POSTS WITH TAG: grocery shopping

Food & Party Yum!

Are These Dinner Shortcuts as Good as the Real Thing?

Posted by Adriana Velez
on May 21, 2012 at 8:00 PM

lasagna noodlesYou've probably noticed -- there are literally thousands of cooking "shortcuts" living on those grocery store shelves. Everything from salad dressing to to stir-fry mixes are waiting to help you whip up dinner in a jiffy. But are they all worth it?

The May issue of Everyday Food has a list of time-savers that they think are -- or aren't -- worth it. They say skip the bottled lemon juice, pre-peeled garlic cloves, and shrink-wrapped stir-fry mixes. They're too expensive and lack flavor and freshness. But dried breadcrumb and chicken broth get the thumbs up. That got us thinking -- what other cooking shortcuts are worth it?

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Food & Party Say What!?

Crazy Fruit Grown in Shape of Juice Box Is Sheer Genius (VIDEO)

Posted by Adriana Velez
on May 21, 2012 at 1:08 PM

camp nectarSo here's something you don't see every day in the supermarket: Fruit in the shape of a juice box! For realz -- someone made that happen. And boxy fruits could be showing up at your local grocery's produce aisle.

Brazilian juice company Camp Nectar grew lemons, guavas, passion fruit, papayas, apples, and oranges all in the shape of juice boxes as part of an ad campaign. I haven't seen them myself but apparently they're out there. Check it out. Oh, and maybe turn the sound down if "Old McDonald" isn't your favorite song.

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Food & Party Eye Roll

Kashi Cereal Food Fight Shows We’re Frustrated With Empty Labels

Posted by Adriana Velez
on May 7, 2012 at 5:30 PM

cerealDoes the label "natural" mean anything to you when you see it plastered on a package of food?

There was quite a dust-up in the cereal aisle over this question last week. A grocer in Portsmouth, RI pulled Kashi cereal from his shelves and posted a sign explaining why:

You might be wondering where your favorite Kashi cereals have gone. It has recently come to our attention that 100% of the soy used in Kashi products is genetically modified, and that when the USDA tested the grains used there were found to be pesticides that are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.

Someone posted a photo of that sign and it went viral -- which triggered an anti-Kashi backlash online. People were shocked because Kashi cereals have that "natural" health food halo. Was this a case of false advertising? Or is this just another case of food labeling being utterly meaningless?

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Food & Party Say What!?

Costco Says Its Wines Are No More Special Than Any Other 'Beverage'

Posted by Adriana Velez
on May 2, 2012 at 10:47 AM

costco wineWine, schmine. It's all the same, isn't it? I mean, it's just a beverage ... right?

Well, it probably is if you're buying it at Costco. CNBC just did a profile of the retail giant and interviewed the wine buyer, Annette Alvarez-Peters. And as far as she cares, wine isn't any more special than toilet paper. That holy glow around wine, the notion that you need some sort of expertise to understand it? Meh.

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Food & Party Yum!

5 Most Ridiculous Groceries I Bought Because I Had a Coupon

Posted by April Peveteaux
on Apr 17, 2012 at 5:30 PM

grocery store couponsAs someone who gets a thrill when I see a sale rack, receive a gift certificate, or hear about a deal, I sure do have some mixed feelings about coupons when I head to the grocery store. Even if I remember my coupons (which is quite rare), I've been known to forget to remove them from my purse. Clearly, my head is telling me to save money, but my heart just won't allow it. Maybe it's because grocery stores hate them, or maybe I'm just carrying coupons for the wrong products.

So I'm stooping to blaming the actual food for my lack of coupon discipline. After all, if I had a coupon for free Ben & Jerry's, you know I'd be remembering that thing. It's usually the coupons for the must-haves that I'm buying anyway, or the ones for the randoms that I shouldn't be buying that lay at the bottom of my purse until they expire.

I think it's clear by the following five ridiculous food stuffs I've purchased with coupons that I should just give it up and pay full price at the check-out.

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Food & Party This Just In

Salad and Sushi Salmonella Recalls: What You Need to Know

Posted by Adriana Velez
on Apr 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM

saladAttention salad lovers: Check that bagged salad in your refrigerator. Dole is recalling their Seven Lettuces bagged salad because of possible risk for Salmonella contamination. The recall is in effect in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

During routine testing by the State of New York, some of Dole's lettuce tested positive for Salmonella.

But wait! That's not the only Salmonella contamination story for the day. There's more: Do you like spicy "Tuna" rolls?

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Food & Party Rant

Your Chicken Dinner Probably Has Poop In It

Posted by Adriana Velez
on Apr 12, 2012 at 2:13 PM

chickenAnd in today's Gross Food News: Your chicken is probs covered in poop. I will pause while you shudder. Actually, it's not that bad, really. There's something like a 50/50 chance that there's no poop on your chicken. There, does that make you feel better?

Now that pink slime has been vanquished, more or less, researchers wondered to themselves what other meat horrors we could dig up. So they went and bought 120 raw chicken products from grocery stores in 10 major American cities and tested them all for E. coli. AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED? Do you really want to know?

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Food & Party Twisted

'Saturday Night Live' Frozen Pizza Ad Will Make You Laugh -- and Scare You Silly (VIDEO)

Posted by Adriana Velez
on Apr 9, 2012 at 5:08 PM

almost pizzaYou guys, this Saturday Night Live parody commercial sent tears streaming down my face. It starts out like a DiGiorno pizza ad -- you know, it's not delivery, it's DiGiorno? Except this pizza isn't delivery, and it's not exactly pizza, either. It's Almost Pizza.

So what is "Almost Pizza"? WE NEVER FIND OUT. But whatever it is, it's super creepy. A slice accidentally gets flung down on the floor where it does some unspeakable things. Things no food should ever, ever do. Holy cannoli, just thinking about it makes me writhe. Have a look!

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Food & Party This Just In

America's Best Supermarkets Revealed -- Is Yours on the List? (VIDEO)

Posted by Adriana Velez
on Apr 4, 2012 at 3:51 PM

grocery cartWhere's the best place to go grocery shopping? Consumer Reports asked 24,203 readers to rate 52 grocery store chains on price, quality of meat and produce, service, and cleanliness. Then they ranked the winning stores in their May issue.

The biggest surprise is good news for the little guys: A lot of smaller, regional chains rank higher than bigger chains like Target and Whole Foods! Trader Joe's and Costco are the only two big, national brands in the top 10.

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Food & Party Rant

Jon Stewart's Park Slope Food Co-Op Jokes Were Dead On -- I Should Know (VIDEO)

Posted by Jacqueline Burt
on Mar 28, 2012 at 12:46 PM

park slope food coopJon Stewart pretty much hit the nail on the head (again) when he summed up the Park Slope Food Co-Op thusly: "Food shopping. It's kind of a pain in the ass. But did you know there's a way to make it much, much worse?" I did! As a former member of the Co-Op, I did know.

Not before I joined, of course, but it didn't take long to figure out that even though the deal sounds pretty good on paper -- organic groceries at wholesale prices in exchange for working one 4-hour shift per month -- there's not enough bulk quinoa in the world to make the experience worth your while.

Samantha Bee's expose of the Brooklyn mental institution on last night's Daily Show focused on the issue currently dividing Co-Op members: Whether or not to consider banning Israeli products as part of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions "movement against Israel's violation of international law and human rights."

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