Gummy Bears getting WILD!

What do you get when you take...

some tooth picks and

some vodka.... AND................ some gummy bears...

 

You get some gummy bears gone wild!

Make it a Taco Night!

The hardest part of making tacos for taco night is...
getting crunchy shells that are not stale.  I've purchased crunchy shells from half a dozen grocery stores, with the date never being expired... but they are still always stale!
I hope you will have better luck getting crunchy shells!

Making the filling for taco night is quite simple. For the meat filling:
I simply dice up some onions and and let them sweat in the pan with a little oil.
I grate in a clove of garlic and once the onions have had it in the sauna...
I add the ground beef and fry the 2 together while adding a little S&P.
(salt and pepper) Lastly, I squeeze some Krafts BBQ sauce. (It has to be Krafts though-
I've tried many different brands- from expensive to homemade etc...
but Krafts always wins the taste test when it comes to taco meat filling sauce.
I like to have separate little bowls for the meat, shredded lettuce,
shredded cheese, sour cream and lastly a simple tomato salsa that consists of
diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, minced onions, a sprinkle of salt and the
juice of half a lime. That's it... fairly simple to make with a rating of
9.3 out of 10!

Packets of WHAT !?!?!?

Raise your hand if you don't like Chinese food.
Did you ever stop to read the ingredients on the soy sauce ...
"soy sauce" packets you get with your take-out food?

You will after reading this post!  It's NOT soy sauce!
So instead of using the packets... I recommend buying a little
bottle of soy sauce and keeping it in your refrigerator.
It's nice that soy sauce lasts a long time. (many  months)

So what is in the soy sauce packets you ask?
Each company is a little different but basically
corn syrup and caramel coloring.
Years ago, I noticed a packet of soy sauce was unusually dark
and thinking that the dumplings were going to be really salty
from the soy sauce... I noticed it wasn't salty at all!
So I read the ingredients and was like....
WHAT!

Cleaning Mushrooms

There is a myth- that you should not wash mushrooms.
You did catch that right... "myth".
You have a couple options of how to clean a mushroom.
A very common way peope say is to take a damp paper towel
and use you fingers to brush off any dirt or soil.
(This way kind of makes me feel like like a snob-
the way you brush/toss it off)

Another way to clean a mushroom is to take a little brush
(similar to a nail brush) and brush the dirt and soil off gently.

A third way is to just wash them with water! 
As long as you rinse or wash the mushrooms
right before you cut them- it's all good! 
Some people say that mushrooms get water logged
when you wash them and that's why they think water
is forbidden when it comes to mushrooms.

The only negative with washing mushrooms is when you wash them
and then store them. They become slimy and spoil quickly
because of the dampness. Otherwise... just give them
a quick wash before you use them. Don't be a snob. haha

End the summer with watermelon pie!

When I think of summer-
of the many things that come to my mind...

watermelon is one of them. So I wanted to officially end the summer
with a watermelon pie.  Now, when I think of pie- I think of
a crust and filling. Not only do I like to use things for 2 purposes (double-duty)
but having fun with food and making it different is always fun as well.
(similar to the jello orange wedges I've made) So to make a watermelon pie
it's pretty simple and for all the non-bakers...  there is no baking required!

Take a watermelon (preferably a smaller one)
and slice it (maybe an inch or 2 or 3) It's really whatever you want- 

Then you want to take a smaller pairing knife and cut the red of the watermelon from the rind.

Then, take the red of the watermelon and cut it in to wedges
(these will be your little pie slices)
If you're not sure of how many slices/wedges...
try 3 cuts to make 6 wedges to start.

Then take a spoon or a cooking brush and take some of your
favorite yogurt and slather it on the top and sides of
the watermelon wedges.  Don't forget to add your topping. I like to take almond slivers. The almond slivers work nice with the yogurt especially
because they just stick together perfectly with no effort.

And then voila!  Here is your simple, different, fun and cultivated way
to end your summer- with a watermelon pie! 
This recipe is pretty low in carbs as well!

Marriage Ref Contestant Was Right!

Have you ever watched the tv show called
Marriage Ref   www.nbc.com/the-marriage-ref
produced by Jerry Seinfeld? http://jerryseinfeld.com

If you haven't... it's hosted by hilarious Tom Papa
www.tompapa.com  where they take 3 different celebrities
each week and they discuss to see 3 different couples'
disputes to see who is more right!  

There was this one episode with this older couple and their
dispute was:  the husband was tired of his wife asking the server
literally how many minutes ago was the decaf coffee made?
They showed clips of the couple in many different restaurants and the
wife extensively asks the server when was it brewed.
She sternly tells the server she will know if he/she are lying about
when the coffee was brewed. She warns them that if it's a second longer
than 18 minutes it is old, not fresh and she will make them brew a fresh pot.

With sales or anything I guess- it's the way you ask or say something that
could make a huge difference!  Her husband's argument is... just drink
something else or order it and if it's a few seconds longer... it's not the end
of the world. Her argument ultimately is that if she's paying for the coffee-
she wants it fresh.  Basically super fresh!

After the celebrity panel discusses their opinions-
gearing towards the decision that the wife is too extreme...
they are able to research that brewed coffee is freshest
up to 20 minutes. Once it is over 20 minutes-
it starts to have that slightly burnt taste.
It doesn't mean you can't drink it or that it's spoiled...
it's just the freshest when it's within 20 minutes.
I never knew the mark for freshness in brewed coffee was 20 minutes.
Obviously the sooner you drink or eat food-
it is better but I never really knew there was a time.
So, the wife ended up winning the argument. 

What The Heck Is Splenda Anyway?

Ah, Splenda. The sugar alternative.
It's lower in calories... for the calorie counters.
It's an alternative if you can't have sugar.
If you break out like me from too much sugar...
Splenda is also the way to go.
Just like anything... always have things in moderation.
Splenda is the brand name for a sucralose based and obviously
artificial-sweetener that came from sugar.

Splenda is owned by a British company named Tate & Lyle.
Tate & Lyle were researchers at Queen Elizabeth College,
University of London. Splenda was discovered in 1976
and became approved in the U.S. in 1998. Since 1999,
Splenda has overtaken Equal  with their $1.5 billion
artificial sweetener market holding a 62% market share.
According to research, $212 million of Splenda was sold
in 2006 in the U.S. while Equal sold $48.7 million.

Splenda is made in a granular form or in tablet form.
There is good and bad to Splenda of course. If you can't have sugar...
obviously, it is a choice. The bad part is that it's a chemical.
It is made from many chemicals together "chemical soup" some call it.
chemicals including chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine and others.
When you know that it is made partly by chlorine... it is a turnoff -
but you gotta do what you gotta do.