The Consuming Brain: Personality may predict if you like spicy foods

The Consuming Brain: Personality may predict if you like spicy foods: Can you believe that a love of spicy food may correlate with personality? That explains my jalapeño-like temper!  Personality may predict i...

Low Cali Margaritas

I have to admit...I drink...ALOT!! And I don't mean water! Although after a long night, I usually need drink a lot of water the next morning just to recover. And because I love Mexican food, I of course love margaritas! But when you're getting close to menopause, you have to watch every calorie so I had to start devising low cal ways to be able to imbibe without packing it on the backside.

Source: By Jon Sullivan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

So the following is my Low Cali Margarita recipe:

Low Cali Margarita

1 part tequila
1 part lime juice
1 part lemon juice
Ice
2 parts bubbly water
1 spoonful of Splenda

Add all to a glass and stir!!

Pretty easy, huh? And it tastes pretty close to the real thing...and if you drink enough of them you won't even care!

Crispy Potato Roast

Ok this isn't actually that spicy as it currently is but it looks so yummy that I had to write it up! A beautiful Crispy Potato Roast! "A roast from a potato?," you wonder...well not eating meat at every meal isn't a bad thing and this would be enough to satisfy me for dinner on a cold, blustery night.

Credit: Angela Stevenson, Joyously Domestic

I found the actual recipe on Joyously Domestic which I think is a really neat family food blog. The recipe is actually from Martha Stewart originally which is how I came to make it several years ago. When I made it then, it turned out fabulously...lots of oohs and aahs at the table. So I am going to make it again this year for Thanksgiving. Especially since I have never been able to make edible mashed potatoes for some reason. This will thankfully bypass any mashing requirements.

Spicy Zucchini Brownies

Because I can't eat most deserts made with eggs and dairy, I am always on the lookout for recipes that have something sweet and something kind of healthy! I found a recipe for Zucchini Brownies that I have simplified for those of us who are allergic to something. I added the spices: ginger, cinnamon and pepper to add a little spicy kick to the sweetness...I hope it is the right balance! Here is the recipe:

Spicy Zucchini Brownies

Makes 1 9x13 inch pan

1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 sugar (I use Splenda as a sugar substitute)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour (I use corn flour)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon corsely ground pepper
2 cups shredded zucchini

Frosted Topping
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (I use coconut spread or oil)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup milk (I use coconut milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

2. Mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add to the sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the zucchini. Pour into the pan.

3. Bake for 25 minutes.

4. Let the brownies cool. Mix together the cocoa powder, butter or margarine,. Allow to cool. Mix in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend together well. Spread over cooled brownies. Cut into squares and serve.

Mexican Food NYC-style!

Wherever I travel, I try to have some kind of Mexican food since there is none to be had (that is edible) in Canada. We spent the weekend in NYC and had our final meal before hitting the road at Trece just south of Union Square. It was so good for East Coast Mexican. The corn tortillas were tender and light. The carne asada and cheese enchillada was delicious and I pretty much wiped the plate clean to get all the enchilada sauce which didn't taste like it came from a can (it's really easy to make from scratch...I'll post the recipe later). Here's the pick from Trece:

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a thing for Mexican food. If I go too long without I start getting irritable. My stomach is notorious for cramping, constipation and wrenching from much of the everyday foods other people eat (like bread, cheese, eggs, and the list goes on). Mexican food like a lot of ethnic type foods has a minimal amount off the things that I can't seem to stomach and a maximal amount of the stuff that seems to make me feel good! And I don't mean the Taco Bell style stuff that can cause internal bleeding for me...but the home cooked, So Cal infused, throw together stuff that makes the house smell yummy and causes me to bring out the tequila and dejected looking lemons at the bottom of my fruit basket. Now I live in Canada right now not Cali so most of the ingredients are either contraband (I hope border control is not reading this) or home made (for better of for worse), but this is food that even my picky donut eating family has come to love and a few of the men in my clan have even been given coveted cooking rights to. 1 example is my favorite...Manly Man Salsa Fresca.

This gets my my stove averse husband something to do that both of us can ooh and ahh over when it is ready...and the chopping seems to work out some kind of tension or aggression (my husband likes to take the hammer to defunct cell phones when we upgrade which is really bad for the environment but somehow manly???) And he can do this while watching TV (there aren't many of those tasks he can do that with).

also This is a great way to use up wrinkly looking tomatoes you find lurking in the back of the fridge or a bounty of tomatoes for the garden or farmers markets

Manly Salsa Fresca

12 tomatoes (any kind will do but my husband insists on beefsteak looking things)

2 medium sized onions

1 whole jalapeño

1/4 c. Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Cilantro leaves

1. Chop all veggies

2. Throw in a large bowl and pour on the lemon juice

3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper

4. Mix and mash together

5. Let sit while you find the bag of chips

6. Taste add salt if it needs it

7. Serve it up

8. Ask yourself was that easy enough...uh yeah!

PS: you can double this for a party or cut it for less but this salsa gets better tasting as it sits and stews ffor a few days and you'll have a great 0 points WW snack when you get home from work for a,few days!

Spicy food on the menu 6000 years ago - life - 21 August 2013 - New Scientist

Spicy food on the menu 6000 years ago - life - 21 August 2013 - New Scientist