Homefront Magazine April 2015

HOMEFRONT A Fort Hood Herald publication | April 29, 2015

Keeping in touch P3 | JROTC navigates post P8 | Lemonade Day prep P10

| Homefront

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ Inside this issue ] Letters from the Homefront: Army families keep in touch

Page 3

Financial Fitness: How to survive financial curveballs

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Financial Fitness: Impress your true love and stay on budget

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Financial Fitness: Prepare your finances for a PCS

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In the Classroom: Shoemaker JROTC cadets navigate Fort Hood

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On the Homefront: Child prepares for Lemonade Day

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What’s Happening: Upcoming area events

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At the Movies: “Ex Machina”

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Dining In: Stretch your protein dollars

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Dining In: Wines with texture and weight match any soup

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Vol. 8, Issue 4 | April 29, 2015 Homefront is a Fort Hood Herald publication.

Contact Us Editor: Jacob Brooks | jbrooks@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7468 Reporter: JC Jones | jcjones@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7464 Photographer: Eric J. Shelton | 254-501-7460 Contributors: Karin Markert and Todd Martin Designer: M. Clare Haefner | chaefner@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7551 On the cover: A Shoemaker High School Junior ROTC cadet team works April 24 to read a map and find its next navigation point during an exercise on a Fort Hood course. Photo by Todd Martin.

Find more news at forthoodherald.com.

Homefront |

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Technology helps Army families keep in touch across the globe

A

s a military wife of almost 24 years, I still don’t like saying goodbye to the friends I’ve made at each post. My children aren’t fans of this military tradition, either. Our oldest son, James, has lived in nine homes, and has already attended 12 schools. He has made some great friends at each of these military postings, and has had to say goodbye to all of them at some point.

I grew up in the same house, from birth until I left for college. Very few of my friends ever left the town in which we lived. If a friend moved, it was usually to another neighboring town, to attend a rival school. I remember when one boy moved from our town in Wisconsin all the way to Texas. It was as if he had moved to another planet. Very few of us ever heard from him for a few years, until his father’s company moved him back to Wisconsin. Occasionally someone in our group would get a phone call from him, and then pass along any stories he shared with the rest of us.

Letters from the Homefront Karin Markert

My son’s friends move all the time, to all corners of the planet. He rarely uses his phone to talk with his friends.

Instead he uses his phone to message and send photos through Facebook and other social media platforms. Within a matter of seconds he can snap a photo of what he’s doing, process the photo, and then immediately send it to his friends. This fascinates me.

When I was his age, our phones were cool if they had a cord long enough to reach into another room. While I kept

up with faraway friends through letters and an occasional, expensive long-distance phone call, James never loses touch with his good friends, no matter where in the world they live.

A couple of weeks ago, we were talking with James about his junior prom. He was planning to attend with a very nice group of kids he knows at Fort Hood. My husband joked with him, “Why don’t you ask Andrea if you could take her to her prom?”

James and Andrea are good friends, having met five years ago at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She now lives in Germany. James immediately sent a Facebook message to Andrea. Even though Andrea was vacationing in Turkey with her family, she almost instantly replied that it would be fun to have James visit them in Germany for prom.

When I realized that James was serious, I went to my computer and sent a Facebook message to Andrea’s mother, Maggie. I asked her if she realized what James and Andrea were discuss-

ing, about him attending prom with her daughter in Frankfurt. Maggie reported that Andrea was excited, and that they would all love to have James visit, too. I have been saving money for a while to take James on a trip this summer, and quickly realized that it would instead be spent on buying him a round-trip ticket to prom in Germany.

My husband asked, “Who flies to Germany for prom?” We both looked at each other and replied, “A military child.” Our family and civilian friends might not understand why James is flying to Germany, but this makes sense to most of our military friends. I am very excited for him.

We are fortunate that Army life has allowed us to meet many people with whom we’ve become good friends. We are also thankful for technology that helps us keep in touch with them, no matter where they live.

Karin Markert, a military spouse who lives at Fort Hood, is a photographer and Herald correspondent.

| Homefront

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ Financial Fitness ]

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Homefront |

Here are some tips for surviving life’s financial curveballs Courtesy of USAA

It’s possible to rebound from financial setbacks, and by making informed moves now, you may be able to get back into the swing of things sooner than you think.

Follow these tips to help get out of four common types of money trouble:

Coping With Job Loss

Cut expenses. Take care of your absolute needs first — things like groceries, mortgage and utilities. Then, temporarily cut out or cut back on nonessential expenses. You should also delay any new major outlays until you find work again.

Save your savings. Instead of using your savings to pay off debt, make all attempts to preserve it. Use cash to make minimum payments until you’re back on your feet. If forced to tap your nest egg, draw from your savings and nonretirement investments first.

Take care of your absolute needs first — things like groceries, mortgage and utilities.

Control credit card use. Resist putting expenses on credit cards; you could create a debt obligation you can’t repay.

Overcoming a Divorce

Dive into the details. If you weren’t deeply involved in your married finances before, now is the time to get educated. Quickly figure out the details of your investments, insurance, and savings for retirement and education goals.

Preserve your credit score. Track your credit history to make sure your name isn’t associated with debt that is not yours.

Make it final. Pay off or cancel joint accounts, and change beneficiaries on investments, retirement accounts and insurance policies. Be sure to update

your will.

Keeping Afloat in Foreclosure

Talk to your lender. Call your lender immediately if you see a future problem keeping up with payments. Sometimes, you can negotiate to adjust the terms of your loan before foreclosure.

Focus on your credit. Pay all remaining bills on time, every time. Seek opportunities to rebuild your credit, perhaps by responsibly using a credit card or secured card.

Be patient. Rebuilding your postforeclosure financial life takes time, but it’s possible if you’re persistent.

Bankruptcy and foreclosure can stay on your record for seven to 10 years, but consistently paying your bills on time can get your credit back to adequate

levels in just a few years.

Taking Control After Bankruptcy

Pare down expenses. Although you might have relief from debt payments, you still have to pay for life’s necessities — food, utilities, housing, transportation and taxes, among them. Make a budget that includes these and limits all extras.

Have cash on hand. To avoid falling back on credit, establish an emergency fund. Start automatically transferring money into a savings account monthly, working up to a short-term goal of $1,000. Then increase it from there, eventually amassing three to six months of living expenses.

Clean up your credit. As you improve your money management skills, keep tabs on your credit report. Bankruptcy remains on your credit history for seven to 10 years, but you still could be eligible for loans — though likely at a higher interest rate.

| Homefront

[ Financial Fitness ]

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Flirting smarts: 4 ways to impress your true love and stay on budget Courtesy of USAA

once you and

Whether it’s dining at a five-star restaurant, driving a new sports car or springing for an exotic vacation, we’ve all been tempted to spend more than we can afford simply to impress a significant other.

Or maybe you’re just trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Either way, it’s OK to splurge once in a while.

“But faking that you’re in a better financial state than you really are can be dangerous relationship business,” said Scott Halliwell, a certified financial planner professional with USAA. “It’s usually only a matter of time before the truth comes out, and by then you’ve probably made things worse.”

Time for a gut check.

Here are four ways to avoid going into a financial hole simply to impress the one you love: Put your financial goals front and center. Perhaps you’re saving for a down

your significant other are on the same page and know what you’re working toward, you’ll be less likely to get distracted by something shiny. payment on a new home or to send your kids to a private school. Whatever the goal, once you and your significant other are on the same page and know what you’re working toward, you’ll be less likely to get distracted by something shiny and new.

Consider prices in context of your

budget. By understanding how much you should be spending on big-ticket items, you are more likely to stick to the budget.

For example, as a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t spend more than about 10 percent of your gross annual income on transportation, including cars. With

that number in mind, you can shop for a car confident you won’t overspend.

Establish a cooling-off period. Step away from that coveted item and take some time to think about it. Some couples will agree to wait from one day to a full week on all purchases of $100 to $500 or more. If, at the end of the cooling-off period, when emotions have calmed, you decide it makes sense to refurnish the entire living room or buy those first-class plane tickets, then go for it.

Recognize the importance of financial security. A healthy bank account for emergencies or a sound retirement savings plan will provide real well-being, whereas a new gadget or impromptu trip may mean just the opposite.

“Our ‘you deserve everything now’ society can make it hard to be smart about financial decisions,” Halliwell said. “But you have to remember that even though a lot of the Joneses out there look like they’ve got it going on financially, they’re actually broke.”

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ Financial Fitness ]

Homefront |

A military move is inevitable, so prepare your finances for a PCS Courtesy of USAA

If you don’t already have

As a member of the military, it’s not a matter of if, but when, you’ll be ordered to make a permanent change of station, or PCS. Of the many things you’ll need to do to prepare, getting your finances in order should be near the top of the list. You don’t want to find yourself in a financial hole when you get to your new home.

Here are some suggestions for preparing your finances for the inevitable: Build a PCS fund. Start saving before you receive orders to move. This money will cover upfront costs such as travel expenditures and unreimbursed expenses such as utility deposits. As a rule of thumb, you should stash 5% of your gross income in an emergency fund and earmark $1,000 to $3,000 of that for your PCS fund. If you’re not already doing so, start saving money today to ensure you’ll be ready when those orders arrive.

a budget, now’s the time to start one. If you do, take time to review it and make necessary changes.

Know how you’ll live on a single income.

If you’re married and your spouse is nonmilitary, it may take him or her several months to find a new job after the move. And there’s no guarantee the job will pay as well as the previous one. So

identify beforehand where you can cut expenses. Consider trading down to a less expensive car. Rent rather than buy, at least until things settle down and you know where you stand financially.

Make a fresh financial start. Use the

move to get your financial house in order. If you don’t already have a budget, now’s the time to start one. If you do, take time to review it and make necessary changes. Maybe it’s time to start saving for your children’s education or to pay down debt. The good news is you don’t have to do this by yourself.

Contact the financial counselors found at most military installations. They’ll help you to develop a budget so you can better manage your money and meet your financial goals.

| Homefront

[ IN THE CLASSROOM ]

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

JROTC cadets learn to stay on course

BY TODD MARTIN SPECIAL TO HOMEFRONT

T

Todd Martin | KISD

Shoemaker High School sophomore Robert Doles leads a group April 24 during a Junior ROTC land navigation exercise on a Fort Hood course as team members find a navigation point.

rudging over the rocky hills and around rain-swollen creeks April 24, 183 Shoemaker High School Junior ROTC cadets honed their navigation skills on a Fort Hood course.

The battalion’s annual trek at the land navigation site along Ivy Mountain Road is a team-builder and a chance for young cadets to step into leadership.

John Hoagland, Shoemaker senior and executive officer for the battalion, said the event is “a rite of passage where cadets develop pride in their unit.”

Divided into groups of three to five each, the students took their compass and map and plotted their path across the pastureland in search of five navigation points among 40 placed across the course.

In most cases, each point was set about 180 meters from the last, but in some cases, teams had to go 1200 meters to a point. “They will need to do some walking,” said retired Lt. Col. George Matthews, the lead JROTC instructor, who was walking the course checking on his students.

The experience, an anticipated battalion tradition, also provides leadership training.

Experienced juniors and seniors made up most of the group leaders and all had instruction to allow younger cadets to step into leadership roles as they picked up on the navigation skills.

The battalion’s orienteering team members served as “safeties” along the perimeter of the course to keep their peers inside the training area. Adopt-aschool soldiers volunteered as medics.

“This is about teamwork,” Matthews said. “They work in small groups and someone has to be the leader and they let others lead along the way.

“They also make and strengthen friendships and it is competitive,” he said. “We recognize the teams that finish first.”

Junior Christian Horton and sophomores Elisya Schafer and Siasja Wash-

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ IN THE CLASSROOM ]

Homefront |

Todd Martin | KISD

Retired Lt. Col. George Matthews, lead JROTC instructor at Shoemaker High School, gives cadets assistance April 24 during land navigation exercises on a Fort Hood course near Ivy Mountain Road.

ington made up the team that finished in third place, taking a little less than 90 minutes.

“We worked out our points and put together a strategy in the beginning to get on the right path,” Schafer said. “It was fun.”

“You have to pay attention to the trees and the characterizations on the map,” Horton explained.

“We figured it out. It felt like we were in a jungle.”

“Land navigation is a good skill,” said Hoagland, who took part in the exercise

for the fourth time Friday. “It gives us experience on rough terrain. If you’re ever outside the city driving this skill will give you confidence. You know you can navigate.”

Planning to join the Navy upon high school graduation, Hoagland said

JROTC has been an important influence in his life.

“It’s been life changing,” he said.

“It stuck with me. It made me a better person and caused me to interact with people in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise.”

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[ ON THE HOMEFRONT ]

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Lemonade Day offers fresh-squeezed fun

BUy this photo at kdhnews.com ERic J. Shelton | Homefront

Katrina Lawrence, 11, makes lemonade at her stand in front of her home on Large Street in Fort Hood’s Pershing Park housing area April 24.

2,500 children registered to set up stands at Fort Hood, Killeen, Cove and Heights

By Jacob Brooks Homefront Magazine

E

ven though this will be her first year participating in Fort Hood’s annual Lemonade Day event, Katrina Lawrence has big plans.

The 11-year-old Fort Hood child is trying to raise $1,500; enough money to buy 300 books for homeless children in the Fort Hood-Killeen area.

She plans to do it by selling hundreds of glasses of lemonade; not just on the official Lemonade Day — May 3 — but over the next four days, beginning April 30.

“I will probably have to get a lot of” lemons and strawberries, Katrina said, adding she plans to make both regular lemonade and strawberry lemonade.

Katrina will join more than 2,500 children who have registered to set up Lemonade Day stands between Copperas Cove and Harker Heights, said Amanda Stephens, city director for the Greater Killeen/Fort Hood Lemonade Day. “Lemonade Day is an educational initiative designed to introduce youth to entrepreneurship. Children of all ages learn to set goals, develop a plan, secure an investor, create a product, make a profit and give back to their community,” according to a Fort Hood news release. “This will be the sixth year that the Fort Hood area has participated in the program.”

To kick off the sweet festivities, Fort Hood is holding a ceremony at 11 a.m.

May 1 in the front lobby of III Corps Headquarters.

Mary Himic, the deputy garrison commander, and garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Cosper will provide opening remarks.

“Following the ceremony, a select group of Lemonade Day participants will set up their lemonade stands and sell lemonade to VIP guests and III Corps soldiers and staff,” according to Fort Hood. “This event is a snapshot of

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

what the coming weekend will look like with lemonade stands dotting the Fort Hood community.”

For many lemonade makers, like Katrina, the next few days will be busy.

On April 30, she plans to set up her stand at Sam’s Club in Harker Heights.

On May 1, she’ll take her stand to the ceremony at III Corps, and on May 2, she’ll be at Dodge Country on South Fort Hood Street. On May 3, she plans to set up her stand at the annual Metroplex Golf Tournament at Stonetree Golf Club in Killeen.

With some trial and error, Katrina settled on an “old-fashioned, freshsqueezed” lemonade recipe she will make “to order” for everyone who stops by her stand.

She’s been having family and friends taste her lemonade, and reactions have ranged from “It’s really good” to “It’s great” to “I love it,” Katrina said.

There’s no set price, she’ll be taking donations only. She’ll have baked goods for sale, too. And all in the name of charity. With the proceeds, she plans to buy 300 copies of “Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster,” a children’s book about overcoming hardships. She said

[ ON THE HOMEFRONT ]

Homefront | 11

Katrina Lawrence, 11, will be making lemonade May 3 in hopes to collect money for books to give to children in need in the greater Fort Hood area.

ERic J. Shelton | Homefront BUy this photo at kdhnews.com

she’ll give the books to the Killeen Independent School District’s Homeless Awareness Response Program, which will distribute the books to homeless children.

However, Katrina may not stop selling drinks after Lemonade Day, said her mom, Suzanne Ziglar.

“She’s wanting to do this all year long,” Ziglar said, adding Katrina would like to eventually provide a copy of the book to all 1,500 students who are in the Homeless Awareness Response Program.

For the next few days, however, Katrina will see how folks like her freshly

made lemonade — both the regular and strawberry varieties.

Which one is her favorite?

“I like both — I can’t really say,” Katrina said. “My mom likes strawberry the best.” jbrooks@kdhnews.com | 254-501-7468

[ What’s happening ]

12 | Homefront

Auditions Auditions for the Killeen Independent School District’s summer musical, “Shrek Jr. the Musical,” are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 30 and from 9 a.m. to noon May 2 at Liberty Hill Middle School, 4500 Kit Carson Trail in Killeen. First- through eighth-graders living in the Killeen ISD attendance zone are welcome to participate. Parents must attend auditions. Production dates are June 8 to 26, with showings June 25 and 26 at Shoemaker High School. Call 254-336-6300.

Local Music Dirty Harry’s presents live music on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. For ages 21 and older, no cover. Dirty Harry’s is at 206 W. Veterans Memorial Blvd., Harker Heights (next to Kin Pin Tattoos). Call 254-680-6557.

Catch live jazz every Saturday from 9 to 11 p.m. at the Inn on the Creek in Salado. Call 254-947-5554 or go to www.inncreek.com.

The Dead Fish Grill at 2207 Lake Road in Belton presents live music many evenings.

Call 254-939-5771 or go to www.deadfishgrill.com.

Schoepf’s Bar-B-Que presents live music

some nights. Schoepf’s is at 702 E. Central Ave., Belton. Go to www.schoepfsbbq. com.

Farmers Markets The Pioneer Farmers Market will be open in front of Tractor Supply Company on Central Texas Expressway in Killeen from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Call Virginia at 254-423-5277.

The Water Street Farmers Market in Belton is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday downtown on Water Street in front of The Gin. Local vendors will have a variety of vegetables, foods and crafts.

Arts & Theater “Icons in Transformation,” an art exhibit by internationally-acclaimed Russian-Swedish abstract expressionist Ludmila Pawlowska, is on view through June 19 at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center, 3601.

S. W.S. Young Drive. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Call 254-501-3888.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor College of Visual and Performing Arts presents the work of four graduating art majors in an exhibit titled “Nuestra Cultura: Journey

and Heritage,” in the Baugh Center for the Visual Arts on the UMHB campus. The exhibit will be on display Monday through May 9. A reception will be held in the gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. May 1. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Go to http://undergrad. umhb.edu/art.

Bars, Clubs Every Monday “Panic on the Patio” with DJ Blazye at Club Rumours, 1507 E. Veterans Memorial Blvd. No cover plus $20 all you can drink from 6 to 10:30 p.m. then party until 2. Call 404-829-4396.

Come out to All Bottoms Up, 1505 E. Veterans Memorial Blvd., Harker Heights, every Wednesday from 8 p.m. to midnight for Open Mic/Open Jam. Call 254-699-0955 or go to www.facebook.com/allbottomsup.

Catch live music and other events at The Gin, 219 S. East St., in Belton. Go to www. thegin.net or text GINEVENTS to 96362.

Don’t miss live music at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at The Lounge Upstairs at The Range at The Barton House, 101 N. Main St., Salado. Call 254-947-3828 or go to www.therangerestaurant.com.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Family Fun Celebrate National Train Day with a family train ride May 9. Meet at the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum at 10:45 a.m. Tickets are $15 for museum members and $20 for the general public. Get tickets at eventbrite.com, call 254-298-5172 or stop by the gift shop at 315 W. Avenue B, Temple.

Clubs, Meetings The Killeen Civic Art Guild has open studio time from 5 to 8 p.m. Mondays and offers various workshops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturdays at the Killeen Arts & Activities Center, 802 N. Second St., Suite D 100.

Contact Jutta Mack at jmack1@hot.rr.com, call 254-466-4040 or go to www.killeencivicartguild.org.

Planetarium Several films are now showing at the Mayborn Science Theater at Central Texas College. For show descriptions, full schedule and ticket prices, go to www.starsatnight. org or call 254-526-1800.

Have upcoming events to include? Email events@kdhnews.com.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ At the Movies ]

Homefront | 13

Now playing: ‘Ex Machina’ is a stylish, thoughtful thriller

By Colin Covert Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

“Ex Machina” is a tense tale of artificial love so intelligently crafted and edgy that I adored it myself. It juxtaposes several kinds of stories like a Chinese puzzle. It’s a coherent, suspenseful film noir battle of wills, and a beauty vs. beast gender fable. It’s an eerie futurist boy-meets-girl story, and a stylish psychological thriller.

Juggling these scenarios is sci-fi novelist/screenwriter Alex Garland, who scripted Danny Boyle’s stunning “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine.” This film, visually awesome yet never swamped by its special effects, gives Garland an equally impressive directorial debut.

It opens in an era not so far from where we are today, a confusing time of economic, technical and ethical upheaval.

Nathan Bateman, the self-involved CEO of a Google-like global Web crawler, runs every aspect of life that he can claim like a program he personally designed. Bril-

liant and overbearing, he has retreated to a fortress of solitude, a soulless retreat somewhere cool and far from sight.

Powerful as Nathan is, he needs his apprentice Caleb, a boyish, sensitive 26-year-old programmer, to test his latest creation, a sentient, talking robot. Caleb, meet Ava. How might such a technology ripple out into the real world? Caleb’s assignment is to study Ava with the famous Turing Test, determining if the machine’s behavior equals an alert human’s.

“If that test is passed,” Nathan says, “you are dead center of the greatest scientific event in the history of man.” “If you’ve created a conscious machine,” Caleb replies, “it’s not the history of man. That’s the history of gods.” It’s a comment Nathan likes a lot.

The cast includes Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander, each playing a rich, clever, three-dimensional part. Vikander’s Ava seems less a menacing presence than Isaac’s shady but honest Nathan. With eyes wide open and

disturbingly blank, he may have become a demented genius like “Apocalypse Now’s” Col. Kurtz. Gleeson’s Caleb, in his way as isolated as Nathan, is pushed

by Nathan and pulled by Ava. Which of them demonstrates real humanity, and who is winning the three-level chess match of their mind games, are questions that grow more unpredictable in each beautifully composed scene.

Garland makes us wonder if artificial intelligence is a bigger threat than the artifice of human beings. Much of the action takes place in Nathan’s facility, which echoes the sterile, icy feeling of Kubrick’s “2001,” but several scenes of light shining across trees near the remote retreat evoke Terrence Malick, implying that nature thrived before humans appeared, and may outlive us, too.

[ Dining in ]

14 | Homefront

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Advice for stretching your protein dollars while cooking at home

By Andrea Weigl The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

You may still be wincing a bit if you had to write a bigger-than-expected check to the state or Uncle Sam on tax day.

Moments like these make many of us ponder belt tightening, especially how we can save a few dollars on our food budgets.

First off, the easiest way to save money on food is to cook more of it at home. Second, the most expensive items on our shopping lists are often animal proteins: filets of fish, hunks of meat, cuts of poultry. So how can we save money and still get our protein fix?

The typical American consumes too much protein, said Jennifer Anderson, a registered dietitian with the heart and vascular institute at Novant Health in Charlotte, N.C. Most adults need between 46 and 56 grams of protein a day. Keep in mind that two large eggs have 12 grams, a 4-ounce piece of chicken has 36 grams, and an 8-ounce cup of skim milk has 8 grams. Eat all of those in a day and you have consumed the recommended daily limit.

“We can get our needs met without having meat at every single meal,” Anderson said.

Fish, meat and poultry are not our only sources of protein. Think of financial guru Dave Ramsey’s oft-given advice to those trying to save money: Eat beans and rice and rice and beans.

You don’t have to be that spartan, but beans are a good starting point for frugal, protein-packed meals. Many other

vegetables are excellent sources of protein: potatoes and green vegetables such as peas, broccoli and leafy greens.

And don’t forget protein powerhouse Greek yogurt.

Another idea is to stretch the animal proteins that you do buy with other ingredients. Instead of a hunk of meat on your plate, use meat to season a vegetable stir fry or a bean soup.

One chopped chicken breast can go a long way in a pasta salad filled with vegetables. Ground beef goes farther for tacos if tortillas are also filled with grilled peppers, onions and squash.

When you do shop for fish, meat or poultry, only buy it on sale, advises frugal blogger Jessica Fisher, author of the Good Cheap Eats blog and a new cookbook by the same name.

STRETCH PROTEIN DOLLARS

Italian Tuna and White Bean Salad: Combine 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1½ tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon minced garlic, ¼ teaspoon each kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and Dijon mustard in a large bowl and stir with a whisk. Add 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, 1 cup sliced red onion, 2 (6-ounce) cans tuna packed in oil (drained and broken into chunks), 1 (15ounce) can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed) and 1 chopped head green leaf lettuce. Toss. Divide among four plates and top with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Peanut Butter Chicken and Pasta: Whisk together 1/3 cup each rice vinegar and vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons each peanut butter and soy sauce, 1 tablespoon each honey and toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon grated fresh gin-

ger and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet until hot. Cook 1 peeled, shredded carrot for 1 minute, stirring.

Add 1 pound chopped skinless, boneless chicken breasts and 1 cup chopped green onions, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Bring large pot of water to a boil; cook 1 pound linguini or thin spaghetti accord-

ing to package directions. Drain, toss with sauce and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro. Divide noodles among four plates and top with chicken.

Sources: Recipes adapted from “Cooking Light The Complete Quick Cook,”

by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (Oxmoor House, 2011); “Good Cheap Eats,” by Jessica Fisher (Harvard Common Press, 2014).

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

[ Dining in ]

Homefront | 15

Wines with texture and weight match any soup you make

By Bill St. John Chicago Tribune

The main stumbling block for wine pairings with soups is that one liquid sipped with another just isn’t interesting to the palate. What your tongue wants is play: solid against liquid, sweet against acidic, fat against tannin, or some such back-and-forth. That this soup is chunky with vegetables, beans and ham somewhat assists the pairing, but the wines that work the best with any soup, either brothy or stewlike, themselves have texture and weight. That means higher alcohol or bubbles or some stout tannin.

That’s what’s recommended.

THE FOOD

White bean and tomato soup Cook 2 slices bacon in a skillet until just crisp, about 4 minutes. Remove bacon; crumble. Set aside. Add 1 onion, diced, and 1 rib celery, chopped, to skillet; season with salt. Cook until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cloves garlic, minced; cook, 1 minute. Stir in 10 ounces baby spinach; 3 cups chicken broth; 1 can (14½ ounces) crushed tomatoes; 1 can (28 ounces) white beans, drained; 3/4 cup cubed cooked ham; and 1 teaspoon chopped parsley. Season with ½ teaspoon each allspice and red pepper flakes. Cook, about 20 minutes. Serve, garnished with bacon. Makes: 6 servings Source: Recipe by Donna Pierce

THE WINES

2013 Melville Estate Syrah, Verna’s, Santa Barbara County, California: Some leathery tannins grip at the finish of this richly textured, dark-fruited rendition of cool-climate syrah; it wants a go at food. $27 Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla Sherry, La Gitana, Jerez, Spain: Salt spray, sunlight, the scent of a hay loft — all in a glass of incisive, very dry sherry; serve cool, not overly chilled, and let it cut through fat and salt. $25 2012 Bellenda Prosecco Brut, Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Veneto, Italy: Spry, fresh, lively, all white fruit (apple, pear, citrus) and bubbles, with fine cleansing acidity at the finish. $20

Bob Fila | Chicago Tribune

Beans, ham, tomatoes and spinach come together in a hearty soup.

16 | Homefront

Wednesday, April 29, 2015