My Drunk Kitchen

One of my favorite vlogs is called My Drunk Kitchen made by Hannah Heart. According to Heart's first episode "This show about making sure you don't puke your guts out. This is a show about friendship. This is a show about... [lost in thought]" 


In each episode she tackles some sort of fairly simple cooking project. She covers everything from tacos to ice cream. And of course, a key feature of each episode is her beverages. As you might imagine hilarity ensues.


If you are in desperate search for a youtube video series that will distract you from your homework, vacuuming, or the dishes; these videos are exactly what you've been looking for. My personal favorite is Tacos. Despite that I feel like the best video to introduce My Drunk Kitchen is Brunch.


Hannah Heart just celebrated her one year "hanniversary" of My Drunk Kitchen. Visit her website to find out more on her views of the Wu Tang Clan, ice cream truck music in apartment complexes, and what she thinks "Joe" should do with the rest of his life.

What To Make For Dinner

You just got home from work. Your tummy is rumbling. What do you make for dinner? This post is a step by step guide that will ensure the least work but the best results.

Step 1
If you know what you want to eat you're already ahead! If not, decide if you want to cook or go out. To decide where to go out try Wheel Of Lunch a fun site that will choose a local restaurant for you. If you want to cook start by looking in your cupboards to see what kind of ingredients you have. Use My Fridge Food
to find out what you can do with what you have.


Step 2
Assuming you decided on cooking and found something that looks good and that you don't need groceries for, begin looking at an online recipe database like Tastespotting. To make it easier, search for the recipe you want, or just one of the ingredients.


Step 3
Cook Silly! Did you find a recipe with a weird word like "natto"? Try searching them in the Epicurus Food Dictionary. 


That's it. Really that's all that it's going to take to put a good meal in the empty stomach of yours.

Online Recipe Books

 One of the most useful but addictive resources that I have become a regular user of throughout the last few years is the online cookbook. I find it so much easier in so many ways to click through a catalog of recipes to answer the question "What am I going to make for dinner?" than any other method.

What is so great about online recipe books?

• I tend to not be very creative or decisive around dinner time. Clicking through a catalog of good looking food with recipes attached helps me choose something more unique faster.
• Our eyes are naturally attracted to color and healthier meals tend to be those which are the most colorful. Therefore, our eyes will be drawn to pictures of healthier meals.
• There is nothing like getting rid of your cookbooks. I never have a proper space to store cookbooks, in fact truth be told I hardly consider them books.  They are sticky, spattered, and stained clutter that you wont miss seeing in your kitchen. 
• It inspires creativity. Even though I may be looking for dinner choices, stumbling across a fun baking recipe often prompts me to spend part of my next weekend learning to make something delicious I have never eaten or heard of previously.

Here are my three favorite sites

tastespotting.com 

Not only is this site layout my dream as a web designer, but the photography is to die for. Essentially this site is a very pretty randomly generated database of online food blogs and the recipes posted by bloggers. It's not limited to recipes either. There are post on gadgets, restaurants, and photography how-to's as well.

visualpotluck.com/posts/food

Visual potluck is a website devoted to several subjects, but the food section is an excellent resource. This is also a randomly generated recipe blog database with beautiful pictures that will make your mouth water. It is not however, as extensive as Tastespotting.

 

tastebook.com/recipe_books/explore

This site requires you to sign up for the service, but is totally free. The unique aspect of this database is that you are allowed too save a library of your favorites, which is really useful if you like to keep lists of recipes you would like to try.

Mediterranian Diet

Photo and recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com

Recently I've been reading a lot about the Mediterranean Diet, which is is a diet based on the the eating habits of people who live in the Mediterranean region.  It is extremely heart healthy because it is low in unhealthy fat.

Before we get much further however it is essential that you know that I do not believe in diets. Eating a certain way for a period of time in order to lose weight is not just an ineffective way to lose weight, but also wreaks havoc on your body.  Having said that I think the Mediterranean diet has a lot of merits, even though Mediterranean people have abandoned it recently because it was a result of poverty. Not only is this a healthy diet, but it is full of vegetables and fruit which makes for very colorful meals.


This info graphic from mayoclinic.com breaks down the major food groups and how frequently they are eaten in this diet.



The recipe below from the foodnetwork.com is a great example of a Mediterranean recipe.

Summer Pasta with Salsa Cruda

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flavorful pitted olives, lightly chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 12 ounces angel hair pasta
• Parmesan, for grating

Directions

In a large pasta serving bowl, mix together the olives, tomatoes, mint, capers, garlic, red pepper flakes, orange zest and olive oil. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Stir and lightly press the ingredients with the back of the spoon to incorporate flavors. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, or up to a day.

Just before serving, cook the angel hair pasta in salted boiling water according to package instructions. Remove the garlic clove from the pasta sauce. Drain the pasta and while still steaming hot, place the pasta on top of the cold sauce. Let sit for a minute before tossing the pasta. Top with grated Parmesan and serve.

Healthy Snacks

Photo Courtesy of The Unseasoned Wok and Creative Commons

With this lovely heat wave reminding me of the summer and hiking, biking, or whatever you to do work up an apatite, I think it would be a great time to share some fun new healthy snacks.

Ants on a Banana
A great alternative to ants on a log, try ants on a banana. Just peel and cut a ripe banana down the middle and spread with a bit of peanut butter, then add raisins.

Frozen Peas or Grapes
This is one of my favorite snacks for the summer. Since they are frozen, it's the perfect thing to pop in your mouth when you can't beat the heat. The best part is that it's super healthy.

Edamame
Just like you can buy at a sushi restaurant, edamame is a super easy snack that is full of protein. Purchase frozen or shelled edamame, thaw it in the microwave, then add a bit of salt and voila, a great summer snack!

Fruit Kababs
Cut up whatever fruit you have lying around the house and put it on a kabab stick and enjoy. What could be easier?!

Frozen Yogurt
Throw some yogurt in the freezer with a popcicle stick or throw some yogurt tubes in the freezer and in a few hours you have a delicious treat that is almost ice cream!

Enjoy these delicious snacks and the beautiful weather.

Culinary Trends

Chicken skin on a stick. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

I think it's high time we take a look at the culinary trends, expected and bizarre, that we can expect to see for the remainder of the year. Some are highly predicable. According to BlueMauMau.com we will see more gluten free food, which fits with increase in gluten intolerance and celiacas disease. There will also be more farm branded items in response to the popularity of organic and local food stuffs in the last few years. But none of this is very shocking.

Now for a list of the bizarre food trends we can expect to see.

• Chicken Skin according to the New York Times and Huffington Post.
• Pickling according to food channel.
• Pistachio according to nrn.com.
• Rabbit and Goat according to Huffington Post.

Good with these trends in this year!