The Traveling Chef

Happy Fourth of July!

I love going to Bay City, MI for the Fourth of July. I've made it the last two years in a row. This visit was pretty quick-and-dirty: I landed in Detroit on a redeye at about 5:30 AM on Friday, and I head back tomorrow (Sunday) evening.



My Grandparents are turning 90 years old this year. Unfortunately, both of them were recently in the hospital. Fortunately, they are now doing just fine! My Grandmother recently had a pacemaker put in, and my Grandfather had a partial hip replacement. At 89 years old, it was the FIRST time my Grandmother had ever been in a hospital since the birth of her youngest child - my Dad, who's going to be 59 in October. If that's not some inspiration to take care of yourself, I don't know what is!

Anyway, I wanted to do some cooking for my grandparents while I was here so that a) they wouldn't have to cook for me and b) they'd have some leftovers to last them for a while and save them some trouble for the next week or so. The bulk recipes were perfect, and my Grandparents loved them. I made the Spring Turkey Chili with Artichoke and the Chicken and White Bean soup with Chard. I was able to find all of the ingredients for both recipes at Kroger, except for the Chard, which I was able to find at Meijer. I was a little concerned about supply procurement because Bay City is such a small town - the nearest whole foods is in Ann Arbor, over an hour and a half away.

My grocery bill for all of the ingredients for both recipes (including spices excluding oils - I just used canola oil) was around $50. I made the Turkey Chili on Friday night, and the Chicken Soup on Saturday night. Both took very little time - maybe half an hour, and went over very well with the family. I am leaving my Grandparents with at least a week's worth of dinners in the fridge, so I feel like I did something helpful, at least.

I chose these recipes because they are two of my favorites, but also for the high fiber content. My Grandfather has been taking pain pills for his hip - which he LOATHES - in part because of the constipation they cause.

Anyway. These recipes travel well. You can find the ingredients you need in small middle American towns and make them cheaply. If you're on vacation for a week and you have a kitchen, cooking the Perfectly Produce recipes will definitely save you money, and keep you healthy while you're away. You might want to just throw some plastic containers in your suitcase (which you could, in theory, pack stuff in if you wanted to so they wouldn't take up too much space).

Happy Fourth!