Jim Paull

We ask a lot of breakfast. On most days, we need it to be quick, nutritious, and delicious. Tall order? Not if you've got a great list of easy breakfast recipes that make you feel like you've got everything under control. This list of recipes includes some of our tastiest, smartest ideas. From kid-friendly muffins for on-the-go Mondays to a hearty egg casserole for the days when you've got time to sit down with a cup of coffee, these easy breakfast ideas will help any busy cook master their morning.

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Here are six of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

PETALING JAYA: If you’re headed to the gym, don’t forget your most essential piece of sports equipment – the Jaybird X3 or Jaybird Freedom wireless headphones that will keep you wired for sound as your tone-up and work out.

No ordinary headphones, the Jaybird X3 and Jaybird Freedom are more commonly known by Gen X-ers as in-ear sports buds and don’t require a headphone jack, are delightfully sweat proof, use Bluetooth® 4.1 and offer a universal secure sport fit with improved sound and customisable audio options.

Whether you’re rock climbing, brisk walking, pumping iron at the gym or sweating it out on a cross-trainer, the Jaybird will keep you in step with your very own playlist, motivating you to keep pushing on.

“While the world has recently been talking about the disappearing headphone jack, Jaybird has been focused on designing superior wireless experiences for more than a decade,” said KP Sim, Country Manager of Logitech Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines & Brunei, and brand owner of Jaybird.

“Jaybird headphones deliver supreme audio quality and secure sport fit, so you have the ultimate wireless accessory to your active life.”

The X3 Sport Bluetooth Headphones

Here’s to larger sound, thanks to an enhanced 6mm driver, as well as smaller size, making it the first in the X-Series to be helmet compatible.

The redesigned enhanced-comfort ear fins and selection of ear tips provide a universal snug secure sport fit during the toughest of workouts. Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity also allows you to pair two sets of X3 headphones to one device and even pair your X3s to two devices simultaneously.

The Freedom Wireless Bluetooth® Buds Headphones

These combine sophisticated style, incredible sound and increased comfort in the smallest, most advanced wireless earbuds ever designed, rivalling anything in the wired world.

Take your tunes to the streets with a sweat-proof, versatile, low-impact universal Bluetooth in-ear design that is so small and comfortable, you almost forget you’re wearing them.

Both the Jaybird X3 and Jaybird Freedom have eight-hour battery life that means you can enjoy more music on a single charge, and the new in-line remote makes it even easier to control your music and calls.

And with the Jaybird App, you can customise your sound settings to the way you prefer to hear your music. Your custom sound profile is then saved on your Jaybird X3 and Jaybird Freedom headphones, so no matter what music device they’re paired with or which music service you use, they’ll always be tailored to let you train harder and push farther.

The Jaybird X3 is priced at RM669.00 (including GST) and is available in four colours – Blackout (Black), Sparta (White), Roadrash (Red) and Alpha (Green).

The Jaybird Freedom Wireless Headphones meanwhile is priced at RM699.00 (including GST) and come in four fresh colours – Carbon (Black), Gold, Blaze (Red) and Ocean (Blue).

The Jaybird X3 and Jaybird Freedom headphones were officially launched by Funsportz Sdn Bhd – the exclusive importer and distributor – at Celebrity Fitness, Nu Sentral in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Hello, weeknight warrior! This recipe is for you. With only five minutes of prep time and 20 minutes of cook time, this buttery, garlicky, herby chicken and zucchini dish comes together in one pan.

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Add this vibrant vegetarian salad to next week's meal plan and you can bank on an easy produce-packed dinner loaded with crunchy textures and big flavors. It's a play on classic chopped salad that puts chickpeas at the forefront for extra heft, and tosses them with a mess of crunchy veggies, a pop of fresh cilantro, and a spiced honey-garlic dressing to bring it all together.

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ABU DHABI/KUALA LUMPUR: Abu Dhabi has given scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) until August 31 to make a US$603 million debt settlement payment that was originally due in end-July, an Abu Dhabi based source with knowledge of the matter said.

Under an agreement struck in April with Abu Dhabi state fund International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), the 1MDB fund agreed to pay US$1.2 billion in two installments to IPIC, with the first of about US$600 million to be paid by July 31.

But 1MDB failed to honor its commitment, forcing Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund to give 1MDB a grace period of five days to make the payment. That deadline was to expire on Tuesday.

Missed payments by 1MDB, which is owned by the Malaysian finance ministry, are a matter of concern for foreign investors, who own a significant share of outstanding government bonds in the Southeast Asian nation. Allegations of fraud involving 1MDB have already spooked investors by weighing on Malaysia’s economy and its currency.

On Tuesday, after the news of the extension, 1MDB’s 4.4% US$3 billion bonds due 2023 gained by a point to trade around 93.25/94.45 cents on the US dollar.

IPIC is due to make a regulatory disclosure about the latest deadline extension later today, the source said, declining to be named as the matter is not yet public.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, into which IPIC was merged earlier this year, declined to comment.

Malaysia’s Secretary General for the finance ministry, Mohammad Irwan Serigar Abdullah, was quoted in state news agency Bernama as saying that 1MDB has got an extension to pay IPIC.

Abu Dhabi said last week that 1MDB and Malaysia’s finance ministry will be subject to “additional obligations” if no payment was made at the end of the five-day deadline.

1MDB declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. The Malaysian firm said in its statement last week that it was committed to paying Abu Dhabi but there were delays due to “regulatory approvals” needed to get its funds.

It was unclear what approvals were pending for the payment.

1MDB, founded by Prime Minister Najib Razak, is the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

In civil lawsuits, the US Justice Department alleged that about US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB.

1MDB has denied any wrongdoing and Najib has denied all allegations of corruption against him.

Malaysia dissolved 1MDB’s advisory board last year, and its assets were either shifted to the government or sold off as part of the rationalisation program.

There's something magical about picking up some spicy Indian takeout and pouring yourself a cold glass of Riesling on a night when you really don't feel like cooking. But if you are in the mood to spend some time in the kitchen, you can make your own version of your favorite dishes at home. This Indian butter chicken is a great place to start.

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It's no secret how much we love a shortcut in the kitchen. If we've said it once, we've said it a million times: There is no shame in doing something or buying something that can save you time when it comes to getting dinner on the table. While it's true that sometimes, yes, you'll pay more for that convenience, it's not always the case. Sometimes a shortcut can save you time and money. It's true! Just check out these 10 instances uncovered by grocery shopper extraordinaire, Maria Speidel.

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With a dwindling beer-drinking population in its home country of Japan, Sapporo Brewing has set its sights on U.S. shores to bolster its business, snapping up Anchor Brewing Company — maker of Anchor Steam — for $85 million.

San Francisco-based Anchor has been around since 1896, and Sapporo [PDF] notes that its flagship brand “is said to be an icon that ignited the current craft beer boom in the U.S.”

Sapporo could use that power: Japan doesn’t have as many young people in recent years, which means fewer folks hitting drinking age and buying beer, notes Bloomberg.

The deal, slated to close by the end of this month, will allow Sapporo to make a push into the U.S. market. Though Sapporo’s annual sales outstrip Anchor Brewing by quite a lot — $4.9 billion to $33 million in 2016 — the Japanese brewer will now have a chance to get a slice of the American craft beer pie as well.

“Sapporo shares our values and appreciates our unique, time-honored approach to brewing,” said Keith Greggor, Anchor Brewing co-owner. “With both a long-term vision and the resources to realize it, Sapporo will keep brewing Anchor’s beers in San Francisco while expanding to new markets worldwide.”

Here are seven of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

PETALING JAYA: Students of Newcastle University are studying whether drinking too much of Malaysia’s most loved beverage could lead to dementia later in life.

According to Study International News, the university’s teams in the UK and Malaysia are embarking on a project that will investigate social, policy and service set-ups in Malaysia, Tanzania and India for people with dementia, a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life.

Little is known of dementia, but memory loss is a common symptom. Alzheimer’s disease meanwhile is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60-70% of cases, according to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data. It affects 47 million people worldwide.

Speaking about the three countries picked for the study, Prof Roger Barton, CEO and provost of Newcastle’s Malaysian outpost, Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) told the portal, “The group really wanted to get a global picture.”

The study, led by Prof Louise Robinson from Newcastle’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing, will also be a collaboration with government officials and other universities such as King’s College London, Monash University Malaysia and Universiti Malaya. Civil society groups from each country will also be consulted.

Although the results of the project won’t be seen until years, possibly decades later, it is much needed for several reasons, the portal said.

Malaysia has one of the highest rates of diabetes, smoking and obesity and a study such as this could provide answers as to how these conditions could be related to cognitive impairment especially when age is factored into the equation.

“With age being the biggest risk factor, Malaysia’s ageing population will likely see an increase in dementia, so it is important for us to understand it more and the issues that surround it,” the portal quoted Prof Barton as saying.

While awaiting the results of the long-term study, Prof Barton has this to say: “Remain physically active, don’t become overweight, don’t smoke and keep using your mind.”

KANGAR: Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has chided the behaviour of some poor in the state who are lazy and refuse to work to elevate their living standards.

He said he often participated in the Raja Muda Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail’s bicycle-riding programme, visiting the poor in villages to hand over contributions and to see for himself their living conditions.

“When the Raja Muda entourage arrives at their homes, I find some individuals still under their blankets while the rest of the population are already out working to earn a living,” said Mohd Asri in his weekly lecture at the Alwi Mosque here last night.

Mohd Asri said during the visit, a majority of the poor complained of not having enough money to buy daily necessities, including rice.

“What I regret is that among those who receive contributions from the Raja Muda, some have a cigarette pack in their pockets. If they can buy a pack of cigarettes at RM15 or RM17 each but are unable to buy a small bag of rice for only RM13, they should not be categorised as poor,” said Mohd Asri.

He expressed his hope that the poor in Perlis would soon change their attitude and work hard to elevate their family’s living standard by doing whatever work they could find.

Have we reached peak everything bagel spice yet? I don't think so. The flavorful seasoning blend — a mixture of poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and coarse salt — is great on bagels, of course, but it also has way more potential. This chicken proves it.

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A transgender man birthed a baby in Portland this month. Trystan Reese and his partner of seven years, Biff Chaplow, delivered their first biological child, Leo Murray Chaplow, July 14. Their baby boy weighed 9.5 pounds upon delivery. READ: 5 Things That Cost More Than Military Transgender Health...

PETALING JAYA: Fed up with reports of vandalism surfacing just weeks after Phase Two of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line was launched, operator RapidKL has turned to spooky means of getting commuters to behave themselves – Annabelle, the haunted doll.

Pictures of Annabelle at various locations in trains and stations have been going viral on Facebook, RapidKL’s latest efforts at generating civic awareness among members of the public.

One photo shows the doll taking a ride on the MRT, while another features her sitting on a turnstile at an MRT gate entrance.

The pictures are accompanied by the caption: “Dear valued customers, lately we’ve been receiving surprise visits from Annabelle. Mind your manners while you’re on our trains or….she will haunt you FOREVER.”

Below the pictures are the hashtags #annabelleisnear, #citizenwithmannerswanted and #forabetterfuture.

RapidKL’s post had been shared more than 9,700 times at the time of writing and received over 25,000 reactions.

Facebook users hailed the move, with Thahirah Jamaludin saying: “whoever is handling the rapidKL social media platform, he/she deserves a raise.”

Stacey Wong said: “admin can I give u thousand of like?hahahah u always made my day!!!”

Jonathan Seevaratnam said: “Kudos to the thespian manning this social media page. You have indeed given us mirth in moments when Malaysians need it most. Your witty tongue-in-cheek posts are the order-of-the-day!”

However, Ariena Ariff said: “Rapid KL, this is soooo not funny! Some people like me are scared of dolls!” while Alina Tasha jokingly suggested that Annabelle herself was likely the admin.

According to a report by the New Straits Times, the campaign was meant to raise awareness of social etiquette among members of the public.

“We hope that the public’s social etiquette will be improved, not only when using public transportation but also when they use any public facilities,” a RapidKL spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line stations were opened on July 17 and were in operation for less than 10 days when reports of vandalism surfaced.

MRT Corp Strategic Communications and Stakeholder Relations director Najmuddin Abdullah was reported as saying that the cost of repairs and cleaning services alone would come up to RM10,000.

Acts of vandalism surfacing at MRT stations

You love how easy your heavy-duty food processor makes meal prep duties. What you don't love? Having to haul the thing out, set it up, and clean it out when you're done. So more often than not, you end up hand-chopping onions or carrots rather than go through the whole process.

Consider this, though — you can buy a mini food processor to keep on hand for quick, little jobs (weeknight meals), and save your giant food processor for more involved jobs (ambitious weekend meals).

This KitchenAid version happens to by only $35!

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Avocado-lovers received some bad news earlier this year — their favorite fruit was going to cost them more money as the market rate reached record highs. A Bloomberg report warned that a combination of growing demand and a smaller crop would make the price of avocado steeper than usual in 2017, and it did. At the time, the going rate for a box of avocados was double that of last year, reaching a 19-year high. Oof.

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Mary Berry, author of 75-some cookbooks and judge of The Great British Bake Off, is returning to the BBC to judge a new cooking show coming to the network. The series is called Britain's Best Cook. Berry will be sharing the screen with presenter Claudia Winkleman and a second judge, who has not been selected by the network.

If you're screaming right now because you're so excited, we're right there with you.

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Yet another incident surfaced from Indonesia’s Jakarta Airport where government officials were once again involved in abusive behavior against airport staff, this time in the beating of a security officer.

A military (navy) officer who accompanied family to the airport was apparently upset with security staff who as per his impression caused his family to miss their flight and then beat the man until blood was flowing.

Indonesia has seen several such cases in recent months where officials of various capacity have been abusing, attacking or even injuring airport staff as they didn’t receive the ‘royal treatment’ they were expecting.

The incident took place early Sunday morning and as expected pictures of the scene have once again found their way to social media quickly, posted among others to a local Facebook Group (access here).

When the news outlet Kompas (see here) contacted the airports press department the spokesman confirmed the initial version of the events.

The incident took place on Sunday morning at about 4am. The suspect, alleged to be a navy officer, arrived at the airport to accompany his family, who were set to fly to Jayapura.

He then wanted to go through the entrance security so that he could help his family members check in. He was initially denied entry to the check-in area as at Jakarta Airport only passengers are permitted in the terminal building. He asked for a supervisor but none was available. Eventually, the navy officer was allowed through by the security guard.

When reaching the check-in desk, he was told that his family was already too late to board their fligh and that changing their flight to the next departure would cost them a change fee of 9 million IDR (~ US$700).

According to the Facebook post, the officer then went back to the security guard who held him up earlier at the gates and complained to him that his actions made his family to miss the flight.

The security guard answered him that this is his personal problem.

That answer seemed to set off the navy officer who then attacked the guard, punching him until his lips were bleeding (as evident by the picture posted).

When asked by the media about the story last night, Soekarno-Hatta Airport officials confirmed that a TNI (Indonesian Military) member had attacked one of their security guards in a manner similar to the viral story, but did not disclose any exact information confirming or denying the details in the post.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport communications manager Dewandono Prasetyo Nugroho told the news outlet when contacted that he understood the incident took place as described and that the airport would investigate the matter further.

They would have likely made their flight without a problem but the Navy guy had to play Mr. Bigshot and probably waste upward of half an hour to argue with the security staff. For what, to stand next to them during check-in?

As this is not an isolated case but the third incident within just one month that took place at the busy airport it shows that something is inherently in the society when there is a prevailing sense that members of the upper class, politicians and even military can exempt themselves from all rules and waltz right through.

It’s also alarming that anyone can just avoid basic airport security at Jakarta, a city that has seen it’s fair share of bombings throughout the times including at various international hotels. The country also has a prevailing terrorism problem (well to be fair, which country doesnt?).

In July, a military doctor, slapped an airport security officer at another security checkpoint in Jakarta CGK Airport because the latter was supposedly being impolite towards him. Another incident made public showed the wife of a police general who was filmed slapping a security officer at Manado Airport.

Conclusion

From what is happening around Indonesia it seems that instead of protecting the public and keeping order in society, members of their police and armed forces as well as their family see their profession as royal status that allowed them to ignore any prevailing laws and punish others around them at will, even with force. The corruption being a totally different topic altogether.

If this happens in the public eye I don’t want to know how they treat their actual employees at home such as maids and other staff as well as the subordinates at work. As an Indonesian citizen I’d be concerned about the direction the country is going to, especially because the airport authority in all cases instructed the staff to train in deescalation methods rather than denouncing the people responsible for the attacks.

Fast food chains may, deservedly, get flack from public health advocates for their menus filled with salty, breaded, greasy grub, but most fast food meals have nothing on their sit-down restaurant cousins across the parking lot. A bacon cheeseburger may look like a healthy snack compared to the winners of this year’s Xtreme Eating awards.

These awards are given out annually by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in the hope of reminding diners (and lawmakers and regulators) that your favorite local lunch, dinner, or dessert spot might be serving you up some real calorie-bombs without you realizing.

Once again, the Cheesecake Factory dominates the list, responsible for two of the eight menu items (neither of them cheesecake). Other popular eateries on the CSPI’s roundup include IHOP (but not for pancakes), and Uno Pizzeria (but not for pizza).

Enough talk. Let’s get to the awards!

Least Original Breakfast

IHOP: Cheeseburger Omelette with side of Buttermilk Pancakes
• Calories: 1,990
• Saturated Fat: 45g
• Sodium: 4,580mg
• Added Sugar: 44g (estimated)
• Cholesterol: 1,0005mg

Are you an early starter who likes to get as much done before noon as possible? IHOP has a way for you to get a full day’s worth of calories, two full days’ of saturated fat and sodium, and enough cholesterol for four days.

This IHOP omelette has hamburger patty pieces, hash browns, tomatoes, onions, American cheese, ketchup, mustard, and pickles. Throw in that side of buttermilk pancakes (and their attendant butter and syrup) and CSPI says you’ve eaten the equivalent of four McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffins… drizzled with 2 additional tablespoons of syrup.

(UPDATE: In response to the CSPI report, a rep from IHOP emailed a statement to Consumerist.

“While we applaud the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s efforts to educate Americans on making healthier food choices, it’s misleading to single out the highest meal combinations without informing people of the wide range of choices offered at IHOP restaurants, including the ability to customize any item to meet a variety of dietary needs,” reads the statement, which also points out that IHOP’s nutritional information is available on the chain’s website, though it is one huge, confusing sheet of data for all menu items and not on the web page for each menu item.)

Worst Cheese in a Leading Role

Buffalo Wild Wings:
Cheese Curd Bacon Burger
• Calories: 1,950
• Saturated Fat: 53g
• Sodium: 4,700mg

How do you take a bacon cheeseburger, which will range from around 400 calories to 800 or so calories at your typical fast food chain, and convert it into nearly 2,000 calories?

Top it with battered, deep-fried cheese curds and whatever “cool heat sauce” is.

If you eat that burger and the side of fries, CSPI says that’s the same as roughly five Burger King Bacon Double Cheeseburgers.

You could also eat an entire large order of hot wings at BWW and still have a couple hundred calories left over before reaching the calories of this sandwich and fries.

Worst Original Appetizer

Dave & Buster’s:
Carnivore Pizzadilla
• Calories: 1,970
• Saturated Fat: 67g
• Sodium: 4,440mg

What do you get when you combine a pizza and a quesadilla? An appetizer that might have more calories than the meal it precedes.

The Dave & Buster’s Carnivore Pizzadilla is stuffed with Manchego cheese, cheddar cheese, pepperoni, and Italian sausage, then topped with additional pepperoni and sausage… and don’t forget the bacon, marinara, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Granted, this 12″ appetizer is probably meant to be shared, but even one-fourth of the Pizzadilla is enough calories and fat for a full meal.

“To your arteries and waistline, a Carnivore Pizzadilla looks like 100 slices of pepperoni layered atop two Taco Bell Cheese Quesadillas,” writes CSPI, “or half a stick of butter melted over three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with Cheese.”

Special Honor: The Putting Profits Before Public Health Award

Honoree: Domino’s
By now, restaurant chains nationwide were supposed to be posting their nutrition information next to menu items. But, after years of industry lobbying — primarily by pizza chains, and in particular Domino’s, according to CSPI — the Food and Drug administration decided in May to further delay that new regulation, with the intention of rewriting it.

CSPI and the National Consumer League sued the FDA in June, arguing that the agency’s actions are arbitrary, capricious, and illegal.

“Americans deserve to know what we’re eating, but Domino’s would prefer that we’re kept in the dark,” said CSPI senior nutritionist Lindsay Moyer. “Every day of delay means the industry has more opportunity to weaken the law that Congress passed seven long years ago.”

Worst Visceral Effects

Chili’s: Ultimate Smokehouse Combo
• Calories: 2,440
• Saturated Fat: 41g
• Sodium: 7,610mg

Choosing this flexible feast gives the diner the option to choose three meats from a variety of four options: BBQ chicken breast; jalapeño-cheddar smoked sausage; battered Chicken Crispers; or a half rack of baby back ribs.

To hit the 2,000-calorie mark for their meal, the CSPI went with the sausage, the Crispers (with honey-mustard sauce for dipping), and the ribs. Of course, one can’t forget the sides: roasted street corn; homestyle fries; chili-garlic toast; and garlic dill pickles.

To get an idea of how much food this was, the Xtreme Eating judges compared this Smokehouse Combo with Chili’s sirloin steak dinner (a 10-oz. steak topped with garlic butter; mashed potatoes; and steamed broccoli). The Smokehouse Combo was like eating three of these steak dinners, says CSPI.

“Why stop at a triple meal? Why not serve four meats and four sides? Or five?” asks CSPI. “And forget the tray. How about a trough?”

Worst Adapted Pasta

The Cheesecake Factory:
Pasta Napoletana
• Calories: 2,310
• Saturated Fat: 79g
• Sodium: 4,370mg

The first of two non-cheesecake items from the Cheesecake Factory to make this list is, quite literally, the restaurant chain’s answer to the question, “How can we turn a meat lover’s pizza into a pasta?”

The result is a pile of pasta (greased with butter and cream), covered in Italian sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, and bacon.

So how does it compare to a Meat Lover’s pizza from Pizza Hut? It’s about the same calories as eating an entire medium pie (or nearly three personal Meat Lover’s) from that pizza chain.

“Check with your waiter for a list of nearby cardiac care unit,” advises CSPI.

Most Damage from a
Supporting Vegetable

Texas Roadhouse:
16-oz. Prime Rib with Loaded Sweet Potato
• Calories: 2,820
• Saturated Fat: 72g
• Sodium: 5,330
• Added Sugar: 51g (estimated)

The Loaded Sweet Potato gets a special callout in this meal — the highest calorie count on the 2017 awards — because it really helps to push what was already a hefty meal into new territory. It also costs you an extra $.99.

The prime rib alone is a real beast for your belly: a full pound that accounts for 1,570 calories on its own.

Then you get your side of two choices, and forking over that extra buck for the sweet potato (covered in mini marshmallows and caramel sauce) adds 770 calories to your plate.

So you keep it green with your second side: a Caesar salad. But what you may not know is that all of this before you is the same as eating two Texas Roadhouse 12-oz. New York strip steak dinners (with mashed potatoes and vegetables), and a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

Worst Cocktail Design

The Cheesecake Factory:
The Flying Gorilla

• Calories: 950
• Saturated Fat: 26g
• Added Sugar: 60g (estimated)

The Cheesecake Factory returns for this frozen nightcap, a chocolate banana milkshake made with dark chocolate and banana liqueurs.

Yes, it’s the least-calorific item on this year’s list, but at 950 calories for just one drink, you’re downing the equivalent of a Big Mac and medium fries at McDonald’s. CSPI came up with an equivalent of their own: take five scoops of chocolate ice cream and pour a 20-ounce Budweiser over them. (Then wonder why you just went and ruined perfectly good ice cream.)

Have two of these cocktails and you’ve basically consumed all your calories for the day (though you should probably eat something at that point, and also call a cab).

Most Ridiculous Ending

Uno Pizzeria & Grill:
Ridiculously Awesome, Insanely Large Chocolate Cake
• Calories: 1,740
• Saturated Fat: 32g
• Sodium: 770mg
• Added Sugar: 168g (estimated)

We finish with this neither pizza nor grill item from Uno Pizzeria & Grill both because it’s a dessert and because it has such an incredibly stupid, longwinded name that we wonder if anyone actually says it, or do they just say “Give me the chocolate cake”?

Regardless of the name, this chock-full-of-calories slice of cake (yes, unlike the Pizzadilla above, this nutritional information is for a single slice) is nearly a full day’s worth of calories, almost two days’ worth of saturated fat and about half a week’s intake of added sugar.

While these menu items might represent the high end of calories, sugars, and sodium, they aren’t that far off from the usual fare available at these same restaurants. For instance, Uno offers six desserts that each have at least 1,000 calories.

“Leave it to America’s chain restaurant industry to market a stack of pancakes as a side dish, or to lard up quesadillas and pasta with pizza toppings, or to ruin a perfectly good sweet potato,” said CSPI’s Moyer. “These meals are extreme, but even the typical dishes served at restaurants are a threat to Americans’ health because they increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and more.”

BANGKOK: Up to 80% of Thailand’s tsunami warning system needs maintenance work, the deputy director-general of its disaster prevention department said on Monday, more than a decade after the region was hit by a tsunami that killed 226,000 people.

A 9.15 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on Dec 26, 2004 and triggered a massive tsunami that caused large scaled destruction and loss of life throughout the Indian Ocean.

Popular tourist destination Thailand was among the worst affected, along with Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. Many of the 5,395 people killed in Thailand were foreign tourists holidaying along the shores of its idyllic islands and beaches.

Thailand’s warning system includes warning towers, a network of detection buoys in the sea and public announcement systems.

“Around 70% to 80%, or around 2,000 pieces, need to be taken care of. We set up this system since 2006 so it needs to be maintained,” Kobchai Boonyaorana, deputy director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, told Reuters, referring to various equipment.

“Batteries need to be changed,” he added.

“I’ve ordered that this needs to be done urgently particularly in the southern region which is a tourist region. There might be some places where the equipment is damaged but not many places.”

Prasert Kunneang, public relations officer at the National Disaster Warning Center in Bangkok, said the tsunami warning system is tested daily and Thailand is prepared in the event of a future tsunami.

“If there is a tsunami tomorrow, the warning system would work,” Prasert told Reuters.

With its picturesque beaches, gilded palaces and temples and balmy climate, Thailand remains a firm foreign tourist favourite.

Tourism accounts for 12% of Thailand’s economic output, and has been a rare bright spot for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, whose growth has lagged peers in recent years.

Other forms of communication will be used to warn people about a tsunami while the equipment undergoes maintenance, said Prasert, including television and radio announcements.

Carried out by researchers from Harvard Medical School, USA, and the University of Chieti, Italy, the team looked into the “lipstick effect” among 186 female undergraduate students.

The “lipstick effect” is a known psychological phenomenon in which wearing makeup can give individuals a confidence boost by making them feel more physically attractive, increasing feelings of self-esteem, attitude, and personality.

However, a less well-known effect is that a boost in self esteem can also boost cognitive abilities. As previous research has already shown that positive emotions can improve academic performance, the new study set out to see if the positive boost in self esteem from wearing makeup could have the same effect.

The female undergraduates were placed into different groups and given a series of tests to complete, which consisted of answering multiple choice questions about a chapter from a general psychology textbook.

Before taking the test, members of one group were asked to apply makeup, another group listened to “a positive music excerpt,” and a third colored a drawing of a human face.

The team believed that those wearing makeup would experience the greatest boost in positive feelings, and therefore would perform better in the tests than the other two groups.

The results showed that although there was a significant increase in cognitive performance from the group who listened to positive music, as predicted it was those in the makeup group who performed significantly better than females in the other two groups.

The team pointed out that although makeup wasn’t the only way of boosting test results, the findings do offer new understanding into the ways in which boosting physical self-esteem through using makeup may interact with cognition.

They now suggest further research to look into whether makeup has longer lasting effects on cognitive performance.

The findings can be found published online in the journal Cogent Psychology.

Inside Yangon’s ‘Catpuchino Cafe’ dozens of felines lounge around the room, some peeking out of baskets while others sit perched on fluffy stools or lie purring in the arms of adoring visitors.

On one cushion, a hairless sphynx wearing a pink jumper sits regally surveying the scene through half-closed eyes.

“I used to have cats at home when I was young,” said 23-year-old customer Arr Pouk as he teased four moggies with a feather on a stick. “I love them.”

The trend, already popular in Asian capitals like Tokyo and Bangkok, is the latest international fad to sail into Myanmar since the end of junta rule in 2011 heralded a new era of freedom.

In the commercial hub Yangon, hip cafes and eateries have begun to mushroom across town to cater to an expanding middle class and growing population of expats.

But while stray cats and dogs are a familiar sight on the city’s streets, few inhabitants have the space, time or money to squeeze pets into their already cramped homes.

Pearl, the founder of the cat cafe who only goes by one name, opened the new feline-themed coffee shop a few weeks ago to give visitors a place to de-stress from the pressures of their busy urban lives.

In total she has 27 animals of 10 different breeds, including the short-legged Munchkin Cat, the fluffy Maine Coon and a giant tabby American Shorthair.

“When I used to get stressed at school or work, I would play with cats for 15 or 30 minutes and then the stress would be gone,” Pearl told AFP.

“Getting love from cats is hard, so when you get love from cats it’s worth more.”

On the other side of the city, another shop is taking a different approach, with Corgis, blue-eyed Huskies and their giant cousin, the Alaskan Malamute, lavishing customers with free love and licks.

The 27-year-old owner, Htet Myat Aung, said he was inspired by a similar cafe in Bangkok.

“I opened this dog cafe for people in Yangon who can’t raise puppies themselves but who love these pets,” he said.

Markus Meechan accused by prosecutors of stirring hatred after posting clip of himself training pet to respond to phrase ‘gas the Jews’ By Times of Israel staff Buddha, a Scottish dog whose owner taught it to raise its right paw to the sound of the phrase ‘Sieg heil’ (YouTube...

Here are eight of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

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CALGARY: Petronas will not proceed with a proposed US$28.8 billion (RM123.3 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in western Canada because of weak global prices, the company said on Tuesday.

The cancellation is a heavy blow to Canada’s ambitions to become a global LNG player and to the regional economy, although many industry observers said it was not unexpected given years of delay to the huge project near Prince Rupert in the north of the province.

It is also the latest setback for the country’s energy industry, already bruised by international oil firms selling off around US$23 billion (RM98.5billion) in Canadian energy assets this year alone.

Pacific NorthWest LNG was meant to produce 12 megatonnes per year and spur further development of British Columbia’s Montney natural gas play in the northeast of the province. Without demand from an LNG facility, low gas prices in the region are expected to persist, analysts said.

“The demise of the LNG industry in Western Canada means that Western Canadian gas will largely remain captive to the oversupplied North American market,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Randy Ollenberger said in a note to clients.

Pacific Northwest LNG received approval from the Canadian government last year, but Petronas, which has been going through significant cost-cutting, delayed its final investment decision while reviewing the 190 conditions attached.

The Canadian project would have been Petronas’ biggest foreign investment and was seen as a sign of Malaysia’s global energy ambitions.

Of more than a dozen projects proposed for the west coast of British Columbia, only the US$1.3 billion (RM5.4 billion) ( privately held Woodfibre project has so far been given the green light by its developers.

Last July Royal Dutch Shell and partners pushed back a final investment decision on their proposed 24 megatonne LNG Canada project, citing global industry challenges.

British Columbia’s energy minister, Michelle Mungall, said she will be calling other liquefied natural gas companies to “reassure” them that her government is ready to work with them.

The ruling New Democratic Party, which formally took power this month, governs through an accord with the environmentalist Green Party. Its rise has fueled uncertainty about energy development in the province.

A spokesman for Canada’s natural resources minister, Jim Carr, said Petronas’ move was a business decision and the government would continue to support the energy sector.

Petronas and partners will continue to develop natural gas assets in Canada, Anuar Taib, chairman of the board of Pacific NorthWest LNG, said in a statement.

“We are disappointed that the extremely challenging environment brought about by the prolonged depressed prices and shifts in the energy industry have led us to this decision,” Taib said.

WHEN it was announced early this year that Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) would inject an estimated RM750mil for its portion of UMW Oil & Gas’ (UMW-OG) RM1.8bil rights issue, the oil and gas company’s share price stood at 88 sen.

Here are seven of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

Here are five of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

Why is it that salads almost always taste better at restaurants? Among other reasons, there's a level of complexity to them that we don't typically get at home. This cauliflower salad is proof. It comes to us from Chef Christopher Gould at Central Provisions, a James Beard Award Best New Restaurant finalist in Portland, Maine, with inventive small plates and craft cocktails. Their fried cauliflower salad is so well-loved that it's one of the few dishes never seems to budge from their ever-changing menu. (A fact that makes our Production Editor, Lauren, happy, as it's her favorite salad!)

This salad delivers layer upon layer of varying flavor and texture, which makes it a main course-worthy salad that won't bore you. The smoky, caramelized cauliflower and crunchy chickpeas play off of the bright, crisp apple and fresh herb salad, which are then both tied together with briny, salty feta cheese crumbles.

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