Year: 2013

The Quik Cook! Crispy Crunchy Veggie Chips

Post author By KitchenQueen
Post date August 3, 2013
No Comments on The Quik Cook! Crispy Crunchy Veggie Chips

Crispy Crunchy Veggie Chips

Prep Time: 45 min
Cooking Time: 3-8 min

Equipment:
Mandoline
Bowl of cold water
Microwave-safe plate
Paper towels

Ingredients:
1 or more potatoes or other firm, starchy vegetable, scrubbed clean
Any seasoning(s) of choice. Salt is very optional : )
Olive oil spray (like PAM Organic Olive Oil No-Stick Cooking Spray)

Instructions:
1. Thinly Slice the Potato – Cut the potato in half. Slice one half on a mandoline, aiming for slices 1/8 to 1/16-inch thick. Immediately put the slices in cold water to keep from turning. Repeat with the other half of the potato and any other potatoes you are preparing.

2. Soak and Rinse the Slices – Rinse the slices in cold water until the water stays clear. If you have time, let them soak for a few extra minutes before rinsing.

3. Dry the Slices – Dry the slices between two clean dish cloths or spin them in a salad spinner.

4. Season the Slices – Arrange as many slices as will fit in a single layer on a dinner plate lines with a few paper towels. Make sure the slices do not touch or else they stick together. If desired, sprinkle with salt or other spices. For richer-tasting chips. Briskly spray with olive oil for 2 seconds.

5. Microwave the Slices – Microwave the slices at 100% power for 3 minutes. Flip them over and microwave at 50% power for another 3 minutes. Remove any chips that are starting to crisp and brown. Continue cooking the remaining chips at 50% power in 1 minute intervals until they are all crispy and golden. Sprinkle with additional seasoning if desired.

6. Repeat with Remaining Batches – Transfer cooked chips to a bowl and repeat microwaving with the remaining slices of potato.

Storing – Chips will stay crispy for a few days if kept in an airtight container or zip-lock bag. You can also prepare the raw slices ahead of time, store them in cold water in the refrigerator, and bake them up as you want them.

Tags healthy snacks, recipes #foodie, The Quik Cook!, veggie chips

Tid Bits

New Age

Post author By Blu
Post date August 3, 2013
No Comments on New Age

Citizens United Politics

Bill Maher Urges Liberal Elites to Take Advantage of Citizens United

Post author By Ezra Grant
Post date August 3, 2013
No Comments on Bill Maher Urges Liberal Elites to Take Advantage of Citizens United

Citizens United is one of the Supreme Court’s most bogus decision, abd there’s been a few. Led by a conservative majority, the court followed Mitt Romney’s definition of “people” and proudly proclaimed that Corporations too, are “people.”

And with that proclamation, the floodgates were opened for these newly discovered “people” to donate unimaginable, untraceable amounts of money to any political campaign of their choice. It happened just in time for the 2012 Presidential campaign.

Breaking News: Corporations generally donate to Republican candidates, so the Citizens United decision came just in time to guarantee record donations to Mitt Romney, thus, guaranteeing him and the Republicans the White House. However, the real “people” spoke with their votes, and Romney and his Corporate backers were sent packing.

Enter Bill Maher, a liberal commentator who used the Citizens United decision and donated $1 million to president Obama’s reelection. That donation must have felt good because on Friday’s show, Maher took the opportunity to tell other liberal elites to do the same.

Steven Spielberg, you should be taking over Wyoming right now. For a mere $150 million, you could kick out Dick Cheney and his evil daughter, make it a liberal utopia and put E.T. on the state flag.

Tyler Perry, you could buy Montana and make yourself both senators and Madea the governor. And how great will it be on the day when people can get gay married in Oprahoma?”

And to Jay Z, Maher advised him that owning a state could give him the ultimate bragging rights.

If there’s anyone out there who’s done it all and is looking for some new thing to brag about, ‘Own a state, it’s my fate, it’s great’ — I’m just saying, the rhymes practically write themselves,” Maher said, before eyeing the rapper and entrepeneur and continuing. “‘Daft Punk got lucky, I just bought Kentucky.’”

Watch the clip below.

Tags Bill Maher

Music nicki minaj

DJ Khaleb Proposes To Nicki Minaj – Nicki Minaj Files Restraining Order

Post author By Ezra Grant
Post date August 3, 2013
No Comments on DJ Khaleb Proposes To Nicki Minaj – Nicki Minaj Files Restraining Order

Was it a stunt? The internationally known DJ Khaleb used the far reaching powers of MTV to make an offer to Nicki Minaj he hoped she wouldn’t refuse – a proposal! Khaleb explains in the video posted below that he used this venue to make his proposal because he wanted her fans to know and family, along with his fans and family to know about his love for Nicki.

After brandishing a massive ring, the video ends with asking Nicki for her response. Well she’s responded, with a restraining order against Khaleb!

Tags dj khaled, marriage proposal

Politics

President’s Weekly Address – Securing A Better Middle Class

Post author By Ezra Grant
Post date August 3, 2013
No Comments on President’s Weekly Address – Securing A Better Middle Class

President Obama lays out his plan for the middle class and tells the American people that securing a better middle class builds on the progress we’ve made so far, fighting our way back from the worst economic recession of our lifetimes.

Over the past four and a half years, we’ve fought our way back from the worst recession of our lifetimes and begun to lay a foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. Today, our businesses have created 7.3 million new jobs over the last 41 months. We now sell more products made in America to the rest of the world than ever before. Health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years, and our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years.

But as any middle-class family will tell you, we’re not where we need to be yet. Even before the crisis hit, we were living through a decade where a few at the top were doing better and better, while most families were working harder and harder just to get by.

Tags h, jobs, middle class america, president's weekly address

Express Yourself

In The Key Of Life

Yes, I’m one of ‘those people’.

One of those people who say “Never say never.” My friends, if asked, would be eager to tell you that I have annoyed each of them at least half a dozen times for various reasons to not begin a sentence with the words “I can’t”.

But at the risk of falling into hypocrisy, I have to begin this short text by keeping it real. I can’t dance…seriously. Also while I’m in ‘confessing-my-faults’ mode here, my attempts at singing have gotten me labeled ‘tone deaf’, ‘Luther Can’t-dross’ and on more than one occasion I’ve heard the words “Okay – okay just stop” in the middle of my hitting a note.

So since I shouldn’t say the words “I can’t”, I’ll just say that I currently struggle with (clears throat) ‘hitting certain octaves’ at this point in my non-career as a vocalist.

My struggles with hitting a note reminds me of our spiritually, mentally and politically misguided struggles as the Human Family to harmonize and arrange the notes of thought and action into pleasing, foot tapping, rhythmic tones. Notes that would be strummed from the chords of our minds and allow our souls to dance as one.

The will and discipline to evolve an arrangement of melodic vibrations into timeless symphonies out of the disharmonious and confused collection of notes that we currently have jumbled on the page of our minds and planet still eludes us.

What healing can be found in the melodies of a well ordered arrangement? The Son of Man says it would be a wise investment of time for us to plumb the depths of the answer to that question.

Excuse my language and my street colloquialisms but with the planet being poisoned, our food and water being controlled by corporations and our political leaders bought and paid for… shit done got real!

It has been said that “Music is a universal language”. As a lover of music, yet a non-dancing-Luther-Can’t-dross singing type of guy, I can only relate to the truth of the question of this ‘universal language’ by my awareness of music being exactly what everything else is, vibrations and energy. That certainly is universal. The great scientist Nicola Tesla stated “If you wish to understand the universe think of energy, frequency and vibration”.

After meditating on what music actually is I see it –yes, I SEE music — as a rhythmic timing of vibration and sound that allows us to be reminded of the harmony and serenity of a well ordered life (being life partners with a musician my definition better at least be close or I’ll never hear the end of it).

There are lessons in our music, in our universal harmonious symphony that is above us, beneath us and all around us. Wise Jazz aficionados are clear that John Coltrane and Miles Davis are prophets showing us ‘the way’ no less than those written of in the scriptures.

Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin are proof that voices are angels and definitely have wings.

Rakim showed us an example of the effortlessness of life’s flow over the roughest terrain when the flow is done in Consciousness.

James Brown and Michael Jackson, are absolutely messengers of the rhythmic vibrations of life.

The tone and pitch of one’s voice can heal as well as harm. The rhythm of the vibration of one’s thoughts attract as well as repel. In 1976 the great music revolutionary Stevie Wonder released one of the greatest collections of ‘lessons’ ever recorded, “Songs in The Key of Life”… The Son of Man says LIFE IS MUSIC… LIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH YOURSELF AND YOUR MUSIC WILL BE HEARD.

To those that have an ear, let them hear.

SON OF MAN

Tags balance, harmony, music is life, music is universal, spirituality

Technology

Woman Pays $1200 for Two Apples… The Fruit

Post author By Ezra Grant
Post date August 2, 2013
3 Comments on Woman Pays $1200 for Two Apples… The Fruit

An Australian woman paid $1,200 for two new Apple iPhones over website Gumtree, but opened the box to find just fruit inside.

The 21-year-old had posted an ad asking if anyone had a smartphone for sale.

She was soon contacted by another woman who said she had “two Apples” up for grabs.

The pair met at a McDonald’s restaurant where the woman handed over her cash for what she thought were two new iPhone boxes.

Failing to check the product before leaving, it was only after arriving home that she realized the cartons only contained apples.

Cops in her Queensland town of Upper Mt Gravatt, near Brisbane, said it served as a warning for people to be “wary” when buying items online.

“Don’t stay away because most people are doing the right thing, but be smart about what you buy,” Senior Constable Jess Hopkin told the Herald Sun.

“If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s really just common sense.”

Tags apples, iphone

News

SEC Brings A Lamb To The Slaughter For The Mortage Crisis

Post author By Blu
Post date August 2, 2013
No Comments on SEC Brings A Lamb To The Slaughter For The Mortage Crisis

The sacrificial lamb that is Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre.

Whew! We can all breathe a sigh of relief now that the financial crisis is over. The Securities and Exchange Commission has found former Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre liable on six counts of securities fraud.

I’m being sarcastic of course.

Mr. Tourre dealt out toxic mortgage deals under a company known as Abacus (you remember them home loan borrowers), which Goldman Sachs created in 2007 at the request of hedge-fund manager John Paulson. Paulson wanted to use the fund to bet against it, which he did considerably, garnishing him $15 billion before the Home Loans Crisis officially hit the fan and the news.

Suspiciously not on trial in the case was Goldman Sachs itself, although the bank paid all of Tourre’s legal fees, which was the least it could do for its sacrificial lamb. Earlier in 2010 Sachs settled with the SEC by paying a $550 million penalty without ever having to admit any wrongdoing.

A jury found that Tourre had misled investors about the nature of the deal, tricking them into thinking it had not been built for failure from the start. He now faces the possibility of heavy financial penalties and a lifetime ban from the securities industry.

A hollow victory in the wake of all the terminal damage to our economy that was caused.

Tags Abacus, Goldman Sachs, the mortage crisis, toxic loans

Food And Recipes

OMG! Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Post author By KitchenQueen
Post date August 1, 2013
No Comments on OMG! Red Velvet Cupcakes!

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons no-taste red food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

For the vanilla cream cheese frosting:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 ounces cream cheese

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a standard cupcake pan with 12 paper baking cups.

2. Sift together the flour and salt, and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

5. Using a whisk, whisk together the red food coloring, vanilla and cocoa powder. Slowly add this to the mixer bowl, mixing slowly until well incorporated.

6. Add a third of the flour, followed by a third of the milk, and mix. Repeat. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the last third of the flour, followed by the last third of the milk, and mix until incorporated.

7. In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the apple cider vinegar. You will see the baking soda and vinegar fizz up! Mix thoroughly and add this reaction to the batter. Mix until just incorporated.

8. Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into a cupcake pan so each well is 2/3 full. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer filled with the paddle attachment; beat until well combined. Be sure to beat on high speed at the very end for at least 2 minutes to ensure that the frosting is light and fluffy.

2. Transfer frosting into a plastic piping bag fitted with a round metal tip. Frost each cupcake with a swirl of frosting. Serve and enjoy!

*To make lower fat version:

Substitute whole milk with low-fat or non-fat milk

Substitute cream cheese with low-fat or non-fat cream cheese

source: The Cupcake Diaries: Recipes & Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake

Tags foodies, pastries, red velvet cupcakes, The Cupcake Diaries

Politics

Fox News Provided The Talking Point Mark Kessler Used to Attack Sec. John Kerry

Post author By Ezra Grant
Post date August 1, 2013
No Comments on Fox News Provided The Talking Point Mark Kessler Used to Attack Sec. John Kerry

I never thought I’ll say this. But I’ve found someone who makes the Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones of the world, seem like child’s play. Pennsylvania Police Chief Mark Kessler is gathering up a YouTube following, with his frequent profanity laced videos against Liberals, or to use his word, Libtards. In one of his latest video, the police chief targets Secretary of State John Kerry and The United Nations.

Mark Kessler’s rant came directly from this Fox News headline: Kerry says US will sign UN treaty on arms regulation despite lawmaker opposition. So at least we know where Mark is getting his info.

In the video, the police chief is seen looking at a piece of paper as he read the Fox headline, “Kerry says US will sign UN treaty on arms regulations despite lawmaker opposition.” Mark then sighs, shakes his head and continues, calling Kerry a “piece of sh*t traitor.”

After some other choice words for the Secretary of State and the United Nations, Kessler looks at the camera and screamed, “come and take it motherfu*kers” as he picks up an automatic weapon and fires a few rounds into the mountainside.

He later received a 30 days suspension from his duties as police chief, but promised to return and continue his work after his suspension is over. “I make no apologies,” Mark wrote on his website after receiving his punishment, “and I have no regrets. [I’ll be back] 30 days from tonight.”

Fox News, once again provides the ammunition for the gradual dismantling of any sanity this society once had.