Blah, Bland, and Beautiful Oatmeal

What is the first thing you associate with the food, oatmeal? Old people, bland, taste like paper, baby food, and so on. As you can see most of the connotations are negative. Sorry for starting of with such a sad and pessimistic side, but myself I don't like oatmeal. My mother would always try to feed me oatmeal for breakfast, but I always choose the other sugary treats such as Pop tarts, cereal coated with sugar of oh so goodness, and many not as healthy breakfasts. I hope I didn't offend any oatmeal lovers out there, sorry, sorry. Anyways, Happy National Oatmeal Day!

Oatmeal is usually soft and mushy and is one color of beige. It is like eating drywall's mush to be more accurate; when I first took a bite of oatmeal I automatically dislike it. Maybe when I was a baby I ate bowls and bowls of oatmeal. However, I don't like oatmeal in the form of the old fashioned way of cooking over the stove put in water and a couple of scoops of oatmeal flakes and voila transforms into oatmeal. Some people try to spice up the oatmeal by adding fresh fruit like strawberries, bananas, or nuts. I still don't like it especially the texture because it is all slimy and indescribable texture and there are no color to catch my eye or appetite.

Oatmeal is like leftover cereal that is mushy since forever. However, on the bright not I would eat oatmeal in other forms like oatmeal raisin cookies, Quaker oats chewy bars, and anything that can hide the texture of oatmeal. You all have probably eat oatmeal before or saw the famous logo of the Quaker Oats of the man with the hat. Mr. Quaker Oats!

I love the Quaker oats chewy chocolate chip bars which is so good. It is really tasty because the chocolate chips made it sweet enough and it is chewy and delicious.You should now go try it and I am not kidding it is really good. It is healthy for you and is just a nice, small snack when you are on the run to school, work or home. GO BUY IT NOW!

10 TOP REASONS TO EAT OATMEAL
1. Oatmeal may help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.
2. Oatmeal can help you control your weight.
3. You already have oats in your kitchen.
4. Oatmeal may reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.
5. Oats found in your grocery store are 100% natural.
6. Oatmeal may help reduce high blood pressure.
7. Oatmeal contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
8. Oatmeal may reduce the risk for certain cancers.
9. Oatmeal is quick and convenient.
10. Oatmeal can be delicious!

Enjoy your oatmeal today!

We all go nut for nuts!

Nuts, nuts, nuts. We all love nuts and we all go nut for nuts. Sorry no pun intended. As you can see I will talk/rant about nuts today to celebrate the infamous National Nut Day! Nuts are really nutritious, but sometimes eating it often can be a little too much. I hate it when you eat certain food too much at once; you will get exhausted and sick of the food. (Blek!) I have probably ranted on Fall, however, it is one of the most beautiful seasons in Chicago. The squirrels are gathering their nuts now such as acorns and whatnot for hibernation. Do not get the squirrels mad or they would hunt you down! (Just maybe.) Squirrels look adorable, but you may never know what would happen when you enrage them. They could look something like the picture above.

More about nuts: not only do squirrels like nuts but also, humans do. To tell you the truth I am not crazy for nuts and I only like small portion of nuts. If you are a nut lover that is good for you, if not then we are buddies. (Just kidding.) Nuts to me are more like snacks to enjoy and munch on during free time, movies or a light snack. You should eat nuts before a standardized test if you are a student because nuts contain omega 3-fatty acids and improve energy and alertness throughout the day. Walnuts, peanuts, cashews, nuts, and screws. If you didn't catch the last part of my list of nuts, reread it again.

Nuts are usually in foods we eat, especially in junk food for example chocolate M&Ms where some contained peanuts and almonds. One of my favorite chocolate covered nuts is Rocher Ferrero: the fancy chocolate wrapped in gold aluminum foil and the first layer is chocolate with chopped hazelnuts and on the center is even more nuts. It is so good that I could eat a whole factory worth of Rocher Ferrero and I become a chocoholic.

Lastly, I want to talk about "nut"ella or nutella. Huh? What is nutella? Nutella is similar to peanut butter instead it is hazelnut spread which is so good that I can eat it all by itself. Nutella is the same chocolate, creamy center of Rocher Ferrero. If you still do not know what I'm talking about go to your local market/store to buy a box and indulge in the velvety chocolate of goodness. Any who, Nutella is the greatest invention that is ever created because it is basically a jar filled with fluffy chocolate cream. Even though, Nutella is not nut product but the name contained the word "nut" which relates back to the topic. For those who are allergic to nuts I'm sorry if this made you really uncomfortable and there are other alternatives besides nuts. Don't feel left out.

How to use Nutella:
1. Go to a store and buy a jar of Nutella. (If you do not know how it looks like, look for image above.) *Note: Milk is not included with your purchase of Nutella.
2. Go back home, dorm, or office and prepare a butter knife and a toasted or non-toasted bread, it is your preference.
3. Open jar and use butter knife to obtain a dab to a pile of Nutella.
4. Once amount of Nutella is obtain, turn knife at a 45 degree angle and smother onto bread.
5. To clean the knife: either lick off excess Nutella or wash under warm water
6. Eat your Nutella covered bread. :)

Caution: Please have adult supervision when using knife and be warned that the knife is sharp and might caused injury in or near mouth. Do not blame the author of this blog for any injuries. Good Day!

Shrooms

Happy Mushroom Day! Okay for those who do not know that today is mushroom day, now you know. I asked a couple of classmates in my class if they eat or know what mushrooms is and many of them do not eat or know how to cook them. Yeah, you know who I am talking about if you are reading this. What a shocker! I am not talking about the magic mushrooms Mario eats in his game to grow and shrink. We are talking about real food that you grow and eat, not some virtual game in a galaxy far far away...            

Well, in my family cooking we often use mushrooms to cook with meat such as chicken, beef, pork or fish. It is really delicious. It is consider a vegetable in my family but it is really a fungus. Mushrooms is often used as side courses in most Asian cultures and when you first bite into it, feels so weird. The texture is like a sponge which I like about them is that they can absorb the sauce you cook them in which makes it mouth watering. Is it... Bacteria? Mold?  But, be aware that not all mushrooms you see growing on the ground are edible so be careful. Mushrooms are usually used in Chinese, European, and Japanese cuisines so you might have tried it before without knowing it. There are so many different types to choose from such as Shiitake, Oyster, Enoki, Cremini, Portobello, and many more. Shittake and Enoki are some of my favorite types of mushroom and especially the Enoki so cute. Some people put mushrooms on top of pizzas, in the spaghetti sauces and even the mushroom cream of soup, yum-o. Today, I am going to share a mushroom recipe from a blog, hope you guys enjoy it and try it at home. 


Teriyaki Mushroom Salad

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil (or butter)
1/2 pound mushrooms (sliced)
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 handful salad greens
1 handful grape tomatoes tomatoes
1 handful sliced cucumber
1 stalk celery celery
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 green onion (sliced)
1 tablespoon goats cheese (crumbled)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the mushrooms and saute until just caramelizing, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the teriyaki sauce and simmer to reduce to thicken.
4. Assemble the rest of the salad.
5. Pour the mushrooms and teriyaki sauce onto the salad and garnish with toasted sesame seeds, green onions and crumbled goat cheese.

How to avoid poisonous mushrooms:

1. Do not eat or put unknown fungi in near or in your mouth.
2. Do no collect growing unidentified mushrooms until permitted or identified. (Why are you wondering in the forest?)
3. Better yet, only cook and eat mushrooms from grocery stores or local farm markets.
4. If you follow steps 1-3, you will not have the risk of getting poison by mushrooms.


What are your favorite types of mushrooms? Thanks!

Grand Lux=Grand Food?

Grand Lux branches of the wonderful Cheesecake Factory. If you do not know what I am talking about then you are missing out on this good food. There are only about less than ten cafes in the United States, however, there are probably other cafes with different names. I'll write a review on Grand Lux since there is no food holiday this Friday.

Last week, I went to Grand Lux with my family to something besides homemade food. (I'm not saying that home cooked food is bad, but it is nice to mix up the dinner courses each week.) So, there is only one location in Chicago which is near the Magnificent Mile which is good because after a long day of shopping and exploring downtown, one can relax and enjoy yummy food. However, last week we only went for a dinner minus the shopping part. When you first walked into Grand Lux it is feels like a mansion since the decor are gold and looks really luxurious and we were greeted by a hostess asking number of people and name. Then, we were escalated to the second floor of the dining hall where we were guided into a rounded table which half is booth style and the other just regular seating. The lights in the dining room was dim which created a romantic type of feel like in the movies but, it was a little too dark that I can't really see what is around me. A waiter greeted us enthusiastically and listed tonight's specials. We were given bread and butter and he asked if we needed anything to drink. The hospitality is excellent and when we were ready to order, the waiter was set to take our orders.

Ooey Gooey Caramel Covered Apples aka. Caramel Apples

It is the time of the season where you start to pull over a light jacket or sweater and the leaves are turning colors and falling. The so called season called "fall/autumn" is just so relaxing especially if you live in the Midwest. However, in some places you never get to see or feel this awesome image. When it autumn, you know that different holidays are coming up such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and so forth.  Oh boy, do I love autumn because it leads to good food and family loving all at once.  Check out the picture of how the trees will turn out below this:

 

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The leaves on the tree are turning golden yellow and auburn while the branches are stripped naked to their boney twigs and branches. I love how the trees highlighted their leaves then falls to the ground in a day or two. All the children will create leave piles and jumped into it, lets hope that they don't get hurt. 

I am probably like the millionth person to post a blog about autumn, but there are some people in world never felt autumn and what snow is. Pretty interesting right, yes I am talking to you. It is fine if you never experience this so called "autumn", but as you can tell from the title of my post I'll talk about caramel apples. When I was a child I remember in grammar school, they would sell caramel apples right after autumn just began. It would cost around seventy-five cents for one, but nowadays nothing is as cheap as before. Okay, back to the topic I always wanted one, but my parents don't want me to eat too much sweets and get cavities (dun dun dun.) I secretly saved up some money to buy one and when I first get the apple it was almost bigger than my head. (Seriously.) The label across the package was "Affy Tapple" which was yellow, white and red. I believed that it was made in Illinois which is pretty close from where I am from. Trying to balance the apple on the wooden stick was a challenge for me back then and I finally managed to take a huge bite from it.

 

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The apple was covered with nuts and on the inside coated evenly with brown caramel. (Mmmm...) The outside part was sweet and sticky juxtaposes with the tangy sensation from the green, tart apple which made me giggle a bit. When I took my first bite I look like the kid below:

 

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Okay, maybe not exactly and minus the cake part, any who you get the point. The first bite of the caramel apple is like a kid eating cake on their birthday. It took me a while to finished the whole apple and I love the little remainder of caramel on the end of the stick. The little bit of caramel tempts you and says, "Eat me, eat me." There different flavors of the apple such as just plain caramel, candied cherry and even m&m covered apples. The candied apples are usually found in carnivals and fairs and I never taste it before, how does it taste like? I think I will like the original caramel flavor out of them all. What is your favorite flavor of apples?

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Besides, caramel apples are good and tasty, but is it really that healthy for us? Do you know how many calories are in one? 100?  200? 300? Well, according to a label it is around 180 g amount equivalent to half a meal of a fast food restaurant. Shocker isn't it? You thought that something as healthy as a caramel covered fruit would be a positive. Oh no, does it mean that you can never ever eat caramel/candied apples ever again. The answer is no you can eat those sweet treats but with a limited portion eaten occasionally, but there are other delicious alternatives to this sweet. There are other recipes like "Caramel Apple Crisps" which is easy to make and is a modern twist to the old classic favorite: caramel apples. Also, there is apple cheesecake you can dive into which the plain cheesecake is dressed with slices of apples and drizzle with caramel.  Look for it below: 

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All of the different alternatives are good and tasty and just like the caramel apples and it is really simple to make each of the recipes above. However, if you are lactose intolerant you can substitute coconut milk instead of milk when making the caramel, it is still good. Last thing, when you see caramel apples selling out on the shelves in your supermarkets and stores now: buy it, buy it. If you see them in the summer time there something is wrong with the picture, usually the apples are not fresh anymore. Thank you for your time of reading this or just look at the pictures!