Good Eating Monday: Misadventures & Cumin

My misadventures have nothing to do with cumin---but rather with the lawn-mower.

It's a corded electric mower, which means I run it on a 100 ft cord plugged into either an exterior outlets or the garage, depending on what side of the house I'm on.

It also has a surprisingly strong vacuum.

Last week I was mowing around the curve of one of my flower beds and I was focused on the fire ant hill on the edge that I was intent on mowing over, yet not stepping in. The a loop of the cord was on the ground nearby, but I thought it far enough way. Apparently not. Somehow the mower vacuum still caught that loop and sucked it in----snap---my power cord was in two pieces!

Fortunately, I have a spare 50 ft utility cord and added a 15 ft household extension cord to that to give me 65 ft, which I needed to give me enough reach to finish mowing the front lawn.
Of course, hitting the cord also triggered the house's electrical safety thing. Took me a minute to figure that out. I plugged in the mower on my jury-rigged cord and---nothing. Scared me a second, then I remembered to check the reset button on the garage wall. Yup, that was it. I hit "reset"and the mower hummed right to life as soon as I plugged it in.

Then there was the day I mowed the neighbors newspaper.
I didn't mean to. Don't worry--it wasn't one they pay for. It was just the free local rag that gets tossed on every one's driveway every Wednesday. It's really nothing---a bit of local news, some community announcements and lots and lots of ads. It also comes in a plastic newspaper baggie that is longer then the paper.
Normally, when I mow the front, I also mow the 5 feet of the neighbors grass that lays between my me and their driveway. My tree drops leaves on both sides and I like to mop them up. Their free newspaper was laying along the very edge of their driveway right next to the grass, but not actually on it. I was just expecting to do a cursory sweep in the near vicinity---but, drat that mower vacuum! It caught a bit of that plastic bag flap and, in a blink of an eye, sucked it in and---B-B-U-U-R-R! 
Instant shreds.

Unfortunately, only about half the shreds actually went into the mower's rear bag--the rest spewed about my feet. Luckily, the neighbors weren't home and didn't happen to come home while I was cleaning up the evidence.

I doubt they even missed it.

Today's healthy eating topic is Cumin.

Cumin is part of the spices commonly in your Taco seasoning pack. It's a mainstay to Mexican cooking.
Health wise, Cumin is loaded with phytoestrogens just like soy, so it helps maintain bone health. 

What to do with it:
You can use it in stews, chowders, soups, on meats, curries and

 in any casserole.
(It's automatically an element of Curry Powder.)
And, of course, all those Mexican and Southwest delights

are full of cumin.

I made delicious pork tacos the other day. I like to buy the trays of 8 boneless, center-cut pork chops, which we grill, then I use for various meals the rest of the week.
I like their serving size and they're pretty lean.
For tacos, I use 2 and cut them into thin strips.
Then I add 1 tsp of coconut oil to my iron frying pan, add the strips of pork, then shake turmeric, cumin and chili-powder over them. I add sliced onion and sliced baby portabella mushrooms and saute together until all nicely crispy brown.
(Turns out that coconut oil is fantastic for nice, crisp browning! Don't worry, a mere teaspoon doesn't leave any coconut flavor.)
Then I get out a couple wraps or shells, add a bit of cheese, tomatoes, lettace, add the pork mix and top with salsa.
Yum! Made enough for 4 tacos.