Microwave Popcorn

Did you know you can make popcorn in the microwave with nothing more than a paper lunch bag? The best part is that you can really taste the flavor of the corn and you can put exactly what you want on it; you need very little spray oil to make things stick. It's the fastest whole-grain, low-fat, high-fiber snack I know.
Recipe: Top-Your-Own Microwave Popcorn
The kernels can be sprayed and salted in the bag, but any herbs/ spices / cheese should be added after popping or they'll burn.

1/8 cup popcorn kernels* per person
Spray oil
Salt

Optional toppings:
pimenton [smoked paprika]
brewer's yeast
cracked black pepper
garlic powder
worcestershire powder
steak seasoning rub
dried thyme or oregano
queso seco [dry cheese, like feta]
american cheese, torn in pieces
shredded parmesean


Dump the kernels in a paper lunch sack, spray a little oil into the bag and sprinkle with salt. [The bag will absorb some of the oil; it's okay.] Fold over the top twice, pinching the fold tight each time and leaving as much air as possible in the bag. Hit the popcorn button on your microwave or nuke for ~3 minutes and stop when the kernels pop 10 seconds apart. Dump into a bowl and add whatever other toppings you choose. If you want to add cheese, return popcorn (in serving bowl) to microwave and nuke it for another ~20 seconds, watching to make sure it doesn't burn.
*I tend to use either standard yellow or black popcorn. The black popcorn pops up bright white and has very thin hulls that never get stuck in your teeth, but has less corn flavor.

Summer Squash Pizza

Here's a summer bonus for your pizza topping pleasure:
Just slice it thin and don't let it out of the oven until the edges curls and brown spots appear. It may look dried out, but that just concentrated flavor.

[Also pictured and discussed previously: whole-wheat dough, simmered tomato sauce, carmelized onions, fresh moz, and scallions]

Grow Your Own Scallions

This is a nifty trick I picked up from my sister-in-law. I almost never buy scallions because 3/4ths of the bunch always ends up rotting in the vegetable bin, but it turns out you can keep scallions alive in water near a window. The more light they get the darker green they'll be, but they aren't that picky. You can even use all of the green part and drop the white root end in the water and it'll grow again. You can pull out that slimy bunch from the fridge, discard all the funk and as long as the root tip is okay, it'll grow back... just make sure the water level is below the greens so they don't rot again. I bought these babies almost 2 months ago and I've harvested them at least 5 times now.
Thanks, Lou!