WhoNu?

WhoNu?

Recently introduced, this Oreo type cookie claims to have a much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal, as much vitamin C as a cup of blueberries, as much vitamin A as a cup of cottage cheese with fruit, as much vitamin E as two cups of carrot juice, as much iron as a cup of spinach, and as much calcium and vitamin D as an 8 oz glass of milk.

I had to buy these cookies and try them for myself.  Well, I thought that these cookies had to taste bad because they sound so healthy!  Wrong.  They are delicious. WhoNu? chocolate sandwich cookies taste just like Oreos.

Unfortunately, the advertisers neglect to inform you of the sugar content.

Three cookies is considered a serving (yeah, right and ice cream is 1/2 cup for a serving).
These three little morsels have 14 grams of sugar.

5 grams of sugar  equal ONE teaspoon of sugar, so do the math.  3 little cookies equal almost 3 full teaspoons of sugar.  I don't know about you, but WOW, that is a lot of sugar.  Also consider you are, if you are like me, going to eat at least 5 cookies, making the total sugar 5 teaspoons.

Oreo cookies have the same amount of sugar and calories, but only have 1 gram of fiber per serving as compared with WhoNU? which has 3 grams per serving.

Oreos have no vitamin C or vitamin A, only 2% calcium, and 10% iron where as WhoNu? has 25% vitamin C, 20% vitamin A, 30% calcium, and 20% iron, PLUS 20% vitamin E, 25% vitamin D and 20% B12.

I guess if you are going to eat a bunch of sugar, it's better to have lots of vitamins and minerals added then not.

Personally, I do not think this snack is worth the calories-160 calories and 3 teaspoons of sugar-for just THREE cookies, for both the Oreo brand and the WhoNu? brand.

This is my 10 year old son's dinner one night. I really believe if it looks interesting to children, they will try it more than not.  This is cheese tortellini in olive oil and garlic with parmigiana romano cheeses, steamed spinach lightly tossed in butter and salt and pepper, followed by mini kiwi balls.  I made the kiwi balls using my strawberry hauler!  My son ate every bit.  He does like spinach, asparagus, green beans and broccoli already, but hey, everybody likes a pretty plate.

While working in restaurants, I found this is the best way to store lettuce, trust me, it really works.

Take your lettuce, soak entire head in cool water, shake off excess water, remove bruised leaves and cut two inches off the top, place upside down in plastic container and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

This will keep your lettuce fresher longer than if you left it in a bag, plus you take what you need and put back the rest.  It's already clean and will be so crunchy and fresh, you won't believe it.

My son, Bobby and my brother in law, Don.  We were having lunch at the Orlando, Florida airport before my son and I had our flight back to Philadelphia.  In this photo, from the top, lettuce wrap with chicken, potato chip nachos, and finally, pot stickers.  Wonderful, fabulous tasting food.  Cannot think of the name of this place, but it is a must if you need some food before your flight.

Ahhh delicious watermelon.  Yes, this is me in my early foodie days!

Tons of cooking shows

I am a chef, I love to cook wonderful dishes for everybody I know.

Being a chef, you would think I would not want to watch Hell's Kitchen, Chopped, Master Chef, Top Chef, Next Food Network Star, Extreme Chef, Next Iron Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, Bar Rescue, Restaurant Impossible, Dinner Impossible, and Bitchin Kitchen, but I love them!

I will watch ANYTHING about cooking ANYTIME of the day or night, even after working a 10 hour shift as a head chef.

I guess it's my obsession, my love, my life.

Grilling time

Gosh, I cannot get enough of grilling when the temperature rises above 90.  Not wanting to heat my house during the summer, the grill does come in handy, plus the taste is great.

At least once a summer, I create a dry rub for my pork spare ribs ( on sale of course) and then grill away.

I use:
Salt
Fresh black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
brown sugar

Make a paste and rub on several pork ribs.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Light the grill and over low-medium heat, cook ribs for about 15 minutes, turn and cook other side for 10-15 minutes.  Use a GOOD meat thermometer.  Ribs are done at 170 degrees. Slice along bone to separate, place on platter and serve with a good homemade BBQ sauce.