When my brother went to buy a house he was told that he had done the wrong thing by paying off his credit card balance each month. He was told he needed to let a small amount "ride" to build up good credit.
Even better than those six questions is a quick click over to Localharvest.org. Look for suppliers of pastured meat products in your area. Cows fed on grass in the sunshine don't need to be dosed with antibiotics and develop pathogens MUCH less easily. Plus, you're voting with your dollar for a more sustainable, humane burger. Leave the CAFO way of eating and shake the hand that feeds you. (Don't know what a CAFO is? Click over to TheMeatrix.com )
Just because it's in a grocery store does NOT mean it's safe to eat, health and life supporting or delicious.
There are a number of ways meat tainted with E. coli can contaminate your meals. As the New York Times says, "While thorough cooking can kill E. coli O157:H7, it is dangerous even in microscopic doses and can be spread from utensils or cooking surfaces to other foods." (11/03/09).
Great Article. But like the author said, it seems pretty silly to pay MORE for the gift card than it's worth (the links above add $5-$15 onto the cost of the cards), when you can purchase the gift cards for face value from Walmart.com or Target.com, or for that matter from the apple store:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for not including a blurb about growing your own fruits or vegetables! I thought this was going to be one of those kinds of articles. Unfortunately, I see too many of those suggestions here.
I would consider the advice you give is less frugal and more maximizing your cash.
Thank you again for the excellent and practical article.
Or better yet, buy a half of a cow (or whole cow) from a cattle farmer. The meat tastes MUCH better, less fatty, and you know where that cow has been. It also doesn't have to cost as much as the fancy labeled organic kind.
Look, I don't want to buy diseased meat - no one does. At the same time, cooking meat to the proper temperature will kill E. coli. If her meat was cooked correctly then she wouldn't have become ill, that's a fact. It's easy to blame the factories, and they *should* carry some of the blame, but at the same time people have to handle and cook their meat correctly if they want to insure that they are protecting their families. If you want to annoy your butcher playing 20 questions then go for it. If you want to pay an arm and a leg for organic grass fed local beef that's your choice too. Just remember that proper handling of meat in your kitchen can prevent illness as well. It's a horrible thing when someone loses their quality of life to disease, but this story was one that could have been prevented in her own kitchen, regardless of what happened in the factory.
Nice article. My solution to this problem is to grind my own beef. I use a grinder attachment on my stand mixer and I am quite happy with the results. While this does not eliminate all of the potential problems I feel that buying whole cuts from the butcher is a better practice than prepackaged ground beef.
Unless you really know what someone likes in terms of art, 9 times out of 10 you are going to get them something that they will put in the closet. I once got a statue that was fairly expensive as a holiday gift. The person that got it for me thought it was the greatest thing ever and it probably cost more than $250 (maybe much more). I held on to it for years putting it behind other stuff on my shelves, but my wife finally had enough of it and we put it up for sale at a tag sale. We priced it at $5, then $3, then $1 and finally it ended up in the dumpster.
Now if the person is very close to you, this is one of those gifts that makes sense to shop together one. I'd rather go out with my wife and choose the right painting then come home with my preference and have her think "what the hell was he thinking?"
Local artists are a good source and there are some really good art students that will produce good stuff for next to nothing.
Would this be an instance where a gift card or credit to a local gallery may solve the problem? I know what my close family likes in a piece, so I think I could safely pick something out that they would love (I've also walked through a gallery with them, so I've heard straight from the horse's mouth.)
You could give the gift of a gallery tour experience -- complete with a purchase at the end OR you could maybe give them credit to a local shop?
I personally would love a gift like this, and while my tastes are unique (my first piece was a Virginia Ocken abstract), I love the idea of getting the chance to pick out art on someone else's dime!
Yeah, I have to agree with the above comments that art is not a good gift. It's like trying to pick clothes out for a teenager - too subjective. An alternative might be a gift card to a gallery (do they sell those?) or simply take the recipient out and ask them what they like, then go back and buy it at a later time.
Great point that you should give "ready to hang" art. DH and I have a painting in our office closet that we have been "meaning" to hang up since we got married 6 years ago. It was a gift...
My New Year's resolution is to sleep more. Sleep is one of the things that people (myself included) constantly short themselves on. Getting enough sleep has been proven to help manage your weight, elevate your mood, and make you more more mentally agile.
Yes, old habits do die hard. Heck, I didn't even know that this kind of behavior is not normal until I went away for college! I still keep the thermostat as low as possible without the dog shivering and recycle foil, Saran wrap, food containers, etc. I feel guilty if I don't finish everything on my plate.
About Stephanie's story or that ground beef could be so dangerous to us. Hopefully the supermarket where I buy my meats will be able to answer these questions. I am hopeful because they have been very knowledgeable in the past.
This is wonderful that alumni are looking out for there members. I hope that those who used to trash the mails aren't shelve now that they have decided to be active.
I'm sure that asking these questions does make consuming ground beef somewhat safer, but I don't believe it's enough.
I personally don't eat beef for a variety of reasons (safety being one), but if I did I would only buy grass-fed and locally produced. Even then you are risking contamination from the slaughter house. Farmer's aren't allowed to slaughter their own meat, so there are always going to be risks involved. Unless you can find a farmer willing to risk the legal implications of slaughtering animals themselves.
Problem with giving art is its so subjective. It all depends on the person and one person could love something and another hate it. difficult to buy art for someone else.
I disagree about giving art, even if it's "good" art. I HATE it when people give me something I feel obligated to display, either on my walls or on shelves, although I have a lot of original art. It's just too tricky to gauge someone's taste. I always remember my mother on this issue. She lived in the country and had several of those horrible "ducks in scarves" pictures on her wall, and I asked her what she liked about them. "Oh, I hate them," she replied, "I just have to put them up because my Secret Pals at church give them to me. I gritted my teeth and put the first one up, and now everybody thinks I like them and gives me more."
When my brother went to buy a house he was told that he had done the wrong thing by paying off his credit card balance each month. He was told he needed to let a small amount "ride" to build up good credit.
omg it worked i can play modern warfare now!!!!!!1 omg thanku
Even better than those six questions is a quick click over to Localharvest.org. Look for suppliers of pastured meat products in your area. Cows fed on grass in the sunshine don't need to be dosed with antibiotics and develop pathogens MUCH less easily. Plus, you're voting with your dollar for a more sustainable, humane burger. Leave the CAFO way of eating and shake the hand that feeds you. (Don't know what a CAFO is? Click over to TheMeatrix.com )
Just because it's in a grocery store does NOT mean it's safe to eat, health and life supporting or delicious.
There are a number of ways meat tainted with E. coli can contaminate your meals. As the New York Times says, "While thorough cooking can kill E. coli O157:H7, it is dangerous even in microscopic doses and can be spread from utensils or cooking surfaces to other foods." (11/03/09).
Great Article. But like the author said, it seems pretty silly to pay MORE for the gift card than it's worth (the links above add $5-$15 onto the cost of the cards), when you can purchase the gift cards for face value from Walmart.com or Target.com, or for that matter from the apple store:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/giftcards/itunes/gallery
My CD video game was scratched up. And the polish worked!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for not including a blurb about growing your own fruits or vegetables! I thought this was going to be one of those kinds of articles. Unfortunately, I see too many of those suggestions here.
I would consider the advice you give is less frugal and more maximizing your cash.
Thank you again for the excellent and practical article.
Or better yet, buy a half of a cow (or whole cow) from a cattle farmer. The meat tastes MUCH better, less fatty, and you know where that cow has been. It also doesn't have to cost as much as the fancy labeled organic kind.
The author was referencing free course downloads from MIT, Stanford, and Berkley, not online universities.
Look, I don't want to buy diseased meat - no one does. At the same time, cooking meat to the proper temperature will kill E. coli. If her meat was cooked correctly then she wouldn't have become ill, that's a fact. It's easy to blame the factories, and they *should* carry some of the blame, but at the same time people have to handle and cook their meat correctly if they want to insure that they are protecting their families. If you want to annoy your butcher playing 20 questions then go for it. If you want to pay an arm and a leg for organic grass fed local beef that's your choice too. Just remember that proper handling of meat in your kitchen can prevent illness as well. It's a horrible thing when someone loses their quality of life to disease, but this story was one that could have been prevented in her own kitchen, regardless of what happened in the factory.
Nice article. My solution to this problem is to grind my own beef. I use a grinder attachment on my stand mixer and I am quite happy with the results. While this does not eliminate all of the potential problems I feel that buying whole cuts from the butcher is a better practice than prepackaged ground beef.
this is actually pretty obious to anyone who has been on the net, especially with the social networks.
and i would not suggest online universities, they are not credible no matter what they claim.
..."a little like inspecting the *breaks* on a school bus"... I think you mean brakes
Unless you really know what someone likes in terms of art, 9 times out of 10 you are going to get them something that they will put in the closet. I once got a statue that was fairly expensive as a holiday gift. The person that got it for me thought it was the greatest thing ever and it probably cost more than $250 (maybe much more). I held on to it for years putting it behind other stuff on my shelves, but my wife finally had enough of it and we put it up for sale at a tag sale. We priced it at $5, then $3, then $1 and finally it ended up in the dumpster.
Now if the person is very close to you, this is one of those gifts that makes sense to shop together one. I'd rather go out with my wife and choose the right painting then come home with my preference and have her think "what the hell was he thinking?"
Local artists are a good source and there are some really good art students that will produce good stuff for next to nothing.
Would this be an instance where a gift card or credit to a local gallery may solve the problem? I know what my close family likes in a piece, so I think I could safely pick something out that they would love (I've also walked through a gallery with them, so I've heard straight from the horse's mouth.)
You could give the gift of a gallery tour experience -- complete with a purchase at the end OR you could maybe give them credit to a local shop?
I personally would love a gift like this, and while my tastes are unique (my first piece was a Virginia Ocken abstract), I love the idea of getting the chance to pick out art on someone else's dime!
Great article, Sierra!
Linsey Knerl
Yeah, I have to agree with the above comments that art is not a good gift. It's like trying to pick clothes out for a teenager - too subjective. An alternative might be a gift card to a gallery (do they sell those?) or simply take the recipient out and ask them what they like, then go back and buy it at a later time.
Great point that you should give "ready to hang" art. DH and I have a painting in our office closet that we have been "meaning" to hang up since we got married 6 years ago. It was a gift...
My New Year's resolution is to sleep more. Sleep is one of the things that people (myself included) constantly short themselves on. Getting enough sleep has been proven to help manage your weight, elevate your mood, and make you more more mentally agile.
Yes, old habits do die hard. Heck, I didn't even know that this kind of behavior is not normal until I went away for college! I still keep the thermostat as low as possible without the dog shivering and recycle foil, Saran wrap, food containers, etc. I feel guilty if I don't finish everything on my plate.
That's a lot of questions for a slab of ground beef.
About Stephanie's story or that ground beef could be so dangerous to us. Hopefully the supermarket where I buy my meats will be able to answer these questions. I am hopeful because they have been very knowledgeable in the past.
This is wonderful that alumni are looking out for there members. I hope that those who used to trash the mails aren't shelve now that they have decided to be active.
In the Vegetarian push? The new T.V. lineup and most A.P. feeding newspapers are going to push the vegetarian agenda, heavily.
Cook the beef, you will be fine. Sheesh.
I'm sure that asking these questions does make consuming ground beef somewhat safer, but I don't believe it's enough.
I personally don't eat beef for a variety of reasons (safety being one), but if I did I would only buy grass-fed and locally produced. Even then you are risking contamination from the slaughter house. Farmer's aren't allowed to slaughter their own meat, so there are always going to be risks involved. Unless you can find a farmer willing to risk the legal implications of slaughtering animals themselves.
Problem with giving art is its so subjective. It all depends on the person and one person could love something and another hate it. difficult to buy art for someone else.
I disagree about giving art, even if it's "good" art. I HATE it when people give me something I feel obligated to display, either on my walls or on shelves, although I have a lot of original art. It's just too tricky to gauge someone's taste. I always remember my mother on this issue. She lived in the country and had several of those horrible "ducks in scarves" pictures on her wall, and I asked her what she liked about them. "Oh, I hate them," she replied, "I just have to put them up because my Secret Pals at church give them to me. I gritted my teeth and put the first one up, and now everybody thinks I like them and gives me more."