Simple Savings

You are lucky if you make a date with a palm tree this summer, especially if it is a breakfast, lunch or dinner date. Often thought of as a lush way to shade yourself in a tropical locale, or possibly a lovely part of your own landscape it you live in a warm climate, everyone, fortunately, can draw comfort from parts of palms for delicious meals from appetizers to desserts...

...The idea came to me not from a kitchenware site, but from a supermarket advertisement promoting a seasonal produce sale. I've seen carved single watermelons, and occasionally melons, used before as decorative baskets for fruit salads, but the photo lineup of the scooped-out halves of personal seedless watermelons, honeydews and cantaloupes of various sizes was even more inspiring...

...Avocados already have been shown to have heart healthy fat that may lower cholesterol. In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that replacing saturated fats with one avocado a day lowered blood pressure...

If warmer spring weather is tempting you to reach for an iced tea, you will be one of many sipping a cold one. What if instead, though, you nibbled on your iced tea? When you make it an ingredient in your meals rather than just an accompaniment, you'll find yourself drenched in new ideas...

...Lately, I've reclaimed my tins, but my baking has been minus the muffins. Just like as a holder for buttons or earrings, muffin tins can provide delicious alternatives to muffins, saving time in the process as a perfect shaper of multiple single-servings...

Both you and your kidlets are well into the school year. As the months fly by, many parents become scholars on the subject of lunch. That often means studying school lunch menus to make sure their kids are being served wholesome hot lunches...

Valentine's Day may not seem like the most likely time to put a healthier dessert strategy in play for you, your special someone or your kidlets, but it's the perfect time for a delicious bite in the right direction. If you're looking for a clever way to reduce dessert portions, a bite can go a long way...

...If like me, you want to protect both the environment and the enamel of your teeth, you too might join environmental groups in picking up all types of plastics from seashores as well as expanding your straw knowledge to include all types, like paper and reusable metal and glass ones...

Winter might as well be called comfort food season. All year long, many look forward to warm, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs feasts with strong childhood memories served on the side. Why not, though, start the comfort food coziness even earlier than that - with the appetizer course...

Transitioning into the holiday season is more than turning the page of a calendar. It often means --- almost literally --- turning your kitchen into a nonstop oven. The oven may be on what seems like continually for months heating, roasting and baking family favorites, most of which are toasty, hot, hearty entrees. Room temperature tempters, therefore, can be welcome time savers --- and surprisingly gourmet...