Food

Do You Know How To Peel A Banana? ...Do It Like The Monkeys Do It!

Bananas taste great and they're really good for you too.  There's so much you can do with bananas, and they're loaded with potassium to boot!

First off, you want to store bananas properly so they don't get all bruised and mushy. 

As for fun things to do with bananas:

• Of course bananas make the best fruit smoothies. 
• And don't forget Elvis' favorite: the grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. 
• Another southern treat is grilled bananas, stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon.
• If you let your bananas get a bit over ripe, you can still use them.  Homemade buttermilk pancakes taste great with a banana mixed into the batter!

Before you can prepare any of these tasty bananas treats, you need to peel the bananas properly.  Did you know we silly humans have been doing it all wrong for ages?! 

Here's the easy way to peel a banana, the same way the monkeys do it:

Fall Apple Harvest Recipe Ideas: Crock Pot Apple Butter, Hot Apple Cider & More

This is the best time of year for apples.  The fall harvest is just wrapping up and the stores are loaded with fresh crisp apples right off the tree. 

Better yet, surely there is someone in your neighborhood with an over-abundance of apples from a tree or two in their yard who is looking for someone to make use of their excess bounty.

Some fun ideas for all those apples:

• Homemade apple butter spread over a slice of warm from the oven homemade bread. 
• Making crock pot apple butter couldn't be easier.  
• While you're brewing a pot of apple butter, you can sip on some homemade apple cider. 
• Or you might want to tap into that jug of apple jack you made for special occasions. 

Just think how good your kitchen will smell with all those holiday spices simmering away!
 

Are Color-Coded Bread Tabs The Best Way To Tell If Bread Is Fresh Or Not?

We all want to eat fresh bread.

Let's face it, stale bread makes a nasty sandwich. I have (on more than one occasion) either tossed an entire loaf of stale bread or set it aside to use just for toast.

If you're like me, then you squeeze bread on the store shelves to determine its freshness, right?

Well, come to find out, you don't really have to do that anymore for 3 reasons:

#1  Those little twisty ties or plastic clips that hold your bread bag closed are color coded for the day the bread was delivered.

#2  All loaves of bread will have a freshness date or use by date, so you know generally how long it will stay fresh. 

#3  Stores have bread delivered daily, and it's rare that a loaf will stay on the shelf more than a day or two at best.

You're probably wondering how all this affects you, right?

As it turns out, colored bread tabs may not be the best way to determine the freshness of a loaf of bread after all...

Continue reading: Color-Coded Bread Tags

The Anti-Fast Food Diet Is A Healthier Way To Eat

The fastest way to pack on the pounds is to spend your meal time cruising up to the drive-thru window of the nearest fast food restaurant.  At places like Wendy's and McDonalds, the calorie count on most of their offerings can easily wipe out your daily allotment when you're trying to lose weight.

Try the Anti-Fast Food diet and gain a whole new perspective on eating! 

The aim is simple: sit down, take your time, and eat good quality meals.  Make your own meals, while avoiding processed foods.  Concentrate on fresh ingredients and take the time to savor every bite.

When you do eat out, try to make it a locally owned establishment.  When you're not supporting some big corporation you're going to get quality over quantity every time. 

Cake Decorating Has Gone Over The Top For The Sake Of Originality

When it comes to cake, the more elaborate the better. 

Just watch Ace of Cakes on the Food Channel and you'll see what I mean.  It's no longer acceptable to make a cake in a 9"x13" pan, slather frosting over it, and refer to it as a birthday cake.

Everyone wants to be different, original, anything to stand out from the crowd. 

For example, wedding cakes no longer have the traditional bride and groom figurines on top.  These days, unconventional cake toppers are the new norm. 

Thinking of making a cake to celebrate a football game, or maybe a bowling tournament victory? It better darn well look the part!  

As great as they look, I can't help but wonder how good all those wacky cakes made for the Ace of Cakes show really taste after being man handled so much.  Maybe the old cake pan isn't so bad after all.

Quick & Easy Lunch Ideas: Soup & Sandwich Or A BLT

What's for lunch?  Come the middle of the day, that thought flashes through everyone's mind.  Child and adult alike, it's time to think about that empty spot behind your belt buckle.

On a crisp fall day, something hot to warm the soul would be nice though not to heavy as there is still plenty to do in the second half of the day.

Grilled cheese sandwich and soup is a great option.  My personal favorite in this pairing is tomato soup.  Without a doubt, a soup and sandwich is simple quick to fix, yet sufficient to carry you throughout the afternoon activities.

Another good choice is a good old fashioned BLT made on a nice multigrain toasted bread with lettuce and tomatoes right out of your own garden.  Don't forget the bacon.  Make mine nice and crispy please! 

How Do You Keep Cereal Fresher Longer?

The government is cracking down on targeted advertising which has been brainwashing our children to eat less than healthy breakfast cereals.  We all know that whole grains and less sugar are the best ways to avoid childhood obesity.

Of course with the sugary sweet stuff, the box is usually emptied before it gets a chance to go stale.  However, some whole grain cereals may hang around a bit longer.  The answer to keeping your cereal fresh and crunchy, which is obviously more appealing, is to store it in tightly sealed containers. 

Upon opening a fresh box of cereal, empty it into a Tupperware see-through container and your cereal will remain nice and crisp for a long time!  That will please even the pickiest of eaters. I know, because even my wife will eat the cereal all the way to the bottom of the container now.

How Well Do You Know Your Cuts Of Beef?

Everybody loves a properly grilled steak hot off the barbeque.  However, if you shop with the notion that the more expensive the steak the better, you may be disappointed when it comes time to eat that steak. 

Understanding the different cuts of beef and their individual characteristics will help you determine the best way to prepare your meat.  Some are best done quickly on a hot grill while others are better suited for the crock pot or pressure cooker.

Most important is to realize you don't need to buy expensive cuts to enjoy meat so tender that you don't even need a knife to cut it.  Low and slow will make any piece of beef tender and delicious.

10 Ways To Eat Out On A Budget... And Still Have FUN!

My wife and I eat out all most every Friday evening. There's something about the idea of coming home and cooking another meal on that last working day of the week that's just too much to bear. An occasional modest meal at almost any restaurant can be enough to finish out the week on a positive note.

When we go out for supper, 90% of the time we aim to keep the total tab within a dollar either way of a 20 dollar bill. That's a petty cheap evening out even for our midwest city of 85,000.

Here are some tips and ideas that we use. They should work for you too, no matter where you live...

Continue reading: How To Eat Out On A Budget

Super Cook: Save Money & Find Recipes That Use Ingredients You Already Have

Do you try to use up what you have in your panty, before buying more groceries? 

What a great way to make sure your pantry doesn't become full of out-of-date expired food.  Money is tight these days, so it just makes sense to take a break from buying more food and find ways to use what you already have on hand instead.

By doing this, you can eliminate one week's worth of shopping a month and reduce your food expenditures by 25%!  I know there's a lot of stuff in my cupboards that needs to be used up.

Super Cook is another great resource to help you find ways to use up odds and ends that you have in the pantry.  It's a recipe search engine that compiles fun new recipes for you, based on the ingredients you already have.