I’ve got a wonderful corned beef brisket thawing right now. I’ll put it in the oven in the morning with some potatoes and onions. I tell you, corned beef is really a good choice when you’re wanting a beef roast for dinner. It’s usually less expensive and has a wonderful flavor. However, unless it’s cooked for a long time, it can be tough.

I prefer a flat cut corned beef brisket. It slices nicely and doesn’t have a lot of fat on it. Other cuts tend to be a bit more fatty than I like, and they really have to be pulled apart to get the best servings of meat on your plate. There is little waste to a flat cut brisket, though.

Of course, I always get one for St. Patrick’s Day but I use them all year long, too. Once this one is cooked up, we can get several meals including sandwiches from it. There really is nothing better than a Reuben sandwich made from corned beef you’ve cooked yourself. Use bagged kraut for it’s crispy texture and you’ve got a hit. Corned beef hash is another winner in our house when I use the leftover brisket in it. I cook enough potatoes with the brisket to make the hash without having to prepare more. I throw the carrots in it, too!

Technorati Tags: corned beef brisket, beef roast, St. Patrick’s Day, Reuben sandwich, Corned beef hash

These days of high gas prices, which translate into higher prices on everything else, call for even more drastic measures when it comes to keeping the budget in line. Groceries can account for a huge part of the budget unless you are planning your menus and shopping very carefully.

Meat purchases can be reduced by simply using recipes that call for less meat. Beans and rice together give you a complete meat protein so that any time you serve them, you can know that your family isn’t going to miss out on important nutrients, yet they are both relatively inexpensive and can be season up to make some wonderful meals.

Buying only produce that is currently in season will also help your grocery budget. While we all get cravings for fruit or vegetables that aren’t in season, holding the line means having some real self-control when you are out shopping and see all the colorful displays of produce. They certainly are tempting!

Fresh fruits and fresh vegetables served raw and cut up into bite sized pieces make great snacks. Keep them on hand in covered containers in the fridge. Once prepared, it’s much easier to snack on them instead of on chips or other expensive and unhealthful snacks. Popcorn is also a great choice and it’s inexpensive. Just reduce the amount of butter you use on it to keep it a healthful snack or buy microwave popcorn that has reduced fat and salt.

Water is the ultimate beverage. Squeeze a little lemon in it to brighten the taste, but getting your family accustomed to drinking water instead of soda or other beverages will help your budget and their health.

Make fewer trips by arming yourself with a focused list of items you need and places you need to go. If you have to, map out your course so that you spend less time driving back over the same territory over and over again.

The internet is a great resource for finding budget-friendly meals and wise shopping tips. Use it to its fullest so you can save yourself some money!

Technorati Tags: Groceries, budget, recipes

A few days ago, a co-worker brought red beans and cornbread for his supper at work. He brought enough to share them with me and it was all super delicious. He had used smoked sausage in the red beans and the cornbread was the sweet, yellow kind - my favorite.

So, since I’m off work today, I’ve got a pot of white beans on the stove, simmering. I added sliced onion and smoked sausage to them. When they’re near done, I’ll cook up a batch of rice, some sweet cornbread, and leftover poke salad greens. I might even fry up some potatoes. It depends on just how hungry we are when it’s getting toward supper time.

Now, I like almost any kind of beans. Pintos are my favorite and garbanzos or kidney beans are my least favorites. I’m not crazy about beans that have a mealy texture when they’re cooked. I much prefer them to be creamy inside.

Leftover beans can be served again as is, mixed into salads, or mashed and used as a sandwich spread by adding things like finely chopped onion, finely chopped celery, chopped black olives, or anything else you like in a sandwich spread. I also mash pinto beans and use them as frijoles refritos (refried beans) for Mexican meals.

Technorati Tags: red beans, smoked sausage, beans

Where I work, we use bacon for club sandwiches, and to add to any other sandwiches the customer wants it added to. We use three half-pieces for each sandwich.

So, the other day, a crew person asked me how I determined how many pieces of bacon to tell the grill person to cook. It’s pretty simple math really, but their eyes glazed over in the telling.

I figure any number that can be divided evenly by two, then divided again evenly by three. For instance, 3 divided by 2 will yield 6 halves. 6 divided by 3 will give enough bacon for two sandwiches. Or, 6 divided by two will yield 12 halves. 12 divided by 3 will give enough for 4 sandwiches.

Also, any number evenly divisible by 3 will give you the desired result, but it was more fun watching their eyes glaze over when I explained it the other way. LOL Besides, the other way, I know exactly how many sandwiches can be made without having anything left over! That saves my company money, which translates to better profits, which translates to better pay.

Technorati Tags: bacon, club sandwich, math

I can’t begin to explain just how tired I am today. I’ve spent most of the last 10 days driving to another location to work, other than my regular workplace. In addition, I’ve worked extra hours. For instance, I was originally scheduled to be off work today but wound up opening the store at my regular job. “Opening” means being there at 4:30 AM and working like a mad woman for an hour, until we open the doors at 5:30 AM.

There’s not much time to get coffee made, iced tea made, all equipment reassembled, food out of the freezer, and food cooked and ready to sell, you know. Yet, somehow just three of us manage to get it all done and then begin greeting customers.

It was good to be in my regular store instead of the one I’ve been sent to lately. But at the same time, it feels good to know that I can manage any of our corporate restaurants at the drop of a hat and that my supervisors are confident in my abilities. Also, being able to jump in to a situation, such as working to help get a new store up and running, will look good on my future employee performance evaluations. And doing well on those means a pay raise, which I can surely use.

Technorati Tags: workplace, customers, restaurant

When I go back and forth to Big Town, there is often a vendor set up at the side of the road selling Florida oranges. I’ve bought them before and they are super delicious. They are sweet and juicy with thick skins, which indicates freshness.

They are also huge, as you can see by the picture. I used a dollar bill so you could get a sense of the size of these delectable monsters.

I am a huge fan of oranges anyway, though not orange juice unless it’s freshly squeezed. But fresh oranges are always a huge temptation for me and when I saw the people selling them yesterday, I had to pull in and get a bag. A bag of ten of these giant oranges is only $6. I can’t beat the price or the flavor anywhere around here!

When you’re shopping for oranges, thick skin definitely indicates freshness, as I mentioned earlier. See, after oranges are picked they begin to dry out. First, the skin gets thin and tough, then the orange inside begins to get dry and lose flavor. The overall size will be reduced through all this drying out. So, when you are selecting oranges, always select the ones with plump skin. Those haven’t been very long off the tree.

Technorati Tags: Florida oranges, oranges, orange juice

It’s funny what you think about while you’re cooking or enjoying a snack. For instance, we get bottled beverages - Orange Crush, Grape Crush, and Coca Cola. The caps are really cute and colorful, so I start thinking about how cute they’d be as designer jewelry or part of a craft project. In fact, I think I’m going to start saving them in a box. If nothing else, I can give them to my Mom to use on scrapbook pages or other crafts. Maybe I could even solder them together to make trivets and put a felt backing on them to protect surfaces.

Even the cartons these beverages come in are pretty, and could hold things like picnic tableware, rolled up napkins, ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce in purchased dispenser bottles. They could even be set out for casual family get-togethers so that if you have more than one table to accommodate a lot of people, each table could get their own caddy. It would be so easy to set these out and then pick them back up again when it’s time to clear the tables. Since they fold flat, storage would be simple, too.

The overall cost of doing these things would be very low, but the impact on presentation would be huge!

Technorati Tags: Orange Crush, Grape Crush, Coca Cola, trivets, caddy

If you cook fish or cabbage or any number of other foods, you’re often left with a lingering odor that isn’t nearly as pleasant as it was when the food was cooking. There are a few ways to rid the house of these unwanted odors.

• *Sprinkle a tablespoon or so of cinnamon in a pan and put it in the oven at about 200 degrees F. for 15 minutes or so. This leaves the air smelling more like apple pie!
• *Use a commercial odor neutralizer spray.
• *Invest in a couple of air cleaners to pull the odors out of the air.
• *Put a few drops of fragrance oil onto your vacuum bag to freshen the air while you vacuum.

How do you get rid of odors from cooking strong smelling foods?

Technorati Tags: odor, fragrance oil

It seems like every time I go grocery shopping, prices have gone up again. I realize that this is largely because of the higher fuel prices. Fuel prices affect everything. However, there are still some tried and true ways to save some money on everyday items without sacrificing quality of life.

• *Use the plastic liners from cereal boxes in place of waxed paper when rolling out dough or cooling cookies. It’s washable and reusable, too.
• *The stiff, plastic netting from onion bags works great for scrubbing pots and pans. Just gather it up with a bit of thread or string to make a rosette for easy handling.
• *Plastic coffee canisters do well for use as canisters for flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients. You can also use them for short term freezing of soups and stews. Add a piece of plastic wrap to the top before putting the lid on to ensure a good seal.
• *Drink coffee? Save on this expensive grocery item by making your afternoon or evening coffee by adding a scoop to the grounds already used. You still get acceptable coffee but you’ve saved a lot on the amount used for a pot full.
• *Use applesauce in cake mix instead of cooking oil. Save money and calories!
• *Put bay leaves in your flour, cornmeal, rice, and other grain based products to prevent bugs in them.
• *Use baking soda and bleach in your dishwasher. Just put the baking soda into the detergent cups, pour bleach in to fill the cups, and run the dishwasher. Dishes get sparkling clean and are sanitized without expensive detergents.
• *As often as possible, use cold water to wash clothes. This saves energy and it causes less wear and fading on the clothes.
• *Hang clothes to dry as much as possible. I hang all my own clothes and only dry towels, work uniforms, and a few other things in the dryer. The dryer wears clothes out much faster than hanging them up to dry.

I’m sure you can think of other ways to save during these difficult economic times. Share them here!

I was trying to find a way to fit Delta machinery into this post, and this is the best I can do!

Technorati Tags: grocery shopping, save

Lately, I’ve noticed that more and more of my posts are being scraped by sites that never write their own recipes or food related posts. They just steal everyone else’s, like mine.

I don’t know who they are and I really don’t care. But the next time I post about a recipe, fruit, vegetables, nutrition, or appliances, at least they’ll probably have the disclaimer to go along with it, letting their readers know it’s not their original work. It may also alert Google AdSense and other affiliate programs to the low dealings of these scraper sites.

Technorati Tags: recipe, fruit, vegetables, nutrition, appliances, Google AdSense, affiliate programs