THE AMUSED LIFE BLOG

 AKA Feasting and Firsts...Happy Thanksgiving! FIND For most of you, and I'm assuming mostly those in the South, I have only ever had pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. Sometimes we'd add in some French Silk pie but always pumpkin pie. However this year my significant other decided to go rogue and instead change things up. Introducing...SWEET POTATO PIE. Now this may not be momentous to any of you, but for me; it would be my first time ever to eat that pie type. I was nervous. Mostly because I'm slow to warm up to sweet potatoes. Mostly I think due to the fact that I'm a savory over sweet person on every level; but I was taking the cooking off for Thanksgiving this year so whatever the cook wants, the cook gets. I requested a sliver. I was so worried I wouldn't like it. I was WRONG. I think now I perhaps love it even more than pumpkin pie and so new tradition has been born for the family. New pie...and it's sweet potato pie with extra creamy thick whipped cream.  Y U ...

aka Carbs Glorious Carbs A week or so ago I was up early for work or perhaps it was my day off...either way I stumbled upon Good Morning America which I rarely if ever watch. Just not a morning show person, hell I'm not a morning person. However this show featured some pretty awesome STEALS AND DEALS (apparently they do this often); and there was one deal that I could not resist.  Having moved to the South in 2001, I frequently miss some of the flavors and sensibilities of my northern upbringing. Growing up in Pennsylvania just 75 minutes outside of New York City gave you such a perspective on food and flavors and thankfully Mom and Pop culinary delights often found everywhere you go up there. I also grew up with a fondness for BREAD. You know, crusty on the outside soft on the inside goodness? You know, slather it with butter goodness? B-R-E-A-D. The thing that as we age we're not supposed to eat because it turns us doughy. Oh well, when they aired this deal I was in...hook, ...

A TALE OF TWO COOKIES Fall is in full swing in Tennessee, and the comfort of iced/spiced oatmeal cookies has moved into my mind, so in my budget-minded mentality I was determined to get some deliciousness in my gullet. Right now I'm just trying to get an idea of what store brands really bring the yum to my tum. This week's head-to-head is between Market Pantry's Iced Oatmeal Cookies and Kroger Brand Iced Oatmeal. So who came out on top? FIND Kroger took the prize and unfortunately Erik didn’t take a photo of the packaging but we’ll make that happen soon. They have the right amount of crisp, yet slightly soft and have a good layer of icing that’s sweet and stands out. Plus they were $1.00 this week so...you know that’s too good a deal for good taste! FAIL Market Pantry from Target’s iced oatmeal cookies are not bad at all, but honestly the taste just didn’t stand out. So it was easy for Kroger to take them over. They were much softer than Kroger’s and the iced taste wasn’t v...

FIND There's a new wing joint in town and so far, so really good! It's apparently a chain so see if there's one near you: WINGS OVER...well in my case, WINGS OVER KNOXVILLE ! Another new joint down in the UT campus area, which no doubt will do well given good wings and good tenders. We got the combo meals which gave us 3 tenders, 6 wings and a ton of waffle fries, plus a drink!  While it was a tad pricey at $14.99, they did give you a ton of food so in the end I'm not complaining at all. I opted for the Spicy Lemon Pepper seasoning on the tenders just to give it a shot since I'm not into hot stuff, and Lemon Pepper for the wings. Erik opted for the Jamaican Jerk flavoring across the board. We both downed out dinners with gusto, the woman who ordered was wonderful and the same for the lady who delivered. The wings were big and super flavorful which was great. There blue cheese was a bit overpowered by the wing flavors, but hey I enjoyed the flavors but will forgo the...

Plasma. No, not a character from Star Wars. The plasma that exists inside our bodies...or more specifically our blood. For those unfamiliar, let me give you some more details. " What is Plasma  in Blood?  Plasma  is the liquid portion of blood. About 55%  of our  blood is  plasma , and the remaining 45% are red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets that are suspended  in the plasma .  Plasma  is about 92% water." 1 2 It's the part of our bodies that doesn't require a black market to sell, because there are options to sell it legally in plasma centers probably in every major and minor city in America. In fact you can make a decent amount of "not so quick cash" in your first few donations where afterwards the price does go down for what you exchange. Is it blood money? I mean in a roundabout way yes.  You go into a plasma center, you read about all the potential restrictions and the potential risks of donating. You learn why your pl...

FINDS I have to give mad-props to Aldi (once again I know), for having the best deal on family sized skinless and boneless chicken breasts (and let me tell you these chickens are quite ample birds). It's less than 10 dollars and I end up getting between 5-6 breasts in a package which equals 2 meals out of one package. You cannot complain about that at all. In fact this lead's me to the second FIND of the week foodie-wise. My second find is this recipe for  CREAMY TUSCAN CHICKEN  I found on the website www.delish.com! It was incredible, now sadly my sauce didn't yield a sumptuous vodka/tomato sauce coloring as you'll note in the video on the delish website; and I'm pretty sure it's because I had a lot of browning on the chicken and the butter browned a bit as well. However, it did not ruin this dish - just gave me more excitement for making it again and perfecting it next time. Plus, I will 100% agree with the need to have some crusty Italian bread on hand becaus...