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Healthy Crunchy: Three Guilt-Free Snacks You Can Make at Home

Healthy Crunchy: Three Guilt-Free Snacks You Can Make at Home
When I snack, I try to stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, but sometimes I want something with crunch, not the moist crunch of a carrot but the carb-filled crunch of a potato chip. When I get really desperate for a treat, I leave the pre-packaged snacks–with their fat, chemicals, and processed ingredients–on the grocery store shelves and make my own healthy snacks using natural ingredients that I usually have in my pantry. My taste in snacks runs from the very simple (baked tortilla chips) to the unusual (roasted okra). But my very favorite, the one crunchy snack that almost everyone loves, is also the easiest to make: microwave potato chips. I’ve been making these for years, and I even bought this totally unnecessary gadget, which I used exactly once. (You’re supposed to stand the potato slices in this piece of slotted, circular plastic from which, once they are cooked, it will take a bipartisan act of congress to get them unstuck. Microwave Potato Chips Ingredients Instructions

Easy No-bake Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes Cheesecake is my ultimate favorite dessert. It's been my weakness since I was a kid. I like any kind of cheesecake be it gourmet, homemade or even from a DIY box kit. These Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes will be the hit of your next gathering or even just an every day family dessert. Prepping and making the cheesecake into cupcakes is simple, as easy as if you were making the actual cheesecake itself, instead of into cupcakes form. Supplies: 1 boxed Cheesecake kit {plus ingredients called for}2 six ct muffin pans or 1 twelve ct muffin pan12 cupcake liners of your choice. 1. I couldn't begin to put reasoning behind it, but I swear these Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes are way better than if I were to make a whole cake and slice it into pieces.

Lazy Weekend Dutch Baby Pancakes There’s something to be said for a lazy pancake breakfast on the weekend, however it’s usually lazy for everyone except the cook! Which, in my family, means me… While everyone else in the family gets to lounge about, drinking tea and reading in bed, if there’s to be a pancake breakfast it means that I’m usually working at a flurried pace in the kitchen, trying to get everything ready before hungry stomachs decide that they can’t wait and reach for Friday night leftovers or toast instead… Dutch baby pancakes (also called German pancakes – though this is not the same as Apfelpfannkuchen), are very different to the fluffier, cakier pancakes that are common in Western cuisine. With no leavening agent and a very different flour : egg : milk ratio, the end result is denser and eggier, but that’s not to say that they’re any less delicious! Now, that’s definitely my idea of a lazy pancake breakfast! Dutch Baby Pancake (Slightly adapted from the recipe at About.com) 1. 2. 3. Serve however you wish!

Salted Fudge Brownies  I love a good brownie. To me, they offer one of the best returns on a time and effort investment in the baking world. There is usually no butter to soften, no sink full of dirty bowls, no long hours to wait for them to be ready to eat. You decide you want brownies? You can be eating them in under an hour with very little mess. This particular brownie is for all of you fudgy brownie fans. So, does this recipe fulfill my brownie checklist? Ingredients 3/4 cup unsalted butter 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 2 cups granulated sugar 3 large eggs 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon sea salt Instructions Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter and chocolate on low heat on the stovetop in a saucepan or in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until edges are set and center is a bit soft. Cool at room temperature for an hour. Brownies can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for a month. Notes

Growing Herbs Indoors Growing Herbs Indoors By Conrad Richter Herbs are hot or cool, depending on your choice of slang adjectives. Herbs that Grow Well Indoors Not every herb likes indoor life. You can grow parsley in pots, but I prefer to bring in established plants from the garden at the end of the season. Unless light is plentiful, growth of most indoor herbs will slow or even stop during the winter, even with enough warmth. French tarragon and chives in particular benefit from a cool period. My mother, co-founder of Richters Herbs, grows herbs indoors in window boxes. How to Grow Herbs Indoors Herbs are sun worshipers for the most part. Provide light. Acclimate plants gradually. A plant that is adapted to abundant light often turns brown and drops leaves indoors. Rosemary is a case in point. Soil, fertilizer, and water. Many people incorrectly think that herbs grow better in poor soil. Watering is not a trivial matter with herbs. Pests and Diseases Supplemental Lighting for Herbs • FLUORESCENT LIGHTS.

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies If you know me, you know that I absolutely, positively love cheesecake. Cheesecake anything. Cheesecake everything. I have sampled countless different varieties of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and I always come back to the Oreo cheesecake. Truth be told, I was pretty darn tempted to totally ditch the actual cookies and just eat the cookie dough straight up out of the bowl. If you love cheesecake and/or Oreos, you will totally adore these cookies! One year ago: Irish Soda Bread SconesThree years ago: Golden Brioche Loaf Yield: About 1 dozen cookiesPrep Time: 20 minutesCook Time: 12 to 15 minutesTotal Time: 35 minutes Ingredients:½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour ½ cup mini chocolate chips 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbsDirections:1.

Make Your Own: Candy There’s a reason why they put all that deliciously sweet candy up by the cash registers in nearly every store: if you had to find it at the back of the place, you’d likely decide against it before you got up front to pay. But you’re an adult, and once a child sets their sights on a candy bar, there’s no turning back. Instead of worrying about all of the sketchy ingredients, extra calories, additives, and possible allergens in popular packaged sweets, here are a few recipes to Make Your Own Candy right at home. Homemade Twix Candy Bar Recipe Twix bars are the best because they come in a delightful little pair. With this recipe, you can create that crispy crunchy cookie, smooth creamy chocolate and a sweet caramel taste in your kitchen. Homemade Peanut Butter Cups Peanut butter allergies aside, it’s hard to believe anyone could deny anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate. Homemade Gummi Bears Okay, so they aren’t really bears, but gummy stars sound just as cool. DIY Lollipop

Gluten, Grain, and Garbage-Free Chick-fil-A Nuggets Update: Please note that I’ve improved upon this recipe – check out the new version here. Over the past few weeks we’ve spent a fair amount of time out in town, shopping for gifts, and we have often found ourselves away from the house with no lunch plans. Chipotle is our emergency standby, but sometimes we’re tempted to grab Chick-fil-A since they’re everywhere (there are 30 of them within 20 miles of our house!). So I set out to recreate these chicken nuggets, and most importantly, reduce the ingredients list of this dish from 30+ ingredients down to 10 with minimal compromise on taste. You’ll Need: 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/4 cup dill pickle juice 1 egg, beaten 2 tbsp buttermilk or cream (coconut milk okay) 1/4 cup tapioca starch (potato or arrowroot starch okay) 1 tbsp paprika 1 tsp each salt and black pepper 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 dash ground cayenne pepper 1/2 cup lard or coconut oil for frying Step one: cut up your chicken into 1″ chunks. Like this: Like Loading...

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes What I have to share with you today is- undeniably- the best breakfast treat I’ve ever made… eaten… or shared with my readers. It’s even better than the original- those Cinnamon Roll Pancakes that have been adored by many. They’re the best pancakes ever. The key to making this recipe a success is the cinnamon filling. That cinnamon filling is swirled into a spiced-up pumpkin pancake batter on a hot and sizzling skillet. It comes out looking like this, cinnamon crater swirls and all. Time for drizzling the cream cheese icing. Sexy close-up to show you how spicy those spiced-up pumpkin pancakes are. I had to cut off a piece for testing. Have you seen that show, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate?” P.S. Print Recipe Save Recipe Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Yield: 8 pancakesPrep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 8 min This is just about the craziest, most decadent fall breakfast I've ever made.

Potatoes Romanoff - A Fancy Twice Baked Potato I’m totally ready for fall. I’m ready for super comforting meals that I get to eat while sitting at home, in my sweat pants, with my slippers on! And I’m ready for Thanksgiving. Too soon perhaps? Considering the fact that it’s still about 80 degrees here in LA, I guess this Potato Romanoff dish will have to do Twice Baked Potatoes have always been a favorite of mine, so when I saw this recipe for Potatoes Romanoff (something I had never tried before) I knew I had to make it immediately! Okay, here’s what to do… Start with 3 large russet potatoes. Wrap each of them up in tin foil. Stick them into a 425 degree preheated oven on the metal rack. Next using a box grater, or your food processor grater attachment, grate all of the potatoes. Chop up a few shallots Combine the grated potato and chopped shallots into a large bowl Pile on most of the white cheddar cheese. Add the salt and pepper Followed by a big dollop of sour cream. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and plop it on in.

How to To Make Your Food Taste Awesome | Easy Food Posted by admin on Aug 19, 2012 in Food Preparation | 211 comments In case you are not skilled with the food recipes and preparation, listed bellow are some of the easy food tips to make your meals delicious easy way. No matter you prepare breakfast, dinner or just a snack, the easy food tips are here to make your food even more attractive and awesome. Idea by Janice Kamide Images Source BuzzFeed broccoli and cheddar cheese twice baked potatoes i love potatoes. i haven't met a preparation of potatoes i haven't been a huge fan of. my favorite recipe is the best buttermilk mashed potatoes but these twice baked potatoes are now running a very close second. this is most likely due to the fact that i can consider these a meal because of the broccoli. i have had twice baked potatoes before and they run the risk of being kind of dry - but these are moist, luscious and creamy. the cheddar gives a good sharp bite, the broccoli makes you feel good about eating them and the half and half and sour cream are responsible for keeping them perfectly moist. i added lemon zest for a bit of extra flavor. i love the addition of lemon zest in mashed potatoes so i figured it would work here as well. the potatoes could be used as a side (1 serving) or a main course (2 servings) with a mixed green salad. i hope you enjoy them as much as i did. optional 3 medium scallions , white and green parts sliced thin (about 1/2 cup) - i omitted

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