In The Kitchen

Cabin fever brownies

OneTechCenter — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:15:33 +0000

Baking brings me lots of joy and keeping boxes of brownie mix comes in handy during mental crisis *wink*.

Just the smell can lift your mood,

Something about eating chocolate . . . it has such an instant feel-good effect.

And it turns out there’s a reason to feel good. Research suggests that special antioxidants in cocoa may play a role in keeping blood pressure low.

Other reasons to have brownies on hand: Why Your Heart Loves Hershey’s

Baking: follow directions on the box

Mmmmm…the brownies are calling my name…See ya!

Atlanta Social Media week

OneTechCenter — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:53:20 +0000

How my Child surprised me.

In my effort to jumpstart my creative juices to bring MY BLOGS back to life http://www.soulfoodforcomfort.wordpress.com, http://www.allthangsdigital.com and, http://www.reaalbusinesswomennetwork.com I found out about the momblogoff on http://www.momslikeme.

I’m at the 11Alive momblogoff tonight to get tips from other dynamic bloggers @branddynamite, @valvesval, @thedadvocate, @mariarsmith, @surprised_mama (follow them on TWITTER) to name a few.

I’m a mompreneur…let me interpret that. I am a web developer, Internet Marketing Strategist, Twitterholic, and networking Queen. I’ve worked from home mainly due to the economy and sometimes we’ve had to improvise in close quarters.

The decision on one of the 5 topics to write about was easy because my dear daughter (DD) has been my rock. My little Aisha just had a birthday on November 5^th and this is a tribute to her 12^th birthday.

One of the greatest benefits of working from home is that I get to spend quality time with my daughter and I see the positive benefits it has on her and being capable of making better decisions (the flip side is the DIVATUDE that I have to deal with), happier and friendly.

I don’t have to tell anyone how stressful it can be working from home, so needless to say I may be a bit grumpy at times (I know…me grumpy???) but throughout it all my DD warms my heart and brightens my day through the darkness.

Amidst the many challenges of being a work-at-home parent, the economy was hitting me hard in all directions, after relocating to Atlanta we were forced to move several times, my daughter would have to go to networking events with me, going B2B for sales for new customers in the heat and all types of weather, she never once complained and one day that sticks out after a extremely challenging week of car trouble I arrived late to pick my DD up from school and was called into the principal’s office…not sure about you but I can’t recall any positive meetings from high school that took place in the principal’s office.

To my surprise her principal assured me that she knew of my challenges and that she was willing to support us in any way she could “My child surprised me” when I found out from her principal that she was one of the sweetest, most cooperative and loving child she had ever met and was loved by all her teachers…it brought tears of joy to my eyes and answered the question I had been asking myself on whether our challenges would have a negative effect on her.

To this day I’m so grateful for the meeting with the principal.

Mama LOVES you AISHA!!!!!

OneTechCenter — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:04:34 +0000

Benefiber recipes cookbook:

Dips and Sauces, Sides and Salads, main Dishes, Desser and Drinks

CHILI Recipes to keep Old Man Winter at bay….we’ve posted some of our favorite chili recipes for you to select from or mix them up like I do.

Serendipity’s Southern Chili

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

3-4 lbs. ground lean beef/turkey
1 lg. onions, diced
4 to 6 tbsp. hot chili powder

3 tablespoons ground cumin
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoon salt
2 tablesoons sugar

1 (16 oz.) can whole tomatoes
4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 (8 oz.) can tomato paste

2 lg. green peppers, diced(optional)

2 med. stalks celery, diced(optional

1 lb. uncooked red kidney beans or 4 cans (16 ounces each) red kidney beans, with liquid

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it is translucent, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the meat with the ground chiles, about half of the cumin, and the garlic. Transfer the meat to the Dutch oven. Break up any lumps with a fork, stirring occasionally, until the meat is evenly browned, about 15 minutes and then drain the excess oil off.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for at least 4 hours but as long as 8 if possible. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed, adding the remaining cumin. Serves 10 to 12 people

If using the recipe for (1 lb. uncooked red kidney beans)
Soak 1 pound of red kidney beans overnight in water. Boil the beans in water and 1 tsp. of salt until beans are soft. Set them aside.

Optional:

Saute the celery, green peppers, onions in a large frying pan with a little cooking oil until slightly browned.

Is it fair to say when you go to the fair it not holds barred with what we’ll eat. The fair is know for it’s cutting edge fried foods, “A number of current corn dog vendors lay claim that credit for the invention and/or popularization of the corn dog goes towards Carl and Neil Fletcher for when they introduced their “Corny Dogs” at the Texas State Fair sometime between 1938 and 1942.” Wikipedia

Although, there’s some debate of this fact, there’s no debate that the Worlds best tasting corn dogs are gotten from the fair.

Now you can buy many other new fried foods t the fair including “fried butter” and “fried snickers” ?

I think I’ll draw the line at corn dogs, but then next time you’re at the fair you may want to give these new fried foods a try.

Banana Pudding Squares

OneTechCenter — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:19:42 +0000

Banana Pudding Squares

Recipe Courtesy of Kraft

A favorite homey pudding dessert gets updated with a fresh banana cream flavor twist!

Ingredients

3 Cups fat free milk cold
1 Package PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat softened
1 Cup margarine (1/2 stick) melted
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 tub COOL WHIP FREE Whipped Topping (8 oz) thawed
35 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers finely crushed
3 bananas
2 Package JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Reduced Calorie Pudding & Pie Filling (4-serving size each)
1 square BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate grated

Add Ingredients to my Shopping List

Directions

COMBINE wafer crumbs and margarine; press firmly onto bottom of 13×9-inch dish. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
MIX Neufchatel cheese and sugar until well blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups of the whipped topping; spread carefully onto crust. Set aside. Cut bananas crosswise in half, then cut each piece lengthwise in half. Arrange over Neufchatel cheese mixture.
POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. Spoon over bananas. Spread with remaining whipped topping. Sprinkle with chocolate. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving. Store any leftover dessert in refrigerator.
How to Evenly Spread Whipped Topping over Dessert: Stir remaining whipped topping gently in tub to soften. Place small dollops of topping evenly over top of dessert, then use a small metal spatula to spread whipped topping in an even layer.
How to Easily Remove Dessert from Dish: Line dish with foil before using, with ends of foil extending over sides of dish. Prepare recipe as directed. When ready to serve, remove dessert from dish using foil handles. Cut into pieces to serve.
Makeover – How We Did It: We’ve made over this favorite dessert to save you 80 calories and 13 g of fat per serving compared to the traditional recipe. We used Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers and margarine instead of flour, butter and peanuts for the crust. In addition, we cut the amount of sugar and chocolate in half and used better-for-you products in the creamy layers. These simple changes result in a great-tasting dessert that can save you both fat and calories!
Substitute: Prepare as directed, using JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Reduced Calorie Pudding & Pie Filling.
Nutrition Bonus: This great-tasting dessert is made with better-for-you products and can fit into your overall healthful eating plan!

Yield: Makes 24 servings.

Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 3 hr

Note: Nutrition Information Per Serving (24 servings): 120 calories, 5g total fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 5mg cholesterol, 200mg sodium, 16g carbohydrate, 0g dietary fiber, 9g sugars, 2g protein, 6%DV vitamin A, 2%DV vitamin C, 4%DV calcium, 0%DV iron. Nutrition Information Per Serving (16 servings): 170 calories, 7g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 10mg cholesterol, 290mg sodium, 24g carbohydrate, less than 1g dietary fiber, 14g sugars, 4g protein, 8%DV vitamin A, 4%DV vitamin C, 6%DV calcium, 2%DV iron.

Nutritional Info

120 Calories
5g Total fat
2g Saturated fat
5mg Cholesterol
210mg Sodium
18g Carbohydrate
1g Dietary fiber

10g Sugars
2g Protein
6%DV Vitamin A
2%DV Vitamin C
4%DV Calcium
2%DV Iron

Many uses of coffee filters

OneTechCenter — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:50:20 +0000

No matter what the state of the economy, it’s no match for savvy and creative Mommas. I love finding economical ways to resuse products and ”reinvent the wheel” so to speak on uses/resues of products. One of my cousins sent this to me in an email and I wanted to share it, who knew there were so many uses for filters that I’ve purchased that was the wrong sizes.

And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree / Store for almost nothing.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave.
Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China
  Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them.  Soaks out most all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great “razor nick fixers.”

OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS

I know there’s many other uses, please impart your savvy uses with us by leaving a comment!

Grocery Shopping Suggestions:

OneTechCenter — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:17:34 +0000

Grocery Shopping Suggestions:

Eat before you go grocery shopping so you won’t be tempted to make impulse purchases.

Don’t forget to buy the generic or store brand for those items where a brand name is not necessary: sugar, flour, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, etc.

Stock up on food staples when they are on sale.

Buy store-brand cereal instead of national brands. If your household goes through a box or more per week, you can save over $100 per year by purchasing store brands.

When buying pre-packaged fruits and vegetables for a flat cost, i.e. 5 pounds of potatoes for $1.88, actually weigh the bags and find the bag that weighs more than 5 pounds.

Check out the price per ounce/pound/piece. Just because it is a big box, doesn’t mean it’s cheaper! Sometimes two smaller packages are cheaper than the big box. Compare prices ounce per ounce.

Stretch the food that exists in your cupboards. I bet you have enough odds and ends to last you at least a week in meals if you’re creative. I have learned to make wonderful meals out of rice and beans, noodles, and herbs.

When you cook a meal, cook twice as much and freeze the leftovers. This works great with cookie dough too.

The weeks when the sales are not so good could be light buying weeks. If you have some food in reserve, on these light weeks the extra food is like money in the bank. If you ever hit a rough patch, you might have enough to carry you through that time.

GroceryCouponsUSA

Fish Taco

OneTechCenter — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:40:47 +0000

As I attempt to save on utilites, cut down on the grocery bill, eat light and healthy, I came across this video on Twitter. I love tacos and grilled fish so when I came accross this YouTube video for grilled fish tacos, I knew it was one I had to try and needed to share. ENJOY!

Cover a cake with Fondant Cake video

OneTechCenter — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:37:23 +0000

In The Kitchen – Fondant Cake
Uploaded by Sacramento_Bee

Mise en place

OneTechCenter — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:27:01 +0000

Mise en place

My goal is for you to have an enriching experience when you visit us at In the Kitchen, Soulfood for Comfort. We like to mix it up to provide a fun, an informed, divers and enriched experience.

As of today, I’m introducing French cuisine on the blog to enhance your cooking experience. While watching the PBS channel, I enjoyed a delicious recipe prepared by Executive Chef: Hilary White. While cooking she a delicious looking meal she also referred to “ mise en place” , now my French is a bit rusty to say the lease so I went in seach of the meaning which is “to put in place”.

To put in place is to have all ingredients ready before beginning (gathered, clean and chop any vegetables that need it, apportion out your spices, trim and slice any meat, etc.) Have everything measured and ready to be used in separate bowls or cups (or combined if the ingredients are being cooked at the same time). As she sautéed the chicken she advised not to wait but have preprations finished in advance.

When cooking I find myself feeling overwhelmed and rushed, sometimes even over cooking my meat while I preparing the other ingredients for the meal, this technique of “mise en place” opens up will help to enhance my cooking to be a better cook.

You’ll benefit by “mise en place” when:
Children are helping
Trying a new recipe
Assuring you have all the ingredients
Won’t overcook food
Modifications
Learning for children
When cooking, make sure you give yourself enough time to have meals ready.

This post in honor of President Obama and the First Lady’s visit to France.

Mc Lyte’s Jalapeno Macaroni & Cheese

OneTechCenter — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:10:20 +0000

I ran across this delicious recipe and decided to add it to my cookbook collection and share it.

Jalapeno Macaroni and Cheese
serving 8-10

1 1b. Macaroni Noodles

1/2 stick of butter
5 med. eggs
1 small carton of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. sugar
pinch salt
1-16 oz bag, Mesican style cheese (reserve some)

Mix well, layer with cheese

Bake: 350 for 25 min.