A Science Experiment (Or, Why I'm Never Eating Promise Again)

Every Friday this winter, I've hosted a Coffee Social at work.  Residents come down, pay a buck for coffee and a pastry, and get to do something besides stare at their own walls.  To change it up today, I offered bagels.

Bagels for a crowd is tough if you're using a toaster oven.  Or worse, a toaster.  So I got the idea of toasting them in the oven.  What do you suppose people did before there were toasters, besides eat the bagels soft??  I spread each one with butter and put it in the community room's oven and checked on it after about four minutes.  They all looked golden brown and delicious.  Only I ran out of butter.  And I didn't know if they would toast well with nothing on them.

A woman who lives on the first floor said that she had some, only it was Promise.  In the thick of it, I said sure.  I had several more bagels to toast and didn't want to disappoint anyone.

Here is where the science experiment comes in:  the bagels that were toasted with butter were crisper, and the butter "sank" into the bagel.  The bagels that were toasted with Promise....weren't.  They developed these oil slicks on top and the spread never soaked into the bagel.  I was unfortunate to get a bagel half dressed in Promise, and I can still taste the plastic-y aftertaste two hours later.

The weird thing for me is that I used to buy "buttery spreads" for years, and only in the last five or so have I switched to real butter.  When I was eating stuff like Promise on a regular basis, I didn't notice.  At the time I was also putting Splenda in my coffee and was no stranger to diet soda.  Actually, I am a former Diet Coke addict.  I drank it non-stop for about a year in college.  It was the first thing I bought every morning and I set a can down on my nightstand every night.  I probably drank a 12-pack of diet coke a day, the more that I had the more I wanted.  And I felt like crap.  Quitting was tough, too, the withdrawal headaches were insane!!

So, as far as I'm concerned, these fake butters are never coming in the house again.  I gave up on the Splenda some time ago.  It's best to go with the real things.  I'm not going to go crazy with the "this is real and I'm not eating this anymore" and cut all processed foods out of mine and my family's lives or anything.  I don't have time to make everything from scratch and neither does my husband.  But this is a change that I don't think we'll regret anytime soon.

Fall Favorites in Pork

It's not quite "Apple-palooza" at our house yet but this is one of my all-time favorite fall suppers.  And the weather at night is getting chilly so it's the right time!

Pork Chops with Cider Pan Sauce!

There is no recipe, Brian makes it up as he goes along.  It's moist, perfect pork with just a little tang from the cider.  I love, love, love it!  Even Will got into it this year and ate a whole serving.  Sean, not so much.  But lately if it's not chicken or peanut butter and jelly, he won't touch it.  Everything else, in his words, is "No, no no.  This is 'au-skuskin."  (disgusting.)  Ah well.  More for us!  Sadly, there were no leftovers.

Pork Woes

Why is it when you want to buy a pork tenderloin, you can no longer buy a plain one??  Yes, I shop at the same grocery store weekly but I've been to others and there's not a plain pork tenderloin to be had.  All of them come pre-seasoned:  peppercorn, teriyaki, italian seasoning...I've even seen mushroom.  Yes, this seems like a huge convenience for the at-home cook, but the end result tastes so salty!  I'd much rather flavor my own, perhaps with mustard or rosemary and garlic. 

Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

I've been dieting the past few weeks and I've been doing pretty well.  Snacks of whatever fattening thing I can find have been replaced with ones containing fruit, vegetable and/or protein.  It's been a lot of changes along the way, but I seem to be doing OK.

A common snack for me now is hummus, vegetables and some crackers or my ultimate fave, Stacey's Pita Chips.  I take a paper dessert plate at work, divide it in half and put cucumbers and baby carrots on one side and some pita chips or Triscuits on the other side.  (the days of bringing the bag of pita chips back to my desk are over.  I might as well just strap on a feeding bag like a horse.) 

Know what makes a grumpy day even grumpier?  Covering a cracker with garlic hummus and taking a big bite, then looking at the container and discovering that it's furry.  Mmmmm....mold on my hummus.  that wasn't quite the vegetables I had in mind!  Guess who's turned off from hummus for a while?  This girl. 

Bad, Pumpkin-Lovin' Dog

Brian made Pumpkin-Molasses Muffins to take to a party yesterday.  It was a fantastic Autumn/Halloween party at our friend Chris and Jenny's house.  Jenny is an avid photographer, and she was taking pictures of all the kids in their Halloween costumes in her beautifully themed yard. 

Anyway, isn't it funny how most pumpkin recipes do not require the use of an entire can of pumpkin?  You always have some left over and what the heck do you use it for?  Brian did a little Google research, and, with the addition of two overripe bananas, decided to make Pumpkin Banana Bread.  I came home from a night out with the Girls on Saturday night and there was a fresh, hot loaf of Pumpkin Banana Bread in the kitchen.  And let me tell you, it was awesome!  I only regret that you can't taste or smell it's rich deliciousness through your modem, Readers.  At breakfast we all had a slice and Will loved it as well.  Brian then wrapped it up with visions of slices every day this week at breakfast.

Alas, it was not meant to be.  For when we returned from said Autumn Party, the loaf was unwrapped and SOMEONE had eaten the entire top!  At first I blamed the preschooler....but after closer inspection I knew who the blame was assigned.  Joey must've climbed up on the kitchen chair and wolfed the goodie.  I'm actually shocked that he left ANY of it, obviously he hasn't been paying attention to the lessons my parent's Labs, Ben and Jerry, have taught him.  Brian and I were so disappointed, Joey was sent to "bed" for the rest of the night. 

So, another time, I'll share the recipe.  For now I'm still bummed and only a slice of this decadence will cheer me up.  :)

Just Plain Wrong

 Brian had an interesting story to share from work today.  Apparently there is a "Weight Watchers at Work" group at his place of employment.  Since his desk is thisclose to the lobby, he often hears them getting out of their meeting, and is treated to these people sharing stories about points, recipes and weight loss.  Today, some of the participants brought their versions of slimmed-down treats.  Well, Brian didn't know that these were "slimmed down," so when one woman offered him a brownie, he took it.  It wasn't exactly a good brownie...and the woman asked him what he thought.  Not wanting to be impolite, he said "Well....it's....a little dry."  And then she tells him the reason why:  one of the main ingredients?  Is BLACK BEAN PUREE.  I'm serious.  And another person had chocolate chip cookies.  With CHICK PEAS IN THEM.  Seriously, if you are looking for a brownie you can eat without feeling guilty?  Stop at one brownie.  Both of us agree that we'd rather have no brownies or chocolate chip cookies at all than ones made with black beans and chick peas.  Man, I barely like hummus. 

I asked Brian if she had made this recipe up herself.  He said he wasn't sure, so out of my morbid curiosity, I googled it.  (God Bless Google!)  Oh no......there are actually a lot of recipes out there for black bean brownies and chocolate chip-chickpea cookies.   C'mon...really??  One website actually went as far as to call their brownies "amazing!"   To quote Susan Powter...."Stop the Insanity!!"

(p.s.  I have nothing against Weight Watchers, or handy tricks to lose weight.  Or good recipes that are lower in fat and calories.)

How can you Hate S'Mores??

I was home alone with the kiddos last night while Hubby was at his last class of the semester.  Will was watching "Max and Ruby" while I was feeding the baby.  The episode featured the bunnies going on a "campout" and making s'mores.  Will adores campouts (which consist of setting up the sofa bed and having a breakfast "campout" in our house)  and someday would probably love to sleep in a tent.  Tonight, he asked if we could make s'mores.  So, being a s'mores lover myself, I decided to indulge him.  Normally he has a rainbow cookie before bed, tonight I would make him a special little treat of a s'more. 

Since I've mentioned that I'm alone with the boys, there obviously won't be a fire involved.  Roasted marshmallows for s'mores are infinitely better than microwaved ones, but it's just not gonna work tonight.  I've perfected the microwaved s'more over the year, the trick is to walk that fine line between squishy melted marshmallow and tire rubber.  S'mores made, I poured us each some milk and we had a seat at the kitchen table, anticipating divine goodness. 

Will chooses one, picks it up and squishes the two graham crackers together.  Marshmallow oozes between the layers, and he gives the concoction a look of disdain.  "Ugh....that's sticky.  Ewwww."  I encourage him to take a bite, and hegives the cracker the tiniest nibble I've ever seen.  Then he drops the entire s'more onto the paper plate and declares that he'd rather have a rainbow cookie instead.  Huh???

Sometimes, if I hadn't been there to witness his birth, I'd wonder if he was my kid.  :)

Grill Woes

Uh-oh......

Saturday night was the opening of Grill Season in our house.  It was to be just a simple meal of grilled kielbasa and potato packets.  Brian lit the grill and went inside to get the food. 

When he came back, flames were licking the OUTSIDE of the grill, near the control panel.  He quickly turned off the fuel supply and the flames died down.  Luckily there was no need for an emergency pizza, as the food was still inside the house.  So the kielbasa was grilled on the George Forman Grill, and the potatoes were adapted to a skillet. 

After some examination, Brian determined that there was an issue with the fuel line and fixed it for the time being.  However, one of the burners got taken out in the fracas, leaving us with two.  Last night was WAY TOO HOT in the house to cook, so he grilled hamburgers.  But it appears that our grill is on its last legs of it's  short, eight-year life. 

How come this kind of thing doesn't happen at the END of grilling season, when the gas grills are deeply discounted??  :(