Coca Cola is Making Milk Now?!?!

Last week we bought a slick new milk called FairLife.



I'm not going to lie, it tasted delicious, and they say they have 50% more protien, 30% more calcium, 50% LESS sugar, and NO lactose.

As we did a quick little video on our thoughts I kept saying, "what's the catch?"

Turns out there are a loooot of catches.

1. For starters, the name FairLife, sounds organic right.  (Can you hear the fowl buzzer in your ears?).....not organic, "Fair" comes from the name of the farm "Fair Oaks".

 2. On their bottle they say they believe in the well being of their cows....so much so that on their website they put a cute little spin on the description of a feed lot saying that they are "sheltering the cows from the elements"...they are allowed to walk around freely in their stalls.  If you look on their website the stalls look pretty tiny, but slightly spaced out...but on visitors photos the cows look a million times more crammed together.



3, Their slogan is "grass to glass"...the grass they are talking about is grown across the street from the cows! (Can I get a WTF?)

3. The actual milk gets a little strange.
             a.  They are ultra pasteurizing the milk which destroys the whey.  Whey helps you digest lactose.  Their solution?  Add lactate enzymes!  (The med you would take if you were lactose intolorent that would neutralize out the lactose....so meds for everyone!)
             b.  The lactose is the sugar...you take away the lactose your lowering the sugar...so how should we make this sweet....add artificial sugar...but of course! Hahahaha.
             c.  They brag that there is 30% more calcium, but your body can only process so much calcium per hour....so that extra calcium is not helping, unless you are drinking smaller portions.
             d.  They are bragging that there is more protein, (which I'm kind of excited about) but a lot of nutritionists argue that the average american gets plenty of protein.

So for a price point that is three times more pricey than "generic" milk, you can buy DIET milk.

I've gotta admit, it makes me feel full, it tastes pretty good...but really coca cola?  Remove all the lactose and replace it with artificial sweetener?

That's a pass from me!  My friends were shocked I was even willing to give it a try...but I was open to the idea, until I did a little research!

Here's the video explaining all of the catches we found: What's Wrong With Fairlife Milk?

Night Shift in Kansas City

My husband and I both have been working night shift for over 4 years (9 years for me) and we are always on the hunt for late night restaurants to eat at.

I thought I'd share what we've found so far. If any of you people passing by know of another restaurant please share it!

For starters, grocery stores:
We have found Sunfresh in Westport and Hyvee in Overland Park are good solutions.  Walmart and CVS both have 24 hour locations, CVS even has a 24 hour pharmacy.  (HyVee is my choice grocery store...the big one on 95th and Antioch is amazing - they have a large produce section and a decent organic section, I just adore them.)

For food you've got the low brow choices:
Taco Bell is open until 2am most nights 3am on the weekends
There's a 24 hour McDonalds several places in the city
Wendy's is open until 1:00am
Jack in the Box is 24 hours
Panchos Mexican Food (24 hours)
Town Topic (there are two of them really close together, one is 24 hours the other is not)

Then you've got the obvious 24 hour diners:
IHop
Steak and Shake
Denny's
Chubbys (in westport)
Winstead's

And for a little nicer food:
Old Chicago is open untill Midnight M-Wednesday and until 2am on weekends!
Buffalo Wild Wings is open until 1am most nights
Sullivan's Steakhouse is open until 11pm on the weekends
On the Boarder is open until 11pm
YJ's Snack Bar is open 24 hours Thursday through Sunday.
Sarpino's Pizzeria is open until 4am!

And if you stay up all night you can go to Einsteins Bagels at 6am (they have lunch sandwiches you can order even at 6am).

Where do you go to eat late in the nigh in Kansas City?

The Most Beautiful Vegetable I've EVER Seen

HyVee is is my grocery store of choice.  I love Whole Foods and Trader Joes...but HyVee is open 24hrs and has THE best fresh produce selection.

I swear I've been introduced to more variety at HyVee than anywhere else.

So what's the newest most beautiful vegetable I've discovered this week? Teenage Romanesco, also known as German Romanesco, Brocoli Romanesco, Romanesco Cabbage....the names seem to be endless.

It was derived in Itally, fairs well in the cold weather climates, and it tastes like a cross between cauliflower and broccoli (only a little nuttier).

They are saying you treat it just like you would broccoli or cauliflower. I served it raw with ranch dip, but it's also amazing steamed with cheese on top.

Like any green it's got vitamin A, iron, calcium, and fiber, but what I find shocking is 1.5 cups of romanesco has 145% of your needed vitamin C and 2.4 grams of protein!

This vegetable looks so cool it's my new "go to" for parties.  It looks like a fractal, which will pique the interest of almost anyone...so much so that I've even given it away as a gift. (yeah, I know, I'm weird).

Go find it!  It's the most amazing thing out there.

When one aims for a strange Christmas gift....

My husband is super talented at finding just the right gifts for me, but this year, he fell down an unusual path. Knowing I love exploring food...good and bad...he found a list of the most unusual foods out there and decided to go after chocolate made with camel milk.

The chocolate it's self was not bad, but I wouldn't rank it in the top 25 best chocolates.  He bought me two bars, one high in cocoa (which tasted pretty normal) and a milk chocolate bar high in camel milk which tasted...salty, very salty. (One friend said the milk chocolate bar had a mildly coconut taste to it....personally I didn't taste it).

This of course led to lots of discussions with others...Would you drink camel milk?  Would you drink other animals milk, like rhino's or hippos?  Personally, I decided, yeah sure...anything except cat, dog, or rodent....but this lead to some strange internet searches - apparently horse milk is popular in Europe.  They say it has a burnt caramel taste...until that day it didn't occur to me that dolphins and whales produce milk (I know they are mammals, but I've never seen their boobs)...and of course, almost any animal you can dream of, someone out there is selling it's milk.....

Including Whole Foods.  Last night when I was in Whole Foods, I found my camel milk...strait up, in a bottle..in the freezer section.  $20 for 16 ounces.  So there I was, faced with the reality of the question - would you try...no thank you!

Cold weather = fire = s'mores

In Kansas City once a year they have a WaterFire festival.  (This years festival is TODAY, in the plaza at sundown).  They float 55 bonfires in brush creak and play live music while floating down the creak.  It's actually rather moving to see hundreds of people flock around the fires peacefully watching the flames/occasional performance.

Last year while my friend group was sitting at the WaterFire festival my boyfriend and a few others decided we should have marshmallows. My boyfriend, who can solve any problem in the most efficient yet humorous way, decided we should get a remote control boat, attach a marshmallow roasting stick, and presto....drive the boat to the fire, drive it back when it looks to be cooked.  He actually found a boat on clearance this summer, and was quite delighted with his plan.  Personally I'm terrified the police may misread the situation as a bomb threat, so I think I've talked him out of his shenanigans. *cue the booing crowd*

But, with all the talk about WaterFire and illegal s'more making, one of my friends decided to have a small bonfire at her place after the festival.  So now I'm contemplating what kind of s'mores I should bring to the party - classic or something fancier.  I've done s'mores with cinnamon graham crackers, a smear of nutella and a marshmallow.  I've also done the classic using andes mints instead of hershey's chocolate...I've seen the suggestion to add a smear of peanut butter to the classic s'more (which sounds delicious!)...not sure yet, still looking for my magic recipe.

All I can say is I know I'm not bringing jumbo marshmallows.  While they look awesome, we learned last year that they are just too big.  They don't have the right ratio of gooey warm marshmallow wrapped in a thin crispy golden shell. (They are so big that in the end the center is always still mildly cold/uncooked).

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather.  Get some pumpkin ale (or pumpkin ice cream), have a bonfire with marshmallows, caramel apples...and if you live in the Kansas City area, by all means go to the WaterFire fest. http://www.waterfirekc.com/index.html

Booze Cakes

I hate to sound like a lush, but the BEST cookbook I own is a little book called Booze Cakes.  I've made about a dozen recipes out of this book, and not one of them has been a flop.

In general, I prefer to find my recipes online, because of the beautiful system where people can rate the recipe and add their comments...If the recipe has 1000+ five star ratings I know it will be a winner, and I always scan the comments to see if everyone is saying to cut the baking soda in half, add a splash of pineapple juice, etc.

But this little book Booze Cakes has the best pictures, very clear instructions, suggestions at the bottom of the page for 'tweaking/altering the recipe,' and as I said, I've yet to make a bad cake from this book. It's great!

I will say, some of the recipes end up being quite pricey.  Basically if I have to buy a few different types of alcohol that adds up quickly, but I'm ok with splurging when I know it will be a stellar cake!  And when you take cupcakes, a jelly roll, or a fancy cake to a party that is reeking of alcohol you know your the cool kid. Everyone wins.

In other words - BUY THE BOOK!  YOU'LL THANK ME!
http://www.amazon.com/Booze-Cakes-Confections-Spiked-Spirits/dp/1594744238/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347180460&sr=8-1&keywords=booze+cakes


If your into cakes, here's another interesting site
http://0bcb6edb2leo0w5wdvrsuzaodg.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=YUMMYARTS

Baked Kale Chips?

So I've heard a lot of rumors lately of how awesome baked kale chips are. They are easy to make, healthy, and a great substitute for potato chips.

I'm not really a potato chip fan, but my boyfriend is a serious snacker and veggie hater, so I instantly fell in love with the idea of a 'green chip.'  How great would that be to replace the worst food on the planet with the best food on the planet?!?!?

All you have to do is pick up some fresh kale from the grocery store, wash it, dry it, tear it into bite size pieces, drizzle a little olive oil and salt...then bake 10-15 minutes, and presto...magic green chips!

However, these magic green chips are super fragile, and if you chew them long enough, I swear the kale will rehydrate itself and BAM bitter veggie taste. Not so yummy.

Needless to say my boyfriend did not swoon at the new food option.  He did eat them and I think he'd eat them again, maybe, but they are no potato chip...and I waited a few days to see if maybe they are something that gets better with time, but they don't get better...they get stale and chewy really quick, they almost taste like kale flavored gum, and I swear the kale smell gets worse over time.

Sounds like a great snack right?  Do not be fooled!  This is not a green potato chip!  I mean it's 'fun,' it's different....maybe if I had an afternoon tea group I would serve a bowl of dried kale along with some other munchies like pitta and hummus...but I would never bring baked kale to a potluck meal for fear I would be dubbed the insane woman who brought health food (gasp).