1. Make your marinade tangy
Adding vinegar or lemon juice to your marinade could make your meat safer, according to a new study. “Acidic marinades tend to slow the growth of bacteria on meat.” says Melvin Hunt, PhD, a professor of food science at Kansas State University. Just soak properly: Marinade in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Poultry and cubed meats shouldn’t be marinated for more than two days, but it’s okay to leave beef, pork, and lamb in the mixture for five days.

2. Think temperature, not color for burgers
You can’t rely on color or texture to indicate doneness. In recent studies, factors like how ground beef was packaged affected the meat’s color as it cooked — some patties turned brown before they reached a safe temperature, while others were pink in the middle after thorough cooking. Heat your burger to an internal temperature of 160 degrees (F); use a food thermometer. You can be more relaxed about whole cuts of beef (if they haven’t been “blade-tenderized” or had flavoring injected) because surface bacteria are destroyed through cooking. These cuts are safe if cooked to 145 degrees (F).

3. Don’t count on prewashed
Leafy greens (like lettuce, spinach, and cabbage) constitute the riskiest food regulated by the FDA, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. What’s more, bagged salad greens are more likely to cause digestive problems than whole heads. The reason: Cut leaves are more vulnerable to bacteria, and the large volume of greens handled together means a higher risk for cross-contamination. There’s no need to swear off salads, but do wash even prewashed lettuce and other cut greens. Thoroughly rinse leaves in cold water, use a salad spinner to remove most of the water, then blot dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. And don’t let the bag of lettuce sit around: Refrigerate it within two hours of buying, and use within a week.

Source:  Readers Digest

This is just a quick tip for all you Walmart shoppers. When buying hamburger at Walmart be sure to look closely at the packaging to see where the meat came from. I’ve noticed that much of it comes from Mexico. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the meat, only that I doubt that they have the same safety or compliance standards as the meat produced in the U.S.

Hi! I just wanted to make a quick comment about this website and my domain name “Stacey’s Recipe Box”. It is extremely difficult to come up with a domain name (www.yourwebsitename.com) with the word “recipe” in it, that isn’t already taken. We went through dozens and dozens of potential names for this website but they were already taken.

Come to find out, there are companies that collect domain names to resell. They have hundreds and thousands of domain names that they register for $10 and then try to resell them for hundred’s or thousands of dollars. It was companies like these that had already registered many of the domain names that I wanted, but I wasn’t going to pay them for it!

So finally we came up with the name “Stacey’s Recipe Box”. It wasn’t my first (hundred) choice, but it was available and we were tired, so we went with it. I know the name could cause people to think that all the recipes on this site belong to me, but they don’t. Near the top of every recipe will be the name of the person who submitted it.

I’ve also been asked if I’m going to try and make money from the recipes. And the answer is… no. But I will sell advertising space on this website to help offset the cost of maintaining it.

OK, I just wanted to clear that up in case anyone was concerned about it.

I have a couple of suggestions about avoiding the issues of wondering “What are we going to have for dinner tonight?” and constant trips to the grocery store.  Set aside one day a week and plan your meals for the week.  I will usually sit down with some recipe books so I can peruse and choose one new recipe to make each week.  It doesn’t have to be an entree; it could be a side dish, dessert, breakfast dish, or even a beverage.  Cooking can be a real chore if you make the same things over and over.

I also have made a list of dishes that my family enjoys in a small notebook.  I refer to this list when I am planning my weekly meals.  This is a great way to not  repeat the same meals.  Don’t you hate hearing your spouse or children say, “We’re having that again?”

I also divide my week into categories.  For us, every Thursday is “Chicken Finger” night because that is my husband’s favorite dish and he wants to have it once a week.  (He feels cheated on the weeks we don’t have this dish.)  Friday nights I make a dish that is good with a soda.  (We only allow our son one soda a week.)  These dishes would be hamburgers, sloppy joes, pizza, bubble pizza, tacos, etc.  I always make enough for two meals.  This way we have enough to have leftovers for lunch on Sundays after church.  Sunday night we eat light, usually just soup and a sandwich.  Saturday night is our “Big Meal”.  I make a main entree, side dishes, and sometimes a homemade bread.  Again, I make enough for two nights so we can have leftovers Monday evening.  Tuesday is “Casserole Night” with enough to have leftovers on Wednesday.  I always keep Hamburger Helper and chili mix on hand in case I make a meal in which there is not enough for leftovers.  Dividing my week like this helps when I sit down to plan my meals.

Don’t forget desserts.  I make a homemade dessert every Friday.  This is a great reward for my family for getting through the week.

After I plan what I’m going to make for the week, I make my grocery list accordingly.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions that have helped you when planning meals for your family.

I’ve already told you about this new blog feature, but there’s also a new feature that concerns the recipes and comments. Now whenever someone makes a comment on a recipe that you submitted you’ll receive an email letting you know.

I think that this will be helpful because a comment can actually be someone asking a question about your recipe.  And if it isn’t someone asking a question, it’s still nice to hear that someone tried it and liked it!

Welcome to my Blog! This is a new feature to my website and it’ll be used primarily to pass along information and to share things that I feel will be useful or entertaining. I can’t promise that everything I post here will be cooking or kitchen related, but I hope you will find it interesting anyway.

I can talk all day long, but if I were handed a microphone I think I would suddenly find myself at a loss of words. Writing like this feels a little like being handed a microphone, so please bear with me as this is going to be a “learn as I go” type of thing.

Thanks!