Let's talk about portion control and how it can save your waistline and your wallet. Most American parents serve themselves and their children huge portions of food. Their families eat only part of it, and then they discard the rest. Next time you scrape those half eaten plates of food into the trash, think about this: 30% to 50% of the food and drinks we buy gets thrown away. That's at the dinner table as well as in a restaurant. If you don't believe it's true, observe your own family this week. Take note of how much is wasted. That's money out of your wallet. If you feel like you HAVE to clean your plate, put less on to begin with and you may just shed a pound and a gain a dollar.

October 28

We're always looking for ways to cut back on our energy use.  Here's two ideas for the kitchen.  First, the microwave oven is much more energy efficient than the stove, often using 75 percent less energy for the same task. Use your microwave for tasks such as boing water, steaming and browning vegetables, cooking rice and other water-intensive applications. AND - whenever you open the door on your oven, as much as 25 percent of the heat inside is lost and a significant amount of energy is used building that heat again.  Instead, use a meat thermometer and turn on the oven light.  That way, you can look through the glass on your oven and inspect your food without opening the door.

One quick way to start saving serious money in the kitchen is by learning how to cook inexpensive staple foods.  Ramen noodles are by far one of the cheapest food items in the grocery store (around 15 cents per package), and extremely versatile. You can use this budget stretcher in almost any dish to cut down on cost, and stretch the other ingredients further. Other inexpensive staple foods: fresh vegetables and fruit in season, eggs, pasta, tuna, and oatmeal are all inexpensive places to start. 

Speaking of Ramen noodles,  I found Ramen noodle recipes :
 
Beef flavored 4 bean ramen salad
Ingredients
1 package Beef flavor ramen noodles
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup lima beans
1/4-1/2 cup Italian dressing
Directions

Cook the ramen according to package directions. Set flavor packet aside.
Add prepared bean mix. Add flavor packet and dressing. Let chill in
refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving.

Ramen'n' Broccoli stir-fry

Ingredients

1 package ramen
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 regular sized package egg noodles
1 head broccoli, or 1 package frozen broccoli (cooked)
1 medium onion
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup french fried onions (optional)
Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare ramen as package directions advise,
but drain and do not add flavor packet. Cook egg noodles. Dice broccoli
and onions. Mix soup mix with prepared ramen and add flavor packet and set
aside. In an oven-safe casserole dish layer in the following order:
vegetable mix, shredded cheese, egg noodles, cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add the ramen/soup mixture (and french-fried onions) and
bake an additional 5 minutes.

Let cool before serving.

The seasons are changing, the weather is getting colder. It's time to change the direction of your ceiling fan. Ceiling fans are great tools for reducing energy use in every season, but you have to be a bit clever to maiximize their value.

Air circulation can make the room feel as much as 8 degrees warmer or cooler, and combined with a temperature adjustment strategy can save you a bundle on your heating (or cooling) bill.

As I'm sure you know, heat rises...so all the warmth is close to the ceiling .. In the colder months, set the fan to run in a clockwise direction, which pulls the warm air from the ceiling and pushes it down toward the floor.

10/8
During the boom, California producers boosted prices on luxury wines more than some vintners elsewhere. But with high-end wine sales down and 2007 cabernets hitting stores now, merchants are knocking 20% to 40% off the retail price of '05 bottles.

The strategy: Ask your local merchant about deals on wines from small family-owned producers. They're most likely to cut prices.

Save even more: Find the best deals among thousands of retailers at snooth.com and wine-searcher.com. Most states allow wine shipments to consumers, but check the seller's website for details.

Disney announced on Good Morning America recently that if you spend a day volunteering with a participating organization, then starting on January 1, 2010 you can get a free one day admission to Disney. They haven't released a list of the participating groups yet, but if you think you might want to take part in the offer, they suggest signing up for email alerts from disney parks which will let you know when pre-registration starts since ticket quantities are limited.
A maximum of 8 family member can participate and children must be at least 6 years old to qualify. So you could theoretically get a free day of admission for the entire family during your next vacation. Not too shabby!

disneyparks.disney.go.com

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