Food

Just what you need: laughter

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I had one of those weeks where I had every emotion run through me. Not crazy sick like it seems has hit so many parts of the country, but a sore throat that was slightly irritating as I had back to back meetings most of the week, and well it was just inconvenient for me. The emotions? Well sometimes when I am not 100% I can range from having a shorter temper, to being near tears, to exhausted, to a bit slap happy.

On weeks like this, sometimes you just need a good laugh. If that is too hard, then you need to watch a little one that finds laughter in popcorn, a dog, and watch out for the slobber. Thank you little munchkin for giving me a moment of laughter on my Friday. It is just what I needed. Hopefully it brings a smile to your face. Oh, and a happy weekend to you. My weekend will be filled with sleep, rest, good food, catching up with friends, a big football game, and dare I forget precious time with my hubby. TGIF!

Timeout for our addictions?

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How many of you would benefit from a safe in your home that allows you to put an item inside and not be allowed to have it back until the timer on top lets you back into the safe? How many of you would benefit from being blocked from the sweets, candy, or beverages in your home? Maybe it is not about being blocked from sweets, maybe it is Candy Crush on your cell phone, or your Wii remote? I recently found this cookie jar/kitchen storage bin called: The Kitchen Safe. The lid has a digital timer on top that allows you to lock up any item and only be allowed in after a certain number of seconds, minutes, hours, or days. (It will lock up to 10 days).

The idea originated as a way to control junk food cravings, and has led to controlling many other household/lifestyle cravings. The Overview page on their website shows a variety of items locked away, toys, video games, credit cards, cigarettes, and cell phones to name a few. It sounds like The Kitchen Safe is just the product to allow for timeouts on our favorite addictions. For kids and adults. At the moment only the clear bin is available for purchase on their website. The white version is out of stock until Summer 2014. A clever idea to offer both options. I imagine the white is out of stock, because if you do not have to look at what is locked away, while you wait to be able to open the safe it may be much easier on you (or your kids and family). The clear safe encourages a bit of self-control, because what is stopping you from smashing it? The $49.95 price tag. A high price to pay for a little bit of discipline.

Controlling temptation is hard to master. Hopefully The Kitchen Safe will help along the way, that is if you have not taken a hammer to it first. Here is the video from their website to show you how it works:

Is toast the new cupcake?

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I continue to see articles about toast. Yes, that is what I said… toast! It is turning into the newest fad. $3, $5, $7 slices of thick toast. Some with cinnamon and sugar, others with jelly, or other savory toppings. It is locally made, and sliced thickly, and toasted to perfection. Much of my research shows that this new toast trend first popped up in the San Francisco area, but is starting to make its way across the country.

It is a funny thing when you think about it. Of all the crazes, cupcakes and cronuts, even locally made ice cream with crazy ingredients are all things that are a bit more complicated to make at home. Yet, toast, one of the easiest items to make in your kitchen is now a luxury item in bakeries, cafes, and restaurants. Maybe it is just a current fad and will not last.

An article on ABC states:

“The Mill’s offerings change often, but selections, priced up to $3.75 per slice, can be country bread with butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar and sea salt, or whole wheat bread with house made pumpkin butter. The trend has spread to Los Angeles, where Sqirl charges $7 for thick-cut local “burnt” brioche bread topped with house made ricotta and seasonal jam, and New York City, where The Smile offers buttered multigrain toast with local honey, raspberry jam or almond butter for $3.75.”

A group in San Francisco is even petitioning the mayor to get the cost of living under control, blaming the tech community for having the ability to purchase luxury items such as a piece of $7 toast. Wow, what is the world coming to these days? I am not saying I am against $7 toast, I think we should each decide for ourselves what we purchase. I am not one that would want to purchase a piece of $7 if I could purchase a whole loaf for that price. Call me cheap, or thrifty, I just think a bit more about the economy of things. If I did fork over $7 it better be a damn good piece of toast.

What do you think about the new toast craze?

A PACT and a little $$$

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I just happened upon this app called PACT. It is an app that helps to set goals for working out and eating healthy. The premise is that once you set daily goals, you either receive cash rewards, or if you do not meet your goals then money is deducted from your credit card or PayPal account and given to those that do meet their goals. GULP.

Mind you, I am a bit hard-core on myself with running, being active, and eating healthy. I currently have a Nike FuelBand and find that it often encourages me to keep up with my daily fuel goal, which is accrued with the miles I run. There are times when I come home from work exhausted and could care less if I make my goal, and all I want is comfort food. Yet, that is the exception. For the most part, I come home and unwind from my day with a good, hard run and healthy meal. The question is how many days of the week end up that way, and how many days do I successfully hit my goal? It is so different from week to week.

The other aspect of the app pertains to food. You can track your food goals and then take pictures of what you eat. There is a bit of honesty and trust that go with this app. Maybe that is why rewards start at 30 cents, because most individuals are probably not going to “cheat” to receive 30 cents. The fact that they met their goal is motivation with the added accumulation of some change to show as proof of their consistent effort. Almost like an ongoing game of penny poker.

Since life can throw us curveballs at any moment, how are our goals to be and stay healthy impacted when money is involved? Would I handle my goals differently if there was money connected to it? I guess it would depend on how much money you make or lose. Reports about the app say you can earn 30 cents to $5 a week for meeting your goal, and $5-$10 each day for when you miss your goal. Again, yikes! How many of you would start to see $35-$70 leaving your checking account each week? The money that you pay for not meeting your goals goes into the pool to help pay for those that are meeting their goals.

Would PACT motivate you to exercise and eat healthy? Or would you start to feel down that you are not hitting your goals and watching cold hard cash fly out the door? Is it motivating and would it keep you on track?

What do you think?

A little baby goodness and some damn good strata

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This past weekend my sister came to visit for her last trip before she has a sweet baby girl. We had a baby shower with my sister’s friends that live in my local area. It was a fun time. I always enjoy a group of women who get together and bond, even if 75% of the conversation is about babies. Even so women can be very sassy!

My sister is gluten-free. When the mom-to-be does not eat gluten, you make sure you have food just for her. For each item I had a gluten-free option. Cupcakes, scones, macaroons, and Eggs Benedict strata. What I want to tell you about is the Eggs Benedict strata. We took this recipe from the Taste and Tell blog, and made one pan that was exact to this recipe + red peppers. We then went to a local market and purchased gluten-free English muffins and substituted them for the regular english muffins to make a gluten-free option. Um. It. was. damn. good.

My apologies as I was caught up in the moment and never took a photo of the strata so you will have to go to the Taste and Tell blog to see their version (it looks exactly like it turns out). This is the perfect dish that you can prep and make the night before, and then bake just before your guests arrive. I am actually a bit excited for the next time we make it. I could not have enough. I even liked the gluten-free version!

For those of you that hate to make poached eggs, this might be the perfect brunch option to make at home. The hollandaise sauce is superb, and just the right added touch to this dish (it better be with all the butter it contains). I definitely suggest adding the red peppers. It gave it just the extra bite that was needed. Enjoy this quick and amazing recipe:

EGGS BENEDICT STRATA
  • 6 whole English muffins
  • 6 oz Canadian-style bacon, chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • salt and pepper
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • dash of hot sauce
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and very hot

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Spray an 8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the English muffins into 1-inch cubes. Place half of the cubes in the prepared baking dish, then sprinkle with half of the Canadian bacon. Top with the remaining English muffin cubes and then the remaining Canadian bacon.
  2. Whisk together the eggs and the milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the top of the bread. Use your hands to press down the bread to make sure that it has all been soaked with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the strata from the oven and let it sit on the counter while the oven comes up to temperature. Bake, uncovered, until puffed and golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
  4. When the strata is almost finished baking, prepare the hollandaise sauce. Place the egg yolks, Dijon, lemon juice and hot sauce in a blender. Blend for several seconds. Very slowly, stream the hot butter into the sauce, keeping the blender on the entire time. Blend until the sauce is thick.
  5. Serve the strata warm with the hollandaise poured over the top.