How my ‘Topeka Motel Meals’ landed me in a cook-off with Lynn Rogers and Lacey Cruse
.JPG "Meals like this Dollar Tree salmon. crusted with leftover Pizza Hut Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, have landed me a spotted in a “Chopped!”-inspired contest to shine light on food insecurity in Wichita.")
About seven years ago while covering the Kansas Legislature, I was living in a Value Place and MacGyvering up dinners on a motel cooktop with little more than my trusty Swiss Army knife, plus an omelette pan and microwave-safe bowl I bought at the Topeka Salvation Army store.
“Topeka Motel Meals” was born.
There was the Parmesan-crusted Dollar Tree salmon filet, seasoned with dried cheese and red pepper flakes left over after press corps pizza the night of the State of the State address.
Another night it was a hot dog and Campbell’s Chunky Vegetable soup. Pro tip: Cook the hot dog in the soup so it soaks up moisture instead of drying out in the motel microwave.
I was particularly proud of my Earl Campbell hot link sandwich — sliced sausages microwaved in a bath of KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce on a 50-cent bolillo roll.
I posted my motel meals on Facebook and I’ve kept doing it through the years mainly for two reasons: 1) My Facebook friends find it amusing and 2) It drives Eagle colleagues Denise Neil and Carrie Rengers, our restaurant experts, absolutely nuts.
Little did I know that my humble efforts at feeding myself for under $5 a night would be noticed, and one day land me in a cooking competition of local luminaries.
I have been invited as a “chef” to compete in “Chopped! On a Shoestring,” a joint effort to spotlight the problem of food insecurity in Wichita sponsored by the North Riverside Neighborhood Association and Woodland United Methodist Church.
My competition:
▪ Lynn Rogers, state treasurer, former lieutenant governor and Wichita school board member.
▪ Lacey Cruse, Sedgwick County Commissioner and notable local musician.
▪ Maggie Ballard, Wichita City Council member, former bar owner and founder of Paxton’s Blessing Box.
▪ Ariel Rodriguez. executive director of Empower, a new nonprofit serving the impoverished neighborhoods of north Wichita.
Food insecurity is a big deal to me. I’ve been there and I don’t recommend it to friends.
My first journalism job, I was paid 50 cents a column inch plus $8 a photo to write news stories and ad supplements for the Burbank Daily Review.
If I hadn’t had a rent-controlled apartment and my parents hadn’t kept me on their car insurance, I’d have probably had to give up on journalism and wouldn’t be writing about this today.
I’ve never forgotten that part of my life.
After I got my first full-time job, most of my career in Southern California newspapers oscillated between covering the impoverished north San Fernando Valley and the opulence of eastern Ventura County.
Sorry, Thousand Oaks, but I never once cared about your Homeowners Association covenants being violated by satellite dishes disguised as patio umbrellas, or your neighbor who painted their house the wrong shade of beige.
I knew people with real problems.
So I’m proud, very proud, of being invited to cook in Chopped! On a Shoestring.
They’ll give us contestants $7 worth of random groceries and each of us will try to turn that into a delicious dinner for four in under 30 minutes.
I don’t know much about the others’ cooking skills. I’m nobody’s gourmet chef, but I did work the line in an Italian restaurant 40 years ago.
So wherever you live in this city of ours, feel free to drop by the North Riverside Neighborhood Association meeting at 7 p.m., May 16, at Woodland United Methodist Church, 1100 W. 15th St. in Wichita.
They’ll show a video of our cooking efforts, such as they are, followed by live judging and perhaps some public tasting with a free-will offering to benefit local food charities.
If nothing else, I guarantee it will be entertaining — and maybe offer just a small taste of what it’s like when you’re scraping by and can’t afford adequate groceries.
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 5:03 AM.
