September 27, 2005
Tips for food shopping on a Budget
No one likes to waste. No matter how much money you have, wasting it is never an option. Buying food is a necessity every single person must do in order to survive. There are some simple ways you can save money at the grocery store.
The first way, and probably the most common way to save grocery money, is by clipping coupons. A long time ago food coupons were much more abundant then they are today. You can still, however, find a good deal once and a while. By checking local and city newspapers, you can usually find at least one quality coupon. Many times these are for ground beef, pop, or chips. These are things almost all households buy a few times a month. Usually you can save about a dollar by using these coupons. Saving $1 a week will add up to $52 a year. Then you will have enough money to go out to eat or buy a new pair of shoes.
Another way to save food money is to buy in bulk. Only buy things in bulk that will last long enough for your family to consume. If you buy a bulk amount of yogurt, but only use up half, you are not saving money. You are wasting it. Buy things that have a long shelf-life like peanut butter. Frozen foods are also good foods to buy in bulk.
Here is another tip I have learned over the years. Many times a recipe will call for something I do not have. Usually, when making that certain dish, the ingredient I had to buy doesn’t get used completely. Instead of letting this go to waste, I plan a different dish for another night that uses the same ingredient. For example. I needed a little bit of sour cream to make taco soup. I had quite a bit left over, so I made a crock pot dish that used sour cream. It’s that simple.
With a little bit of imagination you too can save at the grocery store.
September 17, 2005
Stovetop grill pan perfect for any meat
The Item
Grill pan
The Info
Hurray for char marks and searing action on the stovetop. I've been using a big stainless steel grill pan from Calphalon. Grill pans come with non stick surfaces too, but I think that defeats the purpose. Non stick pans don't sear and brown meat well. The released juices just tend to steam the meat. Not very appetizing in my opinion.
People worry that stainless steel is too sticky, but there are ways to get around that. First, let the meat sit for 10 minutes after removing it from the fridge (Cold food tends to stick more). Always preheat your grill pan (or any pan) on medium before adding fat. Then brush it with a tiny amount of oil. Better still, rub the meat with oil. Avoid aerosol cooking spray - Calphalon advises against using it in any types of pots, pans or skillets, because it leaves a gummy residue that is hard to remove and causes food to stick. When you add the meat to the pan, it will inevitably stick. Don't get impatient and tug at it. It will release by itself when the proteins on the surface are cooked and transformed.
A 13 inch, round, stainless steel grill pan is $105 at Calphalon Culinary Centre, 425 King St. in Toronto. The company also sells a non stick square grill pan for $146 and infused anodized aluminum rectangular pan that covers two burners for $200.
Posted by at 06:50 AM | Comments (0)September 09, 2005
Bread Freaks!
St. Agnes Wholesale Baking Co. supplies area co-ops, hotels and events arenas with bread. Which doesn’t sound that interesting. But this is not the sort of warehouse operation that end consumers never see, think about, or for that matter care about. I won’t gush about the bread (okay in a minute I will), but believe me when I say that if you like bread—go to their monthly open house. It is an absolute blast. You can also stuff yourself with free samples, free coffee and free info on anything you ever wanted to know about bread.
Piles of hamburger buns, rounds of their famous St. Paul sourdough, and hunks of herbed, seeded, old-world and quick breads are laid out in a taste-testers feast. Best of all, you can buy it all there, a few feet from where it was baked earlier that morning. One of the two heads of operation, Lorenzo or Klecko greet visitors, slice up fresh chunks of their latest designs and will tell you anything you could ever dream of about anything bread-related. Their level of bread obsession is like none I’ve seen before. And that’s a very good thing when tasting the fruits of such a passion.
I fell in love with a sample of ciabatta, and what followed was a bakery purchase like none I’d ever experienced. It was like adopting a puppy. I waited for Lorenzo to put a loaf in a bag, but he presented the basket with a serious look on his face and said, “you have to choose.” I picked one, and he handled it like a baby. I was concerned about its care upon bringing it home, but he quelled my fears of my loaf going stale or moldy before I could finish it. “Slice it, then wrap it in plastic and freeze it. Then thaw it for 10 minutes at 350 degrees when you want to eat it.” I asked about an outer layer of aluminum foil. “If you want to be anal about it then yes, do plastic wrap and then foil.” You know that what’s left is tightly wrapped in plastic and foil in my freezer.
So here’s the deal. If you can’t wait for their monthly open house, get thee to the farmer’s market. But the open house is a must-do outing. They even have a featured artist or musician, plus a friend of the company who bakes cakes, scones or other goodies right there. Which means, that’s right—more samples.
Saint Agnes Baking Company
644 Olive Street
St. Paul, MN
(651) 290-7633
Next scheduled retail open house: Saturday, October 1st 10:00 a.m-1:00p.m.
August 30, 2005
Bill's Imported Foods
Before heading to an upscale grocery for hard-to find spices and a good selection of imported goodies, check out Bill's Imported Foods. Every time I've been to Bill's, the owner rings up purchases herself and thanks each customer over the Greek music blasting from the back room. Customers shuffle out of each other's way, filling baskets with fresh-baked pita bread, jars of imported jams and miscellaneous packages labeled in foreign languages.
Upon a closer sniff, their bulk spices aroma hits you in the face--just the way they should. Unpretentious packaging helps keep prices where they are: cheap.
Big bags of dried goods are better than upscale groceries' and again, less expensive. They stock bags of everything from bulk grains and pine nuts to caramelized ginger, and dried fruit. They also stock the best sun-dried tomatoes I've ever found. At $3.00 for 1/2 lb., they are a fraction of the price of little jars sold at bigger grocery stores. Packaged dry, but not leathery, they keep for weeks.
The deli counter is devoted to two things: olives and cheese. At last visit, they offered Greek, French, Bulgarian, Macedonian and domestic feta; they always offer a taste to help pick your favorite. Most are around $5.00/lb.
A gallon of Greek Diamond olive oil sells for around $20, but get it fast--when word gets out that they've gotten a shipment, it's gone in a few days.
Whether you hail from a Mediterranean clime and long for a taste of home, or got hooked on Baba Ganoush, Turkish Delight or Greek honey on a recent vacation, Bill's is a great source of comfort food. Or if you are simply looking for a great place to get potent ground cinnamon for under $2, Bill’s is your place too.
Bill's Imported Foods Inc
721 W Lake St
Minneapolis, MN
612-827-2891
August 27, 2005
Naturally Low-carb bread
While researching a story on Atkins' recent bankruptcy, I had the pleasure of interviewing a woman who has changed the meaning of "low-carb" bread forever. Lynn Gordon, founder and president of French Meadow Bakery, swears by the Zone Diet, which made her swear off her own organic bread a few years ago. She (like thousands of others) loved the outstanding bread she'd developed for all its health benefits and superior taste, but her diet made all those carbs a no-no. So she did what any bread-loving natural cooking teacher and organic baker would do; she teamed up with other experts and made naturally low-carb bread.
Their Men’s Bread has only 9g carbs per slice, and Women’s Bread measures up with 11g per slice. Both breads make their low-carb counts with ingredient lists of whole grains, seeds, and other natural ingredients that make them a completely balanced piece of perfection. I had to wipe a tiny bit of drool off the phone as she described these products, so if you visit French Meadow’s website to order a loaf, be prepared—they have pictures.
They now ship products around the country, take orders from their website, and have even opened another café, this one at the Minneapolis St. Paul International airport. Now travelers just passing through can forego icky plane grub and fast food joints at the airport by stopping at the cafe instead, where they also keep a hefty supply of their fantastic breads.
