This idea came to me after purchasing a package of frozen pizza rolls. I won’t mention the brand but I will say that the taste is great but the price I paid for just 3 is a little high. I knew there had to be a way to have something at least close to the same flavor but at a less expensive price. If you like thin crust pizza, you’ll like my Pizza Tortilla Rolls.

These are simply made from tortillas, cheese, pepperoni and pizza sauce. I sprinkled the tortilla with cheese, added about 2 Tbl. pizza sauce down the middle of the cheese, made 2 rows of pepperoni down the center, carefully rolled them up and secured with tooth picks. Then I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese was melted and the sauce was hot.

These are perfect for lunches, snacks and even super bowl parties. They are easy and you can make as many or as few as you like. You can also change the meat if you like to ground beef, sausage, ham, etc. Or use an Alfredo sauce and spinach.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought I would give us all a little history lesson as to how this holiday came about.

February 14 was the day Rome honored Juno, the goddess of women and marriage. It was also the night before their spring festival called Feast of Lupercalia. On the eve of the festival, girls’ names were put into a jar and boys reached in and chose a partner for the festival. These often lead to marriage.

When Claudius II was emperor, he ordered all the Roman military not to marry, fearing it would deter them from being committed to battle. But, Christian priest Valentine decided to secretly marry those couples in love and looking to make it legal before the soldier had to leave. Valentine was arrested and put to death on February 14. He was canonized as a saint creating the holiday which became Saint Valentine’s Day in honor of priest.

Now we know a little history regarding Valentine’s Day.

I’ve removed Applesauce Cake from Martha’s Recipes. If you didn’t get it before now, you’ll have to wait until my next cookbook Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts comes out.

This was sent to me by a friend and I couldn’t help but share.

Beans and Gas

Beans have an unhappy reputation of creating an embarrassing byproduct of smelly gas. This gas which consists mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, is the byproduct of bacteria in the intestine breaking down the complex carbohydrates in the beans. Here is a flatulence rating for beans from the highest gas-producing to the least:

1. soybeans
2. pink beans
3. black beans
4. pinto beans
5. small white beans
6. great northern beans
7. baby lima beans
8. chick peas
9. large lima beans
10. black-eyed peas.

Reactions may vary according to intestinal length. As the body becomes accustomed to eating beans, you will find that this problem disappears. A product on the market called Beno supplies the digestive enzyme, Alpa-Galactosidase that will help you in the transition. Five drops of Beno before a meal of delicious beans, and I can tell you from personal experience, it really works.

Some believe that cooking with ginger or chewing on a peppermint leaf will help alleviate the problem. Another trick is not to cook the beans in the same water you soak them in. Unfortunately, you lose some of the nutrients in the water but your family and friends will thank you!

Eating fruits shortly before or after a meal of starches, such as bread or beans, will cause excessive gas. When simple sugar and starch are digested within 2-4 hours of each other, the starch slows the transit time of fruit in the intestine, causing fermentation and excessive gas.

This is a good one that offers many changes. You can change the crust by changing the cookie, change the filling and even top with fresh fruit. BUT, it’s been pulled for my next cookbook “Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts.”

Grocery Shopping Tips

I found these tips in Taste of Home and thought them worth sharing.

1. Always shop on a full stomach. If you’re hungry while at the grocery store, you’ll buy more. (I can vouch for this one)

2. Shop only once a week and go alone. (I’ve found that if I go to the grocery store more than once a week I always end up buying more than I actually went in for. Also, if someone is with me I’m distracted and in a hurry. Plus, they have a knack for finding items that I really had not planned to buy.)

3. Make a grocery list. (This one is so helpful. If I go in without a list I usually miss items that I need and buy items that I don’t actually need. Plus a shopping list allows me to check my shelves to make sure I’m actually out of or low on an item.)

4. Purchase non-grocery items at discount stores, not the grocery store. (In comparing prices, if I need items such as shampoo, detergents/cleaners, etc. I find the price difference between he grocery store and a store such as Wal-Mart to be a great difference.)

5. Shop farm markets for inexpensive and good-quality seasonal produce. (This isn’t always continent for me but when I am able to shop the produce markets I do find that I can buy cheaper and in larger quantities allowing me to freeze for another day.)

6. Plan a weekly menu by using the store’s sales paper. (This isn’t always one that I follow but it is good advice. It also saves time by allowing you to know exactly what you will be preparing each day instead of going to the freezer/pantry to decide can be cooked for a meal. I’ve actually found times that I actually can’t decide what to cook and go out to eat.)

7. Shop when stores are quiet so you can compare prices without feeling rushed. (I like to go early on Saturday mornings while most people are sleeping or still drinking their morning coffee. If the store is crowded, I always feel that my buggy is in the way of other customers so I rush and miss unadvertised sales or price comparing.)

I’ve just pulled Old Fashioned Date Nut Bread from Martha’s Recipes. It’s been moved to be included in my next cookbook “Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts.”

Robert Medak’s Review of:

Stir, Laugh, Repeat: Finding Joy While Playing in the Kitchen
Author Martha A. Cheves

This is not your ordinary cookbook. This cookbook, written for those that are not familiar with working in a kitchen; or did not have the luxury of being in the kitchen with their mother; grandmother, or even their father and learned the joy of cooking from them while spending time in the kitchen.

The recipes are simple comfort food and some that you may not have heard of. The point is to try them and learn to become comfortable in the kitchen and possibly pass on the joy of cooking to your children. There is no better way to spend time and have fun with your children then to work together in the kitchen as many children did years ago.

The anecdotes along with the recipes are fun to read on their own. What a treat to read while following the easy to prepare dishes in one pot. The recipes are easy to follow and create something special for one or a family.

This reviewer, thought back to the times he spent in the kitchen helping his mother by cutting up things, getting them ready for the pot. It does make for a special bond between child and parent.

For those that are single and avoid the kitchen due to lack of confidence around a stove, think of the sense of accomplishment when you create something yourself in the kitchen. We can’t live by take-out or the microwave all the time. We should strive to eat healthy most of the time.

This reviewer enjoyed Stir, Laugh, Repeat and awards it a five star rating.

Buying Cauliflower

When buying fresh cauliflower, look for heads that are compact and are free from yellow or brown spots. The leaves should be crisp and green. To store, don’t wash but wrap tightly in a paper towel, place it in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When you’re ready to use, wash and remove the leaves at the base and cut off the stem. If yellow or brown spots have appeared, remove by cutting them off.

Now, for a really great soup go to Martha’s Kitchen Korner and check out my Cauliflower Soup.

This is my little friend reluctantly eating his MEAT PIE!!!!!!!! He only ate one bite and he goes “I don’t like it” and giggled. I was like “WHO HATES MEAT PIES???!!!” It took my little friend to finish one meat pie in an hour! lol……… I love meat pie especially cottage pie with mashed potato on top, chicken pies or even cheese and bacon pies. MMMMM…….Maybe I love the meat pie because cause I am so used to the smell, the taste and texture. But there are also other foods I really hate because of the smell and the taste! YUCK!!!

• I hate eating rice on its own with only soy sauce (Yuck),
• Fish that has slimy skin (YUCKK!!),
• Bread on its own (BLAHHH),
• Marmite (another version of Vegetmite but it tastes really gross),
• Deep fried pig intestines cause its stinks!, fermented deep fried tofu (YUCKK!! smells like shit shit),
• Mam ruoc (Vietnamese Fish Sauce which SMELLS LIKE CRAPPP!! and it makes your breath smells like an addictive but rotten smell! I know I am Viet but oh man it smells like crap I can smell it a mile away!),
• Liver (probably cause I don’t know how to cook it properly)
• Really really dry food (I need something saucy or wet to eat with or DRY CHICKEN – yuck over cooked chicken should be chucked in the bin!…anything over cooked and that looses its juicyness is a NO NO!)
• Bún riêu (Vietnamese meat rice vermicelli soup). I don’t but I don’t like this dish at all! I hate it so much because it makes my burp smell like as if I regurgitated the acid and it smells acidic or something. It’s really embarrassing.
• Mushroom Soup! YUCKKKKKKK and Continental Instant Mushroom Soup!!! It tastes like cardboard!!!!!
• Aniseed when I bite into it!!!! ughhhh especially when I am enjoying a nice bowl of Special Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (Pho Dac Biet) and accidenly bite into one of those seeds!!

And the last food that I do not like is DURIAN. I don’t know why but most Asians love it for the velvety texture, the smell and especially the creamy cheesy like taste. For me I can’t really stand the smell. I can smell a durian metres away lol. My partner loves durian and he loves it with passion. I remember having my first durian when my friend got me to try it by force. She was like “it’s really nice! and it’s not cheap! Eat it!“. So she gave me a few durian pods (i don’t know how to describe it?) to eat. And I lied “mmmm yum it’s so nice” trying to not hurt her feelings lol. I can feel my gag reflex was going to go so I went to the toilet and spat the whole thing out hehe.

credit: http://www.nealford.com. (I can’t find a photo of the durian I took back in 2006. So this pic is temporary )

I don’t mind eating the durian ice cream but the fresh thing I just can’t lol.

credit: Wikipedia

Okay enough of me going on about my hate of some foods…

What about you? What foods do you hate the MOST!!!! (WITH A LOT OF PASSION)?????