(Almost) failed experiment and brownie cutting tip

I guess the first part of this is what NOT to do. There was a ton of fresh mint left over from last Saturday, so I thought, why not try to use it? And what does mint go with? Chocolate, of course! I thought I would be clever and chop up some fresh mint and put it in those amazing cocoa brownies.

I rinsed a large bunch, pulled off each leaf, carefully chopped them into little bits and stirred it in. No flavor. Rinsed, pulled, and chopped a slightly large bunch. Fingers starting to get annoyed at the action. Stirred it in. Not really a flavor. Gave to two others to test. Nope, really just no flavor. Hmmm.... getting discouraged, but will not be beaten to easily! Extra large bunch, rinsed, pulled, chopped! Stirred! Refused to taste in case there was no change. Flavors should blend more in oven, yes? Put in oven, set timer.

As I pulled it out, I could finally smell some mint. Thank goodness. Not nearly done, so put back in for 15 more minutes. When I pulled it out, I was much too impatient to wait for them to cool, so I used an old trick: Cut hot brownies with plastic. A plastic knife would be perfect, but any piece of straight plastic works. In the kitchen there is a (slightly melted) cheap plastic spatula that is really thin, and I used that. Put brownie in mouth: mmmmmm, a nice touch of mint.

Moral of the story: Use mint extract to make mint brownies. And then cut them with a plastic knife while hot. Fingers hurt from chopping, so I'm done now.

Cheater Salad with Chicken

One of the dinners we like to have when we feel lazy is salad topped with chicken strips. They're usually fried, so not super healthy, but when there are only 2 or 3 on top of a salad shared by two people, it's not so bad. If you want to be *really* lazy, just grab a bag of Fresh Express (I recommend Caesar Lite or Fiesta) and just open up all the pretty packets.

Cheater Salad with Chicken
Serves: 2 Total time: 15 min (not including trip to store)

- Go to the store and grab a few chicken strips. If you live near a healthy place, you might even be able to get grilled chicken. Chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Rinse and rip up lettuce. Spin or shake to remove excess water, and place in a large bowl.
- Add red onions, carrots, bell pepper, pepperoncinis, soy nuts, sunflower kernels, radishes, or whatever else you have that would be tasty.
- Pour on a little light dressing and top with chicken.

Crock-pots (or slow cookers - whichever name you like)

Before going to college, my mom bought me a 1.5 quart CrockPot. Being 17, my thought was "what am I supposed to do with this??" and it sat in my closet for a couple years. I had grown up on slow cooker meals, but I associated them with cooking pinto beans, starting from dry beans, or with pot roast and potatoes - not college food.

When I moved off-campus, I started using it and realized how nice they can be! Mine is actually not meant for cooking full meals, though I think it works fine, and only has the "low" setting. I would recommend one that does have the "high" option. It works especially well for things like chili where you want the flavors to really mingle. If you don't have one, consider it and look at the recipes here. If you do have one, those recipes still look super yummy.

For our crock pot recipes, we will put the prep time and the cook time, but the tags will be based on the prep time because that's really all the attention you'll have to give it. You can find safety tips, including how to tell if your cooker heats properly, here if you want to be sure you are using your cooker properly to avoid undercooking and the possibility of food poisoning.

I love my microwave

But sadly right now it's broken, so preparing dinner takes a lot of time and fore thought. When my microwave is running one of my favorite things to use when making dinner are the Ziploc Zip & Steam bags.

I'm not trying to be a commercial but they really are are great as all the commercials make them seem. They don't take any additional water, butter or oil (they use the water found in foods to cook).

There are recipes on the actual Ziploc website and others can be found can of course be found with a search engine.

The bags can be found at most every grocery or department store with the other Ziploc products. I buy mine at the warehouse store in packages of 40. I believe they are labeled one time only use, but if I've only cooked vegetables I do rinse and reuse them, just not if I cooked meat.

Try it out, and think of me having to defrost meat for days in the fridge and be glad your microwave works!