One of the things that I really need to work on is learning how to cook better. I am just not a natural cook. Even when I follow a recipe, things often turn out only “okay”. I rarely make food that comes out tasting delicious. Despite this, I prefer to cook at home than to dine out because it costs less and it tends to be healthier if you know what you’re doing. Because of this, I think that I should learn to cook a little bit better.

Rice is something that I’m learning how to make better. I don’t know what my problem is but I can never really make rice that tastes great. I often make it too tough or too tender. I’m thinking that a rice cooker would help with this problem so I’ll probably invest in one in the near future. I’ve learned over time that having the right tools in the kitchen makes a big different to good cooking.

I’m also thinking that it would be a good idea to explore different types of rice recipes. For example I was just reading about some different Irish Rice recipes. Most of them include ingredients that don’t appeal to me (like canned cream of mushroom soup) but I found one that has fresh ingredients that sounds pretty good. I’ll have to see if I can actually make it taste right in my own kitchen!

If you’ve got any good rice recipes then send them my way!

Tags: cooking, how to cook rice, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, rice, rice recipes

I have become something of a chocolate snob since moving to San Francisco. There are just so many great chocolate shops in this city that I can no longer be satisfied with your basic Hershey’s bar. I want exotic. I want delicious. I want more.

As a result, I was intrigued when I learned about Chocolatique, a California-based chocolate business that’s been around since 2003. The goal of this company is to merge American and French chocolate-making techniques to create a new kind of chocolate that is high-class but distinctly American.

I have to admit that my first sample of the good from this business didn’t leave a sweet taste in my mouth. I tried out the company’s darkest chocolates because I tend to really be a dark chocolate kind of gal. However, it turns out that what I consider dark isn’t nearly as dark as what a true chocolate aficionado will love. The dark chocolate was just too dark for me.

Nevertheless, I could tell that the quality of these chocolates was high so even though I wasn’t in love with the chocolate I’d tried, I was drawn to try more of what Choclatique had to offer. I got a sampler box of delicious Chocolate Boutique chocolates. Not only did these ones taste totally unique and delicious but they were also beautiful to look at. Now this is the kind of chocolate that I’ve become accustomed to and this is the kind of stuff that I want!

Tags: california chocolate, choclatique, chocolate, recommendations

I keep trying to reduce what I spend each month so that I can save a little bit of money. It’s a smart thing for anyone to do and it’s really important for those of us who freelance and who therefore may have an unstable income. Unfortunately, I continue to keep over-spending on groceries and dining out even though I’m aware of the fact that this is a problem for me.

It’s not that I don’t know how to save money on food. I’ve written extensively on this topic including recently publishing 20 Simple Tips for Spending Less on Food Without Resorting to Ramen. I’m aware of the tricks and I use some of them on a regular basis. But the fact of the matter is that there are some foods that I like that are expensive and I’m not very good at restraining myself from buying them even though I know that they impact my food budget. Marinated mushrooms and fancy cheeses are two big examples from my kitchen.

The other thing that I do to waste money on food is that I often spend more money than necessary on food for when other people come over. Any time that I’m going to have someone to my house, I buy way too much food – even when it’s for a potluck! I’m always worried that there won’t be enough. It’s something I really need to work on if I want to spend less.

Luckily, the one area that I’m getting good at is saving money on eating out. I’m learning not only to eat out less but also to make smart choices when I do dine out. I always split my meal in half and save part of it for later. I usually skip expensive drinks. And I try to choose affordable restaurants. So I’m getting there. Slowly.

Tags: Food, grocery shopping, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, money, Personal Finance, saving money, shopping, spending money

Any SmartChick (or SmartGuy) knows that it’s really important to be concerned about your health. In line with this, it is important to be concerned about your diet because we are what we eat in a lot of ways. One of the best things that a smart person can do for themselves is to learn how to incorporate different foods into an overall balanced diet to get all of the right nutrition so that the body always feels good.

Fiber is one of those foods that you hear enough about to know that it’s something that you need to have in your diet. But is it something that you pay attention to? Most people don’t – at least not until they get old enough that a lack of fiber starts causing some serious issues in their bodies. It’s always better to prevent problems than to treat problems so adding fiber to your diet before it’s an issue just makes sense.

Luckily, there are tons of easy ways to add fiber to your diet. Basically you just want to eat lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. You want to get a lot of beans and peas in your diet. You want to avoid white (as in white bread and white rice) in favor of brown. You want to leave the skin and seeds on your foods as often as possible and eat raw fruits and veggies instead of cooked ones. Someone who is already eating a healthy diet is probably already doing most of these things. Way to be smart!

Tags: diet, dietary fiber, fiber, Food, health, how to eat fiber, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, nutrition

I remember reading teen magazines when I was a tween (although the word tween hadn’t been invented yet) and being warned by them not to eat chocolate as I got older because it was going to be bad for my skin. I didn’t really listen to that advice much because I happen to love chocolate.

I used to love all different kinds of chocolate. I loved Hershey’s bars and Milky Ways and Kit Kats. I still kind of love Kit Kats but my chocolate tastes have changed since moving to San Francisco. There are so many great San Francisco chocolate shops where you can get such high-quality delicious chocolate that I have to admit I’m no longer much of the fan of the Hershey bar.

Although I was warned away from chocolate by those teen magazines, everything I’ve read as an adult suggests that chocolate is healthy for you if you eat it in moderation and you eat the right kinds (typically dark chocolate which is fine with me). Chocolate is reported to possibly be good for circulation, brain stimulation and prevention of cough among other things.

And you know what? Chocolate makes me feel good. I start every morning with a tiny bite of something sweet – a few chocolate chips or a bite of chocolate chip cookie dough. For me, this symbolizes that the day has started off right and no matter what else happens, I’ve had those few moments of pure indulgence. I think that makes chocolate a healthy thing in my life!

Tags: chocolate, hot chocolate, kathryn vercillo, San Francisco, san francisco is sexy, sexy chocolate

One of the funnest blog carnivals that I’ve been a part of recently was a blog carnival called Make It From Scratch which, as the name suggests, consists entirely of posts about things that you can make yourself. A number of these posts were recipes for things that you can cook, including my recipe for vegetarian bigos.

Other recipes that can be found through the links at this blog carnival include recipes for almond milk, peanut butter balls, pasta carbonara, fruit tarts, tiramisu, pizza, pecan tassies, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and even sauteed gourds and Irish potato candies. In addition to these recipes there were some other food and kitchen tips on things like dicing onions and canning.

Food isn’t all that you can make from scratch though. Other cool posts in this carnival were about kitty litter, fabric softener, paper flowers, cork mud mats, recycled Easter baskets and even how to make a chicken waterer. Don’t they all just make you want to go and make something?! That’s what I’m about to go do …

Tags: bigos, blog carnival recipe, cooking, diy, hub pages, kathryn vercillo, make it from scratch

Any SmartChick (or SmartGuy) knows that what we put into our bodies is the single biggest thing that affects our health. Sure there are major impacts on our health by genetics and environment. But what we take in every day is what courses through our bodies and really determines how we feel.

I had the chance to write an article earlier on 20 Foods that are Great for your Skin which really got me thinking about the foods that we eat and the way they can benefit us or cause us problems. It makes sense that if you drink a lot of water and eat foods that are rich in antiocidants, selenium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C then you’re going to have a healthy body and good skin.

So why is doing that so hard sometimes? I do tend to have a pretty good diet. I’m lucky because I like a lot of foods that are healthy for me. I also don’t particularly like to cook (although I’m learning new recipes that are changing my opinion on that) so I tend to choose methods of cooking (broiling, steaming and eating things raw) that are healthier for me than other options.

Nevertheless, I definitely indulge in junk food more often than I should. Mostly I think moderation is the key here but writing that article definitely has me thinking that if I really want to be smart, I needed to focus on being smarter about what I put into my body each day!

Tags: diet, Food, foods for skin, health, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, nutrition, skin

I have been exploring the art of cooking recently. I used to really dislike cooking and I have to admit that it’s something I’m still kind of iffy about. However, I am starting to learn about the creativity behidn making meals and that’s making me more inclined to try out different dishes in my kitchen and to experiment with having fun while cooking.

As a result of this newfound interest, I’ve been writing and reading more about food lately. I just started a really good book by Isabelle Allende on Aphrodisiacs (Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses) which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the passion of food. And I’m doing a lot more reading of food blogs and articles about cooking.

Today I got the chance to explore an interesting aspect of this topic when answering a HubPages request that someone made for an article with a vegetarian recipe alternative to bigos. Bigos is a traditional Polish dish made with multiple kinds of meat so I got to explore the creativity of this dish in my mind to consider how to make a vegetarian alternative to it that would be comparable to the original.

This got me thinking about all of the different foods there are that we can use in place of meat. There are meat alternatives made in factories. There are more ntural meat alternatives like soy and tofu. And then there are vegetables that are thick and yet rather bland (potatoes and mushrooms) which can provide a meat-like texture to dishes for vegetarians. Hm, this is making me want to go play around in my kitchen!

Tags: bigos, eating, Food, healthy, recipe, vegetarian alternatives, vegetarian bigos