Thursday, September 30, 2010

Food Prices Going Up !?!

Have you noticed your food prices going up? Is the hamburger at your favorite restaurant getting smaller? And why last month was a take-over offer made for a Canadian company, Potash, which is the world's largest fertilizer maker? Why might gold be hitting new highs? A big part of the answer to all the above might be people in the emerging nations are making a little bit more money working on roads, bridges, new buildings etc. and they want more food and more bling for themselves and their families. As we are in an environment where salaries are not going up, something has got to give. Really think about where you want your hard-earned $$$s to go- higher food prices or your dreams like home improvement while prices are down, vacations, education for a better job etc. Remember Cooking Co-Op was the #1 out of 9 ways to save big bucks in a recent Yahoo finance article. Fall is here - school routine is in full swing- time to save money and stress by enjoying your own kitchen. Count your blessings!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Lost Decade for Family Income

The headlines all point to- cook at home, enjoy your own home, eat better and save $$$. The above headline was in the WSJ Sept. 17th. "The downturn that some have dubbed the "Great Recession" has trimmed the typical household's income significantly new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century... the recession has been particularly hard on young workers and young families... many have moved in with family... some Americans weathered the storm... by merging households." My husband and I had a great time last night working together like a team to put dinner on the table. He makes the best salads! Some of our church members got tired of eating out after church and have started bringing a sandwich and eating outside at our picnic pavillion. Great time to talk and laugh. Last Sunday we saw the prettiest fox- an extra treat. We can weather this storm by merging households too to help some nights with cooking duties. In talking with teachers, many inner city children order pizza for dinner. When asked if they order pizza every night... no, some nights I eat left overs. Eat at home for a better life!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Has Walmart lost it's Mojo with Moms?

That is one of the headlines on abcnews.com. Cooking co-op is a way companies can keep mom's coming back. What if a grocery store had all the ingredients for a cooking in quantity recipe in an easy to shop manner? What if I went to my local Montana Bread Company and found a great turkey, havarti cheese and roasted red pepper club sandwich recipe ready to pick up with my hearty white bread bole (round loaf of bread in which you simply layer the ingredients then slice as you would a pie)? What if the nail place which is next to a grocery store also had recipe- dinner ideas to grab as soon as your nails had dried? Our fingernails and toes might look more attractive more of the time. And while we just talked about recipes, I saw some good-looking recipe ideas on milehimama.com and look at the huge potential cost savings. Here in Richmond we had a big Nascar race this week-end. What if the same 100,000 people in attendance, saved money and could attend more races by firing up their home-cooking engines?

De-Skunking a Dog- Success is in the Recipe

Poor Rosie. Apparently late Saturday night she tried to play a little too rough with a skunk. So Sunday, I looked on the internet for a cure and found a simple recipe of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and liquid soap and it worked! The success was in the recipe and Rosie liked the extra attention. It is amazing the wonderful food recipes you can also find on the internet- best chicken divan, easiest chicken divan, Canyon Ranch Turkey Meatloaf, P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps etc. So finding recipes should not be a problem. Finding the co-op group takes more work and determination. I am looking to form a new co-op myself as I have stayed out due to my kitchen rehab, but I am now ready to go and I might have a group at work with 2 cooks being Dads! One has a wife who runs a catering business so it is up to the husband to cook dinner for the family and he is intrigued with the idea of cooking only once for the week. Be on the look-out at school, church, work, neighborhood, and fitness center to find 3 other families looking for a planned answer to what's for dinner. Recipes are the easy part.