Monday, March 30, 2020

Stylish, Comfortable Loungewear You Can Wear Grocery-Shopping, Sebnem Gunay.

By Laura Medina


Since sweaty gyms and fitness studios stop releasing tumescence, to prevent the spread and outbreaks of CORVID-19, athleisure has become really stylish loungewear.
Sebnem Gunay has a ton of styles that are perfect for looking cute, and getting fit from the comfort of your new makeshift gym. From biker shorts and crop tops, to leggings and more, these styles don’t only allow for comfort and flexibility, but the pastel color palette is also on trend for the new spring season. Additionally, the pieces are also ideal because they can take your readers from an intense workout, to lounging on the couch for the remainder of the day.
Once the quarantine is lifted, you can resume hiking for fresh air in your loungewear.





Friday, March 27, 2020

March is Still Women's History Month. Both Sides of the Story, FX on Hulu's "Mrs. America," Phyllis Schlafly vs. the Equal Rights Amendment, April 15th.

By Laura Medina

To the uninformed, to the hip and the trendy, not all women are alike and there are still young women who bemoan the fact that they have to work to earn a living.  They go to law school to marry a lawyer. They go to medical school to marry a doctor.  Not out of love, but of financial support through the means of socio-ethnicity privilege.  These dependent but manipulative young ladies are the daughters and grand-daughters of passive-aggressive retrogressive, conservative activist, Phyllis Schalfly, the anti-feminist activist.


FX on Hulu, on Wednesday April 15th, premieres "Mrs. America," a drama centered on the woman who ruin and stalled the legalization of the Equal Rights Amendment but fail to stop the social evolution of women's careerism, single-parenthood, and women having rights in domestic abuse that domineering Schlafly failed to recognized.

According to the Cate Blanchett, Schlafly is transgressive who fought hard to protect and save the status quo is that grown into upper-middle class women who eventually voted for Trump, still believing they, as females, still need a men to financially support them, protect them and use their husbands as a weapon and as a tool against people (other women) they perceive as a threat.  Voting Trump into office, is a joke on them.


Since the miniseries is set entirely in late Sixties to mid-Seventies, it's a generation battle between Baby Boomers versus the Greatest Generation that came of age during the Great Depression, when women...mothers...had to work because of the Wall Street Crash and marrying bad choices in men; or fathers dumping their families since they no longer can support a family.  That's Phyllis' childhood.

Surprisingly, Phyllis' mother, Odile Stewart (née Dodge),[4] was the daughter of attorney Ernest C. Dodge.  She was a pioneering feminist that her daughter, Phyllis fought so hard against.  Before her marriage, she worked as a teacher at a private girls' school in St. Louis.[5] During the Depression, Schlafly's mother went back to work as a librarian and a school teacher to support her family.

Odile was a highly accomplished intellectual achiever who married down.

Schlafly's father, John Bruce Stewart, was a machinist and salesman of industrial equipment, principally for Westinghouse. He became unemployed in 1932 during the Great Depression and could not find permanent work until World War II.[9] He was granted a patent in 1944 for a rotary engine.[10]

Phyllis came from a hard-scrabble Great Depression life, worked as a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in college.

For a woman who feared feminists are going to take away her privileges of a certain woman of a certain social status of a certain ethnicity, Phyllis was the biggest careerist in her own right and was strong enough to dominate her husband, Fred. She later earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in 1978.[

In 1946, Schlafly became a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute and worked in the successful United States House of Representatives campaign of Republican Claude I. Bakewell.[11]
She played a major role with her husband in 1957 in writing a highly influential report, the "American Bar Association's Report on Communist Tactics, Strategy, and Objectives." Critchlow says it, "became not only one of the most widely read documents ever produced by the ABA, it was probably the single most widely read publication of the grassroots anticommunist movement."[12]
She attended her first Republican National Convention in 1952, and continued to attend each following convention.[15] As part of the Illinois delegation of the 1952 Republican convention, Schlafly endorsed U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft to be the party nominee for the presidential election.[16] At the 1960 Republican National Convention, Schlafly helped lead a revolt of "moral conservatives" who opposed Richard Nixon's stance (as The New York Times puts it) "against segregation and discrimination."[17]
She came to national attention when millions of copies of her self-published book, A Choice Not an Echo, were distributed in support of Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, especially in California's hotly fought winner-take-all-delegates GOP primary.[18] In it, Schlafly denounced the Rockefeller Republicans in the Northeast, accusing them of corruption and globalism. Critics called the book a conspiracy theory about "secret kingmakers" controlling the Republican Party.[19]
In 1967, Schlafly lost a bid for the presidency of the National Federation of Republican Women against the more moderate candidate Gladys O'Donnell of California. Outgoing NFRW president and future United States Treasurer Dorothy Elston of Delaware worked against Schlafly in the campaign.[20][21]
Schlafly joined the John Birch Society, but quit because she believed that the main Communist "threats" to the nation were external rather than internal.[citation needed] In 1970, she ran unsuccessfully for a House of Representatives seat in Illinois against Democratic incumbent George E. Shipley

Phyllis tried to be a traditional housewife who wants to be financially supported by a man but her intellect, drive, and focus betrayed her.  She was more engine and fuel behind the machine.

Her anti-feminism is more of a backlash against her hard-scrabble upbringing when mothers had to work as means of survival and having an husband was and is still is an award.  Phyllis never wanted careerism as a means of fulfillment when her mother had it so rough yet her father failed her.

For all you Gen-Xers, Millennials and Gen-Zers, go ahead watch "Mrs. America" on FX on Hulu on Wednesday, April 15th to know the full scope that still rages on.














Thursday, March 26, 2020

Naomi Knapp's Heart & Soul Meals on Pennies & Dimes for These CORVID-19 Recession Times or When You're Starting Out or Starting Over.

By Laura Medina


This scribe got to give credit where credit is due.

For the longest time, Naomi Knapp has to make do, as a divorced mom of two, which one of the children is born with food allergies, adding more challenges onto a limited budget.

Having to make do in a small town, next to a small city, Knapp manages and successfully fed her family on a very tight, very short, very limited budget that most can't fathom.

Her focused, resourcefulness now comes in handy during massive lay-offs due to CORVID-19 virus contamination.

Knapp takes ingredients that cost pennies and dimes then make them gourmet and healthy (especially with those with food allergies), that the recently unemployed can find useful and very much appreciated.

To all the single dads and moms, this one is for you...


Let's start off with Naomi Knapp's Chicken Soup.  With made from scratch gallon, this soup will fed heart and soul for two weeks for a family or a month for single people. Freeze well...

"Made a gallon of Chicken Noodle Soup." 🐔🍲😊💕

" Started with 10# chicken leg quarters and Italian dressing in two crockpots... cooked on high, 4 hours. Deboned and chopped up all chicken, set aside 4 cups for soup (and rest for chicken alfredo & bbq chicken sliders). Cracked all bones to expose marrow... threw all bones and skins into stockpot with 2 gallon ziploc bags of vegetable scraps to make chicken & veggie stock/bone broth. (I freeze all trimmings from veggies I cut to add to stock-- onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, parsley, cilantro, etc... I use alot of veggies, so I make stock every 2 weeks or so.) Simmer stock 3 hours or more for a gallon of stock... or simmered longer to reduce to 2 quarts of concentrated stock.) Strain solids and season stock with sage, thyme, salt and pepper... chop 2 cups carrots, 2 cups celery, 2 cups onion, garlic cloves, fresh parsley... cook 20 minutes... add 2 cups medium egg noodles 10 minutes... turn off burner and let cool. Always tastes better the next day, as flavors meld together. Yeah, it takes 2 days, but the flavor is unbelievable. If only canned Chicken Noodle Soup tasted this good. " Naomi Knapp.💗


Naomi Knapp's Tomato Sauce for Anything...

"Next time your recipe falls for a can of diced tomatoes, kick up the flavor by roasting your tomatoes first. You won't be sorry. Just dump 4 cans 14 oz. diced tomatoes into a foil lined 13" × 9" baking dish (you do NOT want to scrub that dish afterwards). Add 4 garlic cloves, sliced, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Roast 425° for 80 minutes. Your tomatoes will reduce to a thickened blend of garlic tomato goodness." 😍💕

Naomi Knapp,..
"Delicious in pasta sauces, chili, red rice, sandwich spreads, warm bruschetta... or anywhere you'd normally use canned tomatoes. I often drizzle balsamic vinegar, add 1 Tbsp dried oregano and 1 Tbsp dried sweet basil before roasting for Italian dishes, but omit when roasting for other cuisines. Just adjust all seasonings for whatever flavors you prefer. Very inexpensive way to add tons of flavor. Skip the overpriced spaghetti sauces. Add these roasted tomatoes to homemade marinara, and you have an amazing, rich tomato base for a memorable pasta night. You're welcome." 😊

Naomi Knapp's Grain-free Zucchini Cheese "Bread"
Fresh, hardy cooking doesn't exclude food allergy suffers or those on a gluten-free and grain-free diet or lifestyle.
This one is for her kid with food allergies, who hates missing out on pizza...
4 cups grated zucchini
3 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
1/2 cup grated parmesan (freshly grated for best flavor)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 lg eggs
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Add crushed red pepper, if desired

Preheat oven 425°. Blend all ingredients in large mixing bowl with only 1 cup of mozzarella cheese (set remainder 2 cups aside for topping).

Butter a 7"×11" baking dish or line with parchment paper. Pour mixture in dish and bake 30 minutes. Add remainder of cheese and bake 10 minutes more. Let rest at least 15 minutes to firm up enough to cut.
Naomi Knapp,.. 

"I let mine sit longer, since it's so much softer than traditional bread. It was even better the next day." 😊

"I hate store bought marinara sauce because it always tastes way too acidic, thanks to preservatives. Tomato paste is super inexpensive and so easy to build up to marinara, pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce. My recipe for marinara is very simple."

Marinara Dipping Sauce

1 small can tomato paste
1 can full of water (or more if you want thinner sauce-- I like it thick)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (or less, to suit your tastes-- cuts acidity)
1 Tbsp olive oil
Dash Garlic salt
Dash dried oregano
Dash onion powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat and serve. Done!

Naomi Knapp's...

"That thick marinara is really good with a splash of red wine, or balsamic vinegar, too, depending on what you have on hand... and makes the best pizza sauce. I make mini pizzas with English muffins and use this as pizza sauce. It's also the base of my spaghetti sauce, as I add more paste, water and spices to build up volume for a pasta dish." 

"Red wine is essential to add for spaghetti sauce, in my opinion. NOT cooking wine... yuck! Drinkable red wine.🍷Makes all the difference. But pasta sauces are an entirely different conversation..."

With mounting CORVID-19 unemployment and recession, this scribe will keep you all posted with home-cooking for the 21st century.


As promised as needed or wanted, this scribe has kept up with Naomi Knapp, who's been cooking up a storm of  healthy, gourmet meals done on pennies...

Naomi Knapp's Guinness Reduction Sauce.

This simple, gourmet sauce has so many uses, done for pennies.

1 3/4 Guinness Beer (not Draught)
1 3/4 Brown Sugar

In a medium pot, simmer on low for one hour.

Reduce by half

Let cool.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Use for dipping sauce with Irish Soda Bread, and any bread or toast.

When you add it to Onion Gravy, it becomes Guinness Gravy.

Expect more recipes to come.





😘💕