Genius Choppers – Great Tools When You Have a Lot of Chopping To Do
January 25, 2012 | by DianaRecently I came home to baked fries, that my son made and put into the toaster oven. No oil, not deep frying, just baking and they were fantastic tasting. He decided to use the Genius Nicer Dicer to cut the potatoes into uniform size – and I think it did the trick. Since the potatoes were uniform in size, they took the same amount of time to cook and were perfect. Because he used herbs, salt and pepper, they were tasty even without the oil.
We’ve been trying out the Genius Salad Chopper and the Genius Nicer Dicer, two chopping tools that are sold on QVC. They’re mostly self contained because you can store the blades, and slicers inside the container the Chopper sits on top of. It’s both a work and serving station.
The salad chopper bowl is huge, which will come in handy when you have a really big gathering and want to serve a big group though, t’s a bit oversized for a family of four. The Salad Chopper comes with two different sized blade inserts, an insert with two graters and a cleaning tool. The …
On Being a Fat Girl During the Holidays: A Rant After the fact
January 25, 2012 | by Deb Ng
I’ve put off writing this post for a few weeks because I’m afraid of hurting some people who are very close to me. People with wonderful intentions who are doing wonderful things. Still, it’s on my mind and I’m under the influence of cold and flu medicine, so I’m putting this out in the open.
It sucks being fat. I know there are people who will turn around and say, “Well, it’s your own fault, loser. Get off the couch.” In which they’re half right, it IS my own fault. Except the couch is probably my least often used piece of furniture. I’m not sitting there all day.
I know how I got this way and I know how to not be this way anymore. I’m not here to make excuses. I’m here to tell you why holidays are hell on this fat girl.
Just This Once…
Even dieting fat people have a very hard time passing up good food. We might not have any issues turning down a bowl of lima beans, but wave a vat of mashed potatoes in our faces and it’s game on. However, no matter how much I try with the …
Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing
January 20, 2012 | by Diana
You knew I was going to do something with that kumquat ginger syrup didn’t you? I made another chicken roast, with a side of winter vegetables and a really cool tasty Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing. A little sweet, a little vinegary, but all good. In fact, my daughter ate it and then stopped and said – “Wait, this is slaw, you tricked me.” I asked if she liked it and she said she did, but it was still slaw.
We had a full house – both of the kids were home and the fiancee was at dinner too, so I brought out the leftover kumquats for a tasting. My daughter died laughing over the name and then refused at first to eat it. She wanted to peel the skin which I said was the best part. My son and the fiance popped them in their mouths without a second thought, but my daughter really had to get herself ready. Then she was fine until the tart juice squirted in her mouth making her pucker. Later I thanked …
Introducing Kumquats + Kumquat Ginger Simple Syrup
January 15, 2012 | by DianaWe are smack dab in the middle of kumquat growing season which runs from November to March. This is my first new ingredient of 2012, but hopefully there are plenty more to try. Kumquats look like little oranges and have the floral orangey fragrance, but are a little different from the larger juicy oranges.
Kumquats can tolerate a low of -10, and a hot summer between 77 ° to 100 °F. Though it can stand the lower winter temps a little, it does much better with a long summer in the lower states, like Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and California producing larger and sweeter fruit.
This is my first experience with kumquats – the whole fruit is edible, though the seeds can be used to create a pectin for jamming and can be easily removed from the fruit when you are using it. The outer rind of the kumquat is floral and sweet like an orange skin, but sweeter. The inner flesh has a tart juice inside but quite tasty.
Kumquats can be eaten raw, shaved in salads and added to your favorite cocktail. You …
Tonight’s snack – Gingered Applesauce and Red Wine
January 14, 2012 | by DianaTonight I’m relaxing – my snack – Gingered Applesauce and Red Wine. What are you snacking on?
We picked up a bunch of apples to sauce this weekend, but I couldn’t wait and made some on the stovetop tonight.
Chicken, Penne and Broccolini – Leftover Remix
January 11, 2012 | by Diana
Sometimes I am at odds with my son about dinner. If it takes too long, he won’t bother. If he has to read directions, he won’t bother. If it takes too many pots and pans, he won’t bother. This isn’t to say he’s hopeless or can’t cook. Slowly we are building up his repetoire and the meals he does cook are very delicious. My method with him is to encourage him to try to experiment by adding different vegetables and herbs to a basic recipe.
This time we took some chicken from our roast chicken the other night and added pasta, some broccolini, a few herbs, smash some galic and voila – dinner is served. This is a good college kid meal, you can change up the pasta, the veggies, substitute the oil with broth to make it a little lighter. Swap the lemon with white or red wine vinegar for a little different. We stood side by side at the stove cooking this dish. When we were done, I asked my son if he thought he …
Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken
January 8, 2012 | by Diana
Tonight’s chicken was lemony goodness and very easy to prepare. I’m a fan of just a few steps to great food, the oven does most of the work here, slowly roasting to perfection. My husband is a big poultry fan. When we go to restaurants, often I will order a steak and my husband some chicken or turkey. It never fails that the server will swap our plates and give my husband the steak and me the chicken. We taste off of each other’s plates though, so in the end it doesn’t matter. He won’t swap this though. I had to let him chew the bones a little before I put them in the freezer so that he could pick off every morsel of chicken left behind.
Today’s chicken we bought fresh from the market yesterday. You tell them what you want and they will bag it and even skin, bone and cut it up for you all in a few minutes. They’re really fast. I bought two whole chickens and a couple of whole breasts split along with some sausage. The …
Pinterest for Foodies
January 7, 2012 | by DianaPinterest is a fun new community sprouting up all over. It’s kind of a bulletin board with pretty pics of all of your favorite things. You can share photos of your favorite foods, shoes (that’s for Deb), sunsets, decor and about anything you’re interested in. Deb invited me, and I’m inviting you. If you need a pinterest invite => just drop me a line in the comments and I’ll send you an invite. I’m just starting out, so mine is mostly food. I should do a wedding one for my daughter, but I’ll probably do sunsets as well.
Etsy is really taking over the boards with all of their neat home made items. I need to ask EcoKaren how to add the button to Cookerati’s page. First you add the icon to your bookmarks – then you just drag the icon to the photo to pin it to your board. Mashable has a great instruction page.
I really think this is a great foodie tool. You can link to your favorite recipes and make them easy to find. A nice photo with …
Turkey Pumpkin Panini Or Turkey Pumpkin Wrap – Leftovers
January 1, 2012 | by Diana
Leftovers can be a treasure trove of deliciousness – or a burden if you don’t want to waste and don’t know what to do with it. For us it’s always a wonderful thing. The difficulty is wiring the fridge to zap my husband every time he sticks his hand in the zipped bag of turkey parts to snitch pieces. Leftover meals don’t happen if he eats all the turkey parts before you can create something. While some ideas take a lot of work, a Turkey Panini or a Wrap is really one of the easiest. It’s a step up from the regular turkey mayo on rye which is also one of my favs.
I used pumpkin puree instead of mayo or mustard in my sandwich and on the wrap, plus leftover turkey, white cheddar, some arugula (from the salad) and cranberry sauce for dipping in. This was the dinner for both my husband and me. My son is in love with wraps and all the leftovers are being rolled up as a convenient way …
Merry Christmas & Ginger Applesauce
December 25, 2011 | by DianaThere’s always one last thing to make , one more dish to prepare. Here’s a quick pretty fail safe delicious one we made this morning. It was all hands on deck. The kids peeled and cored an put the apples into lemon water. My husband helped remove the rough spots.
We put it into my new dutch oven and I poured a little apple cider over top. For the piece de resistance We grated fresh ginger and gave it all a toss.
Heat it up giving it a stir every few minutes until its mostly melted into sauce. Yummy.
I hope every one enjoys their day and thanks to all those working today to make our lives easier. My daughter is a working waitress. Be extra nice to your waitress today if you eat out. She’s missing the family dinner, but needs the money for school. We miss her, but we understand. God bless us everyone. Happy Holidays to all, from Winter solstice through Happy New Years and every holiday in between.
