Aunt Millie’s Bakeries

13 08 2008

Lately, I’ve been doing a little label reading to see what I can cut out of my diet.  Most of the calories and sugar I get are from Pepsi which is pretty much like crack to me.  I’ve tried cutting down, but I get irritable when I’m craving one.  Since I started dating my girlfriend, she’s been trying to get me to eat healthier bread.  For the most part, I’d grab the store brand generic white bread that was $.99.  It seemed like such a waste to spend $4 on bread.

I gave in a few times and tried some of the “healthier” bread that she wanted me to try and they all tasted like crap.  They weren’t very dense and went stale pretty fast.  It just wasn’t appetizing.  Last week, I was at Kroger and I started reading labels.  My goal was to find a loaf of bread that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or enriched wheat.  That proved to be a lot harder than I thought.  Even the healthy stuff my girlfriend keeps trying to get me to buy has both.

As I was about to give up and just buy the cheap stuff, I picked up one final loaf.  It was a brand I’ve never heard of, but right on top of the packaging, they were advertising the fact that their bread didn’t have HFCS.  The brand?  Aunt Millie’s

Aunt Millie’s is a regional bakery based in Ft. Wayne, IN that serves five states in the Midwest including Michigan with four bakeries in Michigan (two in Coldwater, Jackson, Kalamazoo, and Plymouth).  I picked up a loaf, but it was over $3.  I figured this one time, I’d give it a try.  I didn’t have high expectations because healthy bread usually didn’t taste good.  Aunt Millie’s is an exception to that rule.  I can’t tell any difference between this bread and the cheap bread I usually prefer.  Still, $3.18 is a little high for bread….good thing I found it at Horrock’s for $1.80. 

I’m sold now.  Last time at Horrock’s, I picked up another loaf of wheat bread and a package of wheat buns…both made with out enriched wheat products or HFCS.  I never thought I’d find a healthier bread that I liked, but I did.  Aunt Millie makes just about every bread that I buy.  Horrock’s also had Texas Toast (which I prefer for pulled pork), hot dog buns, and even potato bread.  Not my thing, but it seems that’s the new craze. 

Aunt Millies Multi-Grain Wheat Bread

Aunt Millie's Multi-Grain Wheat Bread

Aunt Millie’s Multi-Grain Wheat Bread

  • Zero Grams of Saturated Fat Per Serving
  • Zero Grams of Trans Fat Per Serving
  • No High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Serving Size = 1 Slice
  • Calories – 60
  • Calories from Fat – 0
  • Sodium – 130mg – 5%

 

 

Aunt Millies Hearth 100% Whole Wheat Buns

Aunt Millie's Hearth 100% Whole Wheat Buns

Aunt Millie’s Hearth 100% Whole Weat Hamburger Buns

  • Zero Grams Trans Fat Per Serving
  • No High Fructose Corn Syrup
  • Made With Whole Grain Flour
  • Serving Size = 1 Bun
  • Calories – 140
  • Calories from Fat – 15
  • Sodium 270mg – 11%

 





Aldi – S. Pennsylvania

11 08 2008
  • 655 S. Pennsylvania
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • No Phone Number
  • Website
The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

The Aldi store on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give Aldi a shot for the first time in many years.  I went to the store on Saginaw Highway (review HERE).  The only thing I picked up was a bag of frozen chicken.  We finally ran out of that chicken and I needed something for dinner, so I headed to the Aldi on S. Pennsylvania to pick up the same thing.  I said in my last review that chicken was a test.  It totally passed the test.  It was just as good as chicken we’ve gotten from somewhere else and it was much cheaper.

The Aldi on S. Pennsylvania is set up like all Aldi stores.  Since I was just going for chicken again, I didn’t grab a cart.  It took me a little while to find what I was looking for this time.  I went to the fresh meat case first hoping to find some ribs.  There wasn’t a whole lot left there.  Just a few pieces of chicken and some ground beef.  I didn’t find the ribs, so I went looking for the frozen chicken breasts.  I finally found the bag I was looking for after doing some digging in the freezer.  Someone had put some flavored frozen chicken breasts in the box for the regular ones. Read the rest of this entry »





Hungry Howie’s Pizza – Holt

10 08 2008
  • 2361 Cedar St.
  • Holt, MI 48842
  • (517) 699-9000
  • Website
  • Menu
Hungry Howies Pizza in Holt

Hungry Howie's Pizza in Holt

It was a long weekend.  We spent all weekend in Chicago and the drive home always seems to take forever.  We got stuck in traffic right away when we jumped on I-94 and stayed in bumper-to-bumper traffic until we got the 35th Street.  There were a lot of people trying to get to U.S. Cellular Field ten minutes before the game was about to start.  We hit a lot of traffic on the Skyway (I-90) leaving town and no one had I-Pass so the lines to the manned tollbooths were backed up.  Then, we got into Indiana, we came up on an accident on I-94 where traffic was at a standstill.  By the time we finally made it back to Lansing, neither of us were in the mood to cook dinner.

For some reason, J was craving pizza.  I said that sounded good to me.  We were sitting on the couch wathing the Olympics and a pizza sounded like a good solution.  We haven’t had Hungry Howie’s yet and their ads always intrique me with their flavored crusts.

I got on Google and found the Hungry Howie’s in Holt across from L & L Food Center.  We’re still on that quest for the “perfect pizza.”  There’s a front runner, but we want to give all the local delivery places a try.  Hungry Howie is a home grown chain.  Their numbers are in excess of 500 locations nationwide, but their offices are here in Michigan in Madison Heights.  Read the rest of this entry »





Election Day BBQ – Final Update

5 08 2008

I hope everyone did their civic duty today and voted in all the non-races in the Lansing area.  I haven’t yet, but I do plan on it before the polls close.  It’s a little wierd.  I haven’t voted on Election Day in a few years.  Illinois has early voting or what the Reform Michigan Government Now (which I strongly oppose) calls No Excuse Absentee Voting.  Our polls were also automated, so I figured I’ll use today as a practice vote for November since I hear Michigan still use paper ballets or optical scan maybe?

Anyway, since it is Election Day, it’s a good day for a BBQ, huh?  I know that’s bad logic, but everyday is a good day for a BBQ.  My girlfriend actually isn’t going to be able to leave work for dinner, so we’re being nice and smoking some pork butts for the whole office.  I’ve never blogged about my cooking, but I thought I’d share the journey since I know some people at her office read this, it’ll just get them hungrier and then, as a negative side effect, hype up my pulled pork and give me expecatations I can’t possibly achieve.

Anyway, we got two Levandowski pork butts from L & L last night.  We went with two smaller ones instead of one big one hoping to cut the cooking time down some.  I put my rub on last night and threw them in the fridge.  I used a Bobby Flay rub and this is one of the few I don’t stray from.  It is so freakin good.  I used to use my own brown sugar based rub, but this one is so much better.  Just a little bit of heat.  I cut down the measurements so I only make what I was going to use today.

4 teaspoons Ancho Chile Powder
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Chile de Arbol powder

45

This is what my two pork butts looked like when I threw them on the grill at about 1:45

I used this on a pork tenderloin one time and thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I pulled the meat out of the fridge and fired the grill up about 1:30.  I use natural hardwood lump charcoal instead of briquettes so the fire got going pretty quickly.  I added some hickory chunks and chips to the coals and threw the butts on the grill.  I’m trying to keep the temperature down around 250, but it’s not always easy with a Weber Kettle grill. 

Keep checking back between now and 6:00 or so.  I’ll update with pictures as we go along.  It’s so sad that Lansing doesn’t have a real BBQ joint.  This stuff is so easy to do with a little patience and the result is incredible!

Make sure to click on the READ MORE link every hour or so for updates Read the rest of this entry »





Press Release – Mason Aviation Day

3 08 2008

From a press release.

Mason Aviation Day

Sunday, August 17, 2008
at Mason Jewell Airport (TEW)

Eden & Kipp Road, Mason, MI
(across from Fairgrounds)

Fly In or Drive In

Pancacke Breakfast ~ 7 AM to 11:30 AM

Grilled Steak Dinner  ~ Noon to 4:00 PM
    (Pork BBQ, Hot Dogs, Brats also available)

Antique Aircraft ~ Classic Aircraft ~ Vintage Aircraft ~ Homebuilt Aircraft ~ Military Aircraft

FREE ADMISSION to Mason Jewett Airport

Hosted by Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 55

Contact Bill Bezdek 517-351-0448 or Bill Purosky 517-655-1432
for additional information or visit
http://www.eaa55.org

EAA Chapter 55….member of the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce





Ingham County Fair

3 08 2008
  • 700 E. Ash St.
  • Mason, MI 48854
  • (517) 676-2428
  • Website
Heat race during the demolition derby at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

Heat race during the demolition derby at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

I LOVE demolition derby.  I’m a total redneck at heart.  After I graduated college and before I got my first job, I spent the summer working on demo cars with some friends of mine.  I loved every minute of it and wished I was more mechanically inclined.  My girlfriend, grew up going to Team Demo Derby’s at Santa Fe Speedway near Chicago, so there’s a place in her heart for demo derby too.  A co-worker of my girlfriend and her boyfriend had never seen a demo derby, so we met at the Ingham County Fair on the final night for some good ol’ fashioned car smashing.

County fairs were really cool when I was a kid.  We didn’t start going to theme parks until I was into junior high and high school, so the county fair was where we got to go on rides and win cheap prizes.  Walking into the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason brought back all those feelings.  I couldn’t believe a lot of the rides were the same (like the Gravitron) and none of the games had changed.  You’d think they’d come up with something new, but nope.

Row of food vendors near the midway at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

Row of food vendors near the midway at the Ingham County Fair in Mason

When we first walked in, we ran right into a row of food vendors.  We wanted to do a lap before deciding to make sure we didn’t buy something then find something better.  One of the first stands I noticed was the BBQ.  My girlfriend had just mentioned that she smelled BBQ as I was pointing it out to her.  After a lap to the midway and back, I got a pulled pork sandwich.  Well, sorta.  They called it pulled pork, but it was more chopped and it was Texas BBQ, so the sauce wasn’t as sweet and vinegar-y as I like it.  It was alright and hit the spot though.  The whole time I was ordering, I could litteraly hear pigs squealing from the barn right behind me.  I love the irony when they put the pig barn next to the BBQ stand. Read the rest of this entry »





Press Release – Ella Sharp Museum Edible History

1 08 2008

Sounds cool.  From a press release….

The Edible History dinner will take place in Ella’s Granary Restaurant (in the Museum) and will feature a menu of mid-19th century fare. .

Edible History dinners are annotated meals, Each course will have a brief explanation of the food-what it is, how it was prepared, etc. The menu (a secret); for this first Edible History program is tailored to the arrival of Mary Merriman, Ella Sharp’s mother, in Jackson in 1856.

This dinner imagines what Mary might have eaten in this earlier Jackson. Museum staff combed through the Museum collection and period cookbooks and recipes to create a menu reflecting Jackson in the 1850s.

Accompanying the meal is a slide presentation of Mary Wing Farnsworth Merriman. “We are so often focused on the life of her daughter, Ella-yet Mary was a fascinating woman in her own right.

The logic is that without Mary there would be no Ella and without Ella no beautiful park or Museum. We owe a lot to Mary and the way she raised her daughter.” Upcoming meals will feature other members of the Merriman-Sharp family and other periods of Jackson history.

The Edible History: Mary Merriman dinner requires a paid reservation.

Cost for the meal, period beverage, and program is $35per person.

Contact the Museum for more information and for reservations at (517)787-2320.

3225 Fourth St.
Jackson, MI 49203

www.ellasharp.org





Distilleries to Sell Their Own Brews

30 07 2008

Now here’s a law that makes sense.

State distilleries can now sell their brews on site thanks to a new law.

In the past, distillers could only sell their products through a middleman. Now that they can sell the alcohol themselves, they will make more money which in turn means they will be able to try different products and offer more varieties.

Public Act 218’08 was passed by the Legislature on June 27th.  Governor Granholm signed the bill into law on July 24th.  The Michigan Brewing Company was on hand for the bill signing and sent the following press release.

PUBLIC ACT 218 BECOMES LAW – MBC SHARES THE WIN IN CREATION OF MICHIGAN’S NEW ‘MICRO-DISTILLERIES’ Read the rest of this entry »





Girl Scout Donates Pigs to Food Bank

29 07 2008

I had to post this story.  Ellen Sponsler, a Girl Scout from Parma, is donating fifteen pigs that she raised to the Food Bank of South Central Michigan.  That’s 3,000 pounds of food.  I can’t even imagine how much money this girl could make at auction, but she’s giving all of it away.  In the process, she will earn the highest award a Girl Scout can recieve, the Gold Award.

Sponsler has participated for five years in 4-H, which offers buyers of fair animals the option of donating them to food banks. Sponsler decided to bypass the auction and send the pigs straight to charity.

“We are just thrilled that Ellen has such an understanding of the needs of her community,” Holly Cavinder, community outreach coordinator for the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, said in a statement. “This donation of pigs to the food bank will help feed the hungry in Jackson County, providing something that is lacking for many individuals who struggle with food security.” Read the rest of this entry »





Bennigan’s Files For Bankruptcy – Michigan Locations Safe

29 07 2008

Bennigan’s becomes the first casual dining restaurant casualty of the weakend economy.  Parent company Metromedia Restaurant group filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection today in the Eastern District of Texas. 

All restaurants have been struggling as consumers cut back on discretionary spending to better deal with high gas prices, the weak housing market and inflation. The hardest hit have been casual dining chains and bar and grill restaurants, which charge higher prices than fast food and other quick-service chains.

Bar and grill restaurants have also suffered from intense competition. Morningstar analyst John Owens said several chains expanded quickly, making it more difficult for customers to differentiate between them and forcing many companies to cut prices to lure diners.

“Bennigan’s was the weakest of the major players,” Owens said.

Meanwhile, commodity costs have soared, forcing chains to either raise menu prices or see profits plunge.

Even though the parent company is closing most stores, the Mid-Michigan stores will not be closing.  The stores are not owned by Metromedia.  They are owned privately by LaBelle Management.  LaBelle has bought the rights to use the Bennigan’s name and menu.  The bankruptcy filing by Metromedia will put more pressure on LaBelle in regards to advertising and supply, but customers shouldn’t see a difference.  The following press release was sent out this morning by LaBelle Management. Read the rest of this entry »