nutritious junk

I recently posted about my kitchen essentials.  Being spring and all, i am guessing its a good time to do some cleaning. The number one enemy of cleanliness is clutter, and clutter feeds off stuff you think you need and it just kinda hangs there, cluttering you space, aura, feng shui etc...  So heres some foodie things i find useless (for me personally, you'r entilted to think otherwise):

How fitting, my salad final is in literally half and hour and here i am writing a review for store bought salad dressing.  Indeed! Actually, i have to present two plates each of two different appetizer sized salads in about an hour! and i have no clue which salads until the class begins! that aside, it would be easier if it was all bottled up right? so i tried the kraft "light done right" in ranch.  a serving (2 tbls) is 77 calories, 6 g fat, 3 g carbs, a 1 g sugar.  Not terrible like some dressings can be, but it is "light" so maybe its watered down?

Happy mother's day everyone! lets face it, breakfast is a mother's day staple and most women for some reason prefer crepes to pancakes.  So why not try these protien infused ones.  This is great for kids too if they aren't getting enough protien (it can be effective to hide protien in stuff they think is carbs). enjoy!

Its strange but I was never much of a potato chip or popcorn eater.  For salty, carbyn snacks, I lean towards pretzels and tortilla chips.  So when the lovely people at Popchips (they are lovely because they provided me with plenty of samples!) sent me over their new salt and pepper popchip, I was having my doubts.  And salt and pepper? On a potato-esque chip?

Ok, i admit it, I am a condiment whore!

As an aspiring chef, i actually dont rely on many cookbooks and hence haven't bought one in quite some time. And sadly, its a bit of a dying art thanks to online recipes on the internet.  But I was at the Los Angeles Time Book Festival last sunday, mainly to meet some of the top chef contestants and Padma Lakshami who gave a cooking demo (which didn't involve much cooking since everything was basically made out for her ahead of time).  But in order to get these B list celebs to sign, i needed to purchase the top chef cookbook.

I've mentioned before, if not here than perhaps on my personal blog (this waif cooks) that I get a bit irritated by 100 calorie packs.  Simply because they aren't usually any healthier, they are merely portion controlled snacks that hence also have more trash (not very eco friendly) and sometimes, portions can be pathetically skimpy and leave you so dissaistifed, you simply grab another (because besdies vending machines, who really sells a SINGLE pack of these).

I mentioned a while back how I have this little weak spot in my appetite for hot dogs, as in, I really like them!

I realize i review a lot of food products and only about a handful of actual gadgets and tools a year, but i thought i would give you my personal list I find the most essential for the kitchen (and since starting culinary school, this list has been altered!).  Many chefs/homemakers have these essential lists of their own and everyone is different but these are mine, enjoy :)

1- Flexible cutting mat for easy, cheap, chopping! no need for expensive wooden ones, flexy kinds take up less space too!

Diets are so uncool that South Beach Diet divorced it's "diet" last name and ran off with his "living" mistress.  ok, but to be honest South Beach, it was the south beach that was a bit of a turn off as well....Anyhow, sundays are fun because at my local safeway, they hand out promotional samples!