We had 100 people at our place for a Memorial Day barbecue this weekend, and my kitchen just this morning stopped smelling like Brooklyn Lager. Please forgive me if some of these are nonsensical.Being Frugal: Frugal Living for Beginners
Lynnae runs down a few starter strategies for frugal newbies. (Essentially: DIY, plan ahead, consolidate.) BAM!
Culinate: Better and easier cooking: rules for the home kitchen
With eight tremendous tricks to make cooking easier, this piece is a bit like “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Meaning, I wish I wrote it.
Culinate: Steering clear of refined grains (How to eat more whole grains)
What I like best about Culinate is that they walk you through things. Really, they’re the Alton Brown of foodie websites (only without the ballpits that are meant to symbolize atomic processes). This grain post is a good example.
Get Rich Slowly: Can Saving Prepare Us for an Economic Recession?
While it’s a bit tangential to the cheap/healthy theme, JD’s post is a vital one. He’s asking readers if they feel prepared for the financial straits we’re about to enter, and how it’s affecting them already. Personal stories abound, and it’s faboo to read so many viewpoints.
Lifehacker: Become the Memorial Day Grillmaster
Um. I’m one day late. But grill season has just begun to fight!
The Nest Baby: How Big is Baby?Are you pregnant? Do you know someone who is? Have you ever heard the terms “pregnancy” or “there’s a baby in my belly and I’m going to push it out soon”? Go to Nest Baby now (especially if you like pictograms). Among other things, you'll discover that your nine-week-old fetus is about the size of an olive. (But should not be eaten as such.)
New York Times: Busy Students Get a New Required Course: Lunch
The brainy youths in this NYT article are skipping out on meals to pack in study time. I’m trying desperately to relate, as I was a (big) nerd. Alas, I was not a nerd who skipped lunch.
New York Times: Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables
a.k.a. Prepping Produce to Pack Powerful Punches of Putrients and Pinerals. (Um, I was going for a theme there.)
Serious Eats: Cooking With Kids – School Lunch Revolution
Back in the olden days, when I was student teaching at a rural high school in upstate New York, I took the opportunity to glance at the kids’ cafeteria lunch offerings. There were hardly any vegetables, period, and every Wednesday, it was Pretzel Bites and Cheese Sauce. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? And we wonder why kids’ obesity is skyrocketing? Yarg. Anyway, this Revolution Foods program aims to change situations like Pretzelgate.
Serious Eats: Foodies Movies?
Movies! With food!
Serious Eats: Top 10 ingredients I will never have in my kitchen
Extensive comment thread on notorious denizens of American cupboards. Readers, what are yours? In descending order, my picks:
10. Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip
9. Anise8. Lunchables
7. May to the onnaise
6. Kraft Singles
5. Fish in squeeze-paste form
4. Little Debbies snack cakes
3. Canned mushrooms (non-marinated)
2. Pre-made burger patties
1. It starts with "M" and ends with "ayonnaise"
Slashfood: Think twice about using palm oil
Palm oil = massive deforestation/widespread extinction of endangered species. Not so good.
Toronto Star: Sharing the wealth from Ontario farmland
What in the name of Alex Trebek’s mudflaps is this all aboot, you might ask? Well, if you’ve been curious about CSAs but don’t know where to start, Kim Honey’s $450 venture into fresh, locally-grown produce is a good place to commence reading. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)
WXYZ: Real Calorie and Fat Content
That barbacoa burrito you’re about to buy at Chipotle? Might have more calories than you think. Double yikes. (Thanks to Consumerist for the link.)
Washington Post: Young Lives at Risk – Our Overweight Children
If you read nothing else this week, please make sure you read this. It’s a gigantic series on kids’ nutrition and how their growing bellies affect almost every other aspect of their lives. Beyond the immaculately reported statistics and personal stories, the best part about the whole shebang is the multitude of solutions the authors propose. As a nation we need to get on this.
