Category Archives: Food

Food Drive Ideas to Feed the Hungry

Conducting a food drive is a great way to help your community. Foods collected can be given to your local food bank, soup kitchens, or church. However, people get confused about how to coordinator a fun and productive food drive. Look below for food drive ideas to feed the hungry.

Dance Party

Have a dance at your local hall or community center. This idea works best in small towns because the food drive dance isn’t competing with big city events, like fairs, concerts, and movie premiers. Admission fees can range from 1 can of food, 2 cans of food, or a couple of dollars and 1 can of food.

A friend of mine had a dance to raise food for the local food bank. She charged $2 and 1 can of food for admission. The D.J. donated his services, the owner of the building gave her a discount, and a couple of volunteers brought appetizers. It was a huge success. She had money left over from the drive, so she donated it to the local pre-school.

Competition

People get caught up in competition. It drives us to do our best no matter what it cost. This idea works best on your job. Each department can donate however many cans of food to you for your food drive. The department that donates the most can goods gets a prize.

Get your local businesses involved in donating services or items for your grand prize or second place prize. For instance, a local restaurant can hold a free lunch or dinner for the winning department. Convince the owner to see it as an opportunity to draw paying customers in the future if the food and service is excellent. Co-workers will tell their friends about the experience and dine there with their families.

Raffle

Get some friends together to sell raffle tickets to their friends, co-workers, and family members for 1 can of food per ticket. Get local businesses involved by asking them to donate prizes, like gift cards, electronics, women’s accessories, kitchen appliances, and tool kits.

If you can’t get local businesses to cooperate, talk to friends who make crafts. Blankets, jewelry, homemade rugs, and baskets are just a few craft items that women go crazy for. Look at the craft shows people swamp every year. People love crafts.

Online Donation

Set up an online food drive by going through yougivegoods.com. Donors …

3 Seafood Sauces That Are Easy and Economical to Make

I traveled across Asia for two years exploring Asian culinary techniques, and I learned a lot about sauces. I also learned a lot about making them and have been doing so ever since. In the U.S. three sauces are very popular with seafood and are easy to make with ingredients you often have on hand. You can adjust the flavors as well to suit your tastes.

1.  Seafood Cocktail sauce.

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp. horseradish
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Blend together in a bowl with a fork. Taste and add more horseradish or lemon juice if you like. Great with all fried fish, shrimp, crab, oysters, and clams.

2.  Tartar sauce

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp. chopped sweet pickle or pickle relish

Blend together in a bowl and once again adjust to your taste. Great with fried fish, on fish sandwiches, as a sauce for tuna salad and salmon salad, fried shrimp, or as a glazing sauce for broiled or baked fish.

3.  Dijonnaise

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard

Blend in a bowl and serve. Great with more robust fish like salmon, mackerel and other oily fish. Also great as a baste or glaze for baked and broiled fish . Good with all shellfish.

I’ll often make two or three of these sauces whenever we have fish. It gives everyone a chance to explore; find their favorite and have all they want. You can experiment with ingredient variations from hot sauce to spices like paprika and develop a family favorite.…

3 Meals You Can Make with Farmer's Market Food

The farmer’s market has become a weekend ritual for many twenty-somethings. Meeting a friend for coffee and a food-truck breakfast is a great way to catch up and support local small businesses. Make a quick visit to the other vendors before you leave and you’ll have a fresh, healthy mix of local food and produce. Here are three meals you can make with farmer’s market food.

Breakfast: Ciabatta french toast with berries

Pick up a loaf of ciabatta from your favorite local baker at the market. Dip thick slices of the bread in a mixture of farm-fresh eggs and organic milk. Cook for three minutes on each side and serve with berries from your favorite fruit vendor (use what’s in season). Bonus points for using 100% real maple syrup.

Lunch: Farmer’s market salad

Start with a bed of local spinach or kale. Add in a variety of local, in-season produce. The United States Department of Agriculture has a list of what is best in each season (check here for summer’s list). Add in a hard-boiled egg (farm-fresh, of course) and top with a locally-prepared salad dressing. Many farmer’s markets sell fresh-pressed juice, which would complement this salad.

Dinner: Grass-fed beef or bison burgers and sweet potato fries

Depending on your farmer’s market, you should be able to find a beef vendor. Look for a local farm that produces 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef. Toast your leftover ciabatta for a unique bun, or pick up butter lettuce for a carb-friendly option. Serve with homemade sweet potato fries (slice organic sweet potatoes, drizzle with oil, and bake or grill for 25-35 minutes). Make your own ketchup with this recipe from Simply Scratch if you have time. Pair with beer from your local craft brewery and you’re set!

Eating healthy and local does not have to be difficult. If you’re not sure where your closest farmer’s market is, search LocalHarvest. Shopping at your weekly farmer’s market gives you a chance to connect with local vendors and eat real food grown in your area. Thanks to new smartphone software, many vendors even accept credit and debit cards. Don’t forget a reusable bag!…

Best Gourmet Food Shops in San Diego

Since your cravings for gourmet cheese and wine never cease, it’s probably a good idea to find only the best gourmet food shops to satisfy your needs. San Diego is home to a range of gourmet restaurants and markets, but the specialty gourmet food stores are a great place to round up the area’s finest goods. From fresh fish and produce, to specialty desserts and wine, here’s where you’ll find the city’s best:

A trip to the bakery is even better when you can count on gourmet cookies, brownies, and a lineup of specialty sandwiches; Con Pane Rustic Breads & Café delivers all of this and more, with a bustling take out counter or sidewalk tables to enjoy the downtown view. Starting off the day with a croissant or cinnamon roll is sure to get things going on a positive note. Head here for lunch, or just a snack; this is a neighborhood bakery that has quickly become a local favorite. Call (619) 224-4344 for the day’s sandwich specials, or stop in at 1110 Rosecrans Street for your sweet treat.

Sunday mornings are filled with the buzz of great food at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market on Lincoln Street. The eco-friendly community here brings forward some of the best organic food around; it’s farmer’s market haven with fresh fruit, locally baked goods, and plenty of vegetables for those healthy lunches. This is the place to indulge in gourmet tastes with fresh honey, chocolate, and fresh jam or preserves. The market takes place rain or shine and will quickly become a part of your weekend activities.

If you’re on the hunt for the perfect cheese board, make your way to Venissimo Cheese, a gourmet cheese shop that rounds up cheese from countries around the world. Rare varieties are their specialty, so don’t be afraid to ask for a specific type; the hosts and owners are always eager to tell as story, and the shop has become famous for stocking some of the finest cheese products and gourmet foods of the world. This shop is located at 754 W. Washington Street in San Diego, and it’s open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When you need a wine accompaniment to your gourmet meal, head to Wine Steals for one of the largest selections of classic and reserve wine. The store also hosts tasting classes and special events throughout the week, …

The Spare Fat in Popular Foods

High living on tasty foods that fill you up can put on extra pounds. Any American without a careful plan to stick to healthy fat counts might go too far in the pursuit of pleasure. Keeping a sharp eye on what is in the foods you like is a reliable way to knock the rich foods off the list.

Convenient Courses

Some courses that you can prepare in minutes come with the sacrifice of high fat counts. One small chicken pot pie has over 23 grams, and one frozen meat and vegetable pizza serving, 11. Putting potato salad on the side adds 20. A potato fried in oil until it becomes crispy hash browns is soaked with near 20. For a person who eats largely fatty convenience foods, the meals in one day can add the grams up to above a careful limit of 60 to 75.

Butter and Oils

A small amount of butter and oils give you plenty of fat grams. Largely fat, one tablespoon butter has more than 11. The alternative is not not better, margarine also has more than 11. You might even do worse by choosing a vegetable oil instead. The common corn oil many people use to cook adds 13.6.

Sauces and Dressings

The fixings can raise the calorie count above what your body can use for energy. A trim salad can move into the fatty category when French salad dressing is poured on top. One tablespoon has close to 90 calories from fat in 9.83 grams. The truly rich topping , homemade white sauce, exceeds 235 calories.

Fast Foods

For a professional on the run, fast foods offer quick calories. They also give you plenty of fat. A hamburger, onion rings and an 11 ounce vanilla shake? About 53 grams. That is more than 450 calories. Only from the fat. Chinese fast food attracts many looking for a leaner choice, but is sweet and sour pork, stir fried spinach greens and 6 steamed pork dumplings actually lean? No. Thirty one grams. One quick meal and you have a large portion of the fat for a day.

Grand Deserts

At the end of the dinner courses, deserts weigh in with the final grams. A piece of the apple pie has 19 to top things off. Better save room for the pie. Even without the frosting, chocolate cake made from a recipe is rich with …

Foods You Should Eat to Help Hydrate Your Body

When the summertime heat hits, that’s when you really start hearing about the need for hydration. Actually, your body needs to be properly hydrated all the time, no matter the weather. The experts recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. If you have a hard time getting that much water down, you can help your body by getting it other ways. Read this informative article and find out what foods you should eat to help hydrate your body.

1.  Cucumbers

Cucumbers are an excellent choice because they contain a lot of water. If you don’t peel them before you eat them, you’ll get even more nutrients like vitamins A, C and folic acid. Slice this vegetable and munch on them with Ranch dip, add them to a salad, or make a cucumber and tomato salad tossed with Italian dressing for a refreshing side dish.

2.  Watermelon

Watermelon makes the list since it’s also made-up mainly of water. The red flesh contains plenty of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and A, C and B6. Cold slices of watermelon always taste good on a hot summer day. You can chunk it up and add it to a fruit salad or puree it and drink it instead.

3.  Avocado

Avocado isn’t a juicy fruit, so you’re probably wondering how it can hydrate your body. Its buttery flesh is rich in fats and fiber that aid your body in retaining water. Avocado can be eaten right out of its leathery skin, sliced and put on a sandwich, or in a salad, or make guacamole dip with it.

4.  Popsicles

Being that popsicles are frozen flavored water or juice, eating them instantly turns them back into liquid. Therefore, they are one of the best foods to eat to help hydrate your body. To cut down on sugar, either buy the sugar-free varieties, or, better yet, make your own at home.

5.  Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is known as an old-time remedy for a cold or the flu. Eat it anytime to help keep you healthy. The sodium helps your body retain needed fluid while the carbohydrates in the noodles help your body absorb it. And the broth adds liquid to your diet.

Resources

www.kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2011/07/07/15-hydrating-foods-and-drinks-for-summer/

Can you eat your water?

Tired of Plain Water? 5 Ways to Hydrate…

TS MA: Midtown Manhattan's Best Chinese Food

I have great taste for good food. I am the type of person that will discover a restauarant and when I tell people about it, they like it so much that they become hooked. It isn;t all about the food. It is about the quality of service and the ambiance. I don’t want to go to a restaurant that I can’t sit down and eat in peace and not feel like I am being rushed or in an environment that that just seems a bit much. No, I like the restaurants that not only leave a good taste in my mouth, but also leave a good impression on me.

If you are ever in Midtown Manhattan and you come to a point where you just feel like it is imperative that you must eat, I have news for you about a restaurant I would like to say serves the best Chinese food in New York. The name of the restaurant ins TS MA and it is located on 9th Avenue between West 36th and West 37th Street. This is a pretty good location because it away from all the crowding areas you would find on either 34th Street or even 8th Avenue.

You walk into a litghty dimmed nicely decorated and clean restaurant where the staff smiles and greets you. You can tell a lot about an establishmetn where the staff is polite and smiles. It means that they are happy to serve you and you will not have to deal with an attitude just to eat something. That is always a good thing when it comes to eating out because if waiters expect tips and a customer is obligated to give a tip, the better the treatment, the better the tip.

The first thing you see when you walk into TS MA is a sushi bar on the left side where you can get some of the freshest sushi that is prepared in front of your face and made fresh and delicious. On the right side you see a drink bar where you can get Saki or any other drinkt hat you might like. You can either dine in or take out. The dining room is neat and nicely arranged. There are tables that can accomodate parties of any and all sizes. The tables are wood and once you sit down, you are treated like royalty. The tables are …