My Cinco de Mayo

yeah, I know it is late but here my Cince de Mayo food adventures!!!!

First: Tequila gummi bears.  Start out with gummi bears & more or less a whole bottle of tequila.  Cover & refrigerate for 3-5 days.  They turn into a chewy yummy treat!!! Did I mention they get you shitty????!!!! 

Ingredients for my churro cake.  I do not have the finished product photo :-( and the cake is long eaten.  If you can't tell, I used a boxed cake mix.  Baking is not my strongpoint & it could be but I'm too lazy at the present to make that effort.  Soooo I am a great cake mix doctor!  I started with a french vanilla cake mix but yellow, white, spice, chocolate or whatever you prefer would probably be good.  I think chocolate would be good because in Mexican cuisine cinnamon & chocolate are paired together a lot.....mmmm mental note to do that!

To make it healthier/low fat, I did make some substitutions!  Instead of oil, I used Nonfat Plain Yogurt. Vanilla would be fine.  I used egg whites instead of regular eggs.  I only eat egg whites anyway, so there is no point to ever make a special trip for eggs, too.  Keep in mind that using egg whites & yogurt make the batter more liquidy, so add the yogurt last & in smaller doses.***The only place that I added more calories was substituting the water for FF evaporated milk***  The lady in Wal-mart said this makes a moister cake (probably not FF) so I had to try it.....kind of leche.....

I also added some cinnamon. And by some I mean A LOT!!!! I want to taste this cinnamon because it needed to be like a churro.  As long as you don't get to big red flavor you're good!  I added a splash of vanilla & a sprinkle of chili powder for good measure.  Mix all. Put in 2 cake pans & bake according to package.....I can't remember the temp or time but I do know it took longer than normal.  My oven is also slow to heat up!

I frosted with a light cream cheese cinnamon frosting.  Cream cheese frosting & I are enemies: I don't like using full fat cream cheese + butter, light doesn't always like to stay in frosting form.  It turns into a sloopy mess, but damn is it delicious!

ON TO THE ADVENTURES AROUND BALTIMORE!

Raven Beer @ CVP

The famous Paper Moon Diner....John Waters hangs out there :faint:

my turkey Reuben @ The Gate.....I can't remember what this place is called haha.

the boy enjoying his french dip

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Dirty Girl Scout shot

custom shot: Tequila, Watermelon Pucker & Orange juice.  I was imagining a sour jolly rancher & it came out delicious!

I had never been to this building, but the bar/restaurant was right across from.....

CHARM CITY CAKES!!!!! I still think Duff is lame for moving to Cali....traitor.

my first Tecate...won't be my last!

Ginormo nachos @ Holy Frijoles.

THE MORNING AFTER!

we went to the Broadway Diner in Baltimore....its been on Triple D. This is the boys...I think I just had an omelette.

we went to Vaccaro's Pastry Shop later in the day.  Last time we went, I forgot my wallet!  So we got a Vanilla & Chocolate Napoleon. It was delicious!!!!!

ohhh heyyyyy

so it's been quite some time since I have posted, not that anyone actually reads this blog! But I have relocated back to Maryland and I have been actively taking pictures of my food & posting them on Flick and Yelp!!!!!

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=v4ttQiz5dmwdpSOXtIwdWg

Malt, yummmmm part 2

So I read online somewhere that the "Zero Bar" by Hershey's has a malt taste in it. The Zero Bar has a sort of retro looking wrapper, in my opinion and is not your typical candy bar. It hasn't always been with Hershey either. So the bar is a Peanut and Almond nougat with a layer of caramel, all covered in...wait for it....White Chocolate!! Not too many white chocolate candy bars out there. Blah blah blah its not technically chocolate...and I used to be one of those people who wasn't a huge fan of it. Every since putting white chocolate chips in my apple muffins, I was instantly hooked. Love love love white chocolate. But it will never replace milk chocolate or semi-sweet. I think I like it better than dark chocolate actually. hmmm. Anyway let's get back to the bar.

Zero Bar:

So yeah, it was okay. I only ate about half of it, because I was also making lunch :-) yummm Caprese Salad!!!! Anyway, you can see the layers in it. There are nuts in the nougat adding a nice crunch. The caramel layer is kind of subtle and the white chocolate isn't half bad. Though I am guessing this isn't Hershey's white chocolate recipe, since it isn't originally their candy bar. But there was no really strong malt flavor. I didn't pick it up. Bummer. But a mildly tasty candy bar. Go try one!

Malt, yummmmm

Okay so it has been waaaayyy too long! I have been very busy since the fall. I move 800 miles away from my boyfriend to finish school and well, school has been terribly hectic. I took 6 classes this past spring! With my track record, I am very impressed I did well! I have a technical certificate and in July I will have my A.S. Exciting! But anyway....

I have a mild sweet tooth. I am not always craving sweets, but when I do it is crazy! I usually want chocolate or sour candy! So when I want chocolate it goes to my two favorite chocolate combos: peanut butter & chocolate and malted mi

lk balls. I love Reese's cups and I love Whoppers. But sometimes I like to explore my other options in the malt ball department. There are many other brands of them and I am always open to new varieties. I have always loved malt balls so why not expand my horizon. I do hold Whoppers in high esteem, so most get compared to them. They have a thin chocolate layer and a huge malt center. I love that ratio! But I have tried others and here are my opinions on the ones I have tried lately

Cracker Barrel Malt Balls (I lost the packaging). I bought them at Cracker Barrel!I do not have the best close up photo skills.

So this one has a huge chocolate portion, and a rather small malt ball in it. I do not like have to scrape away at the chocolate only to find a small malt ball :-( the chocolate was tasty but it overpowered the malt. Meh.

Target Bulk Candy Malt Balls

Perfect ratio!!!! So that means awesome....not so fast! While it had the perfect ratio the malt was not that malty. It made me very sad. The chocolate was okay, but it was overall nothing special. The cashier forgot to weigh them so they were free; that's a plus!

Publix Bulk Candy Carob Malt Balls

So I had never had carob before. What is carob? It is a bean (I think) that is used as a chocolate substitute. There are some people who can not have dairy or chocolate, so it is there option! Well, I had been wanting to try it and my poppy was paying for groceries so why not? I did only get a small scoop people! So yeah, they were really good! It might be one of the better tasting chocolates I have eaten, considering it isn't chocolate at all! I even had poppy try one and he liked it too. He's terribly hard to impress. The malt, however, was not too great. It actually had too much something, moisture maybe? I don't know, it was just a little dense! But they were the best out of the three!!!!

So yeah, that's it. I'll be sampling more malt balls and I will be posting pictures of the food I have made/eaten that I deemed worthy enough for a picture. Super long post!!!!

update on the low-fat cookies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made cookies again with the fat-free butter this time, and...............they were so much better! Softer, and chewy..yum!

low-fat chocolate chip cookies!

I was craving chocolate, and I really was in the mood to bake so I decided to make cookies! But, when I cook I try to be healthy so low-fat chocolate chip cookies were decided! the reason they are low-fat is that the only fat in the cookie is the choco chips! and such a delicious fat it is! now, my dad bought fat-free "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" but I couldn't remember if I had made cookies with that before, so I just bought some fat-free plain yogurt instead. Fat-free yogurt does give the cookies a different texture, let me explain. The cookie is chewy....maybe a difficult chew....but I still like it. If you like golden brown cookies like I sometimes do, they get a "crust" on them. I don't mind it because I am saving my body from immense amounts of butter. Fat-free yogurt is also good in cakes and such, which it does not change the texture of it. When I crave them again, I'll try the butter to see what it does! Oh yeah, I also use egg whites. I don't use whole eggs anymore, its just egg whites or egg beaters (whichever is cheaper when I shop). I know there are benefits to whole eggs, but they are just a splurge item now at the diners. I'll sometimes get egg white omelets when I go, depending on my heart attack meat choices.
But back to the cookies! I use the tried and true Nestle recipe. It's familiar and has never let me down. Always a good cookie, and there is always room for creativeness when using that recipe.

Adjusted Recipe (in order I put in bowl):

1/4-1/2 cup fat-free yogurt (I'm sorry but I forget how much I did, I think I did 1/2 cup, but you can always add more at the end!)

6 Tbsp egg whites

3/4 brown sugar (or Splenda brown sugar blend....or the hard to find Sugar Twin replacement)

3/4 white sugar (or Splenda)

1 tsp salt (or salt replacer....my dad has HBP)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract (please no imitation, it's just awful....)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (its fat-free!!!)

12 oz. chocolate chips (1 bag)


Preheat oven to 375F


so the standard mixing of the ingredients. Mix the first 2. Then add the 3rd and 4th. The add all the tsp amount ingredients. Then add flour 1/4 cup at a time to incorporate. If too dry, add more yogurt; if too wet, add more flour. Then add bag of choco chips. I don't really feel like explaining in depth, because if you have never made cookies, well you need some serious help!
Bake 7-10.....keep a close eye!!!!! NOT KIDDING!


Yummy!!!!! And you can feel better about it! O, and I just saw that Hershey makes Sugar-Free chips! Well, I saw it online, so I really can't say I've seen it in stores, but I will find it!!!!!

first couple weeks in Jax

so I am currently in FLA and I have gone to some restaurants! My dad likes to go out to dinner a lot so I don't mind obliging :-) and I did miss some of the food when I was away!

First there is the 3rd Street Diner.....on 3rd street! They are your typical diner, which is hard to find in Florida. And when I mean typical, besides being 24-7, having that tacky metallic look and a large menu.........THEY ARE GREEK!!!! Many diners in NJ are Greek-owned, and its great! You can always find great Greek food on the menus. And yes, of course I get Greek food at this place. They have an awesome Gyro!!!!
So yummy! Great combo of Lamb and Beef, and their tzatziki is sooo good! Their fries are awesome too...you can't really see them though. They are super crunchy and have a flaky outside too that is crispy. Confusing? Maybe, but so delicious! www.thirdstreetdiner.com

And then there is Clark's Fish Camp.
I don't know if you can see, but those are stuffed animals. And by stuffed, I mean animals that were hunted, and killed, and then sent to a taxidermist.....creepy. It is a little difficult to eat at times because of the menagerie of the dead things around, and they are EVERYWHERE! That's just a small portion of the restaurant. Oh yeah, there is also fried kangaroo on the menu :-( kangaroos are my second favorite animal, so I cringe. But they do have fried gator, which is really good. But I'm here to talk about the fried pickles. Fried pickles are showing up on more menus now, but they are the best at Clark's. They have the best seasoning combo on them, and are never soggy; always crispy! They also serve it with this zesty ranch sauce that compliments it so well.
www.clarksfishcamp.com

sooo still being a fattie

I just moved to Florida two days ago, which meant leaving my long term boyfriend for about a year because I am going to school. And I was also leaving most of my friends (I have some down in Fla). Soooo because it was a sad time, celebration was needed, and that meant bad food! It started with the boy and I getting supreme stuffed crust pizza at Pizza Hut, which was awesome! I am picky about pizza because I am an Italian from New Jersey.....but I have a huge weakness for stuffed crust @ Pizza Hut and I love Little Caesar's (though I haven't eaten there in about 17 years).
The next night, my friend, who is picture in the previous post, asked me to a dinner date and we went to this place called Pub Dog in Columbia, MD (www.pubdog.net). Pub Dog is known for their own beers and the pizza they make. Both the beers and pizzas were great! We had mixes of the beers and some of the plain, and they also serve it in two mini mugs, instead of one tall glass (so you can share!). We had the Boxer (half black, half blueberry) which tasted like a sweet coffee dessert, but not too sweet. And we had the Beagle (half brown, half peach), which was good and not too sweet; very nutty. And since they were out of the Raspberry, we tried the Very Cherry. Now some cherry beers and booze can taste like cough syrup, in my opinion but this was good. It was a bit tart, and a bit sweet and very very refreshing. And it was bright red! so cool. I fail because I didn't take pictures. The pizza we had was the Baja Chihuahua which was chipotle sauce with cheese and lime marinated chicken and tomatoes. Not as spicy as I would have preferred, but still good. These are pizzas I know before I eat I cannot be a snob about. It's not an Italian place, and I can not think it as so. Our other bar goer got the Old Yeller pizza, which was good as well. CHECK OUT THEIR SITE!
Ok, so then the next night the boy and I got some grilled wings and deep fried oreos at Buffalo Wings and Beer in Eldersburg, MD (www.buffalowingsandbeer.com). Things wings were great and healthier than most because they're grilled! And their sauces are low carb! And I've reviewed deep fried oreos before at the fair. They gave us 4, and they weren't as heavily coated as the other ones (which I kind of enjoyed), and they were topped with chocolate sauce, not powdered sugar. Still awesome and the boy loved it!
Ok, so the next afternoon, I go to BWBs with the same friend this time we get the deep fried snickers!!!!!! (we also ordered twinkies but they were out). So its a good thing we split the snickers....because they give you 2 whole bars in one order!!!!! YAY SHARING!!!!
Don't they look awesome! And they were! Nice and crunchy, and the insides were nice and melted. The nougat is an odd texture, because it is still sold but it didn't overshadow how awesome it was. And yes, I have a picture of the insides.
Sooooo good!!!!! And I don't even want to know how many calories are in it!
Other things I consumed that week were Spicy Italian sausage and my first Burger Bite from 7-11, which was freakin awesome! So my last week could've given me a heart attack, but I'm ok.

So yeah, now I'm in Fla with my dad....and I am back to eating better and cooking better. But when I do eat bad, I'll post. And of course when I cook, I shall post as well. Because I enjoy it all too much!

being a super fattie

Ok so this happened roughly a week ago, on August 5th. It was the boy's little sis's 21st, so she wanted to go to an Irish pub for lunch (i thought she would get beer at the pub, but instead went with the fruity drinks). But the pub had some great irish dishes, such as shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, fish n chips, lamb stew, plenty of duck dishes. btw, the pub is O'Lordan's in Westminster, MD http://www.olordansirishpub.com/ So I got the shepherd's pie, and a shandy (harp's and magners)

I know this picture sucks, but it was soooo good. The potatoes were so moist and creamy. But the potatoes on the top that are a little brown had a great "french fry" taste to them. The brown stuff circling the potatoes is the meat filling peeking out! That part had become a little crispy/charred and the taste was amazing. I think I enjoyed the burnt bits better! But the center was very hearty. The beef was in a wonderful thick gravy, not sloopy at all. And the pieces of carrots and peas were small, which i personally like...sometimes chunky is a weird texture for me. The filling also had a sweet taste too which went well with the hearty meat flavor... i wanna assume they used something along the lines of cinnamon to add it (i like to add a pinch to my marinara, its really good.) O and my shandy was nice and light. I had been here before for drinks only and was really excited to go for food finally! I will definitely go here again for lunch, they have a Irish Dip sandwich with sliced lamb that I want to try!

LATER THAT DAY.....

My friend invited me to go to the 4-H festival that evening, since I had never been. I was not the extracurricular type in school, and I think there is some religion tied in...But this festival was pretty awesome. There was a barn where you could pet hundreds of sheep and pigs and goats, as well as some cows. I loved the sheep. So cute to hear them "baaa". Besides the animals, there were art projects made by kids 18 and under, and then senior citizens. Photographs, clothes, knitting, painting and even garbage can decorating! Pretty cool.

(That's me with the black hair)

So besides the cool crafts and animals, there was food! There was a gyro stand, lemonade, ice cream, and because its maryland, there was a pit meat stand. They had pit turkey, beef, and pork. Since I had eaten earlier, I just had a giant pickle. I LOVE PICKLES! and for a dollar, why not? But the best thing we had, and we had eyed it up from the beginning was the stand that had deep fried oreos!!! i had them about 12 years ago and wanted to give it another go. My friend, not pictured, has a voracious appetite and wanted to join me in this.

The stand gave us 5, and between 2 people its uneven. But that was solved with a bite each into the 5th one! Ok, so they were pretty friggin' awesome. Now the only crunchy part is the batter on the outside. the inside (cookies and cream) is super creamy. the cookie is in no way soggy, just creamy. and added with the cream of the center...heaven! We also put some powdered sugar on top (my friend got it on her shirt)which added some extra sweetness. you would think that they are overtly sweet, but no. i have always found oreos to not be too sweet due to the chocolate cookie (i hated oreos until about 6 years ago) so the treat was the right balance of sweet and kind of savory. but still amazing! if i could eat a lot of still be super skinny, like my hungry friend (pictured right), i'd eat these more. but no, just not in the cards (i am also unemployed at the moment due to moving, so i'm pretty lazy right now!) There is a restaurant by me that also does twinkies and snickers deep fried. maybe i'll try it. i'm just working on getting the boy to try deep fried pickle chips (soooo good!).

Virtually Fat-Free Banana Bread!!!! YAY!

so I actually made this last week, and the boy loved it sooo much that it disappeared and I decided to make more! I tried to take pictures last time, but I forgot!
sooooo yeah...fat-free banana bread. doesn't sound right, does it? well, there is obviously fat in bananas....so its not completely fat-free. and the margarine I use has fat in it, but it is the lowest fat brand at the store (pictured under the Buffalo Chicken Pizza). But other than that, no fat! surprise! there is no fat in all-purpose flour! bet you didn't realize it!
and yes, the sour cream is fat free. do not make a disgusted face; it is really good. I do love sour cream as much as the next person, and the fat free kind is a great substitute. and when it comes to baking, it really is used for moisture, not taste. oooo but the taste is yummy and sour!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup sugar (splenda too, it's just a little price for my budget)
• 1/3 cup egg whites = 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda (not pictured)
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or adjust to your taste)
  
• 1 cup mashed bananas (roughly 2-3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
  

***I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon and roughly 1/4 tsp cloves. I have cloves powder now because I made some kheer and decided it might be good in the banana bread***



Preheat oven to 350F, and grease a loaf pan. I use butter-flavored no-fat spray.


-cream margarine, sugar, egg whites and vanilla.


















-then add dry ingredients, then bananas, then sour cream.
-mix well.


















Then put in the loaf pan.
**I sliced half of a banana, free hand, over the top of the batter. Thought it might look cool**

















Bake for 1 hour.


Mangia!!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

so this might not be the healthiest dish to make, but I used the "light" versions of some of the products. and I don't really care too much because I have been craving this, though I've never actually had buffalo chicken before. I also ventured out to make this because the local chains do not make this style pizza anymore :-( and I can adjust the fat content of it by making it at home.

-So get a 12-inch pizza crust (or dough). A whole wheat Boboli crust would be the best option. Sadly my favorite grocery around here does not sell Boboli (don't know why), and I bought a regular crust that the store makes.

-You will also need 1/2 lb cooked chicken, cubed or whatever shape you want (strips work too). I could tell you how to cook it, but that isn't too hard to do on your own.

-1/4 cup butter/margarine. I use the lowest cal/fat margarine as possible. No matter what the recipe calls for. Butter is super fattie and I refuse to use a lot. "Move Over Butter" is my favorite brand of recent.

-1/4 wing sauce. Frank's Wing Sauce is great, but I ran out and was being cheap so I used Louisiana Wing Sauce. Just as delicious.

-1/2 to 1 cup of Lite Chunky Blue Cheese (or ranch if you so desire). I use Marie's or Marzetti's. I ran out of Marie's in the process and luckily had some Marzetti's (was on sale). You will NOT find lite blue cheese in the regular salad dressing aisle. The lite blue cheese is sold in the produce aisle because it is a refrigerated product. Yes, it is more expensive, which could be the glass jar it comes in, but it is as delicious as regular blue cheese! It also has the good homemade taste and will save you some calories!

-around 2 cups of low-fat shredded mozzerella cheese. I bought the bag that has 1-3/4 cups, and that was plenty! But I have found out that the lower fat version of mozzerella is the 2% milk kind, not the part-skim. Skim made it so misleading!




1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Melt the butter(microwave) then combine with the wing sauce.
3. Toss/coat chicken with hot sauce mixture.
4. Spread blue cheese dressing on pizza crust.
5. Top with chicken.
6. Then top the pizza with the mozzerella cheese.
7. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is a little brown. My nose alerted me before the timer! Smelled sooooo good!

Mangia!

Potato Salad

I don't know about you but I love potato! I actually really enjoy store bought kind: red potato salad and mashed potato salad(from Publix). No eggs in mine either....ew! But as we all know potato salad is seriously bad for you. Have you ever looked on the back of the containers....its about 300 calories per serving and that serving is not large either! Big no-no. This is what happens when you combine carby potatoes with lots and lots of mayo. I personally hate mayo, except in said salad, so trying to find a healthy alternative was a mission! I found a recipe on ilovenapa.com for a fat-free salad. It was the only one that made sense to me; I found some that involved cauliflower instead of potatoes...and also some that just called for low-fat mayo...ahem I want fat-free! So I've made it once before when the boy and I went away for the 4th, but I had some potatoes in the kitchen and decided, why not? It is super easy to make, too!

Fat-Free Potato Salad

-roughly 2lbs of potatoes (recipe calls for new, I use the pale fat-free potato. o and I free hand how much)
-5-6 green onions, finely chopped
-roughly 1/2 cup non-fat yogurt (greek would be best, but I'm too cheap. And i guesstimate on this too, because I might use more potatoes)
-2 tsp or more Dijon mustard (again, I use the cheap brand...and guesstimate because I like the taste of Dijon)
-handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped (recipe calls for basil, but my store never has it, so I use parsley. I think rosemary would be good as well because it pairs well with potatoes)
-salt and pepper, to taste


chop the potatoes into 1 inch or 1/2 inch cubes (um, I don't measure) and then cook them in boiling, salted water. You want to cook them until tender, but not falling apart. I made that mistake the first time I made the salad. I also leave the peels on, you don't have to.

Ok, so after that, we add the yogurt and scallions.

Then toss that gently together (I use a rubber spatula). After that add the chopped herbs, dijon mustard and salt & pepper. After adding that, toss again. Then taste to adjust the seasoning, either adding more salt & pepper or dijon, or yogurt...you get it. I also stopped taking pictures until it was done.
Then refrigerate for 1-2 hours and taste and adjust again.
Voila! Yummy, healthy deliciousness!

recipe courtesy of: http://ilovenapa.com/recipes/potato_salad.pdf

Hello!

Hi! So this is my first post, exciting!!!! I have never published a blog before and hoping all goes well. What I will be doing is reviewing the restaurants I go to in my own way, and I will also be posting healthy takes on fattening foods. I love bad food just as much as the next person but since I lost 25lbs roughly 3 years ago, I had to rethink how I eat and how I cook. With simple substitutions, the food tastes just as good but super good for you too!!!! But yes, there will be some seriously bad food on here!!!