Froot Loops, Cheez Whiz and Greek Salad.  These are the foods of my early childhood.

All day every day consisted of me and Pappou (my grandfather) finding ways to entertain ourselves until we picked Yiayia (my grandmother) up from work, and just as Yiayia had invented plenty of rules for me to follow, she had invented them for her husband too.  Rule #1: do not use any heating elements.  That rule was instituted early on, and reinforced after he broke it one day to make me french fries and accidentally set the kitchen on fire, just a little bit.  Rule #1 also explains our limited meal options, not that I minded.  My meal routine included twice-daily sugar rushes and a salad so tasty for lunch every day that I would soak up every last bit of dressing on my plate with my white Wonder Bread.

For Pappou’s Greek Salad, quality ingredients are the key.  Home-grown or local vegetables are best.  If you can’t find local or they are out of season, opt for organic where possible.  Olive Oil should be extra-virgin cold pressed, and have a slightly green colour.  The greener the better!

Here is the recipe:

Serves 2.  Prep time: 10 minutes

2 field tomatoes (heirloom or vine-ripened are fine)

6” field cucumber

1 green pepper

Kalamata olives

2 oz feta cheese

2-4 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Oregano to taste

Fresh bread

1. Chop tomatoes, cucumber and green peppers in a salad bowl
2. Add olives, olive oil and salt, and toss
3. Place feta cheese atop tossed salad
4. Sprinkle oregano over cheese and salad
5. Eat! The tomato juice blends with the olive oil to make a delicious dressing.  Make sure you have plenty of bread to soak it all up!

 

And for those of you that are interested in re-creating a couple super-unhealthy and sugary 1980s mainstays:

Froot Loops for Breakfast:

1 bowl Froot Loops

1 glass homo milk

1. Pour glass of milk into bowl of Froot Loops.  Eat Froot Loops, and drink remaining milk from the glass

Cheez Whiz on crackers for snack time:

1 tbsp Cheez Whiz

4 Ritz crackers

1. Spread ½ tbsp of Cheez Whiz on each of 2 crackers
2. Use remaining 2 crackers to create a sandwich
3. Eat without a plate or napkin, leaving a trail of crumbs everywhere you go