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Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Eating Smart on the Run

Here’s a great video to watch with your whole family! The Fast Food Experiment takes a look at the ever-increasing size of food portions offered by fast food restaurants—a trend that’s continued over the last two decades. Some of the worst cases of portion distortion are triple burgers, foot-long sandwiches, full-pound burgers, huge orders of fries, oversized burritos, and super-large soft drinks.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Ham & Brown Rice Recipe

This ham & brown rice recipe is a perfect “Go-To Meal.” It satisfies hunger, take minimal effort and time, but maximizes taste. Add a glass of milk and a piece of fruit and you have something from each food group. Make extra and freeze for another night or save some to take to work.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Kid Tested Homemade Chicken Tenders

Almost every child I know loves chicken tenders…it might be because they can pick them up with their fingers, or it might be they like dipping them. Actually I like finger food and dipping myself. What I don’t like about the prepared chicken nuggets is the amount of fat and sodium you get along with the chicken. The chicken tenders recipe we feature this month has a sauce you mix up to dip the chicken in, then coat with pretzel or cereal crumbs, and bake—instead of fry. The chart below compares the cost and nutrition of these tenders compared to a chain fast food outlet. You’ll note from the chart that our tenders provide more food (look at the weight) for much less fat and sodium and more protein. If you choose a whole grain cereal as the coating, you could add some fiber and other nutrients.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Featured Video – Scrambled Egg Muffins

The Spend Smart. Eat Smart. team is very excited to share some new resources with you. This week, we are unveiling the first in a series of short, new videos that teach basic recipes and cooking skills. We hope you love them as much as we do!

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Kiwi

My family loves kiwi fruit. One of my favorite stories of my oldest son involves kiwi fruit. One night, my husband had washed two kiwis and set them on a paper towel to air dry. He intended to put them in his lunch the next morning before he headed to work, but he forgot. At lunch that day, I peeled and cut up the kiwis and shared them with my son who was two years old at the time. I told him that these were daddy’s kiwis and, since he forgot them, we were going to eat them. He thought it was so funny that we were eating “daddy’s tiwis”. That night when my husband returned home, my son started laughing so hard that he could hardly speak. Finally, we heard him say, “we ate your tiwis daddy!”.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Ramen Noodle Skillet

The Spend Smart. Eat Smart. Ramen Noodle Skillet recipe is always a winner at my house. My husband loves it, my children devour it, and even the grandmas and grandpas enjoy it when they come to visit. Ramen noodles are an inexpensive and easy meal, but they do not keep you full for long. Our Ramen Noodle Skillet adds vegetables and meat to give those noodles staying power.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

How to Drain Ground Beef

Growing up on a farm where we raised cattle, ground beef was often part of our meals. Today, I use ground beef about once a week in my family’s meals. Since meat is a more expensive item on my grocery list, I look for ways to help keep the cost down. One way to do this is to buy ground beef that has a higher fat content since it is cheaper. For example, currently at my grocery store 1 pound of 85% lean ground beef is $3.99 while 1 pound of 93% lean ground beef is $5.49. If I’m going to be browning the meat to use in a dish like tacos or spaghetti, I can drain the fat from the meat after I have browned it. That why I’m saving money but still keeping the fat down in my meals. If one is planning to make such videos of useful tutorials and tips then reaching to many people and gaining subs is important.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

How to Cut a Melon

Have you ever come home from the grocery store, set a great looking melon on the counter, and then wondered what to do now? Well, I have.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Summer Bounty Salad

We have a new video for you! It is Summer Bounty Salad – a recipe that is easy, delicious, and perfect for this time of year. I do not want to spoil the video for you, so I am not going to tell you how to make this recipe. However, I suggest you go find your favorite summer vegetables and your favorite salad dressing because you are going to want them for this recipe.

Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

Preparing a Zucchini

This time of year gardeners tend to have an abundance of zucchini. The challenge is to use it before it goes bad. In our newest video, we show how to prepare a zucchini. The different ways of cutting a zucchini are useful for different recipes. Watch the video today and find out how to slice rounds, cut matchsticks, cube, dice, and grate zucchini.