That's a lot of Craisins...

Continuing our snacking trend, I next sampled the 100 Calorie Pack of Craisins. Craisins are dried, sweetened cranberries (or, "the sweetest way to eat a cranberry"). 

Filled with sweetened cranberry goodness

To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to expect in terms of cranberry bounty. How many sweetened dried cranberries are in 1 oz? (Presumably, the same amount in 100 calories). 

Want to take a guess? 

The contents of the package...

Ok, ready?

::drumroll please::

...

...

The pack had a total of 107 Craisins. Or, as Adam pointed out, approximately 1 calorie per Craisin. 

The official counting in process. 

The only potential discrepancy that there could be to the 1 Craisin/1 Calorie theory is the definition of the actual size of a Craisin. Since they are, as the label states, made from real fruit, the size of each Craisin can vary. 

Big Craisins and little Craisins coexist peacefully.

For my counting purposes, anything that looked like a Craisin was a Craisin (made enough sense to me). 

I liked the Craisins, and thought they made for a light and tasty treat. As a note, I found this snack to be enjoyed best over a period of time. I'd eat a few, come back, eat a few more. Perhaps it is me, but 107 pieces of any sort of food is a bit much to eat at one time (although, little bits of dried fruit seems a bit more reasonable in this regard than, say, cookies. mmm cookies). 

But this is about Craisins. Although Craisin cookies could be good. Anyone tried that before?

The official Craisin website, if anyone is curious.

A mere 100 calories, you say?

Strolling down the supermarket aisle, it seems as though practically anything now comes in a little pouch with its contents totaling 100 calories. I like this. It is a relatively guilt-free snack, it is portable, and comes in a variety of goodies inside the pouches. 

Shall we explore these low-calorie pouches further?

Today's 100 calorie pack of choice is ::drumroll:: Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookie Crisps

A "sensible solution", with 0g trans fat, 3g fat, and 0mg cholesterol. (Doesn't it look like "OMG cholesterol? I guess zero mg's could be OMG-worthy.)

Opening the pack for further inspection (this was official business here, people), this is what I found.

Looks like shortbread. Expert analysis over.

Q: How many shortbread(s?) make up 100 calories? 

A: 20

Overall, I enjoyed all 100 calories of shortbread. It was a satisfying and tasty snack, and I was happy to see that a fair amount of shortbread were in each pack. Sometimes when passing by these packages I secretly wonder if there is only about 1 cookie per package, however, these fears (probably not a fear, more of a concern perhaps) were unfounded. 

I wonder how big a 100 calorie pack of cheesecake would be? Probably better not to find out. 

BBQ-ing with Boyfriend

Hi everyone!

This past weekend, my boyfriend (who will henceforth be known as Adam [real name? fake name? yes, real name]) decided that he wanted to barbecue. My reaction: YES absolutely!!! 

Adam is most definitely not a kitchenphobe. He's a great and adventurous and creative cook, always coming up with new ideas on what to cook, while I frantically consult a recipe. Even then, well, we all know what tends to happen. 

Okay, who wants to see delicious-looking barbecue?? Sorry everyone doesn't get to try some, but I will assure the crowd, it was very very tasty. 

Making burgers...

All of our duckies...er, burger-ies, are all in a row. Or two. 

Now we're cooking. Check out that flame-kissed chicken. 

Cloud o' smoke...adding some drama...

Getting some of those yummy grill marks

A close-up on the deliciousness

Hey, those hot dogs don't look hot. And the hilarity ensues...

Can we eat now? How about now? Now? 

All of the action on the grill

Ah, that's better. 

We should barbecue more often. And by we, I mean he. 

Easter definitely has the best candy, as far as holidays go.

It's little wonder that Easter wins the best candy holiday award. Jelly beans, pastel-colored M&M's, and those quintessential Cadbury eggs.

Oh, and evil bunnies.

You think I'm kidding? (Ok, yes, I am.)

This bunny may not be evil. It may just have an eye condition. Either way, I think its up to something (even if "something" is picking up medicated eye drops.)

This bunny looks like its trying WAY too hard to look innocent. Personally, I think it looks like it's plotting. No, Peter Rabbit, I will not read your story book inside the package. I predict that it is a tale of alarm and fear. 

Either this bunny has an apprentice that it is teaching its evil ways, or it has committed an evil bunny deed and has put the evidence on a stake as a warning to the other bunnies. Oh what a cruel, cruel world. 

And lastly, a victim of the evil bunnies.

Happy candy shopping everyone!!! Watch out for the bunnies, they're feisty this year! :)

Birthday Blondies

During my somewhat limited time venturing into the kitchen, I found a recipe that my boyfriend instantly fell in love with. 

Blondies (Thanks Food Network!)

He is a big fan of sweet items (one present I bought him that was a big hit was cane sugar candies), so I knew that these would go over well. 

And so, for his birthday, in lieu of a birthday cake, he was the overjoyed recipient of birthday blondies. Unrelated to his enjoyment of the baked goods, don't they have a nice ring? I'm a fan of alliteration. 

The optional add-in that I went with was the chocolate chips (I have also made these plain and with red and green M&M's for the holidays). 

Sorry I don't have any pictures while in production, but here are the finished birthday blondies...

Awww, I'm so clever.

I chose to deliver them whole, to have a more "birthday cake" -like presentation (plus then I was also able to accent with the chocolate chip heart). 

Well, they do say that food is the way to a man's heart... these blondies are definitely on the way to my guy's :) 

Oscar (party) worthy brownies!

What could be more red carpet worthy than Triple Chocolate Raspberry Brownies? (Well, probably a few things, but we'll go with this. Much more affordable than an evening gown. And tasty too!)

I went with a box mix for the main brownie portion, mainly due to time constraint reasons. I promise one of these days I won't be wimpy/lazy and will make something from scratch. Maybe.

This mix had chocolate chips in the batter. (Chocolate count - 1).

To this mix I added a little less than 1/2 cup of raspberry jam (sans-seeds) and 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips (Chocolate count - 2). Yes, I measured. It made me feel more official.

Ready for the oven, brownies?

You may have noticed the parchment paper surrounding the brownies. We'll call this a lesson in listening to directions in their entirety. While watching the Food Network, a helpful hint was given to put parchment paper down so the brownies can be easily and gracefully lifted from the pan. The directions said to grease the pan, then the parchment paper on top of the pan.

"But why do I have to grease both?"

"I'm sure that is a skip-able step"

This could be why I am a kitchenphobe, and not a skilled chef.

Needless to say, I am sure you can predict the end of my tale. But we're not there yet, let's continue the pictures for a moment, from during a happier, less stuck time. Ohhh, she gave it away.

Check out that smooth, slightly marbled surface. Ooooh. Ahhh. 

As you have probably come to realize, I am a girl full of ideas. Some of them aren't too shabby. Remember now, we're making triple chocolate brownies. I decided that the last chocolate would be represented in dark chocolate curls gracing the surface of the brownies. 

This actually worked according to plan!!!

In order to keep the dark chocolate curls (oh yes, chocolate count - 3) from wandering about the surface of the brownies, I heated up a bit of the raspberry jam until it was smooth and liquidy, then spread a thin layer on top of the brownies. Quickly, I sprinkled the chocolate curls on top. 

Close-up on the curls

As I'm sure you have predicted, the challenge came when removing the brownies from their parchment paper nest. More brownie than I would have liked stayed on the paper, but I did get the correct number of brownies out of the pan, so that is a good thing. Lesson learned: grease your pan. And your parchment paper. And anything else your brownies may get stuck to. 

All's well that ends well, and the rescued brownies were received with open arms and open mouths. 

Step one, get in the car...

Fellow kitchenphobes know that sometimes the best way to get a good meal is to not do it yourself.

Exhibit A:

Prepare yourself for an explosion of salad-y goodness

Being completely honest with myself and the world, even with a heavy handed pinch of added confidence, one would be hard-pressed to find an item with such color and pizzazz coming out of my kitchen. Yes, this salad most definitely has pizzazz.

What is it, you may ask?

This, my friends, is the Polynesian Salad, found at the Grand Lux Café. It is a feisty combination of chicken breast, greens, peppers (of the red and yellow variety), snap peas, mango, macadamia nuts, cucumber, jicama, crispy wontons, and possibly a few other ingredients, in a Polynesian-y vinagrette.

In a word, it was tasty. In several, see the above paragraph. 

See... this is why it's fun to try new things at restaurants! Going along with that, as scary/intimidating/nerve wracking as it can be to try new things in the kitchen, it is also fun. 

New things = fun

(Lets all keep this in mind during our next kitchen adventure, shall we?)