Creative, Unusual Foods

Not to bore you, but I thought y'all might enjoy reading the rough draft of the speech I will be giving this evening. Please remember that I wrote it exactly as I will be saying it, so punctuation is not always exactly correct. Enjoy! :)



Think back with me for a moment. What was the last thing you ate for a meal or snack?

Now that you’ve got that in your mind, think again…what was the last time before that, that you ate that exact same thing? And the last time before that? And the last time before that?

If you’re like me, it’s very easy to get into a rut of eating the exact same thing over and over and over again. There are certain things that just taste good to you, or they fit in your budget, or maybe they’re quick and convenient to make, and nutritious at the same time. In my family, it’s quesadillas. We all like to eat them, they’re inexpensive, easy to make, and have the protein and carbohydrates to satisfy hunger. Whatever it is in your diet, chances are you probably eat quite a bit of it. And so I’ve noted down a few creative, unusual foods that still fit the four requirements, taste, budget, convenience, and nutrition, but will help break you out of your eating rut.

The first of these foods is the Bologna Burrito. Now don’t say ‘ewwww’…it’s actually very tasty. Very quick and easy to make for eating on the go, they’re also very inexpensive: all you need is a large flour tortilla, and two slices of bologna. You can also add cheddar cheese or other extras if you like. And believe it or not, they really are nutritious. The bologna, which is processed meat, has plenty of the protein that your body needs – even better if you add cheese. The tortilla contains carbohydrates to keep you feeling full and satisfied.

A note, however, on eating processed foods: a study done by professors and researchers at the Research Center of Hawaii at the University of Hawaii found that processed foods, including processed, prepackaged meats, may be linked to a risk of lung cancer. So try to keep highly processed foods in moderation as a part of your diet.

The next food I want to tell you about has a story behind it. One day when I was about six or seven years of age, I was spending the night at my grandparents’ house, and feeling rather creative. I wanted to try eating something unusual that I had never eaten before. On a wild hair, I combined what might seem to be two of the most unlikely foods to go together – Cheese Nips and honey. The surprising thing – they taste good together. I dubbed my mystery food No One Knows, but now I want you to know about it.

It’s really very simple, and the kids will love helping you make it. Cheese crackers of any kind will work, so choose low-fat and low-sodium crackers if possible. Simply break the crackers into small pieces so that they can easily be eaten with a fork when mixed into a sloppy mess with the honey. And guess what: honey is very, very good for you. In an article written by Janet Raloff and published in the Science News in 1998, May R. Berenbaum, professor of entomology and department head at Cornell University, told the results of the chemical analysis tests her team ran when studying various types of honey. They were surprised to find extremely large quantities of antioxidants in honey. And as you might know, antioxidants are, quote, “non-nutritive agents that can retard biologically destructive chemical reactions that…have been linked to many chronic diseases”, endquote. So any way that you can get honey into your diet is a good thing!

Another creative food is an unusual type of sandwich. We all know about the proverbial peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, but what about a peanut-butter-and-onion sandwich? It’s definitely original, a little out of the ordinary. Quick and easy to make, of course, and inexpensive. But taste? I’ll leave that up to you to decide whether or not the flavor is to your liking. It is nutritious, though – the bread gives you carbohydrates, and even protein if you have a good, whole-wheat bread. A good quality peanut butter has a good amount of protein, but it can also have a good deal of fat, so watch what kind you buy. Trader Joes sells an excellent, ground-peanut peanut butter, much better nutritionally than something like Jif or Skippy, which are almost pure lard. And onions? Oh, let me tell you about onions. Sure, they might make you cry, but the same chemical in onions that give them flavor and potency can actually help fight cancer! No really! Maura C. Flannery, a professor of Biology and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning in New York, wrote an article for The American Biology Teacher in 1991 entitled ‘Hearts and Onions: A Second Look at the Commonplace,” in which she stated, I quote, “the onion’s lacrimatory (or tear-causing) factor is an antibacterial and antifungal agent,” endquote. She also mentions allicin, the chemical found in garlic, and its anti-clotting effect. These vegetables sometimes looked down upon in Western culture actually have impressive nutritional benefits for our bodies.

The last type of unusual, creative food I want to tell you about is called Soup de Leftovers. This is easy and convenient, and it is unique every time you make it. So how do you make it? Very simple. Start with a can or two of soup – any kind of soup – and empty them into a saucepan on your stove. Next, rummage through your refrigerator, and any leftovers you find – or just about anything you find – toss it into the pot too! When you have finished adding leftovers and other ingredients to the pot, you may want to add another can of soup or some water to help thin it down some. Good leftovers to add are pasta, vegetables, and meat, but you can add really anything you find in the fridge, as long as it doesn’t have mold! Just remember that you are planning on eating the soup, so watch what you add – some things don’t go together very well! Also, be careful of what soup you are using, as a study done by the Department of Epidemiology at Maastrict University, in the Netherlands, found that salt added to foods, and the high sodium levels usually found in prepackaged soup, actually increase your risk of cancer. Always choose low-sodium soups – you might live longer that way.

In conclusion, there are several creative, unusual foods that you can eat to help break you out of the rut of eating the same thing over and over. I have mentioned four foods for you today, the Bologna Burrito, No One Knows, Peanut-Butter-and-Onion Sandwiches, and Soup de Leftovers. All of these fit into our four general food requirements, as they are tasty, nutritious, convenient, and inexpensive. But these four foods are not the only dishes that you can use to keep out of an eating rut. Next time you go to eat the same old thing, one more time, instead look in your cupboards and cabinets, and in your refrigerator, to see what creative, unique, unusual foods you can find, combine, and eat. And who knows? Maybe next time you’ll come up here and tell us about your favorite crazy combinations! :)