If you have read any of the diet books written in the spirit of “Eat this, not That”, then you may already know that making right food choices can spell a huge difference in terms of calories. It is rather amazing how certain food products will taste the same and yet have significantly varied ingredients. This actually has both a positive and a negative implication. The positive one is that eating healthier does not necessarily mean depriving yourself of a flavorful diet. On the other hand, the negative is that unless you are careful of what you and your family eats, you may well be reaching for bad products whenever you go grocery shopping.

Making your meals healthier does not mean missing out on all the good stuff. It simply means making a few tweaks here and there to take out some oils, fats, sugars and calories. In this article, we share 10 easy ways to do it. Read below and introduce your family to healthier eating to improve their health and sense of wellbeing.

1. Plan ahead. You can’t really make better meals without the right ingredients, and this takes preparation. Too often, we fall into the temptation of eating fastfood or frozen dinners when there is nothing else available. Keep your pantry stocked, and make sure that there are always great choices that can be eaten in a matter of minutes, even if it’s just yogurt or fresh fruit. After all, if you’re really hungry to are more likely to just reach for a candy bar than wait to make lean burger patties from scratch.
2. Use your oven more. Baking or grilling your food is much better than simply frying it. Take note that a tablespoon of cooking oil contains about 150 calories of fat—obviously, by deep frying, you are adding thousands of calories to a single meal.
3. If you must fry, do it wisely. Fried food will likely remain part of the typical person’s diet but you can make it less damaging. When frying, always make sure that the oil is at the right heating temperature before you throw the food in.
   Otherwise, more oil tends to be absorbed. Also, always use a paper towels to blot excess oil; simply line a plate with some paper towels and place freshly fried food in it for a few minutes before transferring to a serving dish.
4. Pay attention to portions. You can eat what you want and not gain too much weight if you make sure to eat just the right portions. Try using a bread and butter plate instead of a full-sized dinner plate.
5. Drink water a lot. Water helps fill you up without adding any calories. Also great for flushing out toxins from the body.
6. Avoid aspartame. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used in diet sodas and other low-calorie substitutes. Sure, it does not have any calories, unlike sugar. On the downside, it has been found to actually stimulate the appetite and promote weight gain.
7. Try to be social during mealtime. If you tend to eat alone or in front of the TV, you are probably consuming as much as 50% more calories. Engaging in pleasant dinner conversation instead of shoving food in your mouth while staring at the screen leads to mindless overeating.
8. Wait for 20 minutes before going for seconds. It actually takes your brain about 20 minutes to decide whether or not you are still hungry.
9. Be wise to healthy substitutions. For instance, rather than slathering mayo all over your hotdog, go for mustard instead. It’s fat-free and only has about 5 calories per tablespoon.
10. Go to bed before midnight. Clinical studies have proven that people who go to bed at reasonable hours and get at least 7 hours of sleep each night are less likely to become overweight. Midnight snacking is really a bad habit because eating when your metabolism is already on downtime means that the calories will be stored as fat rather than burned for energy. Also, we tend to overeat and make poor food choices when we feel tired than when we feel well-rested.

Author Bio – Jacob Seeley is a Manager at coolflexmattresses.co.uk/- for the ultimate memory foam mattress range. Coolflex is a UK company that provides memory foam mattresses made of the latest advanced visco-elastic foam as well as a full range of mattresses, beds, divans and memory foam pillows.

Picture – B*2

Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside – these crispy potato slices make for a great snack or accompaniment for a number of meals, and are perfect drizzled in vinegar and sea salt. These make any roast dinner extra special on a Sunday.

Serves the family.

Ingredients

2 large cooking potatoes (sliced into 3mm wide slices)
4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
Teaspoon of salt and pepper

Instructions

Once you have washed your potatoes and removed any excess dirt, start by cutting each of your potatoes into 10-12 slices, depending how big your appetitive is or how many stomachs you have to feed. I created a variety of sizes, ranging from 1cm in thickness to a lot thinner. Enough for the family.

Heat the oil on high for about 5 minutes in a frying pan. Once heated, carefully add the slices into the oil. I did this in groups in 10. Alternatively, you can spray the slices with cooking oil. Keep your distance from the pan whilst placing the slices in as they will bubble and fizz when they initially hit the hot oil.

After 2 minutes have passed, turn each of the slices over individually, making sure none of them burn. Do not stir. After another 2-3 minutes, as they begin to turn into a golden brown colour, remove the slices from the pan and place them on a wire rack over a plate to drip dry (or use a colander as an alternative). They should not be completely done as they will start to crumble otherwise.

Cook all of the potato slice batches in this same way until all of them are done correctly. You may need to add additional oil as the oil will evaporate during this process. So replace the oil as and when required.

Once the slices were brown and out of the pan, we coated them in vinegar and popped each of the slices into our built in gas single oven for 5 minutes to crisp up.

After the short wait, we removed them from our oven, seasoned them with salt and pepper before serving. These were our choice of seasonings, but they are entirely optional. Alternatively, you can provide dips – whatever takes your fancy.

These crispy potato slices can be served before, during or after your main dish as they make for a great accompaniment with a number of meals… especially alongside our Sunday roast.

Allegedly the sandwich was invented by the John Montagu, better known as the 4th Earl of Sandwich. This is a little bit like saying the Spanish “invented” America but let’s go with myth before we explore the truth. There are two versions of the “invention of the sandwich” myth; the first being that his Lordship was a very busy man dedicated to the numerous irons he had in numerous fires. His career involved commitments to the navy, the arts and politics. Unable to find time to spend hours at lunch he simply came up with the idea of putting lunch between some slices of bread. The alternative version is that the Earl was equally committed to gambling and didn’t like to leave the gaming tables during an all-nighter. Either way the ingredients included two slices of bread, meat and a servant or two. Of course, the fact that this handy snack was pioneered by an Earl hides the reality that food scooped up or wrapped in various types of bread has been part of nearly every culture that’s ever existed. The original convenience food the “sandwich” had circumnavigated the globe long before anyone worked out that the latter was round. Here are some favourite varieties.

The BLT

How come this sandwich is so good? It’s so simple, but perhaps that’s the trick with sandwiches? Simple, delicious and downright tasty. Toasted it’s even better and of course, loads of mayo is a must, but it’s got to be one of the quickest and easiest to make. It even works with the bacon cold? How is this possible?

Slimmer’s Choice

For slimmers the chip butty is a no, no. Yet they are a hard to resist no, no. Possibly responsible for sounding the death knell to more diets than any other British food, the chip butty is not so much a sandwich as a necessary part of life. Possibly this one should be included in those new-fangled citizenship ceremonies. It may come as a surprise to learn for many of us that the chip butty is one part of British culture that many overseas visitors can’t wait to sample. I’m a fan, but I wouldn’t cross the globe to try out some fried carbohydrates stuffed in between more carbohydrates.

Or Would I?

OK, maybe I would, because I have to admit the Japanese ‘version’ sounds rather tasty. The Yakisoba sandwich features the obligatory bread but is filled with deep fried noodles. A tasty sauce is liberally sprinkled all over the noodles and although the noodles make it look a bit like a spaghetti sandwich, the chip butty principle underlies the idea.

Croque Monsieur

This is an absolute classic and a classy one at that. Trust the French to try and show us up with their lightly toasted, cheesy, ham concoctions. I’d like to say something negative about this, in the interests of centuries of cultural warfare, but I can’t. They’re delicious, simple and easy to make. This is the perfect winter lunch “sarnie” if ever there was one. I’m sure we must have come up with it first, but I can’t just lay my hands on the evidence.

The Pie in a Bun

A pie in a bun; you probably won’t find this one in many other “world’s favourite sandwiches” lists. It featured on the list of favourites phoned into a chat show on Radio Scotland earlier this year. Between fits of slightly hysterical laughter the presenters managed to force out the phrase: “now… giggle……there’s……ha-ha……..Scottish….. titter, titter……. cuisine……for…..you …” in the end they decided a “fried pie in a bun” would be a better National Dish. I’m afraid this makes that English chip butty look like a Weight Watchers meal plan; but I’d be prepared to give it a go.

Author Bio
Whatever your favourite sandwich the ingredients are typified by their ease and convenience. For those with a regular veg box delivery the ingredients for some of the most famous sandwiches will always be ready to hand. Except, perhaps, in Scotland.

Picture – Arnold – Inuyaki

When my old, awful oven finally gave out, I had a decision to make. I used to joke that the stove had two settings: two hour boil and flames licking the top of the pan. A friend nudged it with her hip while walking by once and the whole kitchen filled with fumes. But, even though my gas stove was wretched to the point of being dangerous, I knew that professional chefs swear by the precise control of gas ranges. So, I did a little research on my options and came up with pros and cons for each category.

Gas Stoves

As I said, gas cooking comes with a certain level of control. It can prevent burning, while also making a quicker boil.

Con: The most obvious con of a gas stove is that in an all-electric household, you’re complicating your bills.
Pro: If you’re equipped for gas, it can be a money saver. And, if you don’t want to deal with cleaning an open range, check out newer models, which often come equipped with removable, dishwasher-safe coils and drip pans.

Electric Stoves

Electric is a popular alternative to gas. There is a wide variety of models available, with different numbers and sizes of burners, including a specific simmering burner in many cases.

Con: A flat ceramic cooktop is elegant and easy to clean, but it shows small scratches and burns and is difficult to replace.
Pro: While the stovetop may stay warm longer after cooking, indicator lights and even automatic shutoff is available for safety reasons. As an added bonus, cooks with limited space (or a double oven) can install an electric range right on the countertop.

Induction Stoves

At the higher end of the price range are the induction stoves. The burners actually stay cool to the touch – all heat is transferred directly to the vessel, saving on energy usage.

Con: Of course, besides the prohibitive start-up costs, it also only works with stainless steel and cast iron, so copper or glass cookware would go to waste. Warped pans apparently vibrate loudly, though the stove itself is relatively quiet.
Pro: It’s an electric unit, but it heats with the control of gas. Not to mention, it won’t heat up the kitchen.

After evaluating all of my options I was very tempted to purchase the induction stove. It’s modern and high-tech, and with my little nephew coming to visit once a week, I liked the thought of a burn-free kitchen. However, as I spoke to more people, they kept coming back to the benefits of gas. Besides cost and control, some of the arguments were downright sentimental, like fond memories of charring a pepper right on the range, or making s-mores during a blackout. It’s a homier type of cooking, as silly as that sounds, and it inspired me to give gas a second try. This time, though, I’m going for a much newer model. It’s easy to clean, instantly cool when the flame is off and it lets me sauté and stir fry like a pro.

About the author: Maire enjoys cooking while blogging on the behalf of Sears and their other quality products.

Picture – RD Vortex

Beef

Make sure you look for a lean beef when making this recipe. Lean beef is known to be a very good source of protein. It also adds several servings of vitamin B12 and B6, which helps convert toxins in your body to energy. If you suffer from too little good cholesterol (or too high bad cholesterol), lean beef is extremely high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help contribute to your good cholesterol levels. Finally, beef is rich in phosphorous and iron, which helps contribute to strong teeth and bones.

Sea Salt

When picking out a sea salt to use with this recipe, you want the most natural ingredient possible. Try for a sea salt that is sun dried. This sun drying process leaves bits of sea life in the salt, resulting in high amounts of iodine. Celtic sea salt is almost always sun dried, as well as red sea salt. The bigger the grains of salt, the better. You’ll want to put them through a grinder when you’re cooking, but when it’s packaged in larger grains, you preserve more of the nutritional value.

Peppercorns

Peppercorns are the only natural resource known to reduce the amount of gas in your intestinal tract, which helps decrease bloating. Peppercorns are also filled with an abundance of antioxidants, while you may not know it by accidentally biting into a whole peppercorn, pepper actually prevents bacterial growth throughout your intestinal system, and you only need to consume a little bit. Ideally, you want your peppercorns as fresh as possible, with organic food stores being the best option for your health.

Water Shallots

While most people would use onions, the nutritional value of water shallots is far greater. The body can digest water shallots much faster given their sweeter composition. This bulb of the onion plant is full of vitamins, including vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, iron, and calcium, which complements the nutritional value of this dish perfectly.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is a good fatty acid that’s loaded with antioxidants, which protect you from heart disease, while promoting healthy digestive system and easing pains that you may suffer from ulcers.

For the ingredients, you’ll need cream, beef, water shallots, beef stock, maize starch, olive oil, Celtic sea salt or red sea salt, and black peppercorns.

The nutritional value of beef in a creamy peppercorn sauce is extremely beneficial, while still remaining a low calorie meal. One serving provides about 23 grams of protein, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 23 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber.

Picture – Jeffrey W

For breakfast I rely on three things to happen.

1. I must start the day with a delicious meal
2. Breakfast must be filled with energy to get me off to a good start for the rest of the day
3. It has to be EASY to make (for when I’m rushing out of the door on my way to work!)

This tasty peanut butter porridge recipe ticks all of the boxes. Not too sweet and not too bland; a simple one-pan meal, ready in minutes! I prefer porridge for breakfast, but one member of my family enjoyed it for dessert occasionally when I was growing up. Whatever takes your fancy.

Peanut butter and apple were my personal choices, but this recipe can easily be replicated using alternatives, depending on your tastes. Change the ingredients below to suit your taste buds.

Ingredients

40g Jumbo Porridge oats
Tablespoon oatmeal
100ml milk mixed with 150ml water
1 small apple, cubed.
40g sugar free crunchy peanut butter (go smooth if you hate the bits!)
A pinch of salt
Jam topping of choice, I’ve gone for strawberry, but pretty much any work, apple sauce goes pretty well too

Here’s how I produced this peanut butter and apple porridge breakfast:

Instructions

1. Place the oats, oatmeal and salt in your bowl and leave them to soak in the water/milk mix for about 5 minutes. Whilst you’re waiting you can switch on your hob and quickly get dressed for the day ahead.
2. Once the time had passed, I cooked the mixture on our medium heat induction hob for a few minutes to get the mix bubbling. When the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the heat and simmer for around 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
3. Once the mix has started to bubble, throw the peanut butter into the bowl and stir constantly all of the time to allow the peanut butter to mix in properly with the rest of the ingredients.
4. The next step is to chop up the apple and add to the bowl. Stir again to prevent the bottom from burning. The more you continue to stir the ingredients, the creamier your porridge will turn out.
5. After a couple of minutes, the oats will have soaked up most of the liquid. Once you have reached this stage, your porridge is ready to serve!
6. Top the porridge with a scoop of jam or a preservative of your choice (fresh fruit is always a good choice) before you begin to dig in! This is one of the most tasty, healthy recipes I have made to start the day. Try it for yourself.

Recipe by Barrie.

New Technology

Recently, the Japanese company Suzomo introduced a new product at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo in Tokyo. Their original product came out in 1981. Their new counter top machine is not much bigger than the coffee machine you probably already have. According to Suzumo’s website, sushi-making robots will help everyone to experience the traditional taste of rice. One sushi bot can make 3,600 rice mounds per hour while another one makes 300 medium-sized sushi rolls in a single hour. Their machines are used in more than 50 countries. Look for their latest model to appear in U.S. markets soon.

How They Work

The food processing and packaging manufacturer, Suzomo, strives to make machines that recreate the handmade taste experienced sushi chefs create. Using leading-edge technology and business practices, designers and engineers build machines that anyone can use. All you have to do is simply load cooked rice and add vegetables. With the Norimaki SVR-BRX robot, anyone can use the rolled-up function to make California rolls. Several companies compete with Suzomo, including Robotic Sushi and Taiko. The company makes products designed for fast-food restaurants, supermarkets, hospitals and schools: It’s a growing industry. Competition can only mean rapid advancements in usability, which is good for consumers, home cooks and caterers alike.

Will This Change the Food Service Industry?

Despite the availability low-cost of automatic coffee makers, ubiquitous coffee shops such as Starbucks thrive in our busy society. Will sushi bots replace trained sushi chefs? This probably won’t occur any time soon. For many sushi fans, the allure involves the experience of watching your meal created before your very eyes.

It does seem, however, that these robots will make this Japanese delicacy more accessible to cultures unfamiliar with techniques used to make it. Over time, cheaper robots may replace humans. This technology seems alluring, as long as the machine is cleaned thoroughly (by humans, presumably.) It’s one of those rare catering supplies that has the potential to make a business incredibly popular and incredibly efficient.

Assembling sushi takes time and effort. A sushi robot sounds like an attractive alternative to all the hard work and expense. In reality, making good sushi this way still requires human intervention to ensure the fish and vegetables are fresh and the machine functions properly. Want to make sushi at home like a pro? Until a machine can also shop for the best fish, slice it correctly and cook the rice properly, you might want to take some sushi chef lessons, just in case.

We all love a good barbecue, but all the planning and cooking that needs to get done beforehand can sometimes be more stressful than it’s worth.

A barbecue is supposed to be about relaxing and having fun!

Here are some quick and easy recipes for tasty treats that can be made in five minutes or less, avoiding those last minute panics…

1. Middle Eastern Lamb Recipe

Picture – Girl Interrupted Eating

What You’ll Need: Lamb chops, olive oil, rosemary, houmous and lemon

How to Make It: Drizzle the lamb chops with olive oil and a sprinkling of chopped rosemary, then pop straight on to the barbecue and grill for a couple of minutes either side.

Pop on a plate with a dollop of houmous and squeeze the juice from a wedge of lemon over the top.

How to Eat It: Add a little culture to your typical British barbecue with this Middle Eastern inspired dish!

Serve straight from the grill whilst it’s still sizzling hot, with a fresh green salad on the side.

2. The Perfect Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Picture – Trenttsd

What You’ll Need: Ketchup, bay Leaf, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika, Tabasco, lemon, salt and pepper

How to Make It: Empty a bottle of ketchup into a small sized saucepan and add in a bay leaf, three tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and one of mustard and a dash of paprika.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the mixture and add Tabasco to taste – if you’re not into anything hot and spicy, a few drops will do! Then bring to the boil and simmer gently for a couple of minutes, before seasoning with salt and pepper.

How to Eat It: You can simply serve this as a hot dipping sauce, or it can be used as a delicious barbecue marinade for everything from pork ribs to chicken wings. To marinade, coat the meat in the sauce and leave in the fridge overnight to really let the flavour soak in.

3. Traditional Coleslaw Recipe

Picture – Michael Phams

What You’ll Need: Plain yoghurt, caster sugar, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, carrot, radishes, spring onions and celery

How to Make It: Perfect for beginners, this easy recipe simply requires you to grate the carrot and radishes, thinly slice the spring onions and celery, add a teaspoon each of sugar, mustard and vinegar and then whisk it together with the yoghurt.

How to Eat It: No barbecue is complete without a side of coleslaw!

Just pop it in a big bowl on the table with a serving spoon and let your guests dig in.

4. Thai Beef Salad Recipe

Picture – gogatsby

What You’ll Need: Sirloin steaks, gem lettuces, cucumber, fresh coriander, fresh mint, cherry tomatoes, red chillies, lime, sesame oil and roasted peanuts

How to Make It: Pop the steaks onto the barbecue and cook for a couple of minutes either side. Meanwhile, break the lettuce up and toss with a quarter of a cucumber that has been finely sliced, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced chillies and the mint and coriander leaves.

When the beef is ready, thinly slice it and add it to the salad, then drizzle with sesame oil and lime juice and sprinkle over a handful of peanuts.

How to Eat It: This salad is equally delicious hot and cold, so you can make it the night before and simply bring it along to the barbecue in a Tupperware dish.

5. Classic Banana Split Recipe

What You’ll Need: Bananas, Neapolitan ice cream, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, whipped cream, chopped nuts, glace cherries and fan wafers

How to Make It: Peel the bananas and slice them lengthways.

Pop into a serving dish and fill the centre with a scoop each of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice-cream.
Drizzle with the two sauces, add a squirt of whipped cream and sprinkle chopped nuts and halved cherries over the top. Add a wafer fan to decorate.

How to Eat It: Don’t forget the perfect dessert to finish off your barbecue!

This iconic American dessert is an over-the-top mixture of flavours that kids and adults alike are sure to love.

You could even lay out the different ice-creams, sauces and toppings and let everyone create their own banana split!

Whether you choose to make all five recipes for a ‘twenty five minute’ barbecue, or simply pick one out as a quick and easy side dish, I hope you found these barbecue ideas useful. Have any other ideas for fast-cook platters?

Leave me a comment below!

Author: Estelle Page writes for Capital Gardens, an online garden centre who sell everything you need for that perfect summer barbecue, from the grill itself to a range of rattan garden furniture to get your garden ready for all those guests.

Ingredients

• 6.5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups Arborio rice, uncooked
• 1 pound of sliced white mushrooms
• 1/2 medium zucchini, cubed
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

• Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe dish for two minutes. Coat rice in the mixture. Lightly cook rice for four minutes. Remove from microwave, add four cups of broth and cook uncovered for nine minutes.

• While the rice is cooking, heat the remainder of the olive oil on medium heat in a large saucepan. Place mushrooms in pan and cook until soft (about four minutes). Drain liquid and place mushrooms aside.

• Heat the remainder of the butter in saucepan. Stir in zucchini and sauté until translucent and soft.

• Remove rice from microwave and stir well. Add the rest of the broth and cook another nine minutes, uncovered. Remove finished rice and stir continuously until the rice absorbs the rest of the broth (about four minutes).

• Add the mushrooms and zucchini and stir well. Add grated Parmesan cheese until you have a creamy consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This recipe makes about six servings. Overall cooking time is around 30 minutes, making this dish an ideal choice for busy folks on the go. Enjoy a home-cooked meal that tastes expensive without having to navigate a difficult recipe or spend hours in the kitchen.

Maire enjoys cooking, blogging on behalf of Sears and other quality products and playing with her Scottish Terrier, Pete.

Chili is a comfort food with many regional variations, including recipes that favor beans, those that only use stew meat, or less-common types like white chili made with chicken. Sometimes great-tasting chili is the result of a willingness to try something that might be deemed a little unusual, such as adding chocolate to a recipe (i.e., Cincinnati chili). Although chocolate may not be a standard ingredient in chili, its use in the well-known entrée will add depth and intensity to an otherwise-ordinary dish. Luckily for cooks across the country, the ingredients for a great chocolate chili are common enough they can be ordered from any grocery delivery service. Here’s what you’ll need to get started.

Ingredients:

(For the seasoning blend)
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano

Mix together the above ingredients in a small bowl to make a seasoning blend and set aside.

(For the dark chocolate chili)
2 ounces of 70% dark chocolate
1 pound of coarse ground chuck
1 15-ounce can of petite diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can of large dark-red kidney beans
1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-size onion, finely diced
Chili seasoning blend

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven.

2. Add diced onion and cook for five minutes or until translucent.

3. Add ground chuck and cook completely over medium heat.

4. Add the chili seasoning blend and coat the meat and onion mixture well.

5. Gradually add kidney beans with their liquid, the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce.

6. Stir thoroughly. Allow ingredients to come to a boil.

7. Add cocoa powder and reduce heat. Let chili simmer for 90 minutes.

8. At the 1½-hour mark, add the dark chocolate, stirring as it melts so the flavor infuses the entire pot.

9. Cook chili for up to 30 more minutes. The longer it cooks, the more intense the flavor will be.

10. If desired, serve on a bed of cooked rice. Serve and enjoy!

To make a spicier chili, add cayenne pepper or Hungarian paprika to the seasoning blend. Keep in mind that chili will be even better a day or two after making it as the flavors will have had time to mingle. Consider garnishes like shredded cheddar cheese, minced green onions, or a dollop of sour cream. While you enjoy your chocolate chili, give some thought to entering your dish in a local or regional cook-off. You might just take home the top prize and influence others to add a little something different to their next batch.

About the author: Maire loves cooking on the weekend and recently served a very well-received chocolate chili at a family gathering. In addition to blogging on behalf of Sears and other brands she trusts, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their Scottish terrier, Pete.

Picture – Whatleydude