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Someone stole Cindy Moore’s Thanksgiving dinner off her Wisconsin porch. Apparently Cindy Moore wasn’t able to buy turkey because she was saving her money for bills, so her mother, Lillian Moore, sent her a cooler stuffed with turkey, potatoes and salad. The food was left out on the porch to keep cold because it couldn’t fit in Cindy’s small fridge.

When Cindy went to collect the food from the porch on Thanksgiving morning, she found the cooler gone. Someone had stolen her Thanksgiving dinner.

Her mother called the theft “just awful”; but I might suggest that no one would steal a cooler with food if they didn’t need it. This is more unfortunate all around than it is necessarily awful. When people have to be reduced to stealing food things have to be pretty bad. Lillian Moore and her daughter Cindy Moore shouldn’t allow themselves to feel too much anger over the incident. Yes, Cindy didn’t get to eat the food her mother sent for her, but some other hungry person did get to eat it so it wasn’t wasted. Probably some good Samaritan who has read about the stolen dinner sent Cindy a replacement Thanksgiving meal anyway.

Image: 2006 Thanksgiving by xybermatthew

I grew up in a big family and whenever we had birthday parties my mother would always include potted meat tea sandwiches on the party meal menu. Potted meat tea sandwiches might sound weird to anyone who hasn’t had them before; but they are pretty tasty these sandwiches.

Potted meat tea sandwiches are simple to  make. Your only needed ingredients are sliced bread and potted meat for the most simple sandwich. My special potted meat sandwich recipe includes parsley and mayo.

Claudia’s easy potted meat tea sandwiches

Ingredients ( for making 20 tea sandwiches )

• 10 slices of  white bread
• 8 ounces of potted meat food product
• ½ cup mayonaise
• 2 tablespoons of parsley flakes

Preparation:

1. Remove the crust part from the bread slices
2. Mix the potted meat, mayo and parsley flakes together in a bowl
3. Spread the mixture on 5 slices of bread and cover with the other 5 to make a sandwich
4. Cut each sandwich into quarters up vertically and horizontally down the middle to make square sandwiches or diagonally in from corner to corner to make triangular sandwiches.
5. Place on a tray and serve (you can optionally stick a toothpick in the middle to make it easier and more sanitary for people to help themselves to a tea sandwich)

Note: 4 tea sandwiches are the equivalent of 1 whole sandwich so don’t eat all 20 tea sandwiches if you’re watching your diet.

©ClaudiaCooks™

Image: Sandwiches by ViNull

This photo of a “traditional breakfast” features a plate stacked with 2 eggs, several strips of bacon that were described as “really good, thick bacon”, cottage fries with onions and peppers. It looks delicious; but it’s not something I would indulge in myself. I’ve personally never had two eggs in one sitting. It’s always seemed a bit extreme to me even when men do it.

Personally I think breakfast should be the most healthy meal you consume during the day. It should be light on fat and cholesterol. Since you’re just starting the day, your first meal should be something that can refresh your mind and spirit and energize you. You don’t want counter-productive energy, so you should watch your sugar intake, your caffeine intake and anything else that tends to make people bounce off walls. You want just the right balance of nutrients for breakfast.

Image credit: jslander

Pieces of blue plastic material found in three varieties of LEAN CUISINE frozen dinners has led to Nestle Prepared Foods Co. recalling an equivalent of 900,000 pounds worth of the impacted products which had been distributed across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has said that there has been at least 1 report of an injury. While the extent of the injury is not known, a spokeswoman for Nestle is said to have remarked that there were no reported injuries requiring medical attention. This would seem to suggest that the reported injury was not serious in nature.

The blue plastic responsible for the recall has reportedly been found in the following Lean Cuisine dinners:

• Cafe Classics Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta
• Spa Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean
• Dinnertime Selects Chicken Tuscan

The recall has been ranked a Class I which indicates a “health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

I have a friend who is a bit of an airhead. She’s gorgeous. She’s sweet, and she’s very talented but she is the definition of a ditz. Until I explained it to her the other day, or at least tried, she didn’t know that bananas are not sugar free.

She was making herself some sugar free banana pancakes using real bananas. I said to her, “Umm, Chrissy (her name is Christina), your pancakes won’t be sugar free if you put bananas in the mixture.”

So I figured I’d do a post just in case there are other Chrissy’s out there who don’t know that they’re consuming sugar when they eat fruit. A standard sized banana contains about 14 grams of sugar. Any natural product you put in your mouth that tastes sweet has sugar in it.

Image: India - Chennai - banana vendors by mckaysavage

Who needs beef? Seen on Flickr: this photo of a dish of Halibut with mango salsa on coconut brown rice. Looks yummy. I think I’ll try it for dinner tomorrow.

The photo belongs to sporkist, and according to how he describes the process, to prepare this meal you basically cook the brown rice in chicken stock, throwing in some dried, shredded coconut (you can probably omit the cococnut if you’re allergic or just don’t like the taste of things flavored with coconut).

As for the Halibut he says he seasoned it with soy sauce, rolled it in some panko (a variety of breadcrumbs), browned both sides in a hot pan for a minute each-side then put it in an oven lit to 350 degrees for  5-8 minutes. He also tossed mango (two diced), chilli and cilantro in a bowl with some chilli sauce and a little soy sauce.

The dish also includes fried zucchini. If I get around to trying it tomorrow I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Image: Halibut with mango salsa on coconut brown rice  sporkist

Eggs don’t have a whole lot of calories. There are about 80 calories in a regular sized egg; but eggs do have a lot of cholesterol, and while some nutritionists suggest that the cholesterol in eggs isn’t harmful per se unless you’re having more than one egg per day every day, it still seems to make more sense to me to use egg substitute instead of real eggs. You save yourself from consuming unneeded cholesterol, and you save on calories and fat as well.

Egg substitutes like Egg Beaters are actually the whites of eggs that have extra nutrients added to make up for the removal of the yolk. The egg product contains very few calories, 30 in the “orginal” flavor and no fat. There’s a negligible amount of carbohydrates. Basically it’s a perfectly healthy product you can use to replace eggs and you can make scrambled eggs, omelets or just a regular fried egg that tastes just as good as the real thing. If you’re dieting or trying to maintain your weight this is one change you can make that will help you with your goals without you having to sacrifice taste.

To make my under 50 calories, quick and simple omelet you need a 1/4 cup of original Egg Beaters or a similar egg substitute product, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, 1 tsp of chopped chives or parsley, a few dashes of salt (how much salt you use will depend on your taste. I use about 1/4 tsp). You will also need to have cooking spray handy.

Mix up the egg substitute product in a bowl with the other ingredients. Use a fork to sort of beat it for about a minute. Spray your pan and put it on to heat. When it’s heated pour in your mixture. Turn your egg when the first side has cooked. Cook the other side, fold and remove to a plate. If you’re feeling fancy put a spring of something green to decorate the omelet before serving.

I’ve just stumbled across a post on amateurgourmet.com titled The Best Broccoli of Your Life, and it’s left me curious to find out if there can possibly be a way to prepare broccoli that is so tasty it could inspire someone to go around claiming that eating this broccoli dish is “better than biting into a steak.”

Surely the amateur gourmet exaggerates? He makes it sound so good that I’m thinking about trying it out. I’m thinking broccoli could go well with either a white wine or a red wine. It would depend on how it’s prepared as far as what herbs, spices and condiments are used.

Image: Broccoli with oyster sauce and toasted garlic by mavi07 via Flickr

Note: Image shown is not of the 5-minute chocolate cake

If I had the ingredients for this I’d definitely go make myself this chocolate cake in a mug for my birthday since, judging by the fact that my husband and son both forgot today was my birthday I won’t be getting so much as a cupcake. Such is life. I’m unhappy about it but you know, life is what life is. Everybody is busy and wrapped up in their problems, and I’m not exactly mother of the year or wife of the year material. I’m not the sort of woman who’ll get cherished and treasured; but enough of feeling sorry for myself.

Unfortunately I don’t have any cake flour or any other kind of flour in the house. I also don’t have any cocoa, so I won’t be able to make myself this 5-minute chocolate cake.

I did find this 5-minute chocolate cake baked in a mug in a microwave to be a pretty funny idea for some reason. I guess it’s the sort of thing college kids and poor peope would resort to. I’m not a college kid but I’m definitely a poor person. I like the one comment where someone says, “It’s literally a cup cake”. It’s cute; but I’m kind of sad right now so I can’t really smile or laugh all that heartily. Check it out for yourself: Chocolate Cake In 5 Minutes!

Image Source: Chocolate Cotton Cake by Ema Yudistira via Flickr

According to about.com, Chardonnay is America’s number one selling white wine. The wine is made from the Chardonnay grape which is said to produce the greatest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay is one of the main grapes used in champagne. The grape is a universal grape planted in pretty much every wine-producing country in the world.  (Wine For Dummies)

Chardonnay wines are popular worldwide due to their mid-season ripening and versatility. Its flavors vary depending on the regions where the grapes were grown. Chardonnay can be made sparkling or still. It pairs well with foods such as chicken, fish and pork.

A  glass of Chardonnay would go well with a serving of sauteed pumpkin with pork. The photo shown is from the Flickr photostream of yomi955’s. The scrumptious looking dish is made with garlic, pork(spare ribs), pumpkin, shimeji mushroom, salt, pepper,soy sauce, and parsley.