Instantly Not Quite.

 I just went to stick some pop in my fridge, thinking about eating some chips.  I noticed the piece of fish left over from supper the other night, and grabbed that.  Grabbed a 32 gram bag of Old Dutch Salt and Vinegar potato chips, and found myself with instant fish and chips.  Sort of.

Slightly Better.

 Recently I got interested in protein bars after passing by them in various places.  I'm not interested in actually buying them regularly, I just wanted to see what they taste like.  The first one I tried a few weeks ago was from One brand, labelled as chocolate chip cookie dough flavour.  That labelling was optimistic.  It didn't taste or have a texture like cookie dough.  In fact it was awful enough that I only ate half.  Especially annoying was the taste of the artificial sweeteners they use instead of sugar.

Today I decided to give these products one more shot.  This time I bought a Quest brand bar of the same flavour.  I doubt I'll be buying one again, but this was considerably better.  For one thing it actually looked like chocolate chip cookie dough, being a beige colour with chunks of chocolate inside.  The texture was better, and the taste was as well.  Overall I'd call it edible, and wouldn't say no if someone offered me one again.  It also seems like it's probably healthier than the One brand offering as it contains less fat and less saturated fat.

But the price of these things!  The One brand bar was on sale for $3.99.  The Quest bar was on sale for $4.29.  I think you could find alternatives that would serve the same role for cheaper. like some nuts and cheese.

Snacking Is Too Expensive.

It was an early morning for me, as I was up at a quarter to 5 to take my parents to the airport.  Afterwards I decided to have a bad breakfast, and bought a bag of white cheddar popcorn.  It came to $2.10 with the tax, which is the same price you'll end up paying for the standard single serving size of Lays and Old Dutch chips.  This seems like a good excuse not to buy the stuff.  Of course if a Dollarama had been open I could have bought some there, as their smaller sizes are cheaper.

We Wish You A...

....(insert appropriate seasonal event related greeting here).  The only thing I'll be doing this December 25th is sitting around the house eating cookies, candies, turkey, and chocolate pie.

Quarter To Five Popcorn.

I had to get up before 4 AM this morning to drive my parents to the airport.(They're off to Ottawa for a vacation.)  So I decided that after I dropped them off I'd go buy some popcorn at 7/11.  As I've noted before Saskatoon is still not really a 24 hour a day city, but you can still find stuff open this early.  And I imagine things are about to get busier as people head off for shifts that start at 6 or 7 AM.

Beyond The Five Second Rule.

Some people practice the so-called five second rule when it comes to food.  Personally I practice the no second rule, unless it's something raw that can be washed off.  But this of course doesn't apply in dreams.  Last night I dreamed I was cooking fried potatoes on the sidewalk.  At night, while walking on the same sizzling hot sidewalk.  Somehow I wasn't getting burned, and I also mused that I didn't have a problem cooking them this way, despite not wanting dirt on other things in my life. 

Dreams are weird, aren't they? 

Mocking The Clickbait 12: And They Can Stay There!

Putting Onions In A Zip Lock Is The One Hack You Just Have To Know.

I can actually sort of agree with that.  Putting onions in a zip lock bag is the best place for them.  Unfortunately these horrible people actually mean for you to use those evil creations later.  But don't listen to them.  Just say no to onions.

Turkey Sandwich.

I had a couple for supper, and I had to resist the temptation for a third.  They were very simple, just a couple of  slices of store bought sliced turkey, a couple slices of cheddar, some mustard, a bit of pepper, and white bread.  I threw a bit of Kraft parmesan on the second.

Compare that to the last sandwiches I had, last Sunday.  I got it into my head to make a couple of Monte Cristo sandwiches, since there was some sliced ham left over from a previous meal.  So I went out to buy some sliced turkey and some Swiss cheese slices.  I also threw in some cheddar.  In the end they weren't bad at all, but the egg batter didn't quite work the way I wanted it to.  There are so many different Monte Cristo recipes out there, and that variation includes how the egg batter is made.  No jam or other sweet stuff was involved in mine, since that isn't something I've seen with the restaurant versions I've ordered in Saskatchewan.

That Smell.

No, not the Lynyrd Skynyrd tune.  Rather the lovely smell of turkey is getting stronger.  It's nice to have turkey for Christmas.  So, I might be making you hungry.  On the other hand if you don't like eating creatures I might be making you less hungry.

A Cooking Tip.

If you're making Puritan Beef Stew try throwing some frozen peas in when you start heating it up.  They seem to work pretty good for me when I use them.

Big Snow.

If you were worried about Saskatoon not getting enough snow this winter your worries have probably been assuaged somewhat.  We got a pretty good dumping over the last 12 or so hours, and apparently we'll get some more New Year's Eve.   And the temperature won't be getting near zero for at least a week, so what's there won't be going anyplace.

I just did some shovelling, which will counter some of the calories I'm about to consume in the ham sandwich I'm about to eat.  It's a simple sandwich, with some slices of ham and a few pieces of cheddar on white, with mustard and pepper for seasoning.

Candy.

You might almost call that the theme of this Christmas for my family.  My parents and I both got quite a bit of candy from family and friends.  Some of mine I'll have to foist off on others, because it's not the kind I like.  Other stuff I'll end up keeping for my own personal use.

R.I.P.

I'm sorry.  Your existence ended all too soon.  You were wonderful.  Golden.  And now you're gone.

I really wish you'd been bigger, cake, because another few pieces of you would have been nice.

I Ate Too Much Today.

Seriously, I ate a lot today.  It's surprising I can still walk.  Fortunately for me I did do some walking today, and perhaps burned off a tiny little bit of what I ate.  Hopefully I'll eat a bit less tomorrow, but I wouldn't count on it.

New Toasters...

...are kind of a pain in the ass.  You have to tinker with them to figure out how to cook stuff to the level you like.  And modern toasters tend to make that a bit more complicated than the old ones.

It Never Ends.

I'm just about to go out and buy a few grocery items.  This whole eating thing sure requires time and money, doesn't it?  And you can never get away from it.

Caramel.

Delicious on ice cream.  But a sticky problem if you pour too much on and it starts to overflow the bowl.

You Are Hungry.

Of late I've been getting an uptick of hits on a post I wrote in 2009 about the disappearance of the Cadbury/Neilson Malted Milk chocolate bar.  That seems to happen every once in a while.  I wonder what it is that suddenly leads people to be thinking about that classic again.  Taking a look around this morning it seems some people think it's still available, but it's definitely not listed on the Cadbury Canada webpage.

Of course now I've got some of you thinking about it who hadn't in a long time.

Crackdown On Vice.

If I ever needed more incentive to cut down on my consumption of sugary crap now I've got it.  The prices of some of the donuts and cookies I eat have gone up.  I suspect other junk food will soon follow.  So I should really stop buying it, and save myself a bit of money every week.  I could also do to lose a pound or ten.

Redundant Adjective.

This morning I looked at an ad for Dennys Restaurants hamburgers, which mentioned "melty cheeses."  I've  seen that combination in other ads.  It seems a bit odd to me, as I'm pretty sure all cheeses melt, especially when you put them on top of a hamburger fresh off the grill.  I suppose if you used a thick enough hunk of cheese it might not melt much.