Food Lush

Perfect Addition to Any Carb: Justin's Nut Butter

By Jennie

I used to eat a lot of 100-calorie granola bars for breakfast, which are fine, sure, but they certainly aren't exciting. And they also aren't all that filling.

Recently, I started slathering some of Justin's Nut Butter on an English muffin, toast, apple, banana, or other carb/fruit/yummy goodness before heading out the door, and it keeps the hunger at bay until lunch.

This stuff isn't cheap -- although I like to get the individual packs at my local Central Market that are only $1/each -- but it's all delicious and, to me, worth every cent. My favorites are: chocolate hazelnut butter, maple almond butter, and the classic peanut butter. They're all good, though. You can't go wrong.

{Photo from JustinsNutButter.com}

(And now there are peanut butter cups available! Oh my, I'm in trouble.)

What are your favorite nut butters?

Magic Bullet: to Buy or Not to Buy?

By Julie

I have heard a lot of great things about the Magic Bullet.  My sister-in-law swears by it. Devotees talk about it as though it is a utensil required by law. It’s quick, easy to use, makes terrific smoothies. It sounds like a miracle in the kitchen. If it cleaned itself, it truly would be. And it looks all space-agey and cool.

But my kitchen cabinets are filling up rather quickly, and real estate there is at a premium. And at $45 currently on Amazon, I’m not sure it’s unique enough to add to my culinary toolbox.

I have a blender. I have a food processor. I even have a mini food processor. But the question is do I need a Magic Bullet, too? Dear Readers, tell me if I need to click the buy button.

{Photo Credit: Amazon.com}

Balsamic Ravioli Salad

By Jen L. 
Interested? I thought so.

Across the street from my apartment in NYC was a phenomenal Italian Deli/Salumeria. They made the world's best antipasto, complete with homemade cheese and meats they cured themselves.  My husband and I ate food from there at least twice a week, and our order was never complete without a quart of this salad. One taste and you will crave it like nobody's business.  It makes a lot, so you can eat it as a side dish, as lunch or just a bite at a time out of the container between meals like I do.

BALSAMIC RAVIOLI SALAD

• 1 package four cheese ravioli (fresh, not frozen)
• 2 leaves chopped fresh basil
• 4 leaves chopped fresh parsley
• 1 medium red onion, julienned (Very thin slices in semi-cirles)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 package (3.5 oz) sundried tomatoes, julienne cut
• Seasoned pepper to taste (If you can find it, use Jane's Mixed Up Pepper. OMG.)
• Dash onion powder
• Pinch of salt
• Dash of paprika

Cook ravioli according to package directions.  When done, drain then shock in icy water for one minute.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, pepper, salt, paprika, and onion powder. Mix on low speed with hand blender or electric mixer to emulsify.  Taste after blending well--add more balsamic vinegar or salt if needed.  Place ravioli into a storage container that has a lid.  Add onion, parsley, basil and sundried tomatoes, then pour dressing over everything.  Stir to coat ravioli.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.  The longer it sits, the better it gets. Enjoy!

 

From Grandma's Recipes: Easy Onion Rolls

By Nora

Have you ever made a fantastic holiday meal and realized last minute that you completely forgot to get dinner rolls? I can't tell you how many times i've done this, but once I discovered this gem of a recipe in my Grandma's old recipe file, i've never experienced this problem again, because I can easily whip up these delicious dinner rolls in the time it takes to prep a nice dinner (and I almost always have the ingredients on hand). I know you might be thinking that if they involve yeast and don't come out of a cardboard tube then they're not easy. I guess it's all in your perspective, but if you want homemade dinner rolls you do have to put in at least a little effort, but comparatively, these are a cinch.

Easy Onion Rolls

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp margarine or butter

2 pkgs yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tbsp dried minced onion

5 1/2 cups flour

cornmeal (optional)

1 egg white and 1 tbsp water

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter and heat until close to boiling. Remove from heat and set aside. In the meantime, combine 3 cups of flour and the dry ingredients, and then add the slightly cooled liquid ingredients and stir until smooth. Add the rest of the flour and knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Or, if you're using the bread hook attachment on a KitchenAid mixer, knead for about 5 minutes. Put the dough in a ceramic bowl, cover with a dish towel, and let rise for 1 hour. After the dough has risen, punch it down and separate it into 12 to 18 rolls. You can place them on greased cookie sheets sprinkled with cornmeal, or on a Silpat mat. Let the rolls rise for another hour, and then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and brush with the egg white/water mixture and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve warm or freeze for later use.

Here's what my latest batch looked like (I put a little cross in the top with a sharp knife, just for fun):

P.S.--If you're not an onion person, I think it would be just fine to leave out the minced onion so that you'd have basic simple dinner rolls. I just love how the minced onion gives a subtle salty flavor to these bad boys.

Crab Boil Potatoes

By Natalie

Hi, I'm addicted to potatoes. I could eat 2 helpings of potatoes per meal. I like to order baked potatoes with a side of mashed potatoes. I like french fries, waffle fries, tater tots. If it comes from a potato I love it. Last week I posted about tater salad, this week it's crab boil potatoes.

Ever been to a crawfish boil? I dislike crawfish, but I love the corn and new potatoes that come out of the boil. They are spicy and burn your mouth as you eat them. It's fantastic. This recipe is reminiscent of crab boil potatoes without the propane tank and the crawdads. You'll love this recipe because it has butter, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Oh, and don't forget the BACON.

You can find Guy Fieri's Goody Girl Championship Potatoes here. I'm not sure what Goody Girl Championship means, but just go with it. I like my title better.

Watch out this recipe makes a boat load of potatoes. I cut the recipe in half but still using 1 bag of crab boil. Then I just eye balled the butter, sour cream, cheesy goodness. No green or red onions for me!

Recipe Round-Up: Goodbye July

By Nicole

[Photo by Pick Yin at Life is Great] 

Check out some of the most enticing recipes posted around the web this week. They sound delicious and are surely worthy of a whirl in your kitchen and mine.

Adana Kebabs by Desert Candy

Lemon Poppyseed Belgian Waffles by Sugarcrafter

Carrot Zucchini Muffins with Candied Ginger by Erin's Food Files

Butterscotch Meringue Bars by Eat Live Run

Bruleed Mocha Crepe Cake by 6 Bittersweets

Chocolate Chipotle Truffle Brownie by Simply Scratch

Pork, Bacon and Sage Escalopes by The English Kitchen

Chicken Mushroom Croquettes by Artful Gourmet

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes by Life is Great

Duck Tacos with Chipotle Cherry Salsa by Closet Cooking

Homemade Black Pepper Cheez-Its by A Cozy Kitchen

Aloo Gobi Potato Salad by The Food in My Beard

Samuel Adam's Rustic Saison: Hefeweizen with a Kick

By Dani

Beer is as delicious as only something with as many calories as several pieces of bread can be: that is, unbearably tasty, especially when it's hot outside.

I love any kind of light, citrusy, Hefeweizen-esque beer, but my husband is more the hoppy ale type. Which means that if I buy beer that I really like -- I DRINK THEM ALL MYSELF -- no competition, which is no bueno for the waistline.

Much to my delight, our founding fathers (get it? Sam Adams?! Haha, history jokes!) have ridden to the rescue ala Paul Revere with a lantern and a delightfully hoppy but still light and citrusy option.

It's Rustic Saison, and it's delicious with a bratwurst, or a grilled burger, or a side of Texas queso and tortilla chips. (Not that I would know any of these pairings from experience, mind you. I've been eating nothing but leafy greens all summer.) (My nose is growing.) (It's time for me stop typing ridiculous asides and go crack a cold one, don't you think?) (I agree.)

{Photo credit: SamuelAdams.com}

Surviving Summer: Cranking Up The Ice Cream Maker

By Jessica

Recently, we've had a couple of awesome recommendations on the site about handling summer berries and either handling their rotting (with sugar preserving) or preventing it in the first place (with a vinegar wash). My strawberry shortcake combines both the sugar and the vinegar but adds a little bit of honey to boot and it's good, really good, but it's even better as ICE CREAM. I know, right? GENIUS move, on my part, but really I can't take much credit as I would eat almost anything that came out of an ice cream maker at this point in time. Living in Houston, aka the center of hell, as I do, and being a great big weather baby, as I am, cold=gold.

The problem with making this ice cream the day I decided I had to make it was that of course I had no eggs. I wasn't about to brave the heat to correct that situation (great big weather baby, as I mentioned) but I figured that somewhere on the internet there had to be an eggless variety.

Essentially the strawberries are already going to be mascerating in the sugar that is called for in the recipe, so it's really not a stretch to go from one thing to the other. I read some of the reviews and they suggested less sugar if you had ripe berries (which I did) and I also was adding the honey and balsamic, so I only added 3/4 C of sugar. I also saw a review that used all half and half instead of whole milk and cream. I had half and half and cream so that's what I used. Finally, I skipped the food coloring as my berries made my ice cream a lovely shade of pink.

As you can tell, we are enjoying it immensely.

Homemade Mayonnaise!

By Elisabeth

I am not a huge fan of mayonnaise. I use it when duty calls and haven't thought much about it otherwise.

I began making egg salad the other day and realized after I had 6 eggs boiling in a pot that I was out of mayonnaise. DANGIT. Of course, I could have eaten 6 hard-boiled eggs, or at least shared them with my kids, but I WANTED EGG SALAD.

Then, I recalled Jonna talking about making her own mayonnaise on Twitter not long ago. So, I went to my computer, did some simple searching and found a recipe that fit my available ingredients.

Let me just say, it was SUPER easy AND delicious! (As far as mayonnaise goes.) Seriously, my egg salad was the BEE'S KNEES.

If you've got an extra minute or two, make your own. It's worth it.

(Isn't it pretty? For mayonnaise, that is?)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of canola oil or olive (not virgin) oil -
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 pasteurized egg - plus 1 yolk (total of 2 eggs)
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard

Instructions:

In the blender or food processor, mix the 1 egg and 1 egg yolk with mustard and salt.

With the blender or processor running, slowly add 1 1/2 c. oil in a thin, steady stream. (In the food processor, leave the insert in the feed tube and let the oil drip through the hole in the insert.)

Add the lemon juice.

Store in the coldest part of your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Now, I am off to find something else to make with mayonnaise before my fluffy homemade goodness expires on me.

adapted recipe from: Ehow.com

{photo credit: me}

Hippie versions of some favorite snacks

by Caitlin

You guys. 

It's July and I have a sinus infection. 

And I have to get on a plane in two days. 

And of course I'm not packed, and have no idea what I'm bringing. 

INJUSTICE!

So this post is going to be short, sweet, and junky so that I can go back to wallowing on the couch. 

Oh, never mind. By the time you read this it will be Thursday morning and I will be packed and a few hours away from my flight. So never mind! What's to complain about?! Future Caitlin will have resolved everything by now!

Onward, to the snacks!

I am a die-hard Cheezit fan. For much of college I was convinced the perfect snack/study food/meal was Cheezit* and Pepsi One. Do they even still make Pepsi One?

*Do not call them Cheezits, okay? The plural is Cheezit. Look it up. It's right there on the box.

So. I no longer buy Cheezit regularly. Not just because I can't control myself around them, but because they're not made with the greatest stuff. I'm also a firm believer that Nibs and other Cheezit knockoffs are Of The Devil, but I recently grabbed these on a whim at Whole Foods, and I can solidly recommend them. I was sort of prepared to hate them (WHY did I buy them then?), but they were perfectly acceptable, and even quite tasty. 

Photo via Amazon

They're organic, and have no fake stuff, no corn syrup, nothing hydrogenated, etc. Real ingredients! Imagine that!

Late July also happens to be the maker of another recent discovery: Another knock off that I was in fact prepared to hate, but which I nevertheless purchased, probably because I made the mistake of shopping while hungry. And lo, they were delicious.

Behold, healthy Doritos!

Ha, healthy. I mean, they're healthIER hippie junk food, really, but damn they are delicious. 

Plus, I love the blurbs on their packaging. If I was feeling better I'd haul myself into the kitchen and type it up here, but instead here's what their website says:

"Along with winning Best New Product at the 2010 Natural Product's Expo, these new chips are also 100% Whole Grain, certified gluten free, peanut/tree nut free and give 10% of profits to the American Camp Association for summer camp scholarships for kids in need!"

Both of these products are a bit pricey for their size (SMALL), but that's not such a bad thing when I consider that I'd otherwise blow through way more of them than I do. And I'm usually happy to pay a little more for quality. 

Late July has a good thing going. Check them out.

Have you found healthier alternatives to your favorite snacks? And do they still make Pepsi One?