Get this–there’s a new “Dinner Spinner” iPhone app from Allrecipes.com, the world’s #1 food site. 

Top features include:

• Search for meal ideas from thousands of Allrecipes.com’s most popular recipes
• Access detailed ingredients, cooking instructions, nutritional information, photos, ratings and reviews
• Give your iPhone a shake to watch the Dinner Spinner in action and generate dinner ideas for you 

Allrecipes’ Dinner Spinner also lets you share recipes with home cooks just like yourself for affordable and convenient meal solutions.

For more info, click here.

• Leftovers: A Recipe For Food Savings If you have any interest at all in reducing your food budget chances are you often find yourself eating leftovers. We certainly have our share of leftovers in the Frugal household. In fact, I've found certain foods are even better a day or two later (spaghetti and meatloaf come to......
• Works For Me Wednesday: Weekly Meal Plans   It's Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family and I am bringing to the table the idea of Meal Plans! Ok I know it's not a novel idea, but it's one that has really been working for me and I wanted to share it! The idea......
• Foods That Help You Lose Weight By Neal Barnard Wouldn’t it be great if there were special foods out there that didn’t contain any calories, or better yet, helped your body burn other calories more efficiently? That’s the main premise of the book Foods That Help You Lose Weight – that there are foods out there that are actually......
• How to Eat Out Without Feeling Guilty If you are having trouble finding ways to eat out with your friends or family while you are on a diet, you don't have to resort to becoming a hermit. Eating out is not something that you want to do every day, but occasionally, it can serve as an important......
• How to Cook Cheap Meals With the way the economy is going, everyone is looking to come up with ways to save money every month. Grocery bills are no exception. The rising cost of groceries is forcing people to come up with cheap meal plans for their families. This can often times prove to be......

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If you’ve ever contemplated going vegan, now’s the time during World Go Vegan Days, which started October 25 and run through October 31.

Created by In Defense of Animals (IDA), World Go Vegan Days is an annual event to educate people about the vegan lifestyle. During World Go Vegan Days, IDA encourages people to become conscious of what – and who – they are eating, the effect it has on the world, and that a non-violent alternative exists.

Here are a few ways you can celebrate World Go Vegan Days:

• Order Vegan Starter Kits to distribute. Download a free copy here.
• Write a Letter to the Editor of your newspaper about vegan issues.
• Share a vegan meal with family and friends by hosting a vegan potluck dinner or restaurant outing. Be sure to invite people who aren’t vegan (get easy vegan recipes here).
• Since Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks, talk to your community food banks about providing vegan options such as Tofurkys. Consider buying a few Tofurkys, preparing them, and bringing them to your food bank or other similar gatherings.
• Ask your local newspaper to feature a story about the benefits of a vegan diet or the cruelties of factory farming.
• Adopt a World Go Vegan Days activist.
• Add a link to IDA’s World Go Vegan Days website from your website.

For more information, click here.

• Full Text or Excerpts - What's Best For Corporate Blog RSS Feeds? If you are putting together an RSS feed for your corporate blog, you may be wondering what way is the best way to deliver that RSS Feed. Should you use full text so that your subscribers can read the entire post in their feed reader without having to click on......
• Cooking Versus Eating Out For the Busy Family The last year has been about finding ways to save money. Everyone has cut corners and asked friends what they do to pinch a penny here and there. If you are a family where both the mom and dad work and the kids are active, then here’s an idea for......
• 10 Ways To Change The World Through Social Media. Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President. Editor's note: This is the first guest post from Max Gladwell. Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They'll take for......
• Should Christians Lend Money and Charge Interest? In early 2009 I was introduced to a concept called people to people lending (P2P).  P2P lending often takes advantage of the internet to connect a borrower and a lender.  This removes the banking middle man and allows direct people to people lending.  When I first heard of the......
• How To Get Tons Of Free Backlinks So you have a fresh website and its all geared up looking great and ready to make sales. You create some links on the internet for your new website, let the search engines know about it and you sit back and wait for the money to roll in...but there are......

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Photo by Chambo25

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons (my wedding anniversary is in October, I love Halloween–scary movies in particular, we adopted our dog in October, the trees are pretty, the air is crisp and clean, etc.).

Plus, I start seeing one of my favorite types of produce in the stores this time of year–the spaghetti squash.

The bright yellow squash, about the size of a football but more oblong in shape, is one of my favorite things to cook with, as it’s vegan, vegetarian and gluten free, all in one fell swoop!

How to cook spaghetti squash:

I’ve tried cooking them whole, but I find they cook more evenly if you cut them in half lengthwise. Just cut it through and separate the halves. Bake halves in a shallow pan (I coat the pan with cooking spray for easier clean up), rind side up for about 40 minutes at 375 F (check periodically by piercing the skin with a fork–when the fork slides in without resistance, they’re done).

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Carefully scoop out seed and then take a fork and separate the spaghetti strands by running the fork through the squash “from stem to stern”.

To eat:

Take about 2 tablespoons of soy butter and a teaspoon of dried oregano and mix with the strands.

Enjoy!

• Upscale Dishes You Can Make at Home for Half Price Around this time every year, I'm usually suffering from sporting event purgatory. Meaning, I've got a nasty case of football withdrawal and with March Madness still several weeks away, I'm looking for something to fill the hours. So now that my normal repertoire of buffalo wings and homemade chicken fingers......
• Our first fresh veggies from the garden! After weeks of waiting, we've finally been able to enjoy the fruits of our labor from our home vegetable garden we planted back in May.  As you can see in the picture above it's very  different from the barren look it had in May.  So far we've enjoyed a......
• Grandma's Favorite Vodka and Red Bull Xmas Cake Recipe Vodka and Red Bull Xmas Cake Recipe Yup, it’s nearly that time of the year… and now, it seems, is the time to start baking that special  cake. This one never ceases to amuse me and make me laugh.  Every year it just gets better, either because the Vodka......
• Cook Healthy Dinners - And Still Have a Life! Many of us have crazy, busy schedules; yet we want to cook healthy meals for us and our family. Problem is, how can you balance the demands of the day with preparing healthy meals? The key for me is planning and organization! Without them I'd be calling out for pizza......
• Baked Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe This Italian Spaghetti and Meatball Recipe is a little bit of work and takes some time. It was well worth it. My Family just loved it. I think we have Spaghetti at my House for dinner at least once a week. This recipe is just great. Because there is......

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Whenever my husband and I go on vacation (or really, any time we know we’ll be away from home for a few hours), we pack some Odwalla bars just in case we get hungry.

Odwalla (pronounced Oh-dwa-la) is a juice company founded in Santa Cruz, Calif., in 1980 and is now headquartered in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

The Odwalla brand includes juices, smoothies and similar health beverages, as well as protein bars.

The protein bars are available in a variety of flavors, including Banana Nut, Berries GoMega, Choco-Walla, Chocolate Chip Peanut, Odwalla Superfood, Peanut Crunch, Strawberry Pomegranate, Super Protein, Sweet & Salty Almond, Sweet & Salty Peanut, and Trail Mix.

We’ve taste tested them all over the years, and the two we keep coming back to the most are the Superfood and Super Protein. They’ve stood in for breakfast, lunch and even dinner in a pinch, and we buy them at our local Co-Op, although they are carried in a lot of grocery stores, too.

Not only are Odwalla bars wonderful, but I use their Carrot Juice in my daily smoothies for ad added vegetable serving that tastes great. 

• Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner For Under $6 (And It's Healthy, Too!) Eating healthy is supposedly an expensive undertaking.  It's something I hear often and most people take for granted that it's true.  Personally, I have no idea what those people are talking about.  In general, I eat relatively healthy and I've never been a big spender.  In fact, I practically never......
• Hey, Protein! I Like It! Ever since I started including protein in my breakfasts, the increased protein amount has been transferring over into my lunch and dinners too.  I didn't plan to do this; it just kind of happened. I have protein shakes for breakfast made with a plain, whey protein powder. (It's surprisingly good with the right......
• Learning About Protein Supplements On those occasions when it is really quite impossible to get all of the nutrients you need from your daily diet, there are protein supplements, which not only provide protein, but many other vitamins and nutrients we all need each and every day. Protein supplements are a very healthy way......
• Easy-To-Make Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Shake I'm always on the lookout for great-tasting pre- and post-workout shakes, as well as meal replacement drinks. I'm always on the go so often have to drink my meal :) Here's a great-tasting and simple-to-make meal replacement (think BREAKFAST) - ½ a ripe banana (use a very ripe banana for......
• Avoid These Foods Every Day The occasional sinful snack isn't really going to ruin your weight loss endeavor, but the less that you eat of these particular foods, the better off you will tend to be. Why should you be opting for a food choice that is loaded with bad calories and fat, when you......

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The newly-launched channel Planet Green is taking “Bam!” to a whole new level with Emeril Lagasse in the new show “Emeril Green”. The show, which airs Monday through Thursday on Planet Green, will focus on seasonable, sustainable food and will be shot on location at Whole Foods.

Six episodes will debut on Monday, July 14 from 8-11PM (ET).

To find out how to watch Planet Green channel where you live, click here.

• Good Human Survey: You Could Win a $50 Gift Card to Whole Foods! *This survey is closed, thanks everyone who participated! Green Adworks has created a survey about my readers that will take less than 5 minutes to complete and you will be entered into a drawing for one of five (5) $50 Whole Foods gift cards when you finish it. They will......
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• Book Review: The Whole Grain Diet Miracle By Dr. Lisa Hark and Dr. Darwin Deen Even though carbs get a bad rap, it’s commonly accepted that if you do have to eat them, whole grains are the way to go. There are many benefits to having a diet rich in whole grains, and this book from Drs. Lisa Hark and Darwin Deen offers a plan......

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Green beans are in abundance right now, and whether you choose traditional green, yellow (called wax beans) or even purple, they are bound to be the sweetest and freshest of the season.

When choosing green beans, go for long and skinny over short and plump, as the longer beans tend to be sweeter and crisper than their stumpier counterparts. If the beans “snap” when broken in half, and look bright and moist, snap them up!

To cook green beans to perfection, trim the stem ends and leave the wispy string end intact. Add salt to the cooking water when boiling or steaming to help them stay bright in color.

Then rinse and enjoy!

Or try one of these recipes:

Skillet Green Beans and Peppers
Green Beans with Lemon
Green Beans with Sage and Pancetta

• Green Lawn Care Tips and a Secret Lawn Tonic Recipe from a Golf Course Groundskeeper I’ve been playing a lot of golf lately and it’s amazing how manicured some courses are. It’s also amazing how overrun others can be, considering the cost of your average round of golf! So it makes sense that the perfect person to dispense lawn care advice is the groundskeeper (really......
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Melon is a refreshing treat for breakfast, lunch, a snack or even dessert in the summertime. Most have a low calorie count (30 calories per 1/2 cup).

Choosing melons is a snap–be sure the melon you select feels heavy for its size, smells ripe, and yields slightly to gentle pressure at the stem end.

Ripe melons will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Here are the most common melons you’re bound to encounter this summer:

Watermelon (pictured above)
Watermelons range in size from 8 pounds (Sugar Baby) to 20 pounds (Charleston Gray). Most have green skin marbled with yellow, and bright red flesh. They are at their peak from June through August.

Cantaloupe
These melons have raised, netted skin (the skin should be tan–if it’s green, the melon isn’t ripe) and orange flesh, and are available June through November.
 
Honeydew
Unripe honeydews will never ripen, so be sure to select melons that are fragrant and have skin that’s slightly tacky. These are available July through October.
 
Crenshaw
These melons are bigger (5 to 9 pounds) and globe shaped, with pointed stem ends, yellow skin, and golden-pink flesh. They are in stores July through October.

In my house, even my dog enjoys melons (particularly watermelon and honeydew–the sweeter the better!).
 

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In my hometown, every Sunday, rain or shine, there’s a Farmer’s Market chock full of locally-grown produce, fish, fresh flowers and much more.

The market is part of Certified Farmers’ Markets, which is an effort to re-establish the traditional link between farmers and consumers in California. It’s where you’ll find the face behind the food on your table.

Farmer’s Markets allow farmers to sell field- and tree-ripened fruits and vegetables that are too delicate for the packing and shipping process of traditional food distribution systems.

To find a Farmer’s Market in your neck of the woods, click here.

• How to Make More Money as an Affiliate Marketer Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular forms of internet marketing. You can easily find many online marketers with their own product lines, and they'll probably tell you they cut their IM teeth with affiliate marketing. And they'll all tell you they did it because it looked easy to......
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• Even More Tips for Getting More Fruits and Vegetables Most people are not getting enough fruits and vegetables, despite the fact that there is such a large variety to choose from. Here are some great tips for how you can get pack more healthy fruits and vegetables into your life for a number of added health benefits that will......
• How to Cook Cheap Meals With the way the economy is going, everyone is looking to come up with ways to save money every month. Grocery bills are no exception. The rising cost of groceries is forcing people to come up with cheap meal plans for their families. This can often times prove to be......

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You know fruits and vegetables are good for you, but sometimes it’s hard to eat the recommended five servings per day.

That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started a new website, which features a customizable database of fruit- and vegetable-based recipes.

Simply choose the fruits/vegetables you have on hand, plug in what meal type you’re looking for, and the site will generate recipes complete with nutrition facts, so you’ll know exactly where you stand.

With a tool like this, five a day should be a piece of cake fruit!

• More Heart Health Food Tips Heart health food tips can go a long way in improving your overall coronary health. If you want to improve the health of your heart and your over all health and well being as well, the following heart health food tips are going to come in handy: Take the time......
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• Foods That Help You Lose Weight By Neal Barnard Wouldn’t it be great if there were special foods out there that didn’t contain any calories, or better yet, helped your body burn other calories more efficiently? That’s the main premise of the book Foods That Help You Lose Weight – that there are foods out there that are actually......
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You can exercise all you want, but unless you’re eating healthy, don’t waste your time.

Enter FoodFit.com, part of The HealthCentral Network, which began in 1998 in Washington, D.C. with the mission to promote and enhance the health of consumers.

FoodFit.com is recognized as a national leader in its field—the destination for up-to-date information on good food and good health.

FoodFit works closely with a network of food, fitness and nutrition partners across the country to provide personalized tools and reliable content. Their partners include top public health organizations and leading dietitians, fitness experts and chefs.

FoodFit’s popular features:

FoodFit Tools: Four proprietary, interactive tools to assess your current health habits.

A database of 2,500 healthy, customizable recipes with in-depth nutritional analysis.

Hundreds of suggestions for celebrating the foods of the season with the guide to seasonal foods .

FoodFit also features the FoodFit Plan (for subscribers) that features a Diet and Fitness Plan created specifically for FoodFit by the University of California, Davis Medical Center.

Based on the latest scientific recommendations published by the National Academy of Sciences in September 2002, the Diet and Fitness Plan provides personalized diets with menu plans and chef-created recipes, and personalized fitness recommendations. The FoodFit Plan also includes FoodFit’s customized tools, recipes, tips and guides—all combined to help subscribers lose or maintain weight while eating great-tasting food.

For more information, click here.

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