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How to Manage Your Weight With Fruits and Veggies

September 18, 2014 by

Few foods are better to help manage your weight than nutritious fruits and vegetables. If you want to learn more about using fruits and veggies to achieve your goal weight and stay healthy, these tips from the CDC can help:

1) Prepare them properly.
To get the most nutrition value, it's best to consume many fruits and vegetables raw or steamed. Steaming cooks them without causing valuable nutrients to dissipate. Avoid adding high calorie, high fat dressings.

2) Replace snacks with fruits and veggies.
The basic idea behind dieting is math: burn more calories than you consume. Fruits and vegetables can help because they're nutritious without being high in empty calories.

3) Add fruits and vegetables to recipes.
For a sneaky way to start eating more of these healthy foods, simply add them to foods you already eat. If you’re making soup, add some vegetables. When you eat your morning cereal, top it with some berries or a cut banana.

How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage Your Weight [CDC]

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These 4 Tips Will Help You Keep Dust Under Control

August 21, 2014 by

There's no real right or wrong way to dust, but some methods are more effective than others. Here are a few must-read dusting tips and ways to keep dust at a minimum.

1) Dead skin cells and fabric bits are the two main components of dust. Yes, it's gross stuff, but a HEPA air purifier, in addition to regular dusting, can keep these microscopic particles from running amok. (Be sure to keep your HEPA filter running while you vacuum, as vacuum air is notorious for blowing dust around.)

2) Trade in that feather duster for a damp rag or a product intended specifically for dusting; they're much more effective and efficient at capturing dust particles.

3) Move from high to low. That is, dust taller surfaces, like ceiling fans and the top of bookcases, first and work your way down to the floor. This way, you won't be dirtying the surface you just cleaned with dust from above. Vacuum the floor thoroughly when your dusting is complete.

4) Don't ignore soft surfaces. Take a lint roller to your curtains, and be sure to wash your bedding and any furniture slipcovers weekly.

How do you keep dust under control? Sound off below!

Dust Allergy? 7 Smart Strategies to Get Rid of the Dust in Your House [Reader's Digest]
How to Dust Like a Pro [The Nest]
There's a Wrong Way to Dust? And 5 Other Cleaning Mistakes [Oprah]
Keep Dust Down [HGTV]

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Learn to Bake This Simple Black Forest Ice Cream Pie

July 24, 2014 by

When you think of the easiest baked goods to make at home, pies usually aren’t top on the list. After rolling the dough, making the filling, and adding all that elaborate crust decoration, making a pie seems downright difficult. This delicious Black Forest Ice Cream Pie recipe is so simple, it will put all of your pie-baking fears to rest.

Black Forest Ice Cream Pie

12 sugar ice cream cones, broken into pieces
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 pint chocolate chip ice cream
1 pound fresh or thawed frozen cherries, pitted (about 3 cups)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

For detailed instructions on preparing this Black Forest Ice Cream Pie, visit Oprah.com.

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Keep These Cooking Conversion Charts Handy in the Kitchen

June 19, 2014 by

Have you ever encountered a recipe that called for 3/8 of a cup, but you only had a tablespoon? What about a recipe that measured all of the ingredients using the Metric system? We’ve all gotten into sticky situations involving measuring while cooking, but these simple measurement equivalent websites will help you the next time you’re in a jam.

Info Please
With a simple chart comparing equivalents of teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pints, fluid ounces, and more, Info Please is a fast and easy resource to use while cooking. There’s even a metric conversion chart and a conversion calculator that enables you to find the equivalent of everything from weight to temperature.

Nutrient Data Laboratory
If you’re only looking for a very simple conversion chart for a quick measurement equivalent, the Nutrient Data Laboratory’s website is the place to look. The site contains one chart that compares units like cups, tablespoons, and ounces as well as a metric chart with units like grams and kilograms. Because these charts are made to use while cooking or preparing food, it’s very easy to find the units that you likely need.

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Chicken Stock, Decoded: 4 Easy Recipes for Chicken Stock

May 14, 2014 by

Used in the base for sauces, soups, and more, homemade chicken stock can put the "wow factor" in even the most ordinary of recipes. If you believe homemade chicken stock is too complicated to make, think again! These four recipes break the process down into easy-to-manage steps, so you'll be enjoying the fruits of your labor in no time flat.

Delicious Homemade Chicken Stock [Instructables]

How to Make Chicken Stock [The Kitchn]

Stock Convictions [Michael Ruhlman]

How to Make Chicken Stock [Simply Recipes]

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5 Recipes to Make With Spring Vegetables

April 17, 2014 by

Spring always means a plethora of fresh, seasonal vegetables that you’ve been missing all winter. Because fresh produce tends to go bad quickly, it’s helpful to shop with a few recipes already in mind. Here are some favorite recipes made with vegetables that grow in the springtime.

Glazed Carrots in Tarragon [Fine Cooking]
Cooked carrots may bring back memories of being forced to eat your veggies as a child, but this unique recipe is a grown-up take on the common side. The tarragon adds a little kick to the carrots' sweet flavor to make a complex and delicious dish.

Quick-Braised Baby Artichokes [Fine Cooking]
Cooking artichokes in lemon juice is one of the simplest ways to prepare the tasty vegetable, but this recipe also braises them for a smoky flavor that’s perfect for warm weather.

Asparagus with Butter and Soy Sauce [Oprah]
It’s safe to say that asparagus is having a moment in the food world, and there are so many new recipes popping up that it may seem overwhelming. This easy recipe is quick to make but still adds a bit of sophistication to your meal.

Warm Three-Onion Dip [Oprah]
Adding fresh spring onions that only grow in warm weather makes this savory dip a bit more special than your usual restaurant onion dip. Serve it with crusty bread or crisp chips at your next gathering.

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Did you know?!

March 25, 2014 by

Humans and giraffes both have seven vertebrae bones in the neck. It’s not unusual for a mammal to have 7 vertebra bones in the neck but it’s interesting that the long neck of a full grown giraffe has the same amount.

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Browse Baseball News With These 2 Websites

March 20, 2014 by

If you can’t make it out to the local ballpark, there are still a number of ways to keep up with scores and stats for your favorite teams. Many sports fanatics have started to rely on online sources for their news because of the frequent updates and added convenience, and these great baseball sites are two of the best online options.

Major League Baseball
This one is a no-brainer, but the Major League Baseball site is filled with much more than just scores and game highlights. It offers live highlights from games across the Major League right as they happen, but it also features full, detailed recaps for the serious baseball strategist. The trending topics section shows you what other baseball fans are talking about, and the video page is packed full of exciting highlights (and, of course, lowlights) from the most recent games. You can even purchase tickets to an upcoming game right from this one site.

Baseball Almanac
Baseball Almanac is a site for the baseball fans that fancy themselves more of historians. This online resource is dedicated to preserving the history of America’s pastime, and it features over 500,000 pages of fascinating baseball facts. Browse by players, hitting charts, record books, or even baseball card facts to learn everything there is to know about the history of this great game.

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Did you know?!

March 18, 2014 by

The Mona Lisa doesn’t have eyebrows or eyelashes.

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Recipe of the Month

March 5, 2014 by

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients
1 can seamless crescent rolls (or pinch together seams on a regular can, or make your own with the recipe I posted before)
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
¾ cup mixed peanut butter and chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Beat sugar, cream cheese and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
  2. Unroll the crescent roll sheet onto lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough out (I used a rolling pin to do this) then trim the edges to give it a good rectangular shape. A pizza cutter is great for trimming edges of dough.
  3. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top of the crescent sheet, leaving a gap at the edge about 1/2 inch.
  4. Sprinkle your chips on top of cream cheese – press them in lightly to aid in rolling.
  5. Roll the crescent sheet up tightly and wrap in cling wrap.
  6. Place in freezer for at least 2 hours. (It won’t get really solid as the cream cheese mix won’t freeze)
  7. When chilled preheat oven to 350°.
  8. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (prevents sticking and helps in cleanup).
  9. Slice the crescent roll into 1/4" slices. They won’t keep the precise round shape, but that is fine!
  10. Bake on prepared cookie sheet for 12 -14 minutes until crescent roll appears golden brown.
  11. Cool on the parchment paper or wire rack.

Enjoy! They are soft and oh so yummy!!

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