Postings from my other blog...

With the movie “Julia and Julie” coming out, its been advised that I blog my recipes… which would be easy if I followed or wrote measurements down. So I’ll be giving tips and rough estimations – stop following directions and cook from the heart people!!

CHEATS – There are ALWAYS cheats in cooking! Here are some of my favorite ideas (and mistakes.)

Things I always have on hand and why:
GARLIC
Garlic in a jar (minced or crushed)
I LOVE garlic, I add it to almost anything I can. I keep it in the fridge and it lasts and lasts. I get nervous with fresh garlic cause I’m not sure when it goes bad (if it ever does) and HATE chopping it or mortal and pestling it. The jar solves all problems – lazy Cyndii is happy again!
Garlic powder (dried/spice)
See above
Not garlic salt – I like just the powder. I will salt on my own. Without the salt its an easy way to turn toast into garlic bread or as a great addition to delivery pizza – yum.
Oh yes I do add garlic powder to dishes that I have already added my minced or crushed fridge garlic
Onions
Minced onions (dried/spice)
I also love onions. Something about minced dried onions just adds a more pungent flavoring along with fresh/frozen onions. Warning – do not add these after cooking is complete unless you want the crunch.
Frozen diced onions
Cheap in comparison to fresh onions. Work just as great when cooking. You don’t have to worry about crying because there’s no cutting! I throw these into everything I can. Lazy Cyndii happy again.
BUTTER
Real butter is for cooking. Fake butter is for spreading. You cannot recreate Ruth’s Chris’s filet mignon in margarine.
Worcester sause
I just discovered this tasty treat at Troy’s house within the last year and where has it been all my life!!! I pretty much add this to any beef dish I’m making from hamburger to T-bones. Now that Troy needs a healthier lifestyle, I use it in ground turkey and ground chicken. I also add it to my famous crab dip. I think I might result to drinking it one day.
Cheese
All of my cheese dishes contain one or both of the following:
Velveta – mmmm fatty creamy goodness
Muenster – stringy and thick

Thats enough for now. I’m sure it wasn’t as exciting as you thought. I also always have my wok – which I cook everything in (eggs, spaghetti sauce, ground meats, veggies…) and SHARP knives. I can’t stand dull knives. It makes life so much easier when everything cuts like butter (pronounced “bud-ah”)