Quality Coconut Oil

How do you decide?

Coconut oil is my favorite oil not only to cook with, but to use on my body as well. Spill a bit on the counter? Rub it on your elbow and feel fantastic. What other product is like that AND smells amazing? Speaking of that, do you know how to tell which coconut oil is the best to use in your cooking? 

A friend of mine said that her coconut oil had no scent or flavor at all, and when she melted it, it turned a little yellow. Ick! Coconut oil needs to have a light scent and taste from its source: coconuts! It also should be white when solid and clear when melted to be of good quality.

What oils do you like to use when cooking? What coconut oil do you use? Tell us in the chat!

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Creamy, Cheesy Chicken

It doesn't get any simpler than this!

Looking for a super easy and super CHEESY dinner for tonight? Try this low-carb creamy, cheesy chicken recipe. While my husband is doing low-carb, he doesn't like ranch, so I wanted to find something cheesy without the flavor to make for dinner. We usually only use the protein for half or a quarter of the plate, with vegetables or salad as the remaining half or three-quarters, so I think this two-breast recipe may be enough... although my tween can eat a lot these days!

We aren't onion fans so I will likely substitute some garlic instead. I also like to buy spice mixes from Penzeys that work really well for added flavor without adding salt or anything you don't want into the dish. Before I cooked with cream cheese I thought it was a bit on the gross side (I know, I'm weird) but it really does help add creaminess without compromising flavor.

What are you making for dinner tonight? Share your recipes in the chat.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage
Home Cooking

Easy Pesto Chicken

The perfect low-carb meal

If you've ever quit sugar, as I have a few times, you know that your first week can be a cranky one! This easy fresh basil pesto made the week much easier on my family. It gave a tasty edge to some plain chicken, making us feel like we were getting a treat. We paired it with some green beans and half a plate of salad (low-carb means lots of veggies, people! You can't live on protein alone!) and it made a really good meal.

Basil pesto is great on noodles, too, so whether you want some on actual pasta or spiralized veggies, it will work. And if you don't want to make your own, you can get it really cheap at the supermarket. I've bought it at Aldi before for about $2 per jar.

What do you do with your pesto? Do you add any variations, like mint or parsley? Share your ideas and photos in the chat.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Quick Tikka Masala

Use your instant pot!

This recipe for tikka masala in an Instant Pot is so exciting! My best friend gave me an Instant Pot when she got a new one as a gift (her original had also been a gift, so we both win!) and we make a LOT of Indian food around here. It's just the easiest for me to make when I have half an hour on my hands and the flavors are loved by everyone in the house, which is pretty rare. So the fact that I can make it in an Instant Pot is very cool.

The fact that the recipe also includes low-carb variations is also great since my husband and I are going back on that route this week. We tend to feel better when we do, but he hates cauliflower, so that's out for him. 

What Instant Pot meals have you been enjoying lately? Share your recipes with me in the chat!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Hearty Winter Oatmeal

Keep those energy levels up!

During the winter months, many of us get the blues or simply feel like hibernating. There are plenty of scientific reasons why, most notably the lack of light and sunshine, which you can help remedy with a light therapy lamp. Your energy levels can also dip, which makes eating for energy so important. One thing you can eat to help stabilize your energy is oatmeal.

What's awesome about oatmeal is that it's as versatile as can be, with your mind as your only limit, and it's a good delivery system for any nutrients you can pack into it. You can pack your oatmeal with antioxidants and healthful nutrients and get so many requirements met in one meal! When my daughter was a toddler, I'd add honey, blueberries, cinnamon, flaxseed and other healthy ingredients to her plain oatmeal and boy did she love it. I sure wish she still did at age 12!

What do you like to put in your oatmeal to make it hearty and healthy? Share your recipes in the chat.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Your Best Latke Recipes

Share yours in the chat!

It's that time of year again--time to enjoy some delicious latkes for Hanukkah! These delicious potato cakes can be made in several different ways and are always delicious. While this recipe promises the best crispy latkes, it doesn't even include matzoh meal, which is traditional for many Jewish families. They are also pretty thin, while some latkes make much thicker cakes. It's really down to your preference.

If you'd like to combine a funny story with your latkes, you must check out Lemony Snicket's The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming. It's one of my daughter's favorite holiday stories and it will make you laugh so hard!

What is your go-to latke recipe? Share it in the chat below.

 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Home Cooking

Breakfast in Japan

Is your breakfast anything like this?

Miso, fish powder, pickled plums... are these the typical things you'll find on your breakfast table? They are in Japan! An adorable little girl is sharing what she normally eats for breakfast in this fun video that's both educational and cute to watch for the whole family. Some of the things she eats, like "octopus" sausages and rice, are things that we eat for lunch in my home, but not for breakfast. How about yours?

The charming host shows us how to mix up fermented soybeans, how tamagoyaki is is made and even how she enjoys her tofu and spinach in her miso soup. She also shows how everything is eaten with chopsticks, except for soup, which you drink as if it's from a cup.

Do any of these foods seem familiar to you? What does breakfast look like in your home? Share photos and recipes in the chat!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Boska Oak Partyclette To Go Set

The perfect gift for your foodie

I'll have to admit that I had NO idea what a partyclette was before I saw this product and now I want one! A partyclette is basically a fondue-to-go maker that uses candles to slowly heat your cheese (or whatever else you want to heat in the device). It's designed for raclette, a type of swiss cheese, but you could use it for other cheeses as well. You might be able to use it for chocolate but I doubt it would get hot enough for cooking oils since it's only used with candles.

That said, this device makes it easy for you to have fondue anywhere, even outdoors, which is pretty romantic as well as nom for the foodie! I've seen a few cool ones but I linked to one that's partly made with wood because I think it's pretty. It's also one of the more affordable ones that I found. 

Have you ever used a partyclette? Do you like raclette cheese? Share your favorite recipes and spice blends in the chat.

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Oprah Has a New Line of Soups and Sides

They look pretty tasty!

I've never been a fan of "hiding" extra veggies in foods for nutritional value alone. I like vegetables and their flavors and think they should be made stars! That said, if you already have a veggie dish and you just want to cram in more nutrients, I suppose that's a good idea; I do that with smoothies, after all, and I don't want my smoothies to taste like greens, which is why I add in plenty of fruit.

Oprah Winfrey has a new line of soups and sides with "hidden" veggies, but most of them are already veggie-based, and they look pretty good! Soups like baked potato, butternut squash, broccoli cheddar and tomato basil all have hidden nutrients like carrots, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Sides like mashed potatoes, alfredo and cheesy pasta contain cauliflower, white beans and/or butternut squash. They all contain no artificial flavors and look more nutritionally sound than many similar products, although there are still more ingredients than I like to see.

Will you be trying this new line of products? As a soup lover, I am excited to try a couple of them out. Let us know what you think of them in the chat!

 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Is the Recipe Really Dead?

Methinks not

Recently celebrity chef Tyler Florence said that the recipe is dead. He was referring to all of the different kinds of ways that there are to cook now with so many technological advances, but it seems like a pretty ludicrous statement to me. How many Good Housekeeping magazines, TV shows and general families rely on recipes every single day?

Anytime a friend posts a photo of a meal, what does everyone ask for? "Recipe please!" There is an endless rabbit hole of food bloggers on the Internet and new recipe books released every day for the people who eagerly await new recipes from trusted sources.

Obviously I don't think the recipe is dead, but what about you? Do you think it's dead or is it alive and well?

Photo courtesy of wikipedia

Klat Categories: 
Home Cooking

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