What We Eat - United Kingdom

Family: mom, dad, preschooler, toddler
Store of Choice: ASDA and local markets
Total: ~ £85 (~$130 USD)

What this post is about: http://mrsseamonster.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-world-eats.html

What We Eat - Rhode Island

Family: mom, dad, preschooler, toddler
Store of choice: Aldi
Total: $106

What this post is about: http://mrsseamonster.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-world-eats.html

Stuffed Banana Peppers

This summer we've been getting a CSA box from a local farm. While Ive heard some interesting stories about some, I've been nothing but impressed by the one I'm in. Many days we've been having simple grilled or baked meat with veggies and fruits from our CSA box on the side. Simple. Perfect. Delicious. And then we got in banana peppers which aren't normally a part of our diet. Enter new recipe. New man favorite.

1 lb hot ground Italian sausage, cooked
1/2 cup romano cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 large egg
banana peppers, at least 4
olive oil
4 large tomatoes, 3 tablespoons butter, salt, pepper (or marinara sauce)

In a bowl mix together the cooked sausage, cheese, bread crumbs, and egg. Cut off the tops of the banana peppers. Remove as much seeds as you can. Stuff meat mixture into peppers.
Pan fry the peppers with olive oil in a skillet. Fry each side until browned.

If making own marinara sauce, dice tomatoes while cooking the ground sausage. Place tomatoes and butter in a sauce pot. Bring to a simmer and cook while the rest of the meal is being prepared. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve peppers with sauce poured on top. If desired, sprinkle extra cheese on it.

I clearly had extra filling left. I made meatballs out of it.

Simmering sauce.

Too lazy to fix a serving platter, so poured sauce into pan and topped with cheese.

Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

Original recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

1 stick butter
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of peeled and diced peaches (about 2)
1 cup of blackberries

Grease a baking dish with butter (my glass pie plate works well). Take what's left of the stick and melt slowly in microwave.
Meanwhile mix together 1 cup sugar, flour, milk, and vanilla in a bowl. Once butter is melted add it to the batter and mix well. Pour batter into greased dish. Distrube the peaches and blackberries over the batter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

What the World Eats....

A few years ago while working school aged childcare I ran across the children's book What the World Eats. It's full of pictures of what families from around the globe eat in a week, how they prepare their food, how they preserve their food, and shares how much money they spent on their food. It is extremely interesting. (The adult book is Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.)

In April I noticed these same pictures were making their rounds across the internet. People have been commenting on the amount of processed foods, how some foods are found in many different areas, and how MUCH some people eat and how little others eat. This opened up a very interesting conversation among a group of my friends as we talked about what we eat and how much we spend on groceries. Over the coming weeks I will be sharing pictures and information shared to me of what these families buy and how much they spent from across the country and even on the other side of the world. Each post will only be a snippet but together they will show vast differences in food costs and cuisine. All are families that include young children. Some have stay at home parents. Some have two working parents. Pictures do not include any eating out, but most families eat out very minimally.

Interested in the original what the world eats pictures?
Time Magazine, Part 1
Time Magazine, Part 2