We haven't been starving on my cooking hiatus. I had made and frozen some food. As well as stocked up on Trader Joes goodies. Also family & friends the first few weeks made and brought food. Plus there was always cereal and fruit to eat. Surprisingly one of the meals I enjoyed were both the new pasta dishes served at Pizza Hutt.

Since my daughter was born seven weeks ago(holy crap where did the time fly) cooking had been on the back burner & haS been so for a while. I've only recently started to cook dinner again. During my cooking hiatus food was still on my mind I've been watching the Food Network & trying to save recipes I wanted to try. And make a list of places to visit when on vacation.

Shows I've enjoyed watching have been Down Home with The Neely's, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, and am looking forward to Road Tasted with the Neely's.

My husband Niel decided yesterday would be a nice day to grill. So the weeks leading up to the holiday weekend he tried to find lump charcoal.

He had used it once before on a camping trip and liked working with it better than regular charcoal.

Niel learned not too put so much of it in the grill because it heats quickly and lets off sparks. Less is more.

The food tastes so much better than cooking with regular charcoal. It doesn't have that after taste. I heard somewhere if a person cooks too frequently with charcoal the gasses from aren't healthy for the person manning the grill.

So tastes better and better for for the chef. Win win.

Goodies from the Japanese market

Goodies from the Japanese market
Originally uploaded by foodiechickie4775

While in the city a couple of weekends ago. We spotted a Japanese market on the way home. I stocked up on some neat Japanese food.

I love corn fritters. So I was intrigued when I saw a healthy verison from Veggie Patch at my supermarket. They could be microwaved or baked. I split the portion in half for Niel and my lunches. We both agreed they were the worst tasting corn and cheese combo we had ever tasted. The corn didn't taste like corn and where was the cheese? It was supposed to be real cheese! I've even tasted some fake cheese better than this. Blech. Very disappointing.

Not as good as Ben and Jerry's 12 - 8 free cone give away, but Baskin Robbinsais selling cones from 5pm to 10pm today for only 31 cents. However it is for good cause. Proceeds will go to help America's firefighters. You can also donate more if you wish to the fund.

It's free cone day at Ben and Jerry's from Noon to 8PM today. Go get yourself a treat!

My local news station had a segment recently on how some fruit are better than other fruit. At first I thought this is silly. Isn't all fruit good for you? Well better than candy anyway? Apparently some fruit is better than others for fighting disease. For more info click here.


Photo from AP.

Temptation got the better of me yesterday and I purchased Dunkin Donuts Turkey, Cheese and Bacon pressed sandwich. And was it ever tasty. The bread was crispy and flavorful. The ingredients perfectly melted. My tummy was quite pleased.


Photo from AP.

Is Kellogg's having such a difficult time marketing their waffles to kids, that they put Barbie on their waffles? As well as shape waffles to like Legos?

I'm totally copying from Niel's last post, but I just think the people who created the God Milk campaign are geniuses. They have a new one with a wacky Viking rock and roller called White Gold. He reminds us of so many different musicians. The Darkness, Dio, and Electric Six. You too can be as cool as White Gold with a bit more dairy in your diet. LOL.

I was at the pharmacy the other day when I looked down and see that Skittles has come out with a variety pack of chocolate Skittles. Caramel, pudding, etc.



Then to the right of me I noticed that there are cherry flavored M & M's.



Is the candy situation so bad that every once in a while there is a new product out there.

I don't mind trying new products but staples such as Skittles and M & M's I don't think should be messed with.

I've mentioned before how when Niel does the grocery shopping before he comes back with interesting items. Well at least to me. This time it was premade mini potato pancakes. I love mini foods. They are from McCain's and their proper name are Baby Cakes. How cute is that. Plus they're a Canadian company. Which I like.

They are a good bite sized side dish or can be used as appetizers for a party. Just put some sour cream on top with some dill and enjoy!

I got around to making three Neely recipes in the past few weeks. They all came out very tasty. Niel was especially fond of the wings. Those Neely's are great cooks. Makes sense why their restaurants are so popular in the South. However I wouldn't recommend eating their dishes all the time. They're a bit on the heavy side.

I made:

Wings


Homemade Chips


Strawberry Shortcut Cake

On the way to the Sullivan Street Bakery, which on a side note is seriously the best bakery in New York City(Manhattan). Both sweet and savory items are made to perfection. Niel's favorite is their Pizza Bianca which is what the bakery is known for. I love their green olive baguette. So if you are ever in the NYC area please visit. It's worth the trek through the scary neighborhood they are in.

Anyway we had 1010 Wins on because we wanted to see why so many police cars were going the other way, but 1010 Wins didn't report on it. However we did hear an interesting story they picked up from the Associated Press on the impact of food bloggers.

Although bloggers reviews may or may not be as pleasant as food corporations would like. And despite this fact they still understand that food blogs receive thousands to millions of hits daily because of the community aspect; so samples are still sent to bloggers hoping their products are reviewed. They reach a consumer more intimately than commercials.

So keep blogging my fellow foodies. You have a voice.