Foodie Stuff

Dominos “New” Pizza Review

Ok, so I know that this is a blog all about healthy eating and making the right food choices, but as you well know if you’ve been reading my blog for any period of time, I also like to revel in the occasional pigout, and like to talk about eating bad as well. C’mon, who doesn’t throw the rules out the window once in a while and enjoy a nice greasy cheeseburger, or a gigantic slice or two of New York style pizza? After all, variety is the spice of life,and sometimes it’s oh soooo fun to be bad.

Our day to kind of throw the rules out the window for dinner was this past Saturday, the Saturday before Valentines day.  We were very excited to indulge in something super naughty and not feel any guilt about it, and we also had two very good movies on Blu Ray DVD that we were going to watch. Bliss, my friend, pure bliss, and mine and my husband’s idea of a night of heaven!  However, instead of choosing one of our regular favorite naughty food indulgences, we decided to give the “new” Dominos pizza a try.

After all, I had told him my interest was piqued when I saw and hear the ads on the tv and the radio for this new recipe, and was alos intrigued that they were so upfront about how bland and tasteless their pizza was before they supposedly changed it with this new fangled recipe.

Also, the $6 a pizza was very appealing since we were trying to really watch our budget, and didn’t want to blow a wad on a naughty dinner that we were just going to wolf down during a movie anyways.  So, we got the two pizzas, since there was a minimum with the $6 medium pizzas of 2. We ordered one with mushroom and extra cheese, and one with pepperoni and onion.

On the ride home, the pizza sure did smell good, so I got my hopes up that it might be good, however when my husband asked me to open the box so he could see if they looked any different, his face dropped when he saw that it looked like the same pre-fab crust they had before.  I said, no fear, it may taste a lot better, maybe it just still looks flat, but there are lots of good pizzas that aren’t thick out there!

So, to make a long story short, the pizza does not taste any different at all. The only difference I may have noticed is that they added a little more spice to their crust, maybe some sort of garlic spice, but other than that, it still tasted like it was a frozen premade crust. The cheese was the same lifeless, tasteless cheese they’ve always used as far as I could tell, and there was barely any cause or toppings on the pizza, which made it taste totally bland. In other words, this pizza was so unsubstantial that I felt like I could eat an entire pizza and still be hungry an hour later.

Save your money and go somewhere else where they actually have good pizza. This “new” recipe is for the birds, Dominos!

Is Eggnog Fattening?

Gosh, eggnog is really SOOOOO good. I haven’t had it in a few years, but I remember the first time I ever had it (the non alcoholic kind) at my aunt and uncle’s house at Christmas time, and I remember thinking that it was one of the most scrumptious things I had ever tasted. Even at that ripe young age of probably ten years old or so, I thought eggnog was the bee’s knees.  Usually you think that stuff that tastes wonderful as an adult is gross as a kid, but not this, it was divine, even as a kid.

But is eggnog fattening, and what is it made of that makes it so bad for you if it is? Well, eggnog is pretty fattening if it is made the way it is supposed to be, without reducing the fat by using lower fat ingredients. Which you can do by the way, but it doesn’t taste nearly as good as the full fat stuff, trust me!

Oh boy, yes, eggnog is quite the “heart attack in a glass” to be morbid. It contains eggs, milk, heavy cream, bourbon in the alcoholic version, brandy as well, and sugar – lots of sugar, fat and salt – and liquor to top it off – oh my!  Quite the recipe for weight gain, but nonetheless a wonderful, traditional Christmas little slice of heaven if you ask me. 

There are of course many variations of the eggnog drink, however, this is the most basic one that has been out there for a while.  The eggs, cream and milk make a lovely, thick, creamy and very tasty concoction that is a holiday favorite that is definitely something you can write home about with it’s stiff, creamy texture.  I’ve actually had coffee drinks made this way and they are also divine, if not calorie laden and ridiculously rich. 

But, the holidays are for fattening up, right? As long as it’s only five pounds or so, then you can take it off right away, and it’s all fun and games!

Oatmeal, How I Love Thee – Now!

Did you ever really despise a certain food for most of your life, and then come to really enjoy it once you’ve learned that you were either eating it the wrong way, with the wrong combination of foods, maybe cooking it wrong, or buying bad brands or something of that nature? Well, my sudden turnaround with oatmeal may be a combination of all of those, plus add in a little bit of maturity and the desire to eat a hot, nutritious breakfast without having to do a lot of work, oh and the fact that we have one of those nifty insinkerator hot water machines at our newer house.

You wouldn’t believe how easy oatmeal is to make in the morning with a hot water dispenser. Shoot, it’s easy even without the hot water machine, it’s just way easier and almost ridiculously lazy to make once you have that too! Oh, and the best part is, we also have one of those insinkerator things where I work too, so it’s voila, instant hot breakfast at work as well. Cheap and nutritious, and filling too. Here’s the types of oatmeal that I have found a new love for, and how I prepare it so that it’s tasty, never bland.

I really enjoy the brand Quaker Oats, which is probably one of the biggest maker of the ready made packets they sell at most any grocery store. There’s that and then I’ve seen a few other brands like Kashi cashing in on the craze too. My current favorites are the reduced sugar Maple and Brown Sugar, the Banana Bread, Cinnamon Roll and Cinnamon and Brown Sugar flavors. They’re all excellent, and you totally forget you’re eating mushy oatmeal when you’re eating them because the flavoring is so good.

I add only the equivalent of a few tablespoons of hot water, since I’m not a fan of really soupy oatmeal. This gives it a thicker texture, although I also don’t like it too thick and pasty, so I often add a little water first, check it’s consistency, then keep adding it until it’s just right. I then add a couple tablespoons of chopped plain walnuts to the top of the oatmeal. I sometimes add a little extra sweetness by adding a half packet of stevia to the top as well.

I only eat one packet of oatmeal in the morning, so I’m pretty generous with the walnuts because they add the really filling fats and omega 3’s that get me through the morning and help suppress my appetite better throughout the day.

Oatmeal provides a filling, hot and nutritious breakfast that’s fiber filled and the walnuts add a lot of vitamins and nutrition as well, I wouldn’t recommend eating it without them. Sure, the plain stuff may be better for you, but when you’re eating such a small amount, it probably doesn’t matter.

Side Note on Brining Turkey and Chicken

Oh, I wanted to also add a bit more to my turkey and chicken brining tips for creating a delicious, flavorful, juicy and tender piece of poultry.  You can also add any herbal seasonings you want, just make sure they don’t have more salt in them or you might upset the salt balance in the special brining solution.  I also wanted to mention another great tip for roasting a great bird that I learned that really does the trick.  Make sure you first start out cooking the bird “upside down”, or breast side down.

When you are about one hour into the cooking time, then flip the bird back up, so that the breast side is up. What this does is first of all, evenly cook the turkey, but it also makes the juices and fat from the bottom, fattier part of the turkey, drip down to the top of the breast, and make it consequently more tender and juicy. If you follow all these tips and still don’t come out with one of the best and most flavor filled turkeys you’ve ever tasted, well then my friend, I do believe you may have bought a bad piece of meat to start with.

Disclaimer : this recipe is neither fit nor healthy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with fun and taste for the “cheating holidays”.  Happy holidays everyone.

Brining Your Turkey or Chicken

One of the things I love to do to poultry, a whole bird that is, whether it’s a small roaster chicken or a large turkey that’s ten pounds or more, or even a turkey breast, is to brine it.  I never really knew what the name for brining was up until a few years ago, I only knew that my uncle and my grandma, both of whom are phenomenal cooks, had told me for years that their secret to a moist, juicy turkey at Thanksgiving time was soaking it in a saltwater solution over night before they cooked it.  I tried it, and I used regular table salt only, and I think I portioned the salt and water incorrectly, because my turkey turned out too dry and tasteless.

Well, I have since found out the best way to brine your turkey, and I’m going to share it with you .Yes, it probably is not the healthiest thing you can do as it involved too big no no’s in dieting and weightloss, which is what we usually talk about here, but since it’s holiday time and you should really throw all that out the window a few days a year, including Christmas and Thanksgiving day, we’re going to really talk about one of the more important lessons you will learn in cooking, which is how to properly and deliciously cook a turkey!

Ok, here’s how it goes, and it’s super easy.  You will need a large container, like a big white bucket, or a small styrofoam cooler, that is big enough to soak a whole turkey or chicken in.  Hopefully you can fit it into your fridge so it can stay cold that way, but if not, then you will need to put it outdoors on a cold night where it will stay 30 degrees or below, so the turkey does not spoil.  I bought a brining bucket online for eight bucks, and I’ll have it for a lifetime, so I consider that a genuine bargain!

You will need kosher salt, this part I found out is important, as I do not get as good results with regular table salt, or any other sort of salt for that matter. As to why that might be, I haven’t the faintest, but this has been my experience thus far with brining poultry.  You will also need regular, good ol’ sugar.  Sugar is very important to this recipe, as it is what seals the flavor in and really makes the turkey much more flavorful, while the salt is responsible for increasing it’s juiciness and tenderness.

Here is how I portion the salt, sugar and water. I use a slightly lukewarm water to start, so that my salt and sugar dissolve easily, then the second half I make cold so that the water is not warm.  You will want to use one half cup of salt and one half cup of sugar for each eight cups of water you use.

Thats : 1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

8 cups water

You will need to figure out how much solution you need to completely submerge your turkey, so just double that or triple it or whatever you need to do to be able to submerge it.  You are supposed to soak it for about one hour for each pound of the turkey, but I’ve found that overnight simply works most of the time for me, whatever size meat I’m soaking.  Good luck, and Bon Apetit!

Turkey Day!

I’m sitting here, pumpkin spice coffee in my hand.  Complete with a festive Christmas mug, my fair share of cream (by the way, I take my coffee almost white with creamer, the powdered kind, not something I’m proud of with all those transfats in it), sugar and a little bit of stevia in the raw.  I know, why do I even bother with the stevia when it’s chock full of other baddies?  But it makes me feel better, and I’ve grown accustomed to the extra sweetness it adds without all the sugar I would normally have to add.  It’s turkey day – aka Thanksgiving, and boy am I excited to chow down on all the comfort food that will be set before me today.

My husband and I are headed to Pennsylvania, where his mom’s family resides, for our Thanksgiving feast.  It’s about an hour and half drive from where we live here in Ohio, so it’s not too bad, although we hate paying the almost ten dollars in collective road tolls that we end up getting squeezed for by the end of the trip.  We usually just let the whole diet idea go out the window on turkey day, because after all, it only comes once a year, and when else are you faced with that many delicious temptations all in one place?

It’s the one time of year when you get your choice of  vegetable casseroles, stuffing, various side dishes that Aunt Betty and your cousin Susie make the best, and those sins of all sins, the mashed potatoes and gravy. Of course, what would mashed potatoes be without massive amounts of real butter and sour cream be?  And what of the desserts?  Pumpkin pies, pumpkin rolls, cookies, cakes, some ridiculously rich chocolate dessert, creams, sugar, heavy sauces, butter, breads, it’s all on the absolute no no list on normal days. But on Thanksgiving, it’s all fair game, and I think that’s why everyone looks forward to it so much.

It fills the heart with warmth knowing that you are going to be comforted by all those good home cooked dishes, and then tired enough to crash around the people that are you family.  Sure, you may feel lethargic and huge when you’re done, but it’s that one day that there’s no guilt about pigging out, because, hey, everyone else is doing it too, and they’re feeling pretty darn good about it too!

Here’s wishing you an awesome Thanksgiving.  And remember, as long as your massive pig out doesn’t last the next month into Christmas and into the new year, then you are fully entitled to put on your best stretch pants and go to town today. That’s what today is all about, eating, thanks and gratitude for what you have and your family, and falling asleep at five PM at the TV watching football.  Love it!