Wow! America puts onions in everything! From our spices to our sauces.. onion is in everything.
I just noticed this while trying to create a dish for one of Paul's Indian coworkers who is visiting the states for 3 months. He is allergic to onions, so he usually just gets chicken and rice from what I've heard. He also prefers chicken over other meats. I decided to make something different than chicken and rice. If I didn't make something at home, we would take him to Cici's, but all pizza sauce has onions in it! I was going to make chicken pot pie, but that has onions. So... I remembered my mom's yummy lemon pepper Alfredo sauce that goes with chicken.
This was it, I thought! There is no onion in this! I decided on an Italian night. I bought ingredients for veggie pizzas, but after getting home with all the ingredients I read the back of the most important ingredient the dry ranch packet.. Dry ranch packets contain "dried onions!" Ahh! So I decided not to do that.
While searching the store, I was going to get the Alfredo sauce in the jar that my mom always gets and makes it SO good with the spices she adds. ALL of the Alfredo sauces had "onion" as an ingredient! I then realized... I would have to make the sauce from scratch. I found a recipe that was for Alfredo that didn't include onion! :) Today, I spent an hour preparing this Alfredo. I then was about to add "lemon pepper spice" to the Alfredo when I read the back.. "onion"! Again! Onion! Ah! So.. I had to make lemon pepper from scratch which isn't that hard. I squeezed a lemon into the Alfredo and put some black pepper into the Alfredo... I kept tasting it with 20 different spoons to get the right flavor. Finally, I was okay with it.. the Parmesan cheese was alittle clumpy, but it was edible.. VERY unhealthy (1 cup butter, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese). Yeah, artery clogging!
So.. I did all this to prevent "onions" from being in any of the dishes!
At dinner, we explained to him how to put Alfredo pasta onto your plate.. the noodles first, then the chicken, then the sauces.. etc. (Our neighbors who are also Paul's coworkers were over as well). At this moment, the Indian coworker announces that he had chicken pasta at Ruby Tuesdays today and it was very good.
Ruby Tuesday's pasta is exactly what I made (I looked it up online).. who knows if it had onion in it?
Besides that, the meal was ok. I don't think I'll be making it from scratch again. I was just amazed at how much onion is in American food.
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8 comments:
Ha,ha,ha!!! That was so funny! I could really feel your frustration! Glad you finally found a way to make it. I bet it tasted incredible. :)
I've read a lot about saturated fats... Did you know that tests on arteries reveal that saturated fat is actually not the big culprit for clogged arteries? A big culprit is trans-fats (often in margarine), which are often confused or wrongly linked to saturated fats in tests and trials. In natural forms like butter and cream, saturated fats, despite what we're commonly told, can actually be good for you if eaten in moderation. For instance, your body uses them to make hormones and butter is one of the best ways to get very important fat-soluble vitamins like A, E & D.
Anyways... I guess what I'm saying is, don't worry about clogging your arteries from that one meal!! ;)
Lots of love,
Mary
If he's from India he may be Hindu and not eat beef for religious reasons.
All the onion surprises me.
I wonder if he really does have an allergy or if he means he doesn't like them. If onion is in so much food, then is he sickened from it?
When we were using baby food, I was shocked to see how much carrots were in the meat and veggies and how much banana was in the fruit. When you look at juices, its the pear juice in them that's surprising. All the carrots that they added to the baby food started turning Andy orange. So, I started pureeing our food to make sure that he got more of a balanced diet.
I have a great artery-clogging alfredo recipe... as a matter of a fact, I have to make it Sunday for the Hopes come to think of it. (Thanks for writing this post or I'd have forgotten.)
2 sticks butter (real)
2 cartons of heavy whipping cream
1 package of shredded parmesean
1 package of motzerella or ramano blend cheese
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
2 T parsley flakes
1 T cornstarch
salt to taste
water
Warm the butter and the cream in a sauce pan on very low heat. Slowly stir in the garlic, salt, and cheese. When melted, take a ladle of the sauce and put in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch to the bowl and stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed. Add the mixture back into the sauce pan. Stir often so as the sauce does not scorch. When it's thickened, it's ready.
We like it served with linguini noodles and either grilled chicken or shrimp.
Ooooooh, sounds really yummy, Elisa!! I just love fresh ingredients and Italian type food. They love using fresh garlic and herbs and plump red tomatoes... and lots of cheeses... yummy!!
Hey Mary!
I've actually heard that about margarine. Sadly, I bought margarine at the store instead of butter, so I had to use that instead! We had our daily trans-fats! I've been better about eating less foods with trans-fats. Thankfully,they are taking it out of some of the foods here.
Hey Elisa!
Actually, this Indian is Parsi which isn't Hindu, so he does eat cow or other meats, but he prefers chicken. He did eat his first burger the other day, so I think the US is corrupting him.
I wished I'd ask you about an alfredo sauce before I made mine. Yours sounds really yummy! :) Nor.. does it have onions in it!
Hey, Holly! Yeah, the government's really onto trans-fats now so I think even some fast food places are cutting it out. Lots of places are here too. US estimates say this will cut out tens of thousands of deaths from heart-attacks every year!! Wow. But sadly vegetable oils (like in margarine) aren't too good either if they are heated because they go rancid with any heat and turn into free-radicals in your body! Yuck!
A little butter's actually safer to cook with (as long as it isn't heated enough to go brown) as it takes a LOT more heat to make butter go rancid! Coconut oil's very good to cook with too. As long as it's made from fresh coconuts & not refined.
Anyways... thanks for your comment!! Ha, ha! That's right, Paul will have to play Tim & the boys. It seems to be Tim & Isaiah's favorite game, so Paul will have to watch out. He wouldn't want to be beaten by his little nephew, ha, ha. ;) I don't like playing it because I get too tense & hate my men being killed. Even though it's just little chess men. ;) I just can't enjoy it, much as I've tried. So I'm glad Tim has the boys to play against now. And the computer.
Sadly we couldn't go out to eat... I wasn't feeling well enough. But Tim got me flowers, a card, a movie, and an Indian meal in... it was very nice! :)
My stomach's still all funny & I'm still unusually tired. The doctors are now testing but results will probably not be back till mid next week. :(
Love you!
Mary
Ha, that's a funny story! I'm glad that things worked out for the dinner. You're such a good wife to go to all the trouble! :-)
Hey, Holly! Thanks for your comment!
Yes, he does have good taste! :) I picked the flowers myself. He thought it'd be best that way. :)
Stomach is up & down still. Doctors found the bacteria tests came back normal. So no antibiotic needed. They want me to wait another week and see if it goes away.
I have a mild detox-type tea. I'm being careful with trying detox things though till I find the right type. I'm doing research.
How are you? How's the school preparations going?
Love,
Mary
HI Holly, We need another post! haha. Check out my blog. A friend has a recipie fun friday... join us! love you!
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