Three little words to make a WAHM want to tear her hair out, especially when they are asked at 3 p.m. and you have been so busy toiling at the wordface all day that thoughts of cooking have been totally absent from one’s thoughts. Not being the most organized person on the planet, things can get chaotic in the kitchen. I’m not one to enjoy spending hours on elaborate meals that disappear in minutes. I would rather write a book; they last a bit longer than stuffed vine leaves! So I am always on the lookout for ideas for quick but healthy meals that everyone will eat.

Grocery shopping can also be challenging.  I am not a fan of busy places with fluorescent lighting, and having kids in tow makes it more likely that items will be forgotten, although I appreciate their help with hauling the goodies home. Making a shopping list isn’t foolproof either; things get omitted or the list itself gets left at home, or in the car. [Does WordPress have the "rolleyes" emoticon?]

Which is why the banner ad on the Toronto Star page this morning caught my eye. SOS Cuisine. I usually ignore ads with a vengeance, but I’ll save the anti-marketing rant for another day. But, unusually for me, I clicked on this one, and found that I can get menu ideas and tailored shopping lists to help make life easier in the kitchen.

It’s Canadian (hurrah! wave the Maple Leaf flag!) and offers various options such as omnivore, pisco-vegetarian, vegetarian, kosher and … halal! It can be tweaked further by specifying allergies, although apparently less than 1% of subscribers want both a meal plan that is both Halal and Nut-free, which I suppose should make me feel special. And even better, it’s Free! (with a premium service to be introduced at a future date).

It’s also available in French as well as English; it’s based in Montreal and in the confirmation e-mail the French comes first. That’s rather fun for me, I can read it and exercise my creaky high-school French, then get to see if I got it right by checking the following English text. Feed the brain as well as the stomach. But make sure you check the relevant box when signing up to make sure you get votre langue preferee (sorry, no accents on my keyboard).

It promises to tailor menu plans to what’s available locally, and what’s on special in local stores, in addition to other factors. Sounds like it will be a boon to a working mom who is often too busy or tired to do all the legwork herself. I would also like to start cooking more from scratch, without spending hours and hours in the kitchen, so hopefully this will give some new ideas.

I just ran it by a kid, who was moderately impressed. Watch this space.

So I’m showing my age… the Muppet Show was huge when I was a teen, and my siblings and I were all fans. I bought the boxed DVD set, but someone in the US made the cake. I can’t believe that someone could make this out of a load of sugar and whatever else fondant is made of.

I received an e-mail from a friend who works in food inspection about a brand of halal cheese that is infected with Listeria and is being recalled. So I’m passing on the info here.

  

Assalamu Alikum and Ramadan Kareem,

 

i thought to let you know about this recall on the halal cheese described below. it’s contaminated with Listeria and being pulled out of the market. 

 

i wish you all health and happiness in this blissed month of Ramadan. May Allah S.W.T. accept our fasting and prayers and forgive us.

 

salaam

 

    

Iqbal’s Halal	Marble Cheese	–	–	09 FE 20 to 09 MR 01	–
Iqbal’s Halal	Mild Cheddar Cheese	–	–	09 FE 20 to 09 MR 01	–
Iqbal’s Halal	Mozzarella Cheese	–	–	09 FE 20 to 09 MR 01	–
Iqbal’s Halal	Pepper Cheese	–	–	09 FE 20 to 09 MR 01