Category Archives: Miscellany/Trivia

New Year's Resolution #3 – Eat a More Healthy Diet

So…we’ve arrived at New Year’s resolution #3:  make your diet a healthier one.  That can mean a lot of things of course:  less fat, less salt, less meat, less sugar, less food…period.

bay-leaves

What do bay leaves have to do with eating healthy? I have no idea, but they're green, local and home-dried. So there.

Experience has taught me that extreme changes don’t last.  Small changes are more likely to — it’s easy to tweak most of your favourite recipes to reduce fat, salt, etc.  Slightly smaller portions are a totally legitimate way to make a positive change.  Try a healthy, protein-rich snack.

One easy thing you can do it start reading.  Scrutinize the ingredient list and nutritional data found on packaged foods — especially at processed foods — junk food is $%&! — something that resembles, but does not quite meet, my criteria to be labeled real food. Continue reading

New Year's Resolution #2 – Take Lunch to Work – Rice Balls

 

lunch-to-go

Another realistic, food-oriented resolution to start off 2010 — and what better to follow Eat Breakfast Everyday than Take Lunch to Work?

I’m not talking about everyday — I’m just not that absolute of a person. What fun is life if you don’t indulge in some fast pseudo-food once in awhile? But it’s totally doable to take your lunch 2 or 3 days a week, right? Save money, eat real food, and most likely lose a little weight, or at least slow down the clogging of your arteries. Continue reading

New Kitchen Helper – Last Minute Gift Idea for Cooks

apple-ipod-touch

I’ve been holding out on you.  If you remember, Howard had totally ruined prematurely precipitated Christmas by shopping for himself on-line during December.  What I didn’t tell you was what he got for me.  But now you know — an 8 gig ipod Touch.  It gets cooler everyday.

It’s Christmas Eve — concerns of mass consumerism aside — if you’re still looking for the perfect gift, and you’re willing to throw the budget from the nearest bridge, then surprise your honey with one of these.

I’ve already used my Touch in the kitchen — to surf for recipes, to calculate measurement conversions, and of course, to provide the soundtrack to the days culinary adventures.

Here are some cool cook/chef apps I’ve found in the past few days:

chef-timer-appchef-timer

butcher-app

butcher-app-screen

chef-ratio-app

Online Gift Guide – The IV Novelty Kitchen

digital-day-counters

how long since I fed the sourdough starter?

Pretty much everything at Lee Valley Tools is cool, including these little digital day counters, which come in pairs with magnetic or suction-cup backs.

silicon-shot-glass-mould

salt, tequila, lime

You may not want ice-cold shooters in December, but what about July…August…you’ll thank me then, trust me.  This silicon shooter glass mould makes 4 glasses at a time.  Plan ahead for parties, or buy a couple!

hand-crank-blender

car camping at its best

Whether you’re hot & bothered and stuck in the woods (and somehow have managed to keep ice frozen while hiking), or more realistically, are at your wits end with the 4th multi-day power outage in 1 winter and have decided to use the snow on the ground to make yourself a much-needed margarita — you’ll need this hand-crank blender to do the job properly.  Serve the drinks right in this.

krups-countertop-oven

it ain't just for toast anymore

This convection toaster oven may belong in the Practical Guide, but I love this oven so much, that I think everyone should have one, even if you don’t really need it.  Since it was delivered about a month ago, I have used it instead of the big oven for pretty much everything, including roasting a whole chicken, except bread.

Online Guift Guide – The IV Practical Kitchen

Most women would advise you that practical gifts, including kitchen items and appliances are not a good gift idea.  Especially if the gift is coming from their significant other.  For many, these types of gifts summon visions of chains and bare-feet stretching ad infinitum.

However, there exists a sub-section of the population that consider a quality kitchen gadget a highly desirable, gush-over type of gift.  You may have guessed that I’m one of them.

multi-purpose-pot-with-straining-lid

it's kinda cute, isn't it?

This multi-purpose pot comes with a straining lid — ideal for pasta, veggies, grains, etc.   And, it is easily the most visually appealing pot I own.  Not important, but embarrassingly the original reason why I bought it.

oxo-angled-measuring-cup-sets

no more bending

You can’t get much more practical than a set of measuring cups, but this clever design means allows you to read the level from above — no more checking and adjusting levels.

Instant Read Thermometer

one does it all - candy, meat, bread...

There are times when temperature is the only, or at least the much preferred, method of determining doneness.  An instant-read probe thermometer is the only thermometer you’ll need.  (Except for maybe an oven thermometer — but that is so EXTREMELY PRACTICAL that I can’t in good conscience recommend one as a gift.)