By choosing to eat at home, rather than go out you will save literally hundreds of dollars. Not only will you eliminate the restaurant bill, but you’ll save on gas too. What’s more is that you can substitute unhealthy ingredients with less fatty ones – not that Olive Garden Italian food is too unhealthy in the first place.

Impress Your Friends & Family

Everyone loves a 5 star cook. By copying your favorite Olive Garden recipe you can tweak it in any way you want. This will really excite your dinner guests.

Some simple ways to alter a dish are:
- Use a different kind of cooking oil to give a slightly different flavor.
- Add extra meat and/or vegetables to create a fusion dish.
- Switch up your pasta. There are so many varieties of Italian pasta, you’ll never run out of options!

It’s easier said than done. Before you start trying to reverse-engineer meals, you might just try and ask the restaurant itself if they can divulge any tips. Usually they won’t, and in the case of Olive Garden, they can’t because they don’t have the complete recipe themselves (meals are often pre-packaged).

You can find a storage container designed specifically for deviled eggs so that you can stack them in one container and not lose the shape. It would be a shame to spend all of that time to pipe them and dust with Paprika and have to stack them with waxed paper in between layers and ruin their visual appeal.

This dish is served in the South with meals, parties, picnics and anything else you can think of. If you are serving them outside, just remember to keep them on ice. I even keep them on a “chiller” platter when serving inside. I use the chiller platter for dips, cheese trays and anything else that will be best kept cool during an event. It has a base that you put in the freezer for a few hours ahead of time and a high domed cover, so you can serve just about anything on it.

Serving Size : 24

24 Eggs, Boiled and Peeled
1 1/3 Cups Celery, Finely Minced
8 Dill Pickle Slices, Finely Minced
1 1/3 Cups Onion, Finely Minced
1 1/3 Cups Mayonnaise
4 Tbsp. Mustard, Yellow
1 Tbsp. Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt
Salt and Pepper To Taste
Hot Hungarian Paprika

1. Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and put them in a mixing bowl. Put the eggs on a serving platter.

2. Add the remaining ingredients with the exception of the Paprika to the egg yolks in the mixing bowl and combine until you have a smooth consistency. Adjust seasonings.

3. Put the yolk mixture back into the egg halves and chill until time to serve.

4. When it’s time to serve the deviled eggs, sprinkle the paprika lightly over them to add color.

For example, capsaicin is loaded with vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, and bioflavinoids (which are antioxidants that serve to protect your body against infection, help you to properly absorb vitamin C, and maintain the strength of your capillaries). Capsaicin is low in fat, calories and cholesterol, and aids in digestion. If that’s not enough, capsaicin has also shown to increase your metabolic rate, which means your body is burning more calories. A study recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition validated this by showing that capsaicin added to the breakfast and lunch foods of test subjects resulted in their eating less at these meals. Additionally, the results showed that the subject’s appetites were suppressed for up to several hours after ingesting the capsaicin, and that the number of calories they burned, particularly after meals high in fat, was higher than those subjects who did not receive any capsaicin.

Capsaicin has also been in use for many years as a treatment for inflamed muscle and non-rheumatoid arthritis pain, post-operative pain, and for pains resulting from burns and other medical conditions. Most commonly available as a cream or ointment, the capsaicin is applied directly to sore areas. Chemically speaking, when applied, the protein ion receptors in our body bind with the capsaicin in the cream, which allows calcium and sodium ions to react with the sensory nerve cells and inhibit the transmission of pain signals through these receptors. Further to this, capsaicin creams have also been shown to counter the production of the neurotransmitter responsible for transmitting pain signals in the joints. It is able to do this by stimulating the brain to continuously release this transmitter in response to the heat from the capsaicin cream. As a result of this increased output, the body soon depletes its reserve and releases less and less of the transmitter which leads to less response from the nerve endings and improved pain relief. Capsaicin has also been shown effective at controlling the pain and discomfort associated with diabetes mellitus, itching associated with dialysis, and when used in a candy form, the discomfort and pain of lesions inside the mouths of cancer patients.

Once you’ve made the first two simple recipes, your imagination will take over and you’ll realize the world is full of other things that can be dipped in chocolate. Whether you like sweet and salty combined, as with the chocolate covered popcorn, or something even healthier like chocolate covered raisins, you’ll start looking at what’s in your kitchen cupboards in a whole different light.

While many fudge recipes are much more complicated than the chocolate peanut butter one below, this recipe also introduces you to the realm of possibilities with its basic simplicity plus the additions I’ve mentioned.

Most of all, have fun and invite a child along to help make these simple chocolate candy recipes.

Simple Chocolate Covered Popcorn

1/2 bag of popped microwave popcorn.

1/2 bag of dark or milk chocolate melted and reheated as necessary

Pop the corn and put it in a large bowl; the stirring can get messy, and it’s easier for a child to mix without spilling if it’s in an oversized bowl. Poor the melted chocolate over the popcorn and stir until all the popcorn is covered.

I like to form the popcorn roughly into balls or clumps about the size of a golf ball and place them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Then I put it in the refrigerator until they’re hardened.

While you’re waiting for them to chill, there’s lots of finger and bowl licking to do.

Learn how to make your own yummy blend! It’s so easy to make and fun to eat! A great hands-on kids party activity!

There’s always room for ice cream. (That’s my motto!)

Home Made Ice Cream Recipe

1 lb. Coffee Can
3 lb. Coffee Can
1/2 cup Rock salt
1 pint Half and Half
1 1/2 tsps. Vanilla
1/3 cup + 2 tblsps. Sugar

For flavored ice cream, choose one:

3 tblsps. of your favorite flavor of instant pudding
1/3 cup of fruit (such as, bananas, strawberries, peaches)
3 of your favorite cookies, crushed into pea-size pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

METHOD:

Mix the first three basic ingredients together and pour into the one pound coffee can. Add flavorings if desired. Place the lid on securely and set inside the three pound can.

Add ice, and alternate layers of ice and salt outside the small can and inside the large can. When totally full, secure the lid on the large can. You may wish to add duct tape for good measure.

Now here comes the fun part! Place a sheet on the floor or wrap the can in a large towel. Let party guests roll the can back and forth for at least 10 minutes. Open the cans and check the ice cream.

If it is not starting to freeze, replace lids and roll 10 minutes more. The ice cream should be frozen to the sides and bottom of the can. If not thick enough, place in freezer and check every 10 minutes or so.

YIELD: 2 cups ice cream