taste is so much better. You are paying a higher price but oh you are paying for quality. This milk was almost too good to drink.

I figured I would only buy a single gallon of organic milk. A treat. That one gallon of organic milk was so good; there was a repeat visit. Even with the return of the regular milk, I bought the organic milk.

$0.89

The next trip for milk, I saw a reduced price on the regular milk. About 5.5¢ per 8 oz. glass.

A drop in quality but 89¢ is difficult to pass up. I do have to drink the milk by the 6-day expiration date in theory, but as we've learned a day or 2 extra is not a big deal.

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We pick food in the grocery store because of taste but there isn't usually a significant gap in costs. We might indulge on special treats at the store and pinch pennies on the standards such as milk.

Ideally, I would earn more money and buy organic milk all the time. Until then, maybe a mix of milk in the house.

photo credit: me

Mushrooms and other vegetables can taste better with improved texture

Adult food tastes can change but sometimes the trauma of childhood can make trying foods problematic as an adult. If you had asked me at age 18 where I stood on mushrooms, I would have said "yuck."

My childhood exposure to mushrooms had been canned mushrooms and raw mushrooms baked into a pizza. Yuck indeed.

I love mushrooms now. Absolutely love them. The mushrooms do have to check off a few boxes.

I discovered that criminis have a lot more taste than white button mushrooms. Eating them raw is only an option if I am literally starving. Sauteing criminis in olive oil or butter or bacon grease, thinly sliced, is marvelous.

Buying them from local markets makes a huge difference in taste. We hear the argument about prices being higher at farmers markets. For crimini mushrooms, the prices are pennies apart. The local mushrooms taste so much better.

When I make my own homemade pizzas, I saute the mushrooms BEFORE they go on the pizza. Huge difference.

Sonic came out in 2018 with mushrooms mixed into ground beef to form a burger. Mushrooms can taste really meaty. Keep the mushrooms at no more than 25%. As much as I don't like meatloaf, mushrooms are great in meatloaf. You might trick a carnivore into eating mushrooms.

"When you say, 'I don't like mushrooms', it's like saying you don't like wine," says self-confessed fungus obsessive Will Murray.

This comes from a recent article in The Guardian about converting a mushroom hater into a mushroom lover. I'm not crazy about wine but I stick to what I know and like. I have figured out through trial and error that sulfites, not the wine itself, are the issue.

They tell you cook with a wine you would drink, which is why I don't cook too often with wine. When I do, I try to cook most of the alcohol out of the dish.

"I love mushrooms, but my partner hates their texture." This is the key. Put mushrooms in a context where I am uncomfortable and I am back to being a child. Celebrate mushrooms and I could be the spokesperson.

Alton Brown's reloaded sauteed mushrooms recipe calls for the mushrooms to start out cooking in a ⅓ cup of water.

"Adding water into the mix causes the air pockets in the mushrooms to break down, resulting in floppier and denser slices. Yes, I realize that sounds like a contradiction but it isn't."

While your humble narrator hasn't been able to make this recipe work like it does on Good Eats, you might like the texture difference.

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People generally consume most fruits in their raw state. You might prefer apples in a pie than off a tree. Texture is key for fruits but even more important for vegetables.

Tomatoes are the rare vegetable where there is large consumption in raw and cooked form. If you have crossed over into cauliflower, you are likely not eating that raw. Texture matters.

Roasting is given as the ultimate solution because of the increased sweetness. True, but softer textures are at work. You could eat a red pepper in its raw state but a roasted red pepper can be really beautiful.

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You may be a mushroom lover but struggle with other foods. Zucchini bread is great even if I'm not wild about zucchini in other dishes. Find a sweet spot that works for you. Kale chips are great, better tasting than actual kale.

How many tries should you give a food? There is no definite number. You might have to try again, like the magic 8 ball tells us. The goal isn't to love every vegetable; just enough vegetables in enough ways.

photo credits: me (x2); Mushroom Council; Good Eats