Category Archives: We Can Do It Better
We Can Do it Better: Brownie Brittle
Okay guys, admit it, you knew this was coming, right? As soon as I said in my review of Brownie Brittle that it’s good, but expensive, you knew we’d be figuring out how to make our own. In reality we’ve been planning this even before I wrote the review article. What really pushed us over the edge into finally making it was when got our hands on the salted caramel flavor Brownie Brittle and were incredibly underwhelmed. We knew we could do it better, and now you can too!
The basic idea was just to make a brownie batter and instead of baking it in a pan, spreading it really thin on a baking sheet. In order to do this you need to have a baking sheet that has a rim, like this:
The rim will make sure your batter doesn’t go all over the place and burn in the bottom of your oven.
Easy Recipe: Homemade Battered French Fries
There’s a lot of reasons to like french fries. They’re cheap, they’re easy to make, they’re simple, and more importantly they’re delicious. A good french fry is a philosophical quandary of the culinary arts in that it can operate as both a side to any meal on the planet, but can also be it’s own meal. Sure, when some people bring up french fries, they think of the inconsistent pieces of yellow cardboard served by the likes of McDonalds and Burger King which can range from limp and greasy to starchy and dried out. Yet there is a whole world of fries out there to be had, and all one must do is dine at a few restaurants to notice. Certain types go for the golden and juicy variety, some are crusty with a bit of a zing, and some are just down-homey and simple. Everyone’s got their own way of making them, and most are delicious. Plain and simple, french fries are bangin’, as they say.
See how bangin’ they are?
Microwave Popcorn Made Better
Confession time: I’m a procrastination eater. Because you know, you can’t do work if you’re eating. Seeing as how it’s finals time at school, I’m currently doing a lot of procrastination eating in order to put off working on papers. You have to choose wisely in your procrastination eating choices however, since you just want to put off doing work, not put on 20 pounds. One good snack (and not just for procrastinating, just in general) is popcorn. Fresh popped popcorn smells wonderful, and is tasty too. Bonus: popcorn isn’t terrible for you. Using an air popper doesn’t take that long, but it can be surprisingly hard to find a good (and not crazy expensive) popcorn popper, plus, some people just don’t really have room for one in their kitchens. But never fear! It’s easy to make popcorn in the microwave (and I’m not talking about the prepackaged bags you buy at the store).
You won’t need one of these, don’t worry.
Mashed Potatoes Made Simple and Easy. Or Fancy! (But still easy!)
Everyone knows I’m a pretty big opponent of pre-made foods. One of the more common ones is the longtime favorite mashed potatoes. Fluffy, savory delight made of cream and tender potatoes… yet most people make it out of a brownish dust that came out of a box, reassured mostly by the fact it features a picture of the state of Idaho on it. Our better judgment try and tell us no, for mashed potatoes are whipped, creamy goodness, and how could they come from a powder? But our laziness and gullibility force us to buy into the potato dust hype, since as we all know Idaho loves potatoes. They love potatoes.
“It makes greeeat lube.”
Instant mashed potatoes aren’t the worst thing in the world, and I will submit that they get the job done if you’re cooking en masse and don’t have the time to prepare the real deal. But unless you find yourself preparing a potato feast for 50+ people, you really don’t have much of an excuse, since homemade takes about 30 minutes, most of which time is just the potatoes boiling, and you not actually doing anything.
Making Your Own McMuffin
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The problem of course is that it comes in the morning, and no one likes mornings. The fact that brunch and brinner (breakfast for dinner) are things is proof that people love breakfast foods, just not in the morning.
Generally in the mornings you tend to sleep as late as possible, then run out the door, neglecting breakfast and just grabbing something on the road on the way to your destination. Unfortunately, a lot of times “grabbing something on the road” means stopping at a place like McDonalds and getting something like an Egg McMuffin. Which is fine if you enjoy getting 87% of your daily cholesterol intake and 33% of your sodium intake down in your first meal of the day (you can see for yourself if you don’t believe me). Also, your eggs will look like a hockey puck.
I can practically feel the spongy texture of the eggs from here.
But what if I told you, you could make your own version of an Egg McMuffin (I call mine an Egg MegMuffin, but I realize that won’t work for people not named Meg) at home in under 10 minutes? Surely you have 10 minutes to spare right? It’ll be worth it, I promise.
The Poor Couple's Food Guide 
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