Apr 30 2013

Weekly Meal Plan: April 29-May 3

Posted on April 30, 2013 by thepoli3

Still unsure if you want to create your own meal plan? It’s ok, here’s ours. You can steal it, use it to get ideas, or just be nosy and judge us for what we’re eating. Enjoy!

Monday:

Southwestern Chopped Salad (recipe coming soon)

Tuesday:

Lobster Rolls & Baked French Fries *Also see: How to Cut & Cook a Lobster Tail + Recipes

Wednesday:

Chicken, Bacon, & Avocado Chopped Salad

Thursday:

Bits and pieces of Antipasto Salad mixed with parts of Italian Stallion Salad

Friday:

Authentic Louisiana Red Beans & Rice

Sep 3 2012

The “Real Best” Hot Dog

Posted on September 3, 2012 by thepoli3

Happy Labor Day! What do you plan on doing for dinner? More than likely, you’re BBQ-ing like the rest of America. So whats better than a delicious, juicy hot dog to kick off your family BBQ? Today we are trying 3 of the best hot dog recipes out there! Since these can be re-built the same way the next day, there is no leftover test, as they should be made right before eating every time!

The contenders:

The nitty-gritty:

Each hot dog was scored on a scale of 1-10 (where 1= that’s food? and 10= the best hot dog that has ever entered my mouth) for overall score and the boyfriend/husband test. We also provide other comments.

Cubs-Chicago Style Hot Dog

Overall score: 9

The boyfriend/husband test: 7.5

Comments: These were really good! I was unable to find a poppy seed bun but I think it actually tastes better on a plain one. This hot dog has a lot of veggies which I enjoyed because they complimented the taste of the hot dog but hubby said it was too much. All in all, it was a delicious hot dog and I will definitely make them again around here!

Detroit Style Classic Coney Island Hot Dog

Overall score: 8.5

The boyfriend/husband test: 8.5

Comments: Yum! Thought this was very good. Very much liked the flavor of the chili. Easy to make and inexpensive meal. Fun for Labor day.

Philly Dog

Overall score: 8

The boyfriend/husband test: 6

Comments: I really liked these; they tasted just like a Philly cheesesteak! However, my boyfriend thought they were just ok. In the future, we’d get larger hot dogs, because with the hoagie bun, there is a lot of bread!

The winner:

Detroit Style Classic Coney Island Hot Dog

* Don’t forget to check out our real best burger and real best lemonade tests for your Labor Day BBQ’ing needs!

Special Diets:

While we can’t guarantee the results, here are some ideas you can use to customize the winning hot dog to your dietary needs:

Gluten-free: Use a gluten free bun.
Lower fat: Use turkey hot dogs
Lower sugar/calories: Use turkey hot dogs, cut some of the sugar, and use lean ground beef.

Jul 1 2012

The “Real Best” Burger

Posted on July 1, 2012 by thepoli3

Nothing is better on the 4th of July than the classic American standby: The burger! Find out what the best burger recipe is so you can please your patriotic palates this Independence Day!

The contenders:

The nitty-gritty:

Each burger was scored on a scale of 1-10 (where 1= that’s food? and 10= the best burger that has ever entered my mouth) for overall score, the boyfriend/husband test, and the leftover test. We also provide other comments.

The Hungry Cat’s Pug Burger Recipe

Overall score: 9

The boyfriend/husband test: 7

The leftover test: 8

Comments: These were pretty good. Next time I would make them without the blue cheese!

Guy Fieri’s Killer Inside Out Burger with Worcestershire Tomato Ketchup

Overall score: 7

The boyfriend/husband test: 7

The leftover test: 7

Comments: I was so sad that this burger was just not good… there are so many ways to make it better but here are the main problems:

Need to season the beef (there was no seasoning what so over, just the stuff in the middle)
WAY too much beef (this recipe calls for 2 pound of beef but only makes 4 burgers… they are HUGE… and take a bit longer to cook then the recipe says)
Need to disperse ingredients throughout the beef (instead, you just put the yummy-ness in a hole in the middle… only get a few real good bites)
Need to put extra cheese on top (only cheese is in the middle)

This burger was a decent amount of work and it just did not live up to the time and money I put into it. Many people could tell you I (Jen) am a ketchup connoisseur (note from Megan: She really is. She even puts ketchup on macaroni & cheese…) and the ketchup here was just ok… nothing special, or that I would make ever again. Hubs said it was “okay” too but definitely not worth all the time he waited for it… the leftovers tasted exactly the same. Overall, I would try this again but mix the ingredients into the meat, season the meat, and make smaller burgers as a whole!

Allrecipes.com- Bacon Wrapped Hamburger

Overall score: 5

The boyfriend/husband test: 8

The leftover test: 8 (according to the boyfriend)

Comments: I (Megan) didn’t really like this burger. It was really dry and not super flavorful, in my opinion. In addition, it took FOREVER to get the bacon to cook (I’m still not sure it cooked all the way…), which caused the burger to be way overcooked. However, my boyfriend loved it. If I made this again, I’d definitely precook the bacon and add cheese at the end. But.. I probably won’t make this again.

The winner:

The Hungry Cat’s Pug Burger Recipe

This burger is sure to please on a hot, summer, 4th of July day! Enjoy!

Special Diets:

While we can’t guarantee the results, here are some ideas you can use to customize the winning burger to your dietary needs:

Gluten-free: Check your grocery store (or a specialty store) for gluten-free kaiser rolls or gluten-free hamburger buns. Double check that everything else you plan to use is also gluten-free!
Vegetarian: Skip the bacon, and consider other options instead of the sirloin… for instance, black bean burgers!
Lower fat: Use ground turkey instead of ground sirloin, and turkey bacon instead of regular bacon. Also, look for lower fat mayo options.

Jun 26 2012

Pinterest Tested: Mashed Potatoes with Bacon & Cheddar

Posted on June 26, 2012 by thepoli3

I hate when that happens.

I had my doubts about the many recipes floating around on Pinterest when I first signed up and saw so many photos of skillfully photographed food being re-pinned over and over on my feed. I wondered ‘So it looks good but does it actually taste good’? After making a few ~~disasters~~ recipes I soon realized the answer. I’m sure you have experienced the same. In order to save you time and money we will be testing out some of the most popular Pinterest recipes every so often to give you the lowdown.

Lets begin… a while back I pinned this lovely looking photo of Mashed Potatoes with Bacon & Cheddar. As I was making hot dogs (one of my husband’s favorites… such a refined palate, I know) one day I decided this would be a good side item. So I whipped it up and here is the photo to prove it, followed by my rating below:

Overall Rating: 6 (scale: 1-10)

Cost: $$ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Thoughts: I thought it was pretty good. Not as good as our Mom’s mashed potatoes, but pretty good for mashed potatoes with bacon & cheese in it! Hubs hated it. He didn’t even finish the scoop on his plate, which he usually does. Sadly, that means this dish will not be making an appearance in our house again. There was an entire pack of bacon, about 2 bags of shredded cheese (I added more to please the hubby), a block of cream cheese, and decent amount of sour cream in this, so it had a lot of ingredients that are decently priced if you don’t get your money’s worth out of them, which happens around here when hubs refuses to eat things.

Do you have any recipes you have pinned & tested recently? How did they turn out? Also, do you have any Pinterest inspired suggestions you’d like us to try out first? Leave a comment and let us know!

- J

Jun 6 2012

Easy, Quick, & Cheap Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Posted on June 6, 2012 by thepoli3

These are AMAZING…

Jen’s Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

They are also cheap, quick, and easy!

All you need are 3 ingredients:

1 Pre-Cooked Rotisserie Chicken
BBQ Sauce (my favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s)
Hamburger Buns

Simply pull apart shreds right off the rotisserie chicken and place into a bowl, once finished, place contents of bowl into a large saucepan over medium heat, and immediately pour in desired amount of BBQ sauce (I used about 3/4 a cup of BBQ sauce for 1 whole chicken), stir to cover chicken with sauce, and let stovetop bring to a heated temperature, stirring often. I left mine on the stovetop for about 5-7 minutes, stirring to ensure all chicken is covered in sauce. Then, wrap buns in paper towels or set on a paper towel lined plate, and microwave for about 10-15 seconds to warm. Finally, scoop desired about of pulled BBQ chicken onto a bun (I put about 3/4 a cup on each bun) and enjoy! So easy, quick, cheap, and delicious! This whole meal cost me about $10 max! Picky husband approved! Mine went back for thirds! YUM!

-Jen