National Taco Day

By Diane Forrest

It's 1:00 am and you have been up studying all night for that big test.  Your stomach lets you know that all that extra work requires some extra energy...fuel.  You think to yourself, its too late to cook something, and a sandwich just won't do.  So what do you do?  Make a run for the border!  I'm mentioning this because today is National Taco Day.

Tacos are one of your near perfect foods.  Not only do kids love the, and they are inexpensive and easy to make, they also contain all the major food groups.  With one taco you can get meat, dairy, fruit, vegetable and grain.

There are so many ways to make a taco too.  For example they have hard or soft shells, and you can get beef, chicken and even a fish taco.  My husband and I had strange sleeping habits.  Since he was bedridden, he slept a lot, while I hardly slept at all.  He had to be turned every 2 hours to prevent bedsores.  Occasionally during the turning times he would be hungry and ask me to run to the border.  He was a fan of the soft shell chicken taco, while I like the crunch beef taco.   My son, who recently graduated from college, made many trips to taco bell for that "4th meal". 

Cat Fish Taco's

Of course late nights aren't the only time to eat tacos.  They are great at any meal.  In fact they are perfect for a group of friends.  All you need is some bowls with the taco fixins, brown some ground beef and heat up the shells, and you have a party!   I was talking to my cousin from Texas last week.  It was my aunt's (his mother's) birthday, so he took her to lunch.  When I asked him what he had, he told me fish taco.  Well I have to say I had trouble picturing a catfish sticking out of a taco shell, but I'm sure they must fix a different way.  He told me they are very good, so I will have to try one when I get out to San Antonio.

In a sadder note, Mr. Arch West, creator of the famed Dorito's chips passed away at the age of 97 on September 20, 2011.  The original flavor was Taco.  On Saturday, October 1, his family sprinkled his urn with the taco chips following his ceremony.  Frito lay reintroduced the Taco flavored chips last year.

Let's all celebrate taco's today, and either scramble up your own beef or chicken, or make a run for the border and have a fiesta!

Did you know that the first documented consumption of a taco occurred in 1520 by Spanish soldiers Bernal Diaz del Castillo and Hernando Cortez while visiting the New World of the Aztecs in Mexico? The soldiers loved the Mexican tacos so much that they wrote to King Charles V of Spain about them. (Akindman)

National Fishing Week - June 4 - 11, 2011

…I’m telling you, it was the biggest Bass I’ve ever seen Charlie and it was within 6 feet of the boat when my line snapped. 

 Fishing has been a very important part of my life growing up in the Midwest and with great family memories from those years.  Granny and Dad were huge influences and we had such wonderful times and yet I hardly fish at all these days.  From time to time when I go back home to visit in the spring, summer of fall, generally spend a day or two fishing with my brother and brother-in-law.

Fishing has been a family tradition for many people having fun on and around the water, learning about nature, how to build and keep fires for food, coffee and warmth.  Adding campers to the back of your pick-up was great!  Off the ground, keep the insects to a minimum, keep the snakes out of your tent (your body heat attracts them),  keep the raccoons and bears out of your tent – where some idiot left a candy bag open and other fun and entertaining adventures.  One family member got himself a 54 foot RV – next best thing to Holiday Inn says my wife, her idea of camping out.

Every year Granny took two weeks off to go fishing and one of us kids got to go along. We took trips to the Great Smokey Mountains, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tenseness, and of course all over Missouri.

The last few years my Dad was with us, we have Family Fishing week the first full week of June at Truman Lake in Missouri – the northern end of the Lake of the Ozarks.  Dad and Mom would drive down Monday morning to set up camp and the rest of us would join then as jobs allowed.  Saturday was the big day for the family beginning with a huge breakfast consisting of hamburger and sausage gravy on biscuits, lots of fruit, eggs, toast, bacon, ham and other good things. After the dishes were done, we all went out on the lake on several boats, including one large pontoon boat for fishing, sightseeing, skiing, and inter-tubing. By mid-afternoon, some of the folks began getting ready for the highlight of the trip – the Fish Fry!  Two fryers for the fish and one for potatoes were manned but two or three guys with their favorite drink for a couple hours until all the fish and potatoes where cooked,  We would sit around catching up and telling stories, playing cards and generally having a great time.

We would like to hear how your family celebrates Fishing Week?

Healthy Habit # 2: Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

And that is just where we were.  It was a family activity, maybe only two or three of us, and at other times twenty or more, but one thing for sure, we had a good time, rain or shine, fish or none.

Eating fish was something that has always been part of my life from my earliest memories, in different cities across this great land and in ports near and far.  I’m a lucky guy who has a loving wife that enjoys fish several times a week.

Granny, Dad, brother and I loved to go fishing, sisters were not to keen on the idea, but they found other things to do while the rest of us had our poles in hand, lines in the water and someone telling a story about a good adventure, lesson in life or a plain ole whooper that seem to bring tears to your eyes.  Then, the mad scramble to set that hook, on the fish who just took the bait.

Fresh water fish cooked up for breakfast was always a special treat - blue gill, perch, bass, and others, with eggs, sliced tomatoes, some fresh fruit and toast with jam.   We really didn’t think much about healthy food back then, - it was simply good food and we had caught those fish and had a good time doing so. 

We are thankful that our children and grandchildren enjoy eating fish, though we don’t have family fish outings often these days - the memories are still crystal clear. I’m looking forward to our next fishing trip, and sitting around to stove and talking about the “big one” that got away. 

So how do you satisfy Healthy Habit # 2?