Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Episode Transcript

Transcript edited by Hannah “Asher” Sham

Show Intro and Disclaimer

Kylo: You’re listening to Let’s Talk!. Let’s Talk! Is a digital space for students at PCC experiencing disabilities to share their perspectives, ideas, and worldviews in an inclusive and accessible environment. The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Portland Community College, PCC Foundation, or our community partners. We broadcast on our home website, pcc.edu/DCA, on Spotify, on XRAY 91.1 FM and 107.1 FM, and KBOO Community Radio 90.7 FM.

Meet the Hosts

Zoe: Hi, everyone! Welcome back to “A Slice of Life”. This is episode two of our podcast. I’m your host, Zoe, we’ve got our co-host Tucker as well, and today our guest host is going to be someone I consider my adoptive older sibling. Someone who’s had to educate me practically about most of the things that I know now about safety and flavor combinations, and their name is Kuma. Hi, Kuma!

Kuma: Hello, everyone!

Mediterranean Pasta Overview

Zoe: So, today we’re going to be making a dish that’s definitely been something that embodies the idea of simple, yet tasty, and something that will sustain you with lots of nutrients and nutrition. Kuma, could you explain a little bit about this recipe? 

Kuma: Yeah, this is called a one pot Mediterranean pasta dish. A lot of stuff you can easily find anywhere. Like the title says, it only uses one pot and it’s very, very straightforward. We’re gonna do a chopped red onion, three garlic cloves minced, or as much garlic as you would like, a cup and a half of vegetable stock, dried oregano, so about a teaspoon or two, 1.5 ounces, so that’s about one can, of diced tomatoes, eight ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles, a whole bunch of spinach; basically, spinach wilts very quickly, so you can use a whole bag of spinach for it. One cup cooked chickpeas, so that’s about one can of chickpeas that you can buy in the canned section of the grocery store, a cup and a half feta cheese, Kalamata Olives, and then salt and pepper, of course.

Zoe: And those are, like, some wonderful canned goods that you can use. Because, I know that you soaked the beans and then you cooked them earlier. But, we can definitely use canned ones as well. You said 1.5 ounces of tomatoes? And that was- 

Kuma: 14.5. 

Zoe: Ah, 14.5! 

Kuma: Wow, I’m sorry. 

Zoe: No sweat at all. So, what are we starting with? How do we start everything off now that we’ve got our ingredients? 

Prep Tips and Cut Gloves

Kuma: Well, first, let’s make sure you have all your ingredients in front of you, right? So, all the ingredients, the red onion, the garlic, the stock, the oregano, the spaghetti noodles, the diced tomatoes, the spinach, the chickpeas, the feta, the Kalamata olives. That’s gonna take a little while, right? You’re gonna take your onion and your garlic and prep it all. I’m just peeling off the skin of the onion. I’m pretty sure there’s a fancy word for “prepping”. But, I’m just saying, “it’s prepping”.

Zoe: Well, at the end of the day, simple is easier. “Prepping”, whatever other words to call it, and I’ve always had issues “prepping”. It’s been tough, and learning has been tough, especially without any sense of sight or smell. Originally when I started learning how to prep food, ’cause I was so bad at knife cuts, I would always wear these things called cut gloves. These are gloves that are really helpful, really nice for protecting your hands from accidentally cutting or injuring yourself. They’re pretty cheap, too. You can pick them up from Kohl’s, Fred Meyer’s, pretty easily. So, if you’re afraid of the knives or any of the danger, go ahead and get yourself some cut gloves. Those are great. 

Kuma: Okay, so I’m just … I peeled the onion. And, I cut it in half. What I did with one onion, one of those halves, was I cut it in half again, horizontally towards the stem twice, and then I made some vertical knife cuts down, so we’re gonna have more of an even chop on the onion.

Zoe: See, I’ve always just cut mine in a grid pattern, and I know that would bring some larger chunks, some smaller chunks. So, I suppose that your method can make things a whole lot more even, right? 

Kuma: Yes. I’m not saying I am a prodigy at kitchen knife cuts, when it comes to chopping. But, this is something I learned working in restaurants.

Zoe: Oh, absolutely. This is something that you’ve tried to drill into me as well. Because, as you know, my knife cuts, while passable, are not the finest. 

Knife Cuts and Flavor

Kuma: Well, if you think about it, to have knife cuts like this means that every bite is gonna be even in what is being served. So, say you cut half the onion larger than the other half of the onion. Then you’re gonna have larger chunks of onion and smaller slices of onion, and when you mix that all together and serve it, someone is gonna get more onion in their dish than another person. So, it won’t be a consistent flavor profile across the board.

Zoe: And, not only that, but I think you’ve told me before, right? Doesn’t the size of stuff and the way that it’s cut, like ginger, or if you julienne, long, thin strips like of a carrot or something, doesn’t that also change the flavor profile? 

Kuma: I believe so. It gives it a more interesting texture and body across the board, as well. Let’s see. How can I explain it? ‘

Zoe: Cause, I’ve noticed when we use like matchstick-length pieces of ginger, the ginger becomes much more fragrant and robust, when I’m frying it for ginger pork, for instance. 

Kuma: Yeah. So, say we wanted big slices of onion, yellow onion, specifically, for a sandwich. Or, we were making Onion Rings, right? 

Zoe: Oh, yeah, yeah. 

Kuma: So, the name “Onion Ring” is very synonymous to how you wanna cut the onion. You want a full slice of onion so you can batter it and then deep-fry it. But, you wouldn’t do that with small cuts of onion. 

Zoe: Especially ’cause, with those small cuts, you don’t wanna always go high heat all the time because you don’t wanna be like… I would illustrate it with a point from when I was first starting to learn how to cook. So, as part of this podcast, we love to tell inspiring stories and stories not only about learning, but growth too. So, when I was young, I had the best idea in the world. “Look at this. Frozen chicken breasts. More heat.”. The specific phrase I said to myself was, “twice the heat will make it cook twice as fast.”. 

Kuma: Yes. Which is not true. 

Zoe: I can tell you- yes, from firsthand experience, my chicken breast came out still frozen in the center but practically burnt on the outside.

Kuma: Yep. Okay, so we’ve chopped our onion and our garlic. 

Stovetop Setup and Oils

Kuma: What we’re gonna do on the stove is you’re gonna take a large stock pot, not a medium or a small one, a large one. Zoe, don’t forget, noodles expand when they’re cooked. 

Zoe: They do! They do! I cannot forget that from my countless amount of times to be like, “Oh, not too many noodles.” All of a sudden, my pot is overflowing with noodles. 

Kuma: Exactly. So, we’re gonna heat this over medium heat. 

Zoe: Uh-huh. 

Kuma: And you’re gonna add oil. So, I personally just use Extra Virgin Olive Oil. For those of you that don’t know, actually, there’s different types of cooking oil, but also within that even more subcategories. So, say you have a Light Virgin Olive Oil, that’s used for salad dressings and sometimes marinades. It really depends on the marinade. But, if we’re talking Extra Virgin Olive Oil, that’s the one you wanna be cooking with. It has a higher smoking point than Light Virgin Olive Oil. Light Virgin Olive Oil, again, is for dressings and marinades, and it has a very low burning point.

Zoe: Ah, so it would burn if you tried to use it.

Kuma: Yes. It’s not the one you wanna use to stir-fry. 

Zoe: Gotcha. The virgin part of olive oil actually means that they don’t strain it too much, or they don’t put the oil through a strainer. So, it’s still got those little bits and pieces of olive in there. It’s really nice. That’s something with Light Virgin Olive Oil too, is that if you try to stir-fry or cook at a very high temperature, not only the oil will start to smoke, but those little bits of olive in there will start to burn, charred, and black, and you don’t want that happening. So, Extra Virgin Olive Oil have a higher smoking point, so it’s better to cook with, huh? 

Kuma: Yeah. 

Zoe: I’ve always just used vegetable oil, and I have noticed that sometimes a little drizzle of sesame oil is good, but I never cook with straight sesame oil. 

Kuma: No, that one again is also more for marinades or topping.

Zoe: Yeah. Usually, when I’m cooking, I just drizzle a little bit for flavor. But, I always use the vegetable oil, ’cause it’s just so reliable. 

Kuma: Okay. So, let’s get back to the recipe. 

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: We have the pan heated and a way you can tell, if you really want to, is just put your hand over the pot, and you can feel the heat coming up from it. You can also sprinkle water on it. But, again, let’s remember oil and water don’t mix by themselves. 

Zoe: That is correct. 

Kuma: Oil will jump up. So, Zoe, don’t do that… ‘Cause we don’t want you to hurt yourself. Okay. 

Sautéing and Heat Lessons

Kuma: So, the oil is heated up. I have the onion and garlic ready to go and we’re gonna add that to the pot, and we’re gonna cook it until it’s brown and translucent.

Zoe: Ooh, okay. Okay. And when it, when you’re cooking the onions and getting that color on them, that browning- 

Kuma: Mm-hmm… 

Zoe: what’s that process called again? 

Kuma: Sautéing? 

Zoe: Oh, no. Where the onion becomes brown. It’s, uh, caramelization. 

Kuma: Caramelization. Thank you. 

Zoe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Kuma: But, that’s over low heat for long periods of time. That’s not what we’re doing right now. We’re just browning. So, it’s sauteing. Okay, you ready? 

Zoe: Oh, absolutely! Let’s hit the pan. And, is that sizzle, the sound you want when it hits the pan? 

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: Nice. I remember this one time when I was learning and I was like, “Okay, I got my onions here.” Went to the pan and just like, “Plop.”. You were like, ” Is the stove on?” And I was like, “Yeah, it’s on. I just put the onions in.”. And, you were just like, “Why isn’t it sizzling?” And I’m like, “Oh, I just turned the stove on!”. That’s not great, is it? 

Kuma: No, you want the pan to be preheated before. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: But, here’s the thing, too. If you have it too hot for too long, you’re instantly gonna burn everything. 

Zoe: Especially, ’cause the oil will start to smoke and whatnot too. You don’t want that charred oil, ’cause if you’ve ever gone out to and had a meal from outside and you bite into it and it’s deep-fried, or something. But, then this bitter flavor just permeates through your mouth and nostrils. That’s because some places will actually reuse their frying oil. When that happens that char, that sort of burnt-ness, will permeate throughout the oil. And because it keeps getting used over and over again, it’ll just flavor the oil bitterly. The same thing will happen if you have your pan too hot for too long and start to burn your oil. Your food’s gonna taste bitter, so you don’t want that to happen.

Kuma: Yeah. So, our onions and garlic is kind of starting to sweat a little bit. 

Zoe: Uh-huh. 

Kuma: Which is really nice because onions already contain a lot of liquid, same with garlic, same with a whole bunch of other vegetables. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: So, it’s just kinda extracting the- 

Zoe: You’re releasing the flavor and the moisture.

Kuma: Yeah, the l- the liquid, the water. Yeah. 

Zoe: And that’s why onions are just so nice. They have a wonderful, complementary, flavor. When you let them sweat, let them just release that flavor. Oh! It flavors the rest of your dish beautifully! 

Kuma: It does! So, we’re gonna let this cook for- Usually, this takes about five minutes.

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: But, watch over it for sure. We don’t wanna leave something cooking by itself in case something goes wrong. Zoe is a “prodigy” of walking away when things are cooking, and then comes back surprised when things are overflowing. 

Zoe: You know what? I meant for that spaghetti to have a crust on the bottom, okay?

Kuma: Are you sure you did?! 

Zoe: Pretty sure I did! It made it as if the spaghetti was its own bowl! 

Kuma: That’s not- appetizing… 

Zoe: I meant to do that. Okay?! 

Kuma: Sure you did. Sure you did.

Budget Cooking Resources

Zoe: But, all these things I learn and these stories, they’re really wonderful. Where did you learn about this one pot dish from? 

Kuma: I think I got it specifically from this website called “Budget Bytes”. For those of you that don’t know, I grew up very poor and a lot of my cooking was kinda just “farmer’s meals”. But, when I started living by myself, at 18; I really had to deep dive into cooking just for myself, as a person, to sustain myself. Budget Bytes is a great website where it shows you budget-friendly meals. So, say you have a budget of $10. It will show you that. It encourages you to use canned ingredients, dry ingredients, don’t skimp on the frozen ingredients either. They’re called ” IQF”, which stands for “individually quick frozen”, and that’s actually a really good way of getting nutrients from fruits and vegetables that are still almost in the prime, ripening stage. You still get a lot of those nutrients that the human body needs to thrive, if you can’t afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

Zoe: Yeah. “IQF”, I always wondered what that meant. I knew it was good, but that’s wonderful to hear. ‘ Cause, with those IQF mixed vegetable bags, sometimes I’m like, “Oh, I don’t know what to use this for.”. Like a can of sweet corn. It’s hard to tell sometimes and be like, “Huh, what can I use all this sweet corn in?”.

Kuma: Oh, you can use it for a lot of things. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: You can use it in stir-fries and stuff like that, soups as well, stews- Zoe really loves making shepherd’s pie, and I really encourage her to use the corn for that. 

Zoe: It’s an easy dish that’s tasty, but very rewarding. It’s one of the first dishes I actually learned.

Kuma: She’s gotten a lot better at that recipe too! 

Zoe: I’ve gotten a lot better, in general. I remember when making salsa for me was taking a can of that sweet corn, mixing it with raw onions and a bowl of tomato soup, like just straight up tomato soup, and calling it salsa! 

Kuma: Did you really do that? 

Zoe: Yeah, a couple times. I was like, “You want some salsa?” And you’re like, “That was horrifying.” 

Kuma: Oh, I don’t remember this! Maybe I blocked it out for a reason! 

Zoe: You might have blocked it out from memory! 

Kuma: Okay.! Okay… So, our onions and our garlic is starting to brown and turn translucent. Oh, lord, I can’t believe you actually did that…

Zoe: I mean, some of the stories you’ll hear on this podcast, you might not believe your ears. But, it all comes from a place of learning. I left home when I was 21. 22 actually, is when I left home and struck out on my own. I had such a sheltered life that I didn’t know how to do, basically, anything. I didn’t know how to cook. Very little experience even cleaning. So, my first forays into cooking were definitely disasters! But, I didn’t let that discourage me. That’s the thing! I really enjoyed it and I didn’t let it discourage me, even when the bottom fell off of my pepper shaker and I was just shaking whole peppercorns into my mashed potatoes. It gave it a nice crunch! Don’t get discouraged, because these resources, like “Budget Bytes”, that provide these recipes, these wonderfully budget-friendly meals and help you use up ingredients that you wouldn’t know how to use otherwise, they’re just fantastic. Puma, isn’t this meal vegetarian? Does Budget Bytes- 

Kuma: It does, yeah. 

Zoe: Oh, nice! 

Kuma: I believe they also do vegan meals as well, and they might even have a way for you to specifically search by an ingredient. So, some websites call it an ingredient index. Say you have an abundance of cooked chicken in a can. Now, cooked chicken in a can sounds gross! But, it’s also a great way of getting protein, and what you can actually do with that very easily is make chicken salad sandwich. 

Zoe: Yeah, yeah, yeah! 

Kuma: Kind of like egg salad sandwich, but chicken salad sandwich with mayo and ketchup… Not ketchup. I mean, if you wanna add ketchup, you can, I guess.

Zoe: A little. 

Kuma: Sriracha, onion, celery, and you serve that on bread with lettuce. 

Zoe: I’ve done that before. I think you’ve served it to me before, and it was really good. I was like, “This was canned chicken? Never had it before, but it sounds scary.” And then I had it, and it was good. And, I think you also thinned out the mayo just a little bit with a touch of lemon juice too, right?

Kuma: Yeah!

Zoe: Yeah, that was good!

Kuma: Okay. 

Build the One Pot Sauce

Kuma: So, our onions and our garlic is brown.

Zoe: It sounds different!

Kuma: Yeah! Because, it’s cooked down a little bit so that protein and sugar content is slightly broken down. So, the cellular structure of the onions and garlic has been broken down just a little bit more. What we’re gonna do is now we’re gonna add our stock, our diced tomatoes, and our oregano. So, again, our stock is 1.5 cup stock, a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes, and then about a teaspoon, or two, of oregano. Okay? 

Zoe: Now, hold on a second. I thought we were out of vegetable stock. 

Kuma: We’re gonna make our own.

Zoe: Oh, really? 

Kuma: So, there’s this great thing called “Bouillon”. 

Zoe: Uh-huh. 

Kuma: And, you can actually get it in cubes. But, I’m specifically using the brand, “Better Than Bouillon”, and it’s a seasoned vegetable base. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: I really like it. It’s listed as organic, but it’s made with a lot of ingredients you would randomly find in the kitchen, too. So, it’s a very easy, quick stock you can use- 

Zoe: I’ve had that before. Yeah, and it tastes good! There are other flavors, too, right? Yeah. Like garlic, chicken, and beef. 

Kuma: Yep. 

Zoe: Wonderful. That bouillon always tastes really nice to me. 

Kuma: All right. So, now we’re gonna add the water. 

Zoe: Uh-huh. Whoo! 

Kuma: Which that’s the sound we want! 

Zoe: Yes! That “whoosh!”, right? 

Kuma: Yes. And then I’m gonna do a spoonful of the bouillon into it. 

Zoe: Okay! Nice and flavorful! 

Kuma: We don’t need a whole lot. 

Zoe: It is very, very concentrated. So, if this is your first time having Bouillon, Bouillon comes in as kind of like a powdery, like cube or, right now, “Better Than Bouillon”, it’s more of like a paste. Like a nice moist paste. If you just take like a fork and just dip the tines in and then give it a little taste, you’ll taste how concentrated it is. So, we only really need like a spoonful. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. And so now we’re also going to add our 14.5 ounces of diced tomato.

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: Okay, ready? 

Zoe: Yeah! 

Kuma: Now, with cans, in Oregon, there’s a very specific “recycling” for them. So, to recycle these cans you need to; one, wash them out and then also get rid of the lids because those can actually cause harm. 

Zoe: Oh, okay! 

Kuma: So, we can do that after. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: And then we’re gonna add in our diced oregano.

Zoe: Yeah. Now, for some cans too that are in like preservative water or like a brine, you can get rid of those and just give it a quick rinse to get rid of that. These tomatoes are actually in like a tomato juice, right? 

Kuma: Yeah, they’re in their own juice. 

Zoe: Which is good. Yeah, so we’re using the juice from the can.

Kuma: Okay, so we’re mixing all the ingredients in the pot together first. For me, it looks very dark in color and I can see very clearly the onion, garlic, tomatoes because it’s chopped tomatoes, or diced tomatoes in a can, and the seasoning. But, the bouillon is what makes it darker. So, if you’re using a different stock base, it’s gonna be looking a little bit different. But, that’s perfectly okay.

Zoe: Yeah. 

Add Pasta and Boil

Kuma: So, now what we’re going to do is we’re gonna be adding the noodles… 

Zoe: okay. 

Kuma: And bring this all to a boil.

Zoe: Now, we haven’t pre-cooked our noodles and- 

Kuma: No, you want raw noodles for th- or not raw noodles … dry noodles! 

Zoe: So, raw noodles for this dish particularly, right? 

Kuma: Yes! 

Zoe: Okie doke! 

Kuma: And, again, we’re doing eight ounces of spaghetti noodles. 

Zoe: Nice. 

Kuma: Now, for this one, it’s better to use spaghetti noodles because they’re slightly thicker than Angel Hair, and Linguini Noodles are a little bit too thick. Now, Zoe- 

Zoe: Yeah?

Kuma: Did you know noodle types actually have a purpose when it comes to cooking? 

Zoe: I did know that, yes! 

Kuma: Okay! So, noodles like these are really good at clinging to the sauce- 

Zoe: Yes!

Kuma: Specifically. Which is really what we want for this. 

Zoe: Different forms of pasta, it’s practically an art form. The different things that they do, the way that they interact with the cooking process. Even something like ravioli, which might not seem like, “Oh, just pop open a can of Chef Boyardee’s Ravioli and pour it in, microwave it, and you got a meal in minutes.”. It’s not just as simple as that, because if you wanna make really good ravioli; there are even processes where you cook it in butter, and have this wonderful golden brown surface. As it starts to get there, just add a little bit of cold butter, and just keep it at that temperature, keep cooking it. Like when you were teaching me and I was like, “Oh, isn’t this how we make risotto?”, and you were like, “Nope! That’s not even close to how you make risotto.”. 

Kuma: Do you wanna tell them that story, or should I?

Zoe: Go for it! 

Kuma: So, for those of you that don’t live with Zoe, we’ve explained she has a very interesting cooking history. I would like to put in perspective that most of her cooking knowledge comes from watching British Chefs. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: Now, I’m not saying all British Chefs are bad. Let’s support Gordon Ramsay, ’cause he’s a wonderful man and a wonderful chef.

Zoe: Yeah! Some British cooking is good. 

Kuma: Well, that’s because they’re not making British food. 

Zoe: That’s true… 

Kuma: They’re making French Cuisine, Spanish, Italian, and all these other recipes from around the world! There’s a reason why a lot of British cooking is not Michelin Star Rated.

Zoe: I suppose so. But, at the same time, there are some great things about British cooking. For those of you out there that love your English Breakfasts, I respect it very deeply! I just find it difficult to have beans in the morning! 

Kuma: Not only that, but it’s Barbecue Beans, right? Baked Barbecue Beans? 

Zoe: It’s some sort of baked beans and then there’s like a toast… I remember the first time that we were reading about it; for me, it was that- I think the Black Sausage? 

Kuma: Yeah, Black Pudding. 

Zoe: Freaked me out a little bit. For you, it was kinda everything else.

Kuma: Yeah, I will admit that. I will fully admit that. 

Zoe: Yeah, but here’s the thing about British Cooking; it’s sort of like a Melting Pot. Similar to how people have thought about America throughout history. A melting pot of many different things and religions and different cultures. So, for the cooking that I, personally, learned was; I picked up a habit of mixing together a lot of things I probably shouldn’t. For instance, salmon pate over toasted bagels. I ended up learning that what I learned as “pate” was not actually “pate”, but some other unholy combination of cooked salmon cream cheese, spring onions, and Tabasco sauce with Horseradish? 

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: So, to an extent, if you really enjoy it, you can have that on toasted bagels for breakfast. But, for me, it was kind of like, ” Oh? These things can go together? I better put my favorite combinations together.”. One thing you are gonna learn about food is that things don’t always go together. One night, I was like, “Oh, I’m so hungry.” I made some fortified vegetable soup. “You know what this could use? A little bit of tomato.”. So, add some tomato. “Ah, you know what? This could use a bit of sour, like some lemon juice.”. Add a little lemon juice. “Ooh, a little too strong! Now I better add some potatoes to help thin out the flavor.”, plus, I love potatoes. “Ooh, this needs a little bit more of an actual consistency or an actual solid. Let me put some stale bread in there so I can treat it like a German bread soup. Reuse that bread for something ’cause it’s going stale. I can put it in soup!”. What turned out was one of the most unholy combinations of food I’ve ever created, and one that I unfortunately ended up having to toss away. But- 

Kuma: Um, you’re missing one very important detail, Zoe…

Zoe: No, I don’t wanna share it! 

Kuma: Yes, we’re gonna share it! But, also, as you can hear, our pot is boiling. So, what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna turn this to medium low, we’re gonna cover it, and this will cook for about five to ten minutes. The goal is to make a light marinara sauce.

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kitchen Horror Stories

Kuma: Now, the thing with Zoe’s cooking, she likes to give her guide dog, Tucker, the leftovers. 

Zoe: If they’re safe, yes. 

Kuma: Well, as we’ve come to discuss this dish– her weird, nightmare fuel dish– she called Tucker out and held the pot down to him, and what did he do? 

Zoe: I was at the other end of the hallway, crouching down with the pot out, and he walked out of my room, looked at me, stood stock still, for like three seconds, and turned around and walked back into my room and jumped on the bed!

Kuma: So, what does that tell us, Zoe? 

Zoe: He smelled it, he did not like what he smelled. Probably didn’t like what he saw either! 

Kuma: Exactly! 

Zoe: Ugh… 

Kuma: So, we don’t trust Zoe in the kitchen. 

Zoe: What? But, I’m a great chef! 

Kuma: No, you’re not. 

Zoe: I remember this one time I ended up gluing together… Again, we all love all sorts of ways of cooking. But, the way I learned to cook was a lot of mixtures of stuff. I was hungry at home one night, and I was like, “Oh, I could just combine two of my favorite things.”. So, I took like a bowl of, Junior Mints, and I melted them down, then I took like a bowl of cheese and I melted it down, and then I glued together two Hot Pockets with the Junior Mints, and I covered it with the cheese and had it. It was fantastic. Nothing else needs to be said about it. Kuma’s kind of giving me this shocked vibe. I can’t see, but…

Kuma: No comment!

Zoe: It’s all about the learning process. These days, now that I’ve learned so much more about flavor profiles, combinations of things, I really do feel like I can do my original mentor’s, their vision, justice. The ideas of combining together things that actually make sense. Someone thought that mashed potatoes and shepherd’s pie filling would go great together! And, it did. So, it’s all about finding those right combinations. While I may have made mistakes in the past, I think I’m a whole lot better now. 

Kuma: You’ve gotten better, that’s for sure.

Food and Frugal Upbringing

Zoe: But, tell me, how has food influenced your life? Especially learning how to eat cheap and how has that influenced your ideas about nutrition as well? 

Kuma: Well, growing up in a farming family; the mentality was use what you have. I was also raised by a single father. So, a lot of that was “Hamburger Helper Meals”. Poor American single father and Hamburger Helper meals with a mixed vegetable mix thrown in there… Try saying that five times fast. 

Zoe: Mixed vegetable mix, yes. 

Kuma: A frozen vegetable mix, thrown into that, and then a sort of protein added to it. It was kinda like Zoe’s meals, and that’s perfectly okay. But, what my dad very much taught me was he let me name those meals. So, a lot of time, I called it, “Glop Number 27”. 

Zoe: Any particular reason? 

Kuma: No. We numbered it very differently every time. But, it was very much just a way to get me involved in the kitchen.

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: As time went on, he got a little bit more money and we got our own chickens. Now, my father grew up on the farm, as well, but I grew up on a backyard farm. So, what that meant was we had a garden that we worked with. We grew a lot of our own fruits and vegetables that we actually ate. We had chickens. Now, the great thing about chickens is they are also kind of scavengers. So, we could give them a lot of the leftovers, the trash part that we couldn’t eat, like actual roots that were growing in the ground from onions; that little hairy part, nodule at the bottom. Any leftovers that went bad we could give to them. They were very happy, healthy chickens. But, we also would eat those chickens when they got old. So, they would lay eggs. We would use those. You can use eggs for a lot of things. During the summer, spring and summer, chickens lay a lot of eggs, so what can you do? 

Egg Brining Traditions

Kuma: You can actually do a brine to preserve the eggs long term. 

Zoe: Really? 

Kuma: Yes. I can’t remember the exact ratio off the top of my head, but it’s a very, very, long-standing thing people have done for a very long time. 

Zoe: I think in China they call the specific blend that they use and the thing that they call the eggs at the end are 1,000-year-old eggs.

Kuma: Yeah. 

Food as Love Language

Kuma: Also coming from a farming family, specifically my family, a lot of it is in the South. 

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: In the South, in particular, food is seen as a love language. Specifically, somebody comes into your home, you feed them. It’s part of our thing, it’s what we do, and it’s because a lot of us; poor as fuck. So, what’s something that we can share with people that we have? Food. 

Zoe: Yeah, and our love of food. 

Kuma: Exactly. But, then also if you think about it in history, in American history in particular, multi-generational families. That was a huge thing, so we would always have food. Now we’re less so multi-generational families, which is perfectly fine. That’s okay. But, then you have the Great Depression too, where people didn’t have a lot to eat. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: It was seen, I believe, for a lot of people as a very nice thing to just give somebody else food when they came to the house. 

Zoe: I remember reading Grapes of Wrath in high school. 

Kuma: You know, I never read that.

Zoe: Oh, it’s a very interesting read, but- 

Kuma: Okay… 

Zoe: Yeah, for any of you listening that are a little too young to read it or maybe don’t remember it anymore; it’s about a family just doing their best and trying to survive in the Great Depression. But, what are you doing right now with the ingredients?

Prepping Feta Cheese

Kuma: Right now I am taking out the feta cheese. 

Zoe: Ooh. 

Kuma: I’m gonna be cutting it up into pieces. 

Zoe: And, no fancy knife cuts, right? Just nice small pieces? 

Kuma: Yeah, it just wants to be kinda like crumbled vibes. We’re not mashing it.

Zoe: Gotcha. 

Kuma: Feta’s a very crumbly cheese in general. It’s seen as a softer cheese. 

Zoe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Kuma: That’s perfectly okay too. 

Zoe: Right now we’ve got a block of cheese, so if you had like a block of cheese, you could just pull out like a box grater or like just a grater- 

Kuma: No… 

Zoe: You can’t use that for these? Really? 

Kuma: It would not go through the grooves of it. 

Zoe: Oh. 

Kuma: So, you can use a knife to chop it or your fingers. 

Zoe: I’ve always used like a grater to shred Parmesan, mozzarella, like- 

Kuma: So, Parmesan’s a very soft cheese as well. Well, not Parmesan- Mozzarella. Parmesan is a harder cheese, so you can actually shred it, but Mozzarella is an incredibly soft cheese. 

Zoe: Gotcha. 

Kuma: So, you wanna use a knife on that one. 

Zoe: Gotcha, yeah. It’s just more efficient and the cheese comes out better, is that right? 

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: Gotcha. Hey, you learn something new each day. It’s always nice to have a little bit of shredded cheese. ‘Cause you can freeze it too, right? 

Kuma: Yes, you can. 

Zoe: You and I have just taken a bag out of the freezer and thawed it a little bit, and then just whenever we wanna use it, like a lasagna soup, our homemade enchiladas, or anything like that, just a little bit of shredded cheese. Oh, perfection! Or grilled cheese even. 

Checking the Pot

Kuma: Okay, about 10 minutes have elapsed. 

Zoe: Right. 

Kuma: So, what we’re going to do is we’re gonna take off that lid and we’re gonna look at our pot. 

Zoe: How does it look and how does it smell? 

Kuma: Ooh! It looks very nice! My noodles actually stuck to the bottom a little bit. So, you know what that means is I’m gonna add a little bit more water. 

Zoe: Water or oil? 

Kuma: Water. 

Zoe: Okay. ‘Cause I remember that if we’re cooking spaghetti, the spaghetti noodles start sticking to each other while they’re boiling, just a touch of oil will really help them be their own little singular noodles and they’ll not stick to each other. So, in this pot, in particular, when they’re cooking down with other ingredients just a touch of cold water will prevent them from sticking to the bottom? 

Kuma: It helps actually with this process called, “deglazing”. It just means I also had the pan on a little bit too high as well. Which is perfectly okay. Again, I make mistakes in the kitchen too. I’m not saying everyone’s perfect in the kitchen. 

Zoe: Oh, everyone makes mistakes and it’s all about the learning process. It’s about learning how to cook, eating happier, healthier, and being prouder of yourself.

Kuma: But, we did get that light marinara sauce we were going for. 

Zoe: Ooh, very nice, especially with those diced tomatoes. 

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: Oh, delicious! You could do things with fresh tomatoes or fresh ingredients, but here we’re just using canned, like a can of diced tomatoes. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. 

Zoe: And it’s working out wonderfully, huh?

Kuma: Yes, it is! 

Zoe: Yeah, so if you’ve got canned ingredients that you’re not using or that you don’t how to know how to use; I hope this podcast as a whole gives you ideas. 

Kuma: Okay. Now what we’re gonna do is you can heat the pan to low if your noodles didn’t stick to the bottom. I, personally, just turned off the pan. 

Spinach and Toppings

Kuma: I’m gonna add the spinach. 

Zoe: Ooh, okay. And again, spinach cooks really fast, right? How long do you think you’ll have the spinach in there? 

Kuma: Oh, it’ll only be a few minutes before it’s fully wilted. 

Zoe: Oh, okay! 

Kuma: You don’t even need to do a whole lot. I’m just gonna put the lid back on it. Let that sit.

Zoe: What do you think you’re going to garnish the soup with? ‘Cause I know a lot of people like cilantro or sour cream on their soups, but this doesn’t seem like the soup for that. 

Kuma: Well, it’s not really a soup. It’s just a pasta dish. 

Zoe: Yeah, a pasta dish. Sorry. 

Kuma: So, we’re gonna top with that feta cheese.

Zoe: Uh-huh.

Kuma: And then we’re also going to top with Kalamata olives. 

Zoe: Ooh. 

Kuma: Now, Kalamata Olives are olives that are brined. So, they have a very particular salty taste. They’re very delicious. If you’re like me, who loves a good cheese olive mix, I love to go to the deli at the store and peruse their brined olive selection and then their fancy cheese selection. 

Zoe: What was that fancy cheese you got at- What was it? Grocery Outlet? And you got this amazing cheese one time. 

Kuma: Well, it was at Grocery Outlet, and it was a “French Cheese”. It was a very soft dessert cheese, with lemon in it. 

Zoe: Was there espresso, lavender, and lemon? 

Kuma: Oh, there was another one too. Yeah, that one was an espresso lavender goat cheese roll.

Zoe: Oh, my gosh. 

Kuma: So, it was lavender that was finely chopped and mixed into the cheese, and then the roll of goat cheese was rolled in espresso. So, it had a very strong flavor, but it was very, very nice as well. 

Zoe: I didn’t know cheese could relax me. This here is our nice feta cheese with our Kalamata Olives. What do you think? Would a little bit of fresh mint help it any? 

Kuma: I think a little bit of fresh mint would go a long way in this actually. 

Zoe: Ooh, lovely. What did we just buy yesterday? I think we went to this lovely shopping center in Portland on 82nd, called “Fubonn”, they had absolutely wonderful ingredients. 

Kuma: It did. 

Zoe: Granted, I didn’t know that eating frog legs was a thing, or snails. But, hey, now I know! 

Kuma: Well, we can do some adventure cooking later in the future if you want. 

Zoe: True.

Kuma: As you know, frog legs are considered somewhat of a delicacy, depending on the region and who you’re talking to. 

Zoe: Was the meat “bouncy”? I’m sorry I said that! 

Kuma: Zoe. 

Zoe: I’m so sorry. 

Kuma: Zoe, Zoe, Zoe.

Zoe: It doesn’t sound like a soup or a stew right now. It really does sound like you’re mixing up and stirring the pasta, getting all those ingredients combined, all those flavors. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. 

Chickpeas and Olives

Kuma: So, now what I’m going to do is I’m going to add in the chickpeas. 

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: I believe I said about 14.5 ounces. So, like one can.

Zoe: About that much and they’re already cooked, so they’re softer, right? 

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: So, we don’t wanna really mix too hard or we’ll mash the peas. 

Kuma: Oh, that’s perfectly okay too, actually. 

Zoe: Yeah. I remember this one time I had poured in actual sweet peas. I was mixing it and I was like, “Oh, no, it needs more time to cook,”. So, I was like, stir, stir, stir, stir! I stir very vigorously sometimes. Then I was like, “Where are my peas? There are no peas in here. Oh, no, they just mashed into the food.” 

Kuma: Did you really do that? 

Zoe: Yeah, with the shepherd’s pie that one time. Do you remember? 

Kuma: No, I don’t! 

Zoe: Yeah! At least the corn didn’t dissolve. 

Kuma: Oh, goodness! So, we got fresh mint. What I’m doing is I’m just tearing off just a tiny little bit of the leaves and shredding it with my fingers. But, also, here’s the thing about fresh mint; it’s a very subtle flavor, so it’s really good in fresh salads. But, I’m using it more as just a small topping right now.

Zoe: And fresh mint doesn’t taste like mint toothpaste or anything. 

Kuma: No, it does not. It’s very, very good to make tea with. 

Zoe: Ooh. 

Kuma: So, that’s why I got it, was I wanted to use it for tea. But, you can use mint in a lot of things too; as a light refresher to it all. Now, what I’m gonna do is, this is nice and all mixed up. I’m going to add the Kalamata Olives to it.

Zoe: Okay. These are Kalamata olives and the ones that we have are already in their own brine. Is that right? 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. And, they’re pitted. So, Olive Pits, the seeds, they’re stone fruit. So, they’re very, very solid. Kinda like how apricots, and nectarines, and plums have that hard pit.

Zoe: Or, like a cherry or avocado? 

Kuma: Yeah. So, olives are like that too. You don’t need a whole lot of Kalamata Olives too. Let’s be real, Kalamata olives have a very strong salty taste, kinda like capers. So, you need to be very mindful about how many you add. 

Zoe: I assume that they’re a nice snack too, right?

Kuma: Oh, yes!

Zoe: ‘Cause like a snack- 

Kuma: If you like things like that, like I do, yes! 

Zoe: Like that, plus some cheese. Maybe wrap it up in like a tortilla, or something. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. 

Zoe: Very easy, right? ‘Cause a snack is small but it should be bursting with flavor! 

Kuma: Don’t add that to a tortilla… 

Zoe: Don’t add that to a tortilla?

Kuma: No.

Zoe: That’s my mind thinking of combinations that I think would be good in theory. But, I’m not sure how it would could be good IRL. 

Kuma: Okay. So, I’ve added some feta. Gonna mix it around.

Zoe: What about flatbread? 

Kuma: Yeah, you could do flatbread. 

Zoe: Yeah, flatbread with olive, tomato, and cheese. Oh, that sounds good. Or, like a pita pocket- 

Kuma: That sounds more like a girl dinner, I’ll be honest. 

Zoe: Ooh, that sounds like a great snack. Stick it together with a toothpick, and then you gently grill it, or put it on the pan for a little bit.

Kuma: Okay. 

Serving and First Taste

Kuma: Now we’re gonna serve it! 

Zoe: Let us serve! 

Kuma: Can you get a bowl, please? 

Zoe: Oh, absolutely! I’ll get two bowls! One for you and one for me! 

Kuma: Did you break that bowl? 

Zoe: No! No! I didn’t drop a bowl! 

Kuma: Okay-

Zoe: I dropped something else! Nothing appears to be broken. 

Kuma: Okay, so you will need tongs for this. 

Zoe: Okay. 

Kuma: The classic, double-check the tongs still work. 

Zoe: Yeah! 

Kuma: You click it! I mean, tongs always work unless they don’t. But, it feels like the classic move. Okay. So, those tomatoes should add a little bit of acidity to it, which should really help bring out a lot of that flavor in it as well. 

Zoe: Lovely. 

Kuma: Let me get you some garbanzos and, uh- 

Zoe: I can’t wait to taste it! Because, this seems so simple and we made it in about 45 minutes-

Kuma: it takes less than that.

Zoe: Yeah, ’cause we’ve been talking so much and I’ve been distracting you and trying my best to help. But, dropping things along the way! But, it’s so simple and the ingredients are so easy to get, and it’s vegetarian too. I’m so excited! Aren’t those lovely tongs from IKEA? 

Kuma: Uh… No. 

Zoe: I know that, that time we went to IKEA we got lots of stuff. I got potato slicer from there, actually! But, they do have lots of pretty affordable cooking equipment that’s of decent quality as well, right?

Kuma: Yes. 

Zoe: Yeah. So, if you’re not sure where to start you can grab a decent pan and some knives and spoons, tongs, or whatnot. In reality, like any metal with an edge, you can use as a knife. You just do your best with what you’ve got in the kitchen. That’s what it’s all about. So, we’ll sit down to eat. I’d just like to ask you a few more questions…

Kuma: Well, would you like to try the first bite? 

Zoe: Oh, absolutely! It’s still nice and piping hot! So, yeah, I’d just like to ask you a few questions while we enjoy our meal. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. 

Zoe: How does it smell? 

Kuma: Tomatoey, so a bit of that acidity with the Kalamata Olives. Does it need more salt or pepper? Plus, this is also a great meal to pack for lunch. 

Zoe: Yeah. I don’t think it needs more salt and pepper. Maybe just a touch of pepper. But, it almost tastes like a spaghetti, but really leveled up! 

Kuma: Mm-hmm.

Zoe: ‘Cause of the vegetables. ‘Cause we basically made our own sauce. That spinach too, that wonderful, fresh flavor of the spinach, the saltiness of the olives to balance everything out. This is my first time doing this dish and tasting it. I would absolutely do it again! 

Cooking and Mental Health

Zoe: So, Kuma, I did wanna ask; because, I know that you and I have both had a lot of struggles with mental health in our life as well. For you, if you’re okay sharing, how does cooking help you overcome those struggles in life? ‘Cause, for me, I consider it very much. Mental health is extremely important. Depression and CPTSD are really crippling things that can basically be really disabling as well. How does cooking help you with those things in your life, or how has your life shaped around those ideas? Or how do you overcome those disabilities? 

Kuma: Okay. Well, cooking is a skill that really has been, for humanity, taught through family to child, or loved one to child. Sometimes it’s born out of necessity of the kid not knowing how to cook themselves, they don’t have anyone to teach them, and they just try it by themselves. So, cooking is about survival, realistically, but there’s also an art involved in it too, that allows a lot of creativity, as well. Zoe loves doing creativity with her cooking, and sometimes it works. Most of the time it does not. For me, some of that creativity comes down to a little bit of Oregon classics; which is popcorn with a little bit of oil and nutritional yeast?

Zoe: It’s good! 

Kuma: It’s an Oregon classic! I will admit that through and through. Other times too, I will do like a sunny side up egg over leftover rice with soy sauce over it. 

Zoe: That sounds good. 

Kuma: And that’s just like a really quick, easy breakfast I can make. Part of cooking with mental health stuff is, it’s how I show people I love them. Because, I’m still poor as a person. We’re in this economy where if you’re not making like over $100,000, you are still one paycheck away from losing everything. Part of the things I can do to show the people I do love them is making food for them, and I love making bread. I love going up to a friend and be like, “I made you a loaf of bread. Will you try it for me and tell you what you think?”. Because, sometimes it’ll be a new bread recipe, and they love it because they know I care for them, they know I can give this to them, and it’s made with a lot of love in it. But, if I also wanna get into the nitty-gritty about the psychology and the therapeutic part of it, there’s this thing called, “Somatic Therapy”. Which is about, for a lot of people who have trauma, a good way of processing feelings if we haven’t been taught how to express feelings, or stuff like that, is learning how to move. It helps move those feelings through our body. For me, personally, sometimes I will just get on the phone with a best friend and chop onions for an hour. The onions will make me cry and that’ll help if I need to cry. But, also, it’s just a nice way of I’m doing something else and it’s very nice to just get my body moving. Or, I’ll go to the gym and stuff like that. But, cooking too is, in and of itself, Somatic Therapy.

Zoe: That’s true and, not only that, those onions that you chop you can freeze for later, right? 

Kuma: Mm-hmm. 

Zoe: Yeah. Those vegetables, if you have too many carrots or any other things, you can always just freeze them for later, ’cause sometimes we’re just too tired. For me, sometimes, a really, really deep slump will hit me and I’m like, “Ugh, I just don’t have the energy to chop like onions, or tomatoes, carrots.”. I can just pull out those frozen ingredients and use them, right? 

Kuma: Yep! Granted, if you want something with a very strong crunch in it, you might wanna go with something fresh instead of frozen. But, that’s perfectly fine too. There’s no judgment in cooking whatsoever. Unless you’re Zoe making one of her, “Disaster Meals”. 

Zoe: “Disaster Meals” is a very light way of putting it. Remember that time, I was like, ” Oh, I’ve never had Vienna sausages before!”, and, without washing the brine off, put them into the rice in a rice cooker, and boiled it all together? I was like, “Where are my sausages? Oh, they dissolved into the rice.” That’s about right. 

Kuma: Yes. But, I will also say, folks, please don’t use canned spinach. This is just a personal tip, but don’t use canned spinach. Unless that’s all you can get, no judgment. But, I’m just saying it has a very briny flavor that doesn’t wash away.

Zoe: I mean, we’d all like to be Popeye with his magnificent muscles on a deep level. But, canned spinach, it dissolves if you try to cook with it. ‘Cause, as you saw here with our fresh spinach, it wilted really fast. The spinach is nice and soft in this bowl, and it has wonderful flavor. But, that brine, the preservatives in those canned spinach, it’ll just dissolve pretty much. I found it very hard to use canned spinach and canned collard greens personally. 

Kuma: Yeah, you can use frozen or fresh. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Kuma: But, I’m just saying, canned spinach is not- 

Zoe: It’s not the way to go?

Kuma: No, it’s not. But, that’s okay. To each their own. 

Zoe: To each their own, for sure. Does this feel like a meal that you could actually serve to someone and show them as a love language that you care? 

Kuma: Yeah! So, here’s the thing about this meal, is it’s really quick and easy. If you really want low effort too and if you’re just not feeling it, or you’re sick, and somebody you care about is also sick and you live together; this is a really good recipe to make for that too. ‘Cause, it has a lot of those nutrients that the human body needs. We have a lot of iron and fiber from the chickpeas. Hey, guess what? People need fiber. 

Zoe: Yes, they do. 

Kuma: Eating beans is actually very good for you. Then you have those tomatoes, onion, garlic- you have all these wonderful ingredients in there if you just use the right proportions to mix it all together. I would serve this to somebody. Pretty sure I have served this to a family member, and they were very happy with it.

Zoe: You have now! 

Kuma: Well, a different family member. You know what I mean! 

Zoe: I know what you mean. But, yeah. Beans, they do have good fiber, so I will never stop trying to get you to eat an English breakfast. 

Kuma: I would rather die. 

Zoe: Ah, sadness. Truly. 

Kuma: But, yes. 

Quick Meals Wisdom

Zoe: The last question I have for you here; you said quick and easy, but a big theme on our podcast is just because it’s quick and easy doesn’t mean that it’s bad or that simple equates to bad. When was the first time, or what’s the first experience that you can think of that really taught you that, even when making something with your hands, having it be quick and easy doesn’t make it bad at all? It can make it sometimes the most fabulous. Because, for me, while you’re thinking about that question; we’ve come back to a few times, but the shepherd’s pie was the third recipe I learned how to make and considering cooking bacon in the oven as a recipe. 

Kuma: Well, do you remember how I make mac and cheese?

Zoe: For context, I’ve made mac and cheese before. Like with Kraft Mac and Cheese, and it always turns out horrid. 

Kuma: Well, you make mac and cheese in a very particular way. The way I’m talking about, for me, is even with Kraft Mac and Cheese, that boxed mac and cheese, I love that. I grew up on that. So, what I do is I’ll cook the pasta. I make the sauce, but I also throw in onion and garlic powder and a ton of pepper into it, too. Maybe I’ll add like a little bit of some spicy kick to that sauce, like sriracha or something, to make it just a touch spicy. 

Zoe: Or, cayenne. 

Kuma: So, for me, that’s still good. Even if some people see it as poor person’s Mac and Cheese. Because, cheese can be expensive. 

Zoe: Yeah! 

Kuma: Cheese can be expensive! It’s still a good way of turning something into its own. And, side note, you can also make Baked Mac and Cheese with that Kraft Mac and Cheese. 

Zoe: Oh! First time you served me that, I was in food heaven.

Kuma: Yes, you were very happy.

Zoe: ‘Cause, that’s one thing is you’ll find your own particular niche, your own particular touch for things. When I make my mac and cheese, to preface, I’ve made like actual mac and cheese with like actual cheese once and I used a lot of cheese. So, I get where Kuma’s coming from, but it was good. My mac and cheese were like those like boxed things. I never add anything. It’s just like the water, the sauce packet, the macaroni. Maybe, I’ll add like some onion in there. One time I added potato; did not work. And, one time I added bacon; that did help. But, it was just nowhere near as good as your mac and cheese, Kuma. It feels so simple and easy, but there’s still so much room to improve and so much depth that you can really get to when cooking. So, I’m just really, really impressed. I am so thankful that you’ve come to share your recipe with us today. I’m really honored that you would share your experience, your growth, your lessons about learning how to cook, and overcome adversity as well. Do you have any final words for our viewers, aside from the fact that this dish is positively, mind-blowingly, amazingly good? 

Kuma: Yeah! 

Budget Food Resources

Kuma: So, if you’re broke, people tend to think of food pantries as the really destitute go to. That is true. The food pantry is for people who can’t afford to buy food.

Zoe: There’s a lot of built-in stigma in that. 

Kuma: But, it’s also perfectly okay to go to food pantries. I survived off of food pantries in college. My college had a food pantry. I went to that on a weekly basis. I was on a first name basis with the people who ran it. They were very kind! They had a lot of fresh vegetables from the local college garden too. Then I also went to Catholic Community Centers. Now, I’m not Catholic, but that was where I could, back home, find food pantries outside of my college; through the Catholic Community Services. 

Zoe: No matter who we are, people are willing to help, right? 

Kuma: Yes. I can find a lot of stuff there, and you can find a lot of stuff at food pantries that we don’t always think of. Also The Dollar Tree too; The Dollar Tree has a wonderful selection of spices. But, we’re also in Oregon, so we have WinCo, and WinCo has a lot of great spices too in their bulk section. Now, bulk shopping is a great way to buy things. 

Zoe: Yeah, Soy Sauce, Garam Masala for my curries.

Kuma: You can also buy pounds and pounds of rice or beans or flour or seasonings for very low, in the bulk section. That’s the purpose of the bulk section. You can also get dried fruit. I have a jar of dried raisins, so I can add that into pancakes or cereal in the morning as well, or into granola bars.

Zoe: Dried mushrooms? 

Kuma: Yeah, dried mushrooms too. Yeah. 

Zoe: Yeah. ‘Cause we got some, and you can just rehydrate them and use them in your cooking too. It’s great. There are so many wonderful things, like beans that you can cook and freeze for later, or vegetables, even rice that you can cook, put into the fridge. If you need to refresh it, just run it under a little bit of cold water. 

Kuma: Mm-hmm! 

Zoe: Stale bread even! One trick that I learned was you can actually pour a little bit of water over it, and then put it in the oven and bake it. Now you do want to tent it in foil, but you wanna bake it, and it will rehydrate the bread and bring it back to life. Same with tortilla chips. If you’ve got some stale tortilla chips, if you bake them it dehydrates them and gets them nice and crispy again. Just on a low heat. We don’t wanna actually cook them on a high heat. 

Kuma: Yeah. All right. 

Signing Off Credits

Kuma: Well, how about we sign off and go eat our lovely dinner? 

Zoe: Sounds like a plan. I’ve been nibbling at it, ’cause I just can’t resist. So, that being said, Kuma, go ahead and sign off. 

Kuma: Good night, everybody. I hope you have a glorious time cooking and enjoy yourselves!

Zoe: Glorious! 

Outro

Asher: Thank you for listening to Let’s Talk!. Portland Community College’s broadcast about disability culture. Find more information and resources concerning this episode and others at pcc.edu/dca. This episode was produced by the Let’s Talk! Podcast Collective as a collaborative effort between students, the Accessible Education and Disability Resource Department, and the PCC Multimedia Department. We air new episodes on our home website, our Spotify channel, XRAY 91.1 FM and 107.1 FM, and KBOO Radio, 90.7 FM.