Hi, friends!
I hope your Monday went well and that no one else’s coffee machines broke.
I’m sitting in the office thinking about my dinner tonight. It’s some cooked veggies, rice, and a container of frozen meatballs I roasted with a bunch of chopped tomatoes.
I’m so excited about it, and it’s specifically because they’re Ikea frozen meatballs. See what I did there, bringing in why I titled the NOT as “Specifics”?
But why Ikea meatballs? Why not Target brand or grocery store brand or Fazio’s if I wanted to keep it local? It’s stupid simple. All those have soy flour or soy protein added to them and thanks stupid food allergy, none for me. I hadn’t even had lil frozen meatballs as appetizers or part of a meal for years and years until St Louis got an Ikea in 2015 and I learned European standards don’t shove soy into every fucking food they can!
So, do you have things that are specific to eat or buy or whatever for reasons that aren’t really brand loyalty per se, but rather it’s just the one thing you’ve found that works?
Being Asian, I have lactose intolerance but I can eat most cheese and milk by-products except actual milk. I have to get my calcium through other means (including Kale (not a fan but I eat it because calcium) and, er, Soy milk.)
I dislike all the other fake milks. I guess that’s because I’m Asian? Or just like Soy.
One sister is gluten sensitive. Which is less harmful than celiac disease, but it still means no gluten. My mom gets upset because she has had to change 50 years of cooking (a lot of Asian sauces including Soy include gluten) because of my sis. I keep telling her that it also hurts my sis because she’s the one person in the family who really loves pasta (connection?)
I didn’t realize soy had gluten. Good to know.
Soy doesn’t have gluten but soy sauce often includes wheat as part of the fermentation process. It’s possible to find gluten free versions but it takes a lot of looking.
I see some options for gluten-free soy sauce at the grocery store.
I have no recollection of what soy sauce even tastes like, but I do wonder if being gluten-free changes the flavor or consistency.
Tamari is gluten free soy sauce. I have a bottle in my cabinet I have never tried. More research is needed.
I find tamari to be indistinguishable from light soy sauce when cooking with it. @manchucandidate let your mom and sis know!
Wait, so Asians are more prone to being lactose intolerant?
Yes, like many Africans and Hispanic folks. I think Indians are unique among Asians because I don’t recall a lot of them having lactose intolerance. It’s just the fact that cow milk isn’t a big part of our historic diet and by the time many of us hit adulthood, we lose some or all of the ability to break down lactose.
I only have problems with milk and avoid it. I found even the lactose free milk gives me issues.
I usually make my own turkey meatballs but when I see the ones from this local company or any of their sausages on sale, I am on them
https://isernio.com
I drink a ton of Simply Limeade, usually with tequila. It seems cleaner than any of the other brands. I don’t have too much other food brand loyalty. I do mostly buy Franz breads but that is mostly because it is great bread & they have a crazy cheap discount store close by.
A new coffee pot has been purchased, cleaned, and set up for tomorrow. All’s right with the world.
Your post is timely because I just received my shipment of Easter candy from Sarris, a Pittsburgh based company. We always had Sarris eggs when I was growing up and it’s a tradition I continue. I got small buttercream eggs and an 8 oz each of the peanut butter and maple walnut. We have a local company that makes good chocolates and I buy them for other occasions but for Easter nothing but Sarris will do.
Crisis averted! Coffee is a tough drug to give up, especially if it is not on purpose.
I even picked up more instant just in case. It’s my only real addiction anymore and I’ll be damned with f I give it up!
It’s really fucked up how every single processed American food has soy. It’s obviously not necessary (see The Rest Of The World).
The only actual coffee that I will drink is from the New Mexico Piñon Coffee Company. I don’t live in New Mexico so I have to have it shipped ever since TJs stopped selling it.
Likewise I have cases of red and green chile sauces shipped to me periodically.
Oh that’s legit. The terroir for Hatch chiles in New Mexico is completely different from anything I can get grown here or buy in the grocery stores.
My father would ship barbecue sauces from Kansas City for the holidays.
Growing up with StL bbq, which is really close to KC style sauce, I can say that nothing ruins bbq faster than crappy sauces. I approve of this holiday gift strategy.
i has a lead belly and am able to eat and drink just about everything
which is why i just had chinese leftovers for breakfast…that were also leftovers yesterday
im not expecting any catastrophic side effects…
its maybe not the worlds sexiest superpower…but it has its perks
i’d like to say i was born with it…but i honestly suspect the years of being stoned out of my mind making questionable decisions as to what is or isnt technically edible have simply left me highly resistant to most non exotic allergic reactions and food poisoning…..
Oh I’m definitely envious of someone with an iron gut!