Category: Grocery stores (Page 9 of 18)

      Wing Sauce Wednesday–gazpacho revisited

      June 13, 2012 /


      note: this photo is not mine, but it looks a lot like my gazpacho

      I posted a recipe a couple years back called Guy Gazpacho on Bullz-Eye’s Grub for Guys section, and I re-posted it here last May. And I thought that now is a good time to re-visit that one, because it’s getting brutally hot outside everywhere, and because tomatoes are coming into season, as are cucumbers and peppers. Plus, hey, it’s Wednesday, and that means it’s a great time to have another Wing Sauce Wednesday column. That’s because wing sauce is one of the secret ingredients of my gazpacho.

      If you, like me, love Buffalo wing sauce and feel like you’d be really happy just doing shots of it, this is the soup for you. It has 2 tablespoons of wing sauce, but I have started adding more like 3-4 per batch. The other secret ingredient for me? Avocado. It gives the soup a nice smooth texture and taste. I also do not use onions or raw garlic as many chefs would, because my stomach is not a fan of that stuff in its raw state. But you could certainly add some of either or both. There are no rules, but if you do make this gazpacho on Wing Sauce Wednesday, you should definitely add the sauce. Trust me, it’s worth it on Wednesday or any day.

      Green Living, Grocery stores, Healthy, Interviews, Recipes, Your Kitchen

      Product review: Sheets Energy/Sleep Sheets

      June 11, 2012 /

      Wake, or sleep?

      That is the question if you’re looking for a boost in either direction, the folks at Sheets brand have the products for you that are as easy to take as those breath strips that have become so popular the last few years. That’s because they are strips–the kind that dissolve on your tongue within seconds.

      Chef JimWe reviewed the Energy Sheets a while back, and they recently sent us some samples of a new flavor–Mint Boost. These strips have no sugar, no calories and are loaded with B-vitamins, and they really taste good, similar to a fresh breath strip (which I need badly now because I’m on the South Beach diet!). There is a bit of caffeine as well (50 mg), which is about the amount of maybe a third of a cup of coffee. That might explain why I felt a jolt for a few minutes that did not last beyond that. So while the Sheets may give you some extra vitamins, I’d suggest grabbing a cup of coffee instead if you need that afternoon boost or need to stay awake while driving on the freeway at night.

      Chef JimBut the Sleep Sheets are a completely different story. I have an affinity for so-called “relaxation” drinks such as Serenity and Marley’s Mellow Mood. They all have a mixture of herbs and natural supplements such as melatonin and/or valerian root that promote relaxation and sleep. But the problem with these beverages is that, well, you have to pee a couple hours later, right as you’re in the midst of a kickass night’s sleep. Sleep Sheets won’t make you pee, and it has those same key ingredients such as melatonin, theanine and chamomile. And they have a nice minty flavor too. The best part….they work. Take this an hour or so before you plan to crash, and you will relax and fall asleep easily. I can’t recommend this product any more than I am right now!

      Check out www.sheetsbrand.com for more information.

      Grocery stores, Healthy, Product Reviews

      Bud Light Lime-a-Rita (and Bud Light Platinum)

      May 31, 2012 /

      I’m woefully behind on some posting, but wanted to pay homage to the fact that around Super Bowl, the fine folks from Weber Shandwick sent me a really cool case of Bud Light Platinum to try. But I don’t mean a case of beer. I mean four bottles of beer in a hard case that looked like an important brief case. Or like something that might carry a million one dollar bills. Anyway, the beer was (is) delicious….it’s a bit different than regular Bud Light–smooth and yet a bit stronger. It’s triple filtered so it’s got that “clean taste” that beer companies like to talk about. And my kid loves bringing that case to Trader Joe’s every Saturday–I have no idea why, maybe he expects to fill it up with more Bud Light Platinum?

      Also, these fine folks (I’m not buttering up my publicist friends too much) sent me the new Bud Light Lime-A-Rita. It’s an 8 oz. can of margarita-flavored malt beverage with a twist of Bud Light Lime. If you like margaritas, and especially if you like beer too, this is the perfect summer cocktail for you. It’s potent for a canned beverage, and mighty tasty. And that lime and/or margarita taste is just perfect for summer cookouts. And with Memorial Day in the rear view mirror, it’s time for summer cocktails indeed. Cheers!

      Grocery stores, Product Reviews

      Worth the wait–beef jerky

      May 23, 2012 /

      Sometimes recipes look daunting. Or sometimes just the thought of making something delicious seems like it’s too much trouble. I subscribe to a great magazine called Clean Eating. Of course, I don’t eat as healthy as I should, or by the standards of this magazine all that much (if you read this blog, you know I have a soft spot for junk food)–but I do try to at the very least use it for some healthy habits and for some killer recipes. So last week my wife was reading the letters to the editor about how great their homemade beef jerky recipe was. I had missed that, so I dug it up from the January/February issue to see what the fuss was about.

      And as you can see by the attached photo, it sure looked like a lot of work, and a bit complicated because you have to take out your oven racks, reposition them, hang the jerky from the racks on skewers, put foil down and use a towel to absorb moisture. You also have to freeze the meat to cut it easier, then marinate it for 3-6 hours before baking/dehydrating it for 5 hours or more. That’s a long day. So after buying a nice London broil on Saturday, I looked closer at the recipe and became scared. I didn’t want to spend all day Sunday doing this.

      But on Monday I felt guilty and felt like I really should give it a go. I pulled out the recipe again in the morning, and fortunately I work from home. So I did it. I froze the meat for an hour, cut it, marinated for 3 hours, then did all the funky oven stuff (which was not difficult or time consuming as I had thought) and let the strips of deliciousness cook or dry out or whatever it does…for five hours. The result…..fantastic. Here I have homemade jerky that is tasty, spicy, just chewy enough, and with no ingredients I can’t pronounce. The only problem is that big batch from Monday is almost gone already. So it’s time to make more!

      Note: I couldn’t find this recipe online, but I will reach out to the editor to see if they have one or a pdf…and if you’re interested in that, e-mail me at mikeyskitchen@gmail.com or message me on Facebook.

      Food on a Budget, Grocery stores, Healthy, Ingredients, Recipes, Your Kitchen

      Pink slime–no, thanks

      May 15, 2012 /

      It’s become a buzzword/term in 2012–pink slime.

      Like you, I had no idea what it was until I read an article two months ago in Mother Jones. This is how the article describes it: “the cheeky nickname for scraps of slaughtered cow that have been pulverized, defatted, subjected to ammonia steam to kill pathogens, and congealed into a filler for ground beef.” It goes on to say that McDonald’s was using it but planned to stop doing so, along with Taco Bell and Burger King, who also succumbed to the public outcry.

      But pink slime is apparently in school lunch ground beef. It’s in packaged and frozen burgers, and even in commercially sold ground beef. Wow. How the hell do you get around that if you eat and enjoy burgers, meatballs, meat loaf or other ground meat products?

      I know what I”m doing. I’m not eating fast food ground meat. I’m thinking twice before ordering something made with ground beef in a restaurant. For home use, we buy ground beef from a local farm (at the farmer’s market here in Madison) that we know is organic and high quality, or from Trader Joe’s, which states on its website that their ground meat does not contain pink slime. We are not ready to give up meat entirely, but what we are also doing is trying to eat one or two vegetarian meals per week.

      I am not naive enough to think that there isn’t crap like this in many foods–or pesticides or whatever. But pink slime? It’s vile, it’s scary and it has no place on my plate or on my family’s plates.

      Chefs and Restaurants, Green Living, Grocery stores, Healthy, Uncategorized, Your Kitchen

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