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I think it’s pretty likely that most people have heard of the snack mix that you can make with Chex cereals. Well, here’s a variation on that theme that’s easy to make and very likely to become an often requested favorite.
All you need is a half cup of butter (that’s one quarter pound stick), a cup of brown sugar and two tablespoons of corn syrup. Mix them up and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir it up and give it another minute.
Pour it over four and a half cups of a Chex or Crixpex type cereal and toss it until it’s all coated and you’ve got some good movie / game watching munchies.
Technorati Tags: recipe, munchies, snack, chex, caramel snack, microwave, cereal, crispex
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Posted on 30th July 2008
Under: Odds & Ends, Recipies, Snacks | Comments Off
I noticed a recent search where the search phrase was “best acne treatment foods”. And while I’ve known for years that acne problems are at least partially related to diet and the foods you eat, I wasn’t aware of and particular recommendations for dietary changes that could help fight the problem.
I did some looking around and learned that the main recommendations from various sources all basically involve simplifying your diet. Things like eating less processed foods and replacing them with things that have are either not processed at all or at least keep the processing to a bare minimum.
Adding things to your diet such as fruits, vegetables, and other fiber-rich foods. Instead of white bread you might try a wholegrain wheat or rye bread instead. For breakfast you might consider a wholegrain cereal or oatmeal. Not only are they good for your digestive system in general but they often help lower your cholesterol as well.
Technorati Tags: whole grain, fiber diet, high fiber, acne, processed food, natural food
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Posted on 28th July 2008
Under: Food Info, From The Cook, Odds & Ends, kitchen talk | Comments Off
Here’s a simple cookie recipe that’s certain to have your taste buds thinking they’re all going on Disney cruises because of how good they are. Just do the rest of you a favor and don’t give the taste buds as much as they want or you’ll have to spend a lot of treadmill time to get rid of them.
Mix an entire boxed chocolate cake mix (18 1/2 ounces) with 1/3 cup of ripe banana (mashed), 1 egg and two tablespoons of water. Beat with an electric mixer on a medium setting until it’s smooth. Then add 6 oz of semisweet chocolate chips.
Drop rounded teaspoonfulls onto a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until done. When they’re done remove them from the baking sheets and cool ‘em on racks or aluminum foil. This should make about 3 1/2 dozen
Technorati Tags: banana, fudge, dessert, recipe, snack, cookies
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Posted on 26th July 2008
Under: Desserts, Odds & Ends, Recipies, Snacks, baking | Comments Off
Have you forgotten Canada? Like a lot of Americans I have to admit that I often forget about Canada, mostly because American media doesn’t tend to carry a lot of news out of Canada. Except of course for sports, which I generally don’t follow very much with the exception of NFL Football, where you can at least hear about Canadian sports once in a while.
I know there’s a good number of celebrities that many don’t realize are origianlly from Canada such as William Shatner. Others like Professional poker player Daniel Negreanu aren’t generally known very much outside of their particular field.
There’s not a lot of places here in the US where you’ll see company logo shirts with Canadian themed logos on them unless you’re in the northern tier of stats.
So when I ran across this recipe labeled “Canadian Coffee”, I did a bit of a double take. Looking it over I have to say that it looks good, though you probably wouldn’t want to fill a thermos with it to take to work.
For the topping, whip 3/4 cup of Whipping cream with 4 teaspoons of maple syrup until you get soft peaks and set aside.
Mix 3 cups of hot, black, double strength coffee with a half cup of Rye Whiskey and a quarter cup of pure Maple syrup.
Pour coffee to within an inch of the top and spoon the topping onto it.
Technorati Tags: maple syrup, coffee, canadian coffee, drinks, recipe, rye whiskey
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Posted on 26th July 2008
Under: Drinks, From The Cook, Odds & Ends, Recipies, Treats, coffee, kitchen talk | Comments Off
I’m really feeling like indulging in a bad way so instead of doing this for real, I’ll just write about it and let everybody out there share in the fun.
Take 10 Hostess Twinkies and slice them in half lenghtwise then lay them cream side up in a 9×13 pan. Spread two cans of chocolate pudding over the top. You can also use a mix if you prefer or for that matter, a bunch of pudding cups.
Next, cover the whole thing with Cool Whip. Top it off with crushed nuts or crush a couple of your favorite candy bars (frozen or at least VERY cold) and scatter that across the top. Refrigerate overnite and it’s ready to slice and serve.
Technorati Tags: recipe, dessert, pudding, snack, twinkies, chocolate
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Posted on 26th July 2008
Under: Desserts, Recipies, Snacks, Treats | Comments Off
Here’s a diabetic friendly dessert that’s sure to be a hit once you assure everyone that they’re not going to have to spend an extra hour hitting the ellipticals to burn it off. Although diabetic friendly or not, too much of this and you’ll still be needing to burn it off.
Line a 13″x9″x2″ baking dish with a layer of graham cracker squares. Make up a 6 oz package of instant sugar-free chocolate pudding according to package directions. Then spread the pudding over the layer of graham crackers.
Let it cool in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes or until it’s set and then add another layer of graham cracker squares over the pudding. Then make up a second package of pudding and spread it over the second layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate until it’s firmly set.
Top it with whipped cream before serving
Technorati Tags: chocolate, dessert, recipe, torte, diabetic friendly
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Posted on 26th July 2008
Under: Desserts, Diabetic friendly, Recipies, Snacks, Treats | Comments Off
I like seafood, always have. Though I’m not into fishing, I’d rather get my seafood in the supermarket than to spend who knows how long on the shores of a river or lake with only three fish in it or worse yet using inflatable boats or something like that to go out on the water and get seasick while I’m busy not catching anything.
Much better is the idea of just popping over to a store and buying what I need and getting down to the making (and later eating) of something good. This clam chowder recipe is a good one to start going in the slow cooker in the morning and have it for a hearty meal in the evening.
Start out with either four 6 1/2 oz cans of clams or 3 pounds fresh or frozen. If it’s frozen, thaw it and cut into bite sized pieces.
Saute 1/2 pound of bacon and a large diced onion until golden brown and then drain it and add it to the slow cooker along with the clams.
Add 6 to 8 large cubed potatoes, 3 cups of water, 3 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cover and cook on high 3 to 4 hours or until the potatoes are tender.
In the last hour of cooking, combine 2 cups of milk with the 4 tablespoons of cornstarch. Add to slow cooker with another 2 cups of milk and stir well. Serve in large bowls with crusty French bread.
Technorati Tags: clam chowder, slow cooker, seafood, recipe
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Posted on 26th July 2008
Under: Dinner, Lunch, Main dishes, Recipies, Soups, fish, seafood, slow cooker | Comments Off
I was going to do another one of the cooking terms posts but then I ran across something that made me decide that the term “Boil” deserved a bit broader treatment than as a one of many in a list of several items.
First I’ll start out defining the term. To boil is to cook something in water or other liquid that’s been heated until it’s bubbling vigorously.
The misconception is that anything being cooked in heated water is being boiled and that the more intense the boiling action, the better. However simmering and poaching are related to boiling and are actually used a lot more often.
What I’ve learned is that boiling is often a technique that is best avoided. Most foods, for example meat and seafood, are better poached instead. The reason is that boiling meat and seafood can leave them dry or stringy and the liquid will be left greasy.
Poaching is to cook in liquid where the temperature is held just below the boiling point so that it shimmers slightly on the surface.
On the other hand, there are some foods that are best cooked at a rolling boil. For example rice and pasta cook more quickly and evenly in boiling water. Green vegetables are often cooked uncovered in a large amount of boiling salted water. The large quantity of water keeps the vegetables from lowering the temperature of the water and slowing the cooking process. It would also cause them to lose their bright color.
The salt also helps the vegetables retain their green color. As soon as the vegetables are done you should immediately drain them in a colander and then either plunge them into ice water or quickly rinse them under cold tap water until they’re completely cool. This technique of immediately chilling the drained vegetables so they retain their flavor and color is called refreshing or shocking.
Technorati Tags: food info, terms, food terms, terminology, cooking terms
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Posted on 25th July 2008
Under: Food Info, Food Prep, From The Cook, Quick Tips, kitchen talk, terminology | Comments Off
It’s summer and the heat is on for sure. Temps around here have been in the 90’s a lot lately and even included a trip into triple digits earlier this week. When the weather gets like that, you’re after anything that even sounds cooler. While it’s now *quite* as good as hopping over to Hilton Head rentals to book a nice shady vacation spot close to a beach with the whole Pacific Ocean to cool off in, this cake will at least allow you to pretend for a little while.
Start by mixing up a Jiffy cake mix, (white or yellow) in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Put it in to bake but only for 10 minutes and then remove it from the oven.
Mix a large size package of instant vanilla pudding, 8oz of cream cheese and 1 3/4 cup of milk. Spread this mixture on the cooled cake. Then drain a can of crushed pineapple and spread it over the pudding mixture. Finish it off by spreading Cool Whip over the pineapple. If you like, you can top it with crushed walnuts or macadamia nuts.
Technorati Tags: recipe, pineapple, hawaiian, dessert, cake, cool off, hot weather
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Posted on 25th July 2008
Under: Desserts, Recipies, baking, kitchen talk | Comments Off
This is one take on something that’s pretty much an all American snack mix, it’s appropriate to just about any type of activity from watching (or playing) in a poker or beer pong tournament to sitting down to a good movie or three. Though if you’re going to have a triple feature like All three of the Lord of The Rings Movies then I’d suggest making several batches of this before starting so that you don’t run out. (that’d be like nine hours or more of movies at once wouldn’t it?)
In large slow cooker, mix together 3 cups of thin pretzel sticks, 4 cups of Wheat Chex, 4 cups of Cheerios, and a 13 ounce can of dry roasted salted peanuts. Sprinkle with garlic salt, celery salt, seasoned salt, and some grated parmesan cheese
Pour a quarter cup of melted butter over the whole thing and toss until thoroughly mixed. Cover and cook in the slow cooker on low heat for 3 to 4 hours. Remove the cover for the last 30 to 40 minutes.
Technorati Tags: cheerios, snack, wheat chex, recipe, slow cooker, pretzels, peanuts
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Posted on 25th July 2008
Under: Odds & Ends, Recipies, Snacks, Treats, slow cooker | Comments Off
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