Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Two Brilliant Ideas for Surviving in the Time of Coronavirus

I have two unrelated, but brilliant ideas. Both are almost too good to be true, but for totally different reasons. 
I am a little reluctant to share these ideas, again, for totally different reasons. Nevertheless, an obnoxious sense of do-goodery compels me to share them here with you, dear readers. Make of them what you will. 

First, and most importantly, is an idea that definitely will slow the spread of coronavirus. Since I don’t tweet or reddit or whatever it is most non-senior citizens do, this idea will require a little help. Perhaps a younger person could make it go viral, or, alternatively, someone who is on Fox TV and is willing to help out for the good of America. Please share this idea. You can even claim it as your own: 

President Trump or his campaign needs to start making and selling “Make America Great Again” masks. 

Dr. Fauci testified today that new coronavirus cases could hit 100,000 a day in this country if we don’t do something. The half of this country where the virus is spreading faster than wildfire also is where many people are unwilling to wear masks. Is it because of whatever political statement a mask may imply? Or because they watch only Fox news and listen only to the President and believe their lies? Or because they just don’t care about their fellow humans. Or some other undecipherable reason?

I don’t know the reasons for their refusal to be guided by scientific facts. But if President Trump were to combine his greed and his campaign slogan with just an ounce of concern for his followers, he would have a recipe for slowing the spread of coronavirus. His followers would buy and wear masks and forget that he ever said masks weren’t needed. The virus would ease its spread in Trump-country and maybe we could all go back to something approaching normalcy a little sooner. 

 My only hesitancy is I will hate to see that sea of red MAGA masks on his followers’ faces. Don’t get me wrong: we do need to make America great again, after the destruction Trump has brought to American lives, our economy, and Constitutional safeguards. But I’m hoping we will get that chance in November. In the meantime, I would like to save MAGA lives. See what I mean about my tendency towards do-gooderism?

I also am reluctant to share my other, totally-unrelated suggestion. For a totally different and much more selfish reason: I do not want to create a toilet-paper-like “run” on a product I have decided is miraculous. Chia Seeds. Please be assured that chia seeds’ potentially new-found popularity and shortages are the only relationship they have to toilet paper.

I discovered that chia seeds are the easiest “cooking” product ever. I’m still not sure how you pronounce the name (much like my problem with quinoa for quite a while). I can’t recall what led me to buy two pounds of organic chia seeds on Amazon during one of my online shopping frenzies at the start of the shutdown. I think perhaps I was envisioning a bunker with our kids and grandkids staying with us and someone knowing what to do with chia seeds. That never happened. 

Our kids and their families stayed safely ensconced in their own homes, many miles from us. We all sort of established our own home bunkers. And I was left to deal with the results of many ill- or well-advised hasty, online purchases. Though I will say I never acquired a humongous stash of toilet paper I now have large quantities of strange items in our pantry and cabinets.

Yesterday, because my spouse was getting tired of moving the two-pound jar of chia seeds around in the pantry, I looked up chia recipes for the first time. The results of my experiments, unlike some of my other baking and home projects, turned out great. I now am keeping the chia seeds in a place of honor and prominence. 

You can mix a few chia seeds with water (Online recipes tell you how much to use.) in substitution of eggs in baking recipes; you can make very easy puddings with them—mix with any kind of “milk” and whatever and let sit in fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. You can add all kinds of things to your chia creations, make smoothies, eat the chia seeds either dissolved or as a crunchy topping. After the seeds sit in liquid for a while and develop into a pudding-like consistency you can blend the pudding if you want it to be smoother. Either with or without add-ins like fruit. According to reputable online info chia seeds also are amazingly nutritious and good for your digestion. 

All of that would be beside the point if they tasted terrible. But they don't. I put just a few in banana bread and they improved the texture and taste. I also made two kinds of chia seed pudding—for both I mixed four tablespoons chia seeds to a cup of milk. You also can use other, milk-like products. I mixed one chia pudding with dark cocoa and maple syrup. The other I mixed with just maple syrup and vanilla. The chocolate pudding was delicious and I had some of the other with fresh fruit this morning. They both tasted great and gave me a feeling of fullness without any stomach issues. And since I have celiac disease and gastritis it’s a big deal for me to not have stomach issues. 

I checked on Amazon and the two-pound jar of organic seeds is less than $7. For now. 

If you know all about chia seeds please disregard all of the above about chia seeds. I know it sounds a bit like it’s written by a new religious convert. If you haven’t tried chia seeds yet, try them. But please do not hoard all of them like you hoarded toilet paper a few months ago. Leave some for me when I’ve used up my two pounds worth.