The best tortilla chips ever

El Milagro tortilla chips totally rule. They’re the only tortilla chips I’ve found that don’t taste like someone dumped a ten-ton salt truck on every batch. In fact, they don’t have any salt at all, but they are DELICIOUS, especially with salsa con queso.

Without all that salt, you can really taste the corn. In fact, it makes me wonder why anybody puts salt on tortilla chips, since corn tastes so awesome by itself. I love salt, but I’d much rather have it on something whose taste it actually improves.

I buy these chips only every so often, because if they were always around, I wouln’t eat anything else. Homeland is the only store in my town that carries them, as far as I know. I’ve seen them at Target, but they don’t always have them.

Ultimate hair clips

I have a lot of hair. It’s long, and it’s thick, and it’s hard to wrangle into submission. I’m constantly on the lookout for devices and doohickeys that will make my hair more manageable on the days I don’t feel like styling it, which is pretty much all of them.

Goody has a line of active wear hair accessories called Stay Put, and I have to say that the claw clips are fantastic. I’ve always liked the idea of claw clips. I love the way they look; that is, for about 2.5 minutes, until I move my head and they somehow become dislodged.

The Stay Put claw clips come with elastic bands on the inside, adding extra hold. I was skeptical, but I picked up one at Big Lots and gave it a try. Three days later, I went back and bought four more.

I haven’t tried the rest of the Stay Put line, but I highly recommend the claw clips, particularly if you’ve had trouble getting other clips to, well, stay put.

Caramel peanut butter cups

Eating this made me long for a regular old Resse’s peanut butter cup, followed by a Caramello bar.

I love me some peanut butter cups, and I love me some caramel, too. But together? Way too sweet. They’ve taken the traditional Reese’s peanut butter cup, and added some sort of grainy sweet stuff. It doesn’t even taste like caramel.

It’s supposed to be “3 Great Tastes that Taste Great Together,” but it’s really just flavor overload.  Bummer.

I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised. As a rule, I have pretty simple tastes, and most of the newfangled, revamped confectionary concoctions I see these days sound pretty gross. But I thought I’d give it a try.

You might like it, though. Try one if you like stuff that’s really, really sweet.

The best apple sauce ever

Santa Cruz apple sauce is, without a doubt, the best apple sauce ever. It’s sweet and tangy, and there’s nothing in it but apples and Vitamin C powder. A lot of other brands of apple sauce taste “canned” to me, but this stuff always feels really fresh.

Plus it’s organic, and (nonorganic) apples are said to contain some of the highest levels of pesticide residue among produce.

So, there it is. How convenient. The tastiest apple sauce known to humankind is also good for you. A whole jar has only 300 calories, and it has 10 grams of dietary fiber.

Man, I love this applesauce.

Incense Matches

They’re awesome. I got some from Natasha, a right cool lady who owns a shop in Norman called Sandalwood and Sage. They’re just like regular matches, except that after the head burns down, the stick turns into incense. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

They come in a variety of scents, and provide just enough incense action to eliminate funky smells without getting the room all smoky and gross.

Apparently potheads like them, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting a pack and keeping it by your toilet.

Ginger Candy

I’m totally addicted to Crystallized Ginger by The Ginger People. It’s just little cubes of ginger root and cane sugar, and it’s soooo good. I like to eat it after meals, to thwart potential funk breath. It’s also good if you’re feeling barfy.

Giant Ziploc Bags

They’re pretty cool. I got them at Lowe’s, where they’re available in two sizes: Large (3 gallons) and XL (10 gallons).  So far I’ve used them to store old papers under the bed, and also to store my stockpile of gift bags and wrapping supplies.

Ooh, that reminds me: I just put my bed up on cinder blocks. I got the idea from this book called Chick Living: Frugal and Fabulous, by Kris Koederitz Melcher. I really dig this book. It’s divided into sections on entertaining, budgeting, job hunting, health and beauty, and renting and furnishing abodes, among other things. Melcher makes much use of personal anecdotes and self-deprecating humor, which keeps the real-world, grown-up advice from sounding boring, or preachy, or like something that I’m totally not responsible enough to pull off for myself.

One of these ideas: using cinder blocks in lieu of a proper bed frame. And I haven’t had a proper bed frame since I moved out of my parents’ house. So I gave it a shot. And I like it. The new storage space under there goes hand in hand with my discovery of giant Ziploc bags.

Melcher doesn’t specify how many cinder blocks to use. I started out with four: one for each corner of my queen-size mattress. But I think I’m gonna add four more: one for the center of each long side, and two to go along the box spring’s center spine. In the meantime, I’ll just make sure not to put anything breakable under there, in case I come crashing down in the midde of the night. Cross your fingers for me.

Word of the Day

Transparent Language is a pretty sweet Website for folks who are interested in foreign tongues. There’s a bunch of free software, plus “premium” software you can buy. I signed up for the French Word of the Day e-mails, and I’ve been impressed so far. They also come in Brazilian, German, Irish, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Chinese.

From each e-mail, you can click on a link that takes you to the Transparent site, and from there you can listen to an audio clip of the word being used in a sentence. Plus there’s a “conjugate” button that gives past, present and future conjugations.

There also are blogs devoted to Chinese, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish, respectively. They seem to cover a variety of subjects, including the occasional discussion and analysis of grammar details. There are also a bunch of free online word games.

When you’re feeling confident, or maybe just curious, you can take one of the “online proficiency tests” to see how far you’ve really come. I’ve not been brave enough to take the French one yet. But when I do, I’ll see how it compares to the university placement test I have to take in a couple of weeks. Yikes.

You know what’s awesome?

Pepperidge Farms makes whole grain mini-bagels. They’re 100 calories each, with 4 grams of protein and 3 grams of dietary fiber. It’s a nice change from the trend of ever-increasing bagel size. They make a good snack with a small piece of cheese and some lettuce and pickle. Oooh, or some cream cheese, avocado and shredded carrots. Plus some freshly-ground black pepper. They’re also free of partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup.

Ten Easy Vegetarian Meals

A lot of times, I’m hungry and nothing sounds good. I feel lousy and I know I need to eat, but I just don’t feel like it. So it’s helpful for me to keep certain foods around my house, so that there’s always something good to eat. This keeps me from eating something that’s not good for me, or just not eating at all.

You’ll probably notice that most of these recipes don’t involve any vegetables. That’s because I usually have some sort of fresh veggies in the house, and I’d rather just munch on those as a side item than try to incorporate them into a recipe, which just makes everything more complicated. I’m lazy, and if a recipe gets too complicated, I’m liable just to not make it at all.

#10 – Oatmeal with honey, dried cranberries, dried orange peel, and Silk soy milk. I got this idea from a brand of pre-packaged oatmeal bowls, but this way is just as good and less expensive. I’m sure that cow’s milk would be good with it, too, if you’re one of the many people who think that soy milk is totally gross.

#9 – Corn tortillas with cheddar cheese. I like Cabot 50% reduced-fat cheddar. They also make it in 75% reduced fat, but it’s not as good. I like to make double-decker quesadillas in the microwave, with three tortillas and two layers of cheese. They’re good with hot sauce mixed in with the cheese. They’re also good dipped in ranch.

#8 – Basmati rice with chickpeas and oregano. I got this idea from an ex-boyfriend who really knew his rice. First start the rice, which takes about 20 minutes to cook. While that’s going on, put some olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper, and a can of prepared chickpeas in a pan on the stove, and cook over medium-high heat until the chickpeas begin to brown. Then toss everything together. It’s really good with more olive oil drizzled on top.

#7 – Multigrain pitas with Monterey Jack. This is basically just another take on the double-decker quesadilla. But it tastes a lot different. And it’s really good.

#6 – Rice cakes with nut butter. This is one of those options that’s good to have around when you really have no time to eat, but you have to, anyway. You’ve got your protein, your good fats and your carbohydrates. It’s simple but effective. I like Lundberg brown rice cakes and East Wind almond and peanut butters. I usually grab an apple to go with this, too.

#5 – Whole wheat English muffins with provolone cheese, toasted in the toaster oven. I’m not a big fan of tomatoes, but I like them on these little sandwiches. Romaine lettuce is also good.

#4 – Whole wheat pita chips with hummus. Another simple way to get protein, carbs and fats. My mom makes the ultimate version, but the rest of us can make it, too. Get some whole wheat pita bread and cut it into triangles. I bake mine at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, until they start to brown. Now, my mom makes her own hummus. She claims it’s not hard, but mine always turns out crappy. I think she just can’t explain her genius. Or maybe I’m a lousy cook. Either way, I usually just buy the prepared stuff at the store. It’s nowhere near as good as my mom’s, but it’s way better than mine.

#3 – The Best Grilled Cheese Ever. Plus it’s good for you. Use whole wheat bread and mozzarella cheese, which is usually part-skim. Instead of spreading butter on the bread, use a non-stick cooking spray made with olive oil. Cook over medium heat so the bread doesn’t burn before the cheese melts. This, too, is excellent dipped in ranch.

#2 – Bean tacos. These are awesome. Try to get the taco shells that don’t have partially hydrogenated oil. You’ll probably have to go to the health food store for these, but it’s totally worth it. Besides being better for you, health food store brands usually taste a lot better. I like Bearitos. They also make some mighty fine refried beans. Anyway, tacos are pretty self-explanatory: shells, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese. Avocados and sour cream are good on them, too.

#1 – Brown rice sushi salad. My boyfriend and I once tried to make sushi rolls, but we didn’t know what we were doing and they kept falling apart. So we just put everything on a plate and ate it like that. And it was damn good. Here’s how you do it:

Make a bunch of brown rice ahead of time. It takes almost an hour to cook, and you want it to be cold when you serve it. Season it with brown rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil.

Crumble a block of extra-firm tofu and cook it over high heat until it turns golden brown. I use the same cooking spray I use for the Best Grilled Cheese Ever.

Prepare the vegetables: cube an avocado or two, and grate some carrots and radishes with a cheese grater.

Make a rice nest and put everything into it. Season with soy sauce and salt and pepper.

WARNING: This stuff tastes awesome but it gives you major funk breath. Chew some fennel seeds after you eat it.