Lunchtime Links for April 29th, 2011

• The Kitchn: Healthy snacks to have with lunch.
• Serious Eats: Japanese snacks with toys. 
• My Recipes: Pan-fried chicken.
• Real Housewives of Orange County: Recap from TVGasm.
• Bethenny Ever After: Recap from TVGasm.

Love, Love, Love: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack

Another stop during T and her hubby G's visit here was the Ben & Jerry's in Dupont Circle - mainly because I had a 1/2 price coupon for there and I had to use it all in one visit, haha.  I took this opportunity to try out the Late Night Snack ice cream, woo!

...and yes, the whipped cream topping was necessary to get us over the minimum amount to use the coupon, thankyouverymuch.

The Late Night Snack ice cream consists of: Vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl & fudge covered potato chip clusters.  Hands down the best part of this ice cream is the fudge covered potato chip clusters.  Sweet, salty, chocolatey but crispy, so good!  I really enjoyed this ice cream and thought it was a unique addition to the Ben and Jerry's lineup.  Give it a try if you're a fan of sweet and salty flavors! 

Lunchtime Links for April 28th, 2011

• The Kitchn: Cleaning a greasy stovetop.
• Top Chef All-Stars: Recap from TVGasm.  
• Little Bitty Bakes: Cadbury mini egg chocolate chip cookies.
• Harper's Bazaar: Interview with Lady Gaga.
• Ramen & Friends: Trader Joe's bento box.

Foodbuzz: Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax Bread

I recently received a loaf of Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread, courtesy of Nature's Pride and Foodbuzz.  Clearly I wouldn't be able to eat this whole loaf by myself in a reasonable amount of time, so I wrapped and froze the loaf in 2-slice packs for me to eat through.  

Here are some of the notable stats about this bread:

- 100% whole wheat bread made with pure olive oil

- Good source of Omega 3-ALA

- 22 grams of whole grains

- 100 calories per slice 

I've use this bread for savory sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, and toasted with Nutella spread on top.  For all of its nutritional factoids, this bread doesn't taste too healthy, if you know what I mean.  Clearly, you wouldn't mistake it for regular white bread, but it wasn't off-putting or grain-tasting, which I liked.  The way I figure it, if you're going to be eating bread anyway, might as well make it somewhat healthier for you, right? 

Thank you to Foodbuzz and Nature's Pride for sending me this bread to try out- I'm happy to have it in my kitchen and I'll keep an eye out for it the next time I buy sandwich bread! 

Lunchtime Links for April 27th, 2011

• The Kitchn: Guide to cured meats.
• Pregnant in Heels: Recap from TVGasm. 
• Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives: Copycat Levain cookie recipe.
• Serious Eats: Dan Dan noodles. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting.

Pillsbury Biscuit Pork Steam Buns

If you've ever had Chinese dim sum or most Asian foods, chances are you've heard of/tried steamed buns before.  In Japan, these are often called "nikuman", and they are pretty common in supermarkets, department store food halls, and even convenience stores.  My mom had heard about using Pillsbury biscuit dough - yup, those blue tubes - to make these, and we just had to try it out for ourselves to see if it really worked.

We made a basic pork dumpling filling, flattened out the biscuit rounds, and wrapped a little bit of the filling into each round. We then pinched the top of each bun tightly, making sure that there weren't any holes.  Due to the steaming process, if there are any openings in the buns, they could explode, haha.  We steamed them in a covered pot for about 10 minutes or so...   

Turns out - this method totally works!   While the buns themselves turned out smaller than most nikumans, the consistency and taste were pretty much spot on.  Once steamed, the dough doesn't taste anything like biscuits, and they have a soft texture throughout. 

Ok, so they aren't the prettiest things to look at, but they tasted great!  I would highly recommend getting the basic biscuit tubes, and not the "extra butter/flaky/etc." variations- I'm not sure they would work out as well, texture and taste-wise.  Another option is to make plain steamed buns like the ones on the Pillsbury site, using the same method!  I have to say I was v. skeptical of this trick at first, but I'm really glad that we tried it out!

Lunchtime Links for April 26th, 2011

• The Kitchn: Quick lunches under 400 calories.
• Lady Gaga: Takes a fall from the piano like a champ. 
• Tasty Kitchen: Homemade bagels.
• Bella Nutella: S'mores French toast.
• Real World Las Vegas: Recap from TVGasm.