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!