Food

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What a great way to make sure your pantry doesn't become full of out-of-date expired food.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. 

Fun Things To Do With Tomatoes From Your Garden

Tomatoes are about the most popular garden item planted in urban home gardens.  Nothing beats the flavor of a tomato grown in your own back yard. 

Up my way in Minnesota you better have picked the last of your tomatoes a few weeks ago.  Green or not, the frost is here to stay now.

Now that all those green tomatoes are ripening in the kitchen windows, do you have a plan?  How about some good homemade salsa.  Another good idea is to make  your own spaghetti sauce. Just don't let your tomatoes go to waste, or you'll be sorry in the middle of winter when all you can buy are flavorless tomatoes flown in from some other country.

Zip Lock Bags Are The Perfect Food Storage Solution

How did it happen that today's kitchen just isn't functional without a collection of different sizes of zip lock freezer bags?  When the original fold and tuck sandwich bag came on the scene, it was pretty much a one trick pony.  Not so with the ever so versatile zip lock plastic storage bag.

They're great for storing such things as individual portions of homemade baby food, or breaking down a flat of fresh strawberries into usable portions.  I keep sections of green or red peppers cleaned and quartered in a zip lock bag in the freezer so I can take out just what I need for a dish.

I've even gone so far as reusing zip lock bags after washing and drying them.  They're just as good for food storage as Tupperware, and they take up a heck of a lot less space in the cupboard. 

Farmer's Market Apple Cider: Make Sure It's Pasteurized To Be Safe

The Fall season at the Farmer's Market is when things smell the best.  Case in point: hot apple cider spiked with cinnamon sends its enticing fragrance out for everyone to enjoy!

Knowing what's in season is the best way to make the most of your shopping trip to the Farmer's Market.  Though like everything else in life, there are some areas to be concerned about.  Of course they'll be calling out "fresh pressed" apple cider to get  your attention, but the most important question is was the apple cider pasteurized before being placed for sale?

You do know what they make apple cider from, don't you?  Apple cider comes from the apples that have spent time on the ground, or those that in general just don't measure up to bagged apple standards.  Pasteurizing protects the consumer from nasty things like Salmonella.

In Most Cases Bottled Water Is No Better Than Tap Water

Bottled water vs tap water... the debate continues.

Kudos to the advertising company that first succeeded in marketing bottled water.  It was pure genius to convince the public to buy something that was free and plentiful throughout the country. 

Unlike Wall Drug whose marketing campaign consists of advertising free ice water to draw in customers for their other products, bottled water marketers went after the high class market saying theirs was better than water out of the tap.  In the end, this made the expensive plastic container of water a status symbol of sorts.

Personally, I just refill my empty throw away containers with tap water, a technique that works at the airport to avoid paying for a high priced drink of water as well.

Halloween Food Tips & Tricks

Halloween is the first in a series of holidays just around the corner.  So where do you think I'll be when it comes to finding new food ideas?  I'll be hanging with my buds on the Food Network.

New recipes, food costumes, expert tips from the likes of Alton Brown, Duff Goldman, Paula Dean and the rest.  Their Halloween tips are impressive and numerous. 

After the last goblin has passed through our door we'll be seriously looking into what to do with all the leftover Halloween candy.   Then it will be time to start thinking about the Thanksgiving feast that will be following a few weeks later.

Yogurt's Probiotic Bacteria Helps Build Up Your Immune System

Yogurt is good for your digestive system.  The reason? Probiotics (or good bacteria) keep your innards working right.  Just beware of yogurts that add additional stuff to increase the probiotic content.  It's not necessary, as probiotics are naturally part of yogurt.  

Watch the sugar and fat content too, because some yogurts run high increasing the calorie count.

Now take all that nice lean healthy yogurt and go make a batch of buffalo wings or a tall fruit smoothie.  After all, yogurt will help you fight off the flu bug too.

Crock Pots Are Popular Again As Both Time & Money Savers

Crock pots became popular back in the 70's.  Since those early years, many have been relegated to the rear most shelf position under many a kitchen sink. 

Now with everyone in the household working to make ends meet, it's time to bring the master of tender meat back out onto the counter!

Crock pots are back, and they are becoming more popular than ever.  With new bells and whistles like automatic keep warm features that can be set to cut back the temperature at a certain time, crock pots are great for the "I had to work late" situation.

Don't forget, a crock pot can also save you money, since it uses only pennies of electricity when compared to the standard oven.