9/30/09 Much Ado About Nothing

I'm calling this post Much Ado about Nothing since none of the things are really exciting enough to be a post on their own. (Actually, it's not even really much ado. It's more like A Passing Mention About Nothing, but that didn't sound as good, which I'm sure is why it didn't make it past Shakespeare's editors either).

I'm currently reading Bram Stoker's Dracula as part of my classics book list. And I admit that while I'm woefully out of touch when it comes to vampire lore, I was shocked to discover that Stoker's Dracula is light years away from your more "modern" vampires such as Anne Rice or Twilight or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For one thing, Dracula has more rules than the Old Testament. He can't fly over moving water. He can't come in unless invited. He needs his home dirt from Transylvania. He's OLD. (Which isn't really a rule so much as just a shock since all the Hollywood vampires are young and dashing). Despite the limitations however, Stoker still manages to make those modern vampires look like cuddly little bunnies by comparison. (Ooooh! That just reminded me of Bunnicula, the lovable children's books about the rabbit who sucks the juice out of vegetables. I loved those books when I was a kid!) Not to say that Stoker is all grisly and graphic like you'd expect in today's books, but he writes so that you know Dracula's coming for the character and there's not a thing anybody can do about it. (I was up until 3:30am last night reading and yelling, "Don't open the window! He's out there! Don't open it!") I'm not normally a fan of the whole horror genre, but I must say that I'm really enjoying this one. Still, that Dracula? Seriously. Bad. Dude.

So I've invented this fabulous new snack recently, and rather than package it commercially and make a fortune off of it, I'm going to share it with you for free because that is just the kind of warm, loving person that I am. (You're welcome). Anyway, it's kind of based off of Garlic Triscuits which are hands-down one of the top five most awesome snack crackers in existence thankyouverymuch. (I can throw down an entire box of those things in one sitting if I'm not careful. Loooooooove the garlic triscuits!) As a matter of fact, that's really how the whole invented snack thing came about, because I was blowing through Triscuits faster than, well, something really fast, and was all, "I need to find a better outlet for my garlic wheat cracker cravings". Hence, my garlic Triscuit homemade knockoffs! Tris-quits! Or Garlic-o's. Or whatever.

9-10 cups of spoon size shredded wheat cereal (original, not flavored or frosted or anything)
1 packet dry Hidden Valley Powdered Ranch dressing
2-3 tbsp garlic powder (depending on how much you like garlic)
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread cereal out on baking sheet.
Mix oil and ranch powder and garlic together in bowl. (It turns a freaky shade of green. Don't worry about that).
Pour oil mixture over cereal, stirring to coat evenly.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
Eat as many as you want because it's basically just shredded wheat, and everybody's grandma knows that shredded wheat is crazy good for you, right?

So here I am, reading my book and popping my Tris-quits until garlic oozes out of my pores. And with Dracula, don't think that that was a coincidence.

Finally, because even pointless posts need three points (Commandment seven of the Bloggy 10 Commandments), I'll tell you that I've just picked up two Sneaky Chef books in an attempt to get the House of Quirk eating more veggies. I'd like to claim that I'm just doing this as a way to totally sneak veggies right in under Tony's nose, and while I suppose that is technically true, I'm also sneaking veggies in under my own nose. Veggies that I'd never normally eat. Veggies that I do not even like to look at. But I gotta tell you, it really works. Tony is completely oblivious to the extra ingredients, and even though I know that they're in there, I can't taste them or see them or pick up on them at all. So far, I've only tried two or three recipes, but everything we've eaten has been totally me and Tony-approved. So we're eating healthier and not having to sacrifice taste. So hooray for hidden veggies! Just don't tell Tony about them.