I’m thankful that I’ve grown a lot in the last few years, in that I’m able to appreciate the blessings in disguise when life doesn’t always go the way you planned.  It really helps you to take life as it comes, to be happy and content and enjoy the present moment, as well as move forward with life, rather than just wishing for things to be different.

“All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy!”

Some food products that have been featured on Unitasker Wednesday include:

• The Bacon Platter (a serving platter that looks like bacon)
• The Mayo Knife (for getting that last bit of mayo out of the jar)
• The Krustbuster (for removing the crust from your sandwiches)

There’s a whole range of food products/items out there featured as unitaskers.  Sometimes they are really funny, and you can definitely get by with using something you already own, instead of buying something that can only do one thing.

Other times, there are unitaskers that I think would be quite useful, especially for foodies.  For example, they have the “Tofu Water Extractor” as a unitasker, but I actually think that would be quite helpful when pressing the water out of tofu!  I tried pressing out tofu once by draining it, and then pressing it with plates and squeezing out the excess water with paper towels.  I actually think a gadget just for doing so would be much less hassle! 

Questions

1.) Do any of you own a tofu press? 

 2.) Does it really work? 

3.) Would you recommend it? 

So to each their own with the unitaskers!  I guess you just have to decide what works for you and is worth the money and storage space!

Now on to Tuesday Treats (find out more about this in the “Features” page above my blog title!)

I recently received a whole bunch of NuNaturals Stevia products from Ron Redding of NuNaturals, Inc.  Thanks, Mr. Redding!  I’ve reviewed a couple of the products already, but still have some more to go! 

I decided to make a fun little snack/dessert using the NuNaturals Pure Liquid Cocoa Bean Extract. 

To use it, you add 20 drops of it directly to your food or beverage.  Pretty simple, especially since it comes with one of those eye dropper things! 

I was really excited to make a snack featuring the cocoa bean extract and orange zest, since I thought the two flavors would go amazingly well together.  I don’t know exactly what to call this snack, so I’ll just go through the step-by-step process and maybe at the end of the post I’ll come up with a name for it! 

Step 1:

I added a little bit of quick-cooking oats to a 6-oz ramekin, then microwaved it for 20 seconds to kind of toast them a little.

Step 2:

Then I added 20 drops of NuNaturals Pure Liquid Cocoa Extract to a 6 oz container of Chobani plain Greek yogurt and mixed it all together. 

I actually added about 5 drops at first, then tasted it, then added more a littlle bit at a time until I got to 20 drops.   

So, the only problem was that I couldn’t really taste the cocoa bean extract!  I think it’s because the yogurt is so thick and tangy and kind of overpowered the flavor of the extract. 

Step 3:

Added about 1/2 of the yogurt on top of the oats in the ramekin.

Step 4:

Added some orange zest on top of the yogurt.

Step 5:

Added a little bit of the juice from the orange on top of the yogurt (didn’t mix it together for some reason, which made it look kind of gross, d’oh!) for more flavor, sweetness.

Step 6:

Added some orange segments to the yogurt.

Step 7:

Added some pistachios for more color, flavor, and texture. (This was supposed to make it look prettier, but since I didn’t mix the juice of the orange together with the yogurt, everything just looked kind of gross)

Step 8:

Mixed everything all together and ate.  (It looked kind of like one of those yogurt messes everyone always makes!  Except I wasn’t trying to make one, lol!) 

Overall

• It didn’t come out like I had planned.  I had thought that the cocoa bean extract would have a stronger flavor, but again, maybe it’s just because I mixed it with something super thick and tangy which overpowered it.  I think I’ll try adding the cocoa bean extract to milk, because I think I’ll be able to taste the flavor better when it’s mixed into a beverage. 

• The juice of the orange as well as the zest tasted amazing with the yogurt!  That was a really good idea! 

• Maybe I can try making this again, this time with regular vanilla yogurt (not as thick or tangy) and see how that goes!

Have a good night, everyone!

Let’s get started! 

You know you’re a food blogger when…

…you start paying more attention to the dinnerware on tv shows than the actual storyline! 

• Case in point: I love to watch “The Nanny.”  It’s such a good show!  So funny!  It always makes me laugh!  Anyway, I think I’ve seen all the episodes but I still catch reruns here and there.  And now every time they are in the kitchen, I find myself looking at the dinnerware in the background, trying to determine if I can tell which brand and style it is! 

• Also, anyone watch soaps?  I never did, but was flipping channels one day, wanted to see what was going on in the show, and then got completely sucked in!  And now I know all the current storylines!  Haha!  Anyway, I was watching One Life to Live one day and got so excited because I recognized the serving bowl they were using!  Ha, it was so funny!  It was a Villeroy and Boch serving bowl (very pretty, but a very expensive brand!)  Anyhow, I love that brand of dinnerware and was so excited!

Okay, and speaking of soap operas, my current thoughts on some of the storylines/general comments.  (These shouldn’t be spoilers if you’ve been watching the shows)

One Life to Live - Oh Eli!  Just when you thought you had everyone fooled and were going to get away with everything!  Poor Blair! 

All My Children – Hmmm, I wonder why they always go to the park to talk about all their plans and discuss all their secrets?  Makes it too easy for other people to eavesdrop. 

General Hospital – I love the actress that plays Lisa!  She’s so good at playing crazy!  Not that that would be cool in real life, but on the soaps it’s entertaining!

The Young and the Restless – Doesn’t the actress that plays Victoria look just like Rachel McAdams?  They look like they could be sisters! 

Also, don’t worry, I’m not rotting my brain or anything with tons of TV.  I go in phases with what I watch on TV (sometimes it’s House Hunters, sometimes Dancing with the Stars) and right now I just think soap operas are fun to watch,  I actually only wath a couple episodes a week in total, and then if I’m interested I’ll just read the recaps to see what I missed.  Hey, would anyone be interested in reading a Soap Opera Blog? 

Now let’s talk about a movie coming soon – Black Swan. 

Have you guys seen the trailer for Black Swan?  Whoa, does that movie look crazy and freaky, or what?! 

The makeup/costume is amazing.

Unfortunately, I happened to read the first sentence of an article on the movie (it just opened at the Venice Film Festival) and it gave away the entire movie!  Seriously!  I didn’t even read the whole article!  I was just glancing through some headlines, and since they always give the first sentence as well, happened to read that…which gave away everything even though it’s not supposed to!  D’oh! 

I never ever read movie reviews before I go see them (and I hardly ever go see movies – too expensive! - I wait for them to come to the library or on tv) so that I won’t know what happens, but I actually  always read reviews after I’ve seen the movies.  I like to know how the critics’ opinions compare to my own.  Does anyone else do this? 

Oh, and just so you know, I also find it reallly fun to learn about different things.  For example, I love to read Personal Finance Blogs each and every single day!  I’m not even kidding – I love personal finance blogs, especially all the discussions!  I don’t read them so much for tips on investing and stuff (I think you really need to talk to someone who’s qualified to give you that info, since on the Internet a lot of people just talk about their own experiences, but don’t have a degree in finance) but I read them because I think discussions on finance are really interesting, such as being frugal and needs vs. wants. 

And you know what’s really cool?  A lot of times personal finance blogs and food blogs overlap, in that there is a focus on healthy meals on the cheap. 

I think that very soon I would like to start doing a feature on how to eat healthy on a tight budget!  I think that would be a really fun challenge and I think it would be awesome to see how creative I can be as well! 

So yes, I think entertainment can be just for fun and “escapism,” if you will, but then you can also take something educational and practical and make it fun! 

Talk to me! 

1.) What’s you favorite type of tv show?

2.) What’s you favorite show at the moment?

3.) Have you seen the trailer for Black Swan?

4.) Do you read movie reviews before you see the movie?  Does anyone actually read them afterwards like me? 

5.) Do you find things like frugal living and budgeting interesting and fun?  Why or why not? 

6.) If you read personal finance blogs, which ones are your favorites?

Thanks for reading and answering any of the questions! 

Have a good night, everyone! 

I love, love, love picnics!  They are so much fun!  Here is my go-to picnic meal!

So we’ve got:

• Crinkle-cut potato chips with sea salt (Costco brand is really good!)
• Watermelon (cut up to make it easier to eat – a large yogurt container holds the perfect amount)
• Avocado (in the picture it’s just half of it, but I actually added the whole thing and added black pepper and garlic powder to it – if it’s a first date, you can leave off the garlic powder so you won’t have garlic breath!)

Not pictured

Cheese: Extra-sharp cheddar cheese is really good!

Toasted Bagel, plain (the reason for this is that you can spread the avocado on it if you like, instead of cream cheese)

Drinks

Water, of course!

Grape Juice (My favorite drink at the moment!)  So good on hot summer days!  (And I know that it’s getting to be fall, but some days have been really hot still!)

This is the perfect meal, especially on a hot day because…

• the watermelon is really refreshing and a good source of lycopene
• the salty chips taste so good with the watermelon, and are the perfect snack for later since they don’t have to be refrigerated
• the avocado is really filling from the healthy fats
• the bagel (carbs!) and cheese (calcium!) round out the meal
• water – good for hydration
• grape juice – good for something sweet, and also when it’s hot weather, sometimes juice is so refreshing! 

Talk to you guys tomorrow!  Get ready for Mix-It-Up Monday!  That’s right, I’m bringing it back!  Yay!

Have a good night, everyone!

Oatmeal with banana

plus some cinnamon on top:

Peach:

Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuit (I haven’t had KFC in the longest time!  It was sooooo good!)

Roasted Veggies:

Fried chicken and roasted potatoes:

Roasted veggies plus Broccoli and Cheddar Egg White Quiche (from Costco)

Brownies, made with flaxseeds as a substitute for the eggs

When I first took them out of the oven, the brownies looked a bit weird – instead of a nice crust on the top, it looked like there were small bubbles on the top – kind of how it looks when you make brownies with just yogurt.  They had kind of a gummy, sticky texture at first, but after they had cooled down a bit, they were less sticky and more fudgy, and even more so the next day.  The only thing was that the brownies kind of fell apart when you picked them up.  I did use 2 Tbsp of brownie mix to make an individual brownie in the microwave with applesauce (had a sticky and gummy texture) before I decided to just make the whole thing, so maybe that had something to do with it.  In any case, I thought the brownies came out pretty well with the flaxseeds.  You couldn’t taste them at all, which is great, since every time I have tried substituting something else for eggs (I just don’t like cracking them!), like applesauce, yogurt, or bananas, you can always taste them, plus the texture doesn’t come out as well.   The flaxseeds (mixed with water) have definitely worked out as the best substitute when looking for something to replace the eggs as a binder when making brownies.

A closeup:

Grilling the veggies:

Grilled veggies:

Made a sandwich with whole wheat Arnold Sandwich Thins – toasted them first, then added a layer of zucchini:

Red bell pepper:

And onions:

And another layer of zucchini:

Added some swiss cheese:

Then heated it with a sandwich press, to make it panini-style!

Hmmm, it didn’t work that well!  I think I need to use different bread or something.  Oh well, it looks delicious:

And tasted delicious as well!  Except I’d probably use Italian bread or French bread next time, just because the sandwich thins had almost a sweet taste that didn’t go well with the grilled veggies. 

But that’s okay, I also used the sandwich thins to make mini pizzas:

It tasted great!  So easy to make – just top a sandwich thin with Barilla Tomato & Basil sauce (or whichever one you want – I just like that one!) and shredded mozzarella cheese and heat until the cheese is melted.  I ate these plain, but I bet they would taste great with toppings and maybe some spices like oregano! 

Questions: 

What are your favorite grilled veggies? 

What’s your favorite way to eat grilled veggies?  Plain, in a sandwich, on a salad (that’s a good idea, I need to try that!)

What’s your favorite pizza topping? 

Have a great night, everyone!

That’s red potatoes, white potatoes, purple potatoes, and Yukon gold potatoes. 

Yes, the purple potatoes are actually purple on the inside!  And a rich, deep purple color at that!  Who knew?!  And the Yukon gold potatoes are a beautiful buttercup yellow (but that one wasn’t as surprising). 

You don’t have to go out looking for the purple potatoes, though!  While they might be rich in color, the purple potatoes are a bit bland in flavor, plus their texture is a bit tougher and drier than the other potatoes.  The Yukon gold potatoes, on the other hand, seem to be a bit sweeter in flavor, plus they have a smooth and creamy texture, which sets it apart from its counterparts. 

Here are all the potatoes, sliced in half, brushed on the top with a little bit of olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper:

Here is the sauce, made up of dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper, and mixed together with a mini whisk:

(Next time would omit the salt and pepper from the sauce since they had stuck pretty well to the olive oil that was brushed on top of the potatoes)

And here is an example of the final product – half a potato drizzled with a little sauce and sprinkled with some dried parsley:

The recipe for these potatoes is called Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Dijon, and is from the August issue of Cooking Light.  Even though it is a really simple recipe, my mom actually made it and I just took the pictures.  She did make some modifications to the recipe including using small potatoes instead of fingerling potatoes, brushing olive oil on top of the potatoes and sprinkling them with salt and pepper instead of tossing the potatoes with all those ingredients, and using dried parsley instead of fresh.  I thought the potatoes tasted great, and they would make a perfect side dish for any meal!

If you would like to try this recipe, please click here.  Thanks!

Here are a couple of recipes I tried from the May 2010 issue of Cooking Light and the April 2010 issue of Real Simple.  (Miranda, from Time Inc., was kind enough to offer me a subscription to Cooking Light and Real Simple.  Thanks, Miranda!)

 The nice thing is that the recipes are also online!

Almost Meatless Sloppy Joes:

Directions:

Sweet potato fries:

The finished product:

How did they turn out?

Sweet potato fries

Well, as I’ve said before, our oven doesn’t really crisp up foods that well, so the fries only got slightly crispy, but they were still tasty!  It was a pretty simple recipe, but it was kind of hard cutting the sweet potatoes!  I think next time I’ll heat them in the microwave or oven for a minute or two until they become a little softer, that way it will be easier to cut them into fries. 

Almost Meatless Sloppy Joes

So the whole point of this recipe is that you reduce the amount of meat you use and bulk it up with some beans.  Ummm, yeah, that didn’t happen here.  The recipe calls for 6 ounces of meat, but since there was a 10 ounce package (or so I thought!) of meat in the freezer I figured I would just dump the whole thing in the pot, since it was only 4 ounces more.  Only after I dumped the whole package of meat in the pot did I realize that it actually said 16 ounces!  Whoops!  So yup, I basically made regular sloppy joes, with some beans thrown in there for good measure, lol!  Oh well, there’s always next time, right?  Anyway, the flavor was very good – and I actually think the sloppy joes tasted better the next day, when the flavors had gotten the chance to meld together a bit more – only thing was that it was so filling since I had used so much meat!  I would definitely like to make this recipe again, this time with the correct amount of meat, so that it’s a lot lighter!

Have you guys tried any new recipes lately?