YUM or gross? McDonald’s is trying out a chicken and WAFFLE sambo

Feb 18, 2016

McDonald's has been changing a lot recently, with many new (and whacky) menu items being tried and tested.

But it's latest innovation is something people are either going to LOVE or hate – and we're totally undecided.

According to Business First, the fast food chain is trying out a chicken and waffle sandwich. It's called the Chicken McGriddle and comes with a crispy fried chicken burger sandwiched between two maple-infused pancakes.

But if you're loving this idea, don't get too excited. For the moment the fast food chain is only testing it out in 11 locations in America.

If the new sambo is a success there, it's going to be tested further (yawn) and then it might make the menu.

So, will this be something you'd like to see on the menu? We might even test this one out at home!

The extravagant milkshake craze really got out of hand with this one

Oct 5, 2015

by Amber Saunders

If you thought the Internet freaked out with this Nutella doughnut milkshake, then just wait until you see these extreme shakes from Sydney-based blogger, Alana Dimou.

On her website, she's made very strange milkshakes that have become Insta-famous by inventing three crazy flavour combinations – including a S'mores Chicken Milkshake and a Bacon Burger Milkshake… sounds weird, right?!

Alana said that "milkshake flavours are irrelevant now, the duty falls upon whatever lies on top," so she's placed everything from a full roasted chicken to beef burgers on top of milkshake-filled mason jars.

The most decadent of the lot is her strawberry milkshake topped with a huge variety of baked goods. Four different kinds of doughnuts, pancakes, a Belgian waffle and whipped cream have turned many a sweet tooth's fantasy into reality.

Alana's Bacon Burger concoction is perched on top of a chocolate milkshake, loaded with bacon and cheese, and perfectly topped off with a brioche bun.

While these all look brilliant (and will probably be the perfect tipsy 2 a.m treat), we can't help but wonder how far this milkshake trend will go.

Five tasty homemade hot pockets you need to make for dinner

Oct 5, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Hot Pockets are an American favourite – and it's easy to see why.

Crispy, delicious crust with a tasty, hot filling of your choice is hard to turn down, especially on these cold nights!

Here are five hot pocket meals you need to make dinner as tasty as it can be:

Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Hot Pocket

This classic trio of ingredients will have you reaching for more. A perfect mid-week dinner for you to devour when you get home from work!

Chicken Pot Pie Pocket

We all love a good chicken pie, but this hot pocket has taken your regular chicken pie to a different, tastier level.

Homemade Pizza Hot Pocket

Yes, this might be the ultimate college girl treat, but we're totally digging it!

Meatball Sub Hot Pocket

Imagine a juicy meatball sub stuffed inside a pie crust… yep, we knew you'd love it!

Egg, Avocado and Cheese Hot Pocket

Perfect for a weekend breakfast, this hot pocket is stuffed with scrambled egg and mashed avocado which makes a perfect combo.

These are the best soups for the cold autumn days ahead

Oct 4, 2015

by Amber Saunders

When you come home from work or college, there really is nothing better than digging into a hot bowl of soup on a cold night.

But now the question is, what soup to make?!

Here, we have five great soups that will feel like a hug in a mug.

Roasted garlic Sage Pesto Pumpkin Soup

It may be a mouthful to say, but once you actually take a mouthful of this soup, it will be like autumn in your mouth.

Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup

It's beer soup. Nothing else needs to be said for this delicious concoction.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

If you want to make your Mexican chicken wraps that little bit more filling, you need to try this soup.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Soup

To be honest, this soup had us at 'bacon'.

Tuscan-Style Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup

This soup will taste even better with a side of crusty bread and cheese.

Try these easy chicken taco recipes to set you up for the weekend

Oct 1, 2015

by Amber Saunders

There's nothing better than having a night in with friends at the weekend, and what better food to serve than tacos?!

Here we have two great chicken taco recipes to set you up for a perfect dinner party!

Super Speedy Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

3 cups coleslaw
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 1/4 cup salsa
1 can black beans
2/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 chicken
8 small taco shells

1. In a large bowl, toss the slaw with carrots, cilantro, and 3/4 cup of salsa; set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine beans, corn, cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat on medium for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently stir in chicken.

3. While mean mixture heats, get the taco shells ready. Serve chicken mixture in the shells, topped with the slaw mixture. Serve the remaining slaw and salsa on the side.

Tex-Mex Chicken Tacos with Chili Onion Rings

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup garlic/lime marinade
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 can corn
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 cup french fried onion rings
8 taco shells
shredded romaine lettuce

1. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with marinade, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, salt and pepper.

2. In another bowl, mix the corn, salsa, onion, lime juice, tossing to combine.

3. Turn on grill to a medium heat. Cook chicken 4 minutes per side until cooked through. Remove from grill.

4. Meanwhile, in a pan over a medium heat, toss onion rings with the remaining chili powder.

5. Cut chicken into small pieces and fill taco shells. Top each with 2 tbsp of corn mixture and onion rings. Garnish with lettuce.

Mila Kunis denies reports that she stole a chicken

Celebrity

Apr 23, 2015

by Amber Saunders

After Kristina Karo threatened to sue Mila Kunis over the apparent theft of a chicken, Mila and Ashton Kutcher have denied the reports.

Shocker…

"Let's just get this clear. You stole a chicken from a one-month-old child who spoke to you in an entire conversation? It's just shocking to me," Ashton said on Meerkat via TMZ.

Apparently, at the time, Kristina, who is claiming to be an old childhood friend, would have only been one month old and speaking to Mila in Ukraine. Mila moved from Ukraine to Los Angeles in 1991.

Ashton continued: "Speaking in English in one month? This is the smartest girl I've ever heard of."

Kristina has plans to release a music video in the future and Ashton is aware of this: "So this girl has a music video coming out at the same time she's suing you for $5,000 for the stolen chicken when she was one month old and you were seven?"

Hmmm, we suppose it is a tiny bit suspicious.

"I was like, which chicken did I steal? I was obviously in the village when I stole these chickens so I apologised to this woman who may or may not have been a month old," Mila joked.

The couple went on to joke about the whole situation and Mila explains that she hasn't received any official papers yet.

"I would like to launch a counter $5,000 lawsuit for making me watch that music video. My body hurts. My eyes hurt. They're burning," Mila joked.

She concluded her point by saying: "I feel like I will be a chicken fighter for a very long time. I would never steal somebody else's chicken."

While Ashton added: "I believe this woman. I know her very well, I believe she's an ethical person that wouldn't steal chicken. You heard it right from the chicken's mouth."

The most common sources of food poisoning revealed

Mar 11, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Food poisoning can be one of the most debilitating and sometimes deadly things to happen to a human.

The Interagency Food Safety and Collaboration in America have released a new report that sheds more light on what foods caused which poisonings most between the years of 2008 and 2012.

E. Coli
The food product found to be behind 46% of E. Coli cases was beef.

Salmonella
Surprisingly, it wasn’t chicken or eggs that were found to behind the highest rates of Salmonella (18%) but actually seeded vegetables. Eggs and fruit came in at the same level at 12% with chicken a cause of 10% of Salmonella cases.

Listeria
Tainted fruit was found to be behind half of listeria cases.

Campylobacter
Dairy amassed a huge 66% of the cause behind Campylobacter food poisoning. Today, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland stated that raw milk increases the development of foodborne illnesses. The sale of raw milk for direct human consumption in Ireland is recommended to be prohibited by the FSAI.

How can you protect yourself from food poisoning?

The HSE recommend using the 4 C’s to prevent food poisoning:

1. Cleaning
By keeping your hands, utensils and surfaces clean and always washing your hands and surfaces that have come in contact with raw meat, poultry or fish, you can avoid contamination.

2. Cooking
Always ensure your food is cooked through properly for the required time in order to avoid listeria and salmonella.

3. Chilling
Always keep food that needs refrigeration in the fridge to avoid harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. With leftovers, always refrigerate them once cooled.

4. Cross-contamination
It is important to avoid the cross-contamination of raw foods onto other foods. Always keep raw food separate from others and ensure the utensils used are different and cleaned thoroughly afterwards.

Have you ever found a human tooth or dirty fingernail in your dinner?

Feb 27, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Eek, this is scary! And also quite disgusting.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland have reported a 12.5% rise in the number of complaints to their advice line last year.

Some of the issues mentioned included a dirty fingernail found in baby food, meat in a chocolate yoghurt and a chicken head in a bag of frozen chicken wings.

Live insects were also reported in a packet of dates and a human tooth in a Chinese takeaway.

The Hepatitis A outbreak reportedly caused by imported frozen raspberries resulted in 267 calls while the horse meat scandal surprisingly only accumulated 33 calls.

Healthy food choices in restaurants

Jan 25, 2014

by Amber Saunders

Going out for dinner should always be an enjoyable and fun experience; new foods, great company, nice wine. However, if you are trying to be healthy and change your eating habits it can be difficult to make the right choices.

Of course, if going out for dinner isn’t an everyday thing, by all means go for it; dessert and all! A lot of people have jobs (or social lives!) that require them to eat out quite a bit and so sometimes they need to make healthier choices.

Here we have listed some of the most popular types of restaurants and some healthy choices you can make when eating out.

Indian

Swap kormas for tomato-based dishes for a less calorific dish. The spicier the better in terms of metabolism – how hot can you go? Tandoori dishes are great as they are really flavoursome but don’t have a sauce and are the lightest item on the menu in an Indian restaurant.
Go for rice OR naan, not both. Skip the poppadoms altogether – they’re oily, not filling and definitely not healthy.

Mexican

Have beans in your burrito instead of meat and leave out the rice. Beans are a great source of protein, low in fat and taste amazing. Even better, a lot of Mexican places often have burrito’s in a bowl, meaning less bread, more rice and veg.
If you are having meat, go for chicken as it is leaner than beef or pork.

Chicken

Fried chicken is becoming popular here but good for you it ain’t. Try see if the place has chicken that isn’t deep-fried; often places will have some chicken dish that is marinated and grilled instead.
Skip the chips and go for a side such as salad or corn on the cob instead.

Italian

Go for tomato-based dishes rather than cream or cheese based sauces and your tummy will thank you for it.
See if you can get a sprinkling of feta on your pizza rather than lots of melted cheese, which will leave you feeling bloated and sluggish.

Like we said, these swaps are great for people watching what they are eating or have to eat out a lot; always enjoy your meal out and treat yourself, you deserve it!