Sunday, April 19, 2015

Food Review: Hershey's Chocolate Almond Spread

I am always looking for something new to try (well, new to me) and so I picked this jar of spread up because I was out of Nutella and this was cheaper (and it's Hershey's, can't go wrong, right?!) So, I am just now getting around to opening this jar and on first appearance it looks a lot thicker than Nutella which I figured would be fine. I ate a spoonful and the first thing I tasted was peanut butter. Now, since it's almonds it's technically almond butter but it still tasted like peanut butter. I got a chocolate aftertaste but it wasn't prominent to me on first taste.

My first ultimate test was making a chocolate quesadilla for a midnight snack. It came out pretty good. The spread was melted and more of the chocolate flavor came out. My next test was eating it with a cut up apple which just happens to be my favorite past time with Nutella and I'm not sure, the jury is out. I don't hate it but I don't love it.

Overall I think this spread is in a league of its own. I am not convinced that I would ever pick this particular jar up again because it doesn't seem to be my type of spread, although I think it's just merely okay. I think I will stick with Nutella! Now, there is a hazelnut spread as well and I haven't tried that yet. If I decide to I will make another review and see how it directly compares to Nutella. We can have have a spread-off!

Food Recipe: Microwave Mug Cake

Last night I had a hankering for something sweet but I didn't have eggs to make a cake so I opened the cake mix and made a microwave cake. It was actually pretty good. This doesn't, by any means, take the place of actual cake baked in the oven but it does stave off the sweet tooth as well as anything.

Ingredients

3-6 tablespoons cake mix
2-4 tablespoons water

Directions

1. Add cake mix into a mug, or even a bowl.
2. Mix the water until well combined and most of the lumps are out of the mix.
3. Microwave for 1 minute or less, keep an eye on it. You don't want to cook too long. Usually no more than a minute.
4. Let cool for about 5 minutes because the cake will be extremely hot. Add icing or cut up some fruit for a topping or whipped cream. Get creative.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Can Poor Etiquette Kill Your Chances of Future Employment?

I have a friend, lets call him Isaiah. Isaiah lost his job a month ago and he's been out of work ever since. He's been searching, day and night, for a position at another company but he hasn't found someone interested yet. This is not from lack of smarts. He is one of the smartest people I know. College degree, other accolades accumulated since graduation which makes him a hot commodity in the job search arena. 

With that education comes a bit of cockiness. He applies for jobs, even ones he really doesn't want and considers "below him" and will counteract each job opportunity with asking for a certain amount of money per year and want that confirmed in an email before he will even go to an interview. The issue with this method is that typically companies extend an interview to you before offering financial compensation. This is a perk that comes along with actually being hired or seriously considered for the position. When you ask by email, before you agree to an interview, you give off the air that you are cocky, have a job already and looking for a better job or you aren't really serious about finding work. You may have, occasionally, someone who will try to meet your terms through email before the interview but once it's documented in email it's an amount that has to stick and that's a lot to ask of a company who hasn't actually met you yet. 

In a lot of ways asking for specific compensation before going into an interview is self-sabotaging. This sets the precedence for the interview. Say the company agrees to what you are asking. You have a lot to prove in the interview for such a brazen action on your behalf. This will almost always shoot you in the foot if you are not very good at interviews. You have to present yourself in a way that's sure to show that you are worthy of the amount. Another sabotage, as I listed before, is being passed over all together. More companies than not won't meet compensation guidelines by email before even meeting you, it's sending a very bad message. It says that you are only interested in the position for the money. You aren't interested in doing a good job and you possibly aren't interested in remaining in the position if you find a job willing to pay you more. It takes a lot to hire someone, go through interviews and training. This takes money and resources on the companies end and they won't feel comfortable putting all of their stock in you when you are already sending up red flags, and this is a large red flag.

Ultimately, if you are looking for a job it's imperative that you follow through on the applications you fill out. If you took the time to get the application done and they took the time to look through your credentials and make contact then you can take the time to interview. I have gone into interviews where a job was listed at a certain amount per hour and did so well that my compensation package was offered at a much higher tier. Poor and overly demanding attitudes can block you from getting employment and if you don't have a job at all that's something that you literally cannot afford to do. I hope this will help someone evade the stumbling block that will go up if you start off acting like this. Your interview begins at the time they reach out to you for an interview. How you respond sets the precedence on if they want you on their staff or if your attitude is too much for them to care to deal with. Don't shoot yourself in the foot prematurely, compensation can be discussed once a formal offer has been made; that's the most appropriate time to bring up compensation unless otherwise stipulated by the company.

Miscellaneous This and That Topics

A little bit has happened over the last few days that makes me perk my ears up. The most major being that of Hillary Clinton running for president. It would be nice for a woman to become president, that's no secret. I think it's time women step up to the plate and show what we can do; I know with the right candidate it can be possible. Some of the things Hillary stands for is gay marriage (recent change, she used to be against it), feminism, education about contraception for teens, medicinal marijuana and possible recreational use marijuana, parents teaching their kids from home as they are the first teachers the children come across as well as getting resources into Africa to combat Ebola instead of doing nothing like we have been doing. She stands for a lot more but those are just a few key stances I extracted. A more comprehensive list can be found at: http://www.ontheissues.org/hillary_clinton.htm 

Now, we can't leave off the republicans in this, obviously. Ben Carson has been in the media lately, it appears he's running. He is a retired director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital. I checked him out yesterday and I have to say that other than him being an amazing surgeon I don't see how any of that supports his reasoning for candidacy. He comes across religious, stating that he is going to get the country back to "one nation under God". Whenever I see someone quote anything with the word "God" in it within the first paragraph of their text it raises the hair on the back of my hands. I am not looking to put my support behind someone who is only going to stand for the Christians of the country and attempt to stomp on the rest of our liberties. With that being said, he sounds interesting but for me to really hear him I need him to say something worth listening to. More information about him can be found at: https://www.bencarson.com/explore/

When I think of Hillary Clinton I remember the times that we had Bill Clinton in office and, while he may not have been perfect and scandal free, he did a lot for this country. Upon him leaving the white house we had a surplus and the country was in decent shape. A lot of me would vote for Hillary Clinton if only Bill was running things behind the scenes. We need a lot done in this country and it's not the time to hand over to amateurs. We did that, for eight years, and this is why we need help. I don't know if Jeb Bush intends on running but I wouldn't be mad at that prospect either. Ultimately, when it comes to politics, I only care about what's important to me. I am looking for a president who is going to work for all of us in this country, not just a select few, someone who is going to legalize marriage for all humans, someone who is going to separate church and state as the constitution dictates, someone who is going to care about the future environment of this world and someone who isn't going to embarrass the crap out of America every time they open their mouth. I don't know if Mrs. Clinton is the right way to go, Mr. Carson is the right way to go, or someone I haven't looked into yet, but I just know that the way this country has been going over the last few years demonstrates that we need someone in office who's competent enough to switch things around.

On to a lighter topic. Last night I made a Hershey's chocolate and almond spread quesadilla and it was pretty good! I browned a quesadilla in butter and smeared the spread then cut into wedges. I would definitely make this again, I just would watch the temperature of the pan because if the tortilla browns too much it takes away from the subtile flavor of the spread and overpowers with an almost charred tortilla flavor. This holds true with a normal quesadilla as well. Tonight I am going to make cinnamon chips and use to dip in the spread and see how that tastes. To make that I am going to fry the flour tortilla in oil and cut into small, bite sized pieces and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Overall nothing else has been pressing and nothing more has been running through my frightful mind so I am going to cut this post here. I hope everyone who reads this is having a wonderful week!

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Foodie Post: Penne and Cheese (Mac and Cheese)

This recipe is good if you are looking for a quick, filling and tasty recipe. I made it up on the fly and it was extremely cheesy. When I make this again I am going to add 2 slices of crumbled bacon for another dimension of flavor. Due to this recipe being very basic the different variations and experiments are limitless. 

Ingredients

2 cups penne, cooked
1/4 cup milk
6 oz. Velveeta, cubed
2 oz. shredded cheddar
ground black pepper

Directions

Add all ingredients in the pan with the penne. Cook over medium heat until the cheese is completely melted.