Weeknight Tacos

For quick and tasty tacos on a weeknight, don’t resort a store-bought kit. Stale spice packets laden with chemicals and excess sodium are aren’t welcome. A simple combination of herbs and spices, along with chopped onion and tomato, will give your family the taste they crave. And you’ll only spend about 30 minutes making dinner.

To save time and get everyone involved, have your kids prepare your family’s favorite taco toppings while you cook the meat. For us that means shredded cheese, lettuce and chopped tomatoes, salsa and sour cream. Feel free to add avocados, onions and minced peppers. Whatever you like!

Equipment Needed
Cutting board
Chef’s knife
Measuring cups and spoons
Garlic press (optional)
12-inch skillet
Large spoon

Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt as needed
1 pound ground beef (the leaner the better)
1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
8 taco shells (homemade are best)

Directions
Peel and mince the onion into 1/8-inch pieces. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet until shimmering. Add the onion, along with a pinch of salt, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ground beef cook until no-longer pink, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Drain the excess fat.

Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, 1 tsp salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

Add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, vinegar and sugar. Stir and simmer until very thick, about 10 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the filling evenly among the taco shells and serve with desired toppings. Serve with a simple green salad for a complete meal.

Makes 4 servings.

Food Prices are Rising, Home Gardening Can Help

Unrest in the Middle East combined with stock speculation are driving crude oil prices higher and higher. Because of this, food prices, already at a record highs, are likely to increase even further throughout the year.

Hiroyuki Konuma, of the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), has said, "The potential risk is crude oil may continue to go higher, and if the floods and drought happen again, we'll face further price increases." He has also said that, "… we're in a much better situation than the crisis in 2008."

In a video press briefing from Bangkok, Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior FAO economist, said “We will get an increase in production but not sufficient to ease the market ... High, volatile prices will continue in 2011 and even in 2012 ...We have to be extremely cautious about what is going to come in 2011-2012. Spring is going to be extremely critical, when farmers will decide what crop they’re going to plant. In many major producing regions, we have already hit maximum acreage.”

Higher crude oil prices were not the only things that have contributed to higher food prices. According to an index compiled by the FAO, prices have surged as bad weather has ruined crops from Canada to Australia. Suffering from its worst drought in 50 years, Russia has stopped exporting grain.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wheat production for 2011 is estimated at 645.4 million tons. The demand, however, has been forecast at 662.7 million tons. Corn is not any better. Its production is estimated at 814.3 million tons, compared to a demand of 836 million tons.

Rice production is the only cereal grain where production, estimated at 451.6 million tons, is slightly above the estimated demand of 451 million tons. Unfortunately for South Asia, rice prices rose to record highs in January.

Fortunately, the FAO has also proposed a solution. Yesterday, they released a report that suggests small scale farming practices could be used in double world food production in 10 years. So called agroecological practices, very similar to organic farming, focus on increasing soil quality and biodiversity.

To me, this implies that it is more important than ever for us to build up our food storage and supplement it with home vegetable gardening. Even though my family garden was a near disaster last year, we are planning on trying again this year. We know we can't grow everything, but we can certainly supplement our diets with a nutritious homegrown food.

Photo credit: Christa Richert

My Garden is Dying

Or so it seems. I looked out tonight and noticed that my tomato plants, so green and promising just a few weeks ago, are starting yellow. The bush beans don't look too good, either. Some things are at least sprouting, but I was really counting on the tomatoes. They're one of my favorite vegetables and grew like wildfire last year. I had hoped for the same result this year. Perhaps they will recover, with some care.

I don't think it's due to over watering, but I can't be sure. We've had a lot of rain, lately. The clouds are hinting that we'll get more tonight. There was a cold snap, and snow about a week and a half ago so the frost monsters may be to blame, but not for all of it.

In at least one box, dandelions have invaded beyond reason. I had to dig most of it up just to get them out, and I still don't think I got the roots from all of those evil buggers. The weed damage is so bad that I think we've lost all of the lettuce, and maybe the cucumbers. The onions aren't very happy, either, but I think at least a few of those plants will survive.

There are many dandelions left in the walkways, but I'm too tired right now to deal with them all. I just wish I had more than a few hours on the weekends to tend to my garden. Then, just maybe, I could fend off the little beasts, better. They're like evil alien spores from outer space. The Triffids had their day, but dandelions are forever.

Isn't that a a film by Albert R. Broccoli? It should be.

If you want to talk to me about saving the planet and the beautiful balance of nature right now, just keep this in mind. I'm a mammal of the genus Homo Sapians. The top predator species in the food chain. Nature has gifted me with a big ol' brain and an ornery disposition, too. Don't think that because I'm living an agrarian lifestyle that I've forgotten my hunter/gatherer roots. I'm tapping my primitive instincts and killin' me some weeds.

Other species are allowed to follow their instincts. Why not me?

Now if our big brains could just develop a weed killer that doesn't kill vegetables, I could go back to being a peaceful, poisonous, agrarian.

Photo by Jonathan Reitz