Top 10 Links of the Week: 6/4/10 – 6/10/10

Sorry I’ve been a bit incommunicado this week, folks. I was babysitting my brilliant, blue-eyed cousins while their mama gave them a sibling. (More on this in next week’s Ask the Internet.) But hey! Look! Links!

ETA: You guys! Ack. We've been made aware of the problem with the non-disappearing ads on Explorer. We're currently working to make it go away. Apologies for that.

1) Get Rich Slowly: Extreme Personal Finance – Eating Well on One Dollar a Day
Whoa. This is hardcore. “On the final day of his project, Jeffrey summarized his purchases. During the month of May, he spent $27.08 to purchase $597.96 worth of food.” Well worth the read.

2) The Kitchn: 15 Essential Dips and Spreads for Summer Parties
OMG, it’s a dip bonanza! I’m printing this out and spooning with it for a few hours. If you need me, hit my cell. Or make me some pita chips.

3) Related posts:
Money Saving Mom: 28 Extreme Measures We Took to Stay Out of Debt
Get Rich Slowly: Surviving and Thriving
Link #1: Wow. These are some of the more radical steps Crystal and her husband took to stay debt-free while he was in law school. I can relate to some of them – not owning a car is pretty easy in Brooklyn – but others … just wow.
Link #2: Donna had $130 to her name after her divorce, but scratched and clawed her way to solvency and peace. Quite a tale, yo.

4) Related posts:
Hillbilly Housewife: Nutritious And Frugal Food Choices That Stretch The Family Budget
Frugal Dad: How to Stockpile Food for Survival
Link #1: What are the absolute baseline foods you need if disaster should hit your pantry? Can you afford them? Will they provide decent nutritional value? HH has ideas.
Link #2: A nice companion piece to HH’s post. This could be particularly relevant to folks in Louisiana right now. Jeez, what a mess.

5) New York Times: In New York, Local Meat is Easier to Find
Based on the title, you’d think we have cows and chickens wandering the streets of Brooklyn, waiting to be hit by Chinese delivery trucks and turned into kebabs. Alas, that ain’t it. In reality, we have a big number of fabulous farmers markets, a bunch of regional breeders/farmers, and a population that’s clamoring for more (and has the money to pay for it). Is this the changing face of meat? Hope so.

6) The Kitchn: From Our Readers - Tips for New Graduates and New Cooks
High school and college grads! Are you being freed into productive society, with little idea of how to boil water, much less make a decent pork chop? Never fear. This neat roundup of I-Wish-I-Knew-Then cooking ruminations should help.

7) Casual Kitchen: Why Do Products Go On Sale?
Man, what a great question! And what a thorough, informative answer about one of the reasons. Really, this explains a lot about Honey Bunches of Oats.

8) Associated Press: Millions forced to wait for food stamps benefits
The backlog in food stamp applicants has left quite a few families without means of feeding themselves. Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and bizarrely, Rhode Island, are among the states hardest hit. (Apologies. I just never think of bad things happening to Rhode Island, probably since it’s only slightly larger than my living room.)

9) Slashfood: Zero-Waste Living – Could You Do it?
When we began eating healthier (dried goods, more veggies, etc.), we reduced our trash by a huge amount. But reducing it entirely? Is that even possible? As it turns out, maybe.

10) New York Times: Study Examines a Diet From TV Ads
What’s wrong with food advertising? This: “If Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, a new report says, they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, and fruits and vegetables.”


HONORABLE MENTION

Chow: The Top Grocery-Store Etiquette Gaffes
In the center of Brooklyn, there’s a Pathmark that doubles as the starting point for the Apocalypse. (Consumerist has written stories about the Target next door, where Satan buys his discount furniture.) I wish everyone that’s ever visited would read this column.

Consumerist: Which Food Brands Are You Most Loyal To?
291 comments, and it’s looking like Heinz and Diet Coke prevail.

HuffPo: 'Consumer Reports' Gives Top Rating To 7-11 Chardonnay
Woo hoo! White wine and taquitos, together at last.

Money Saving Mom: Time-Saving Tips for Cooking from Scratch
Good tips and link roundup about ways to save time and money in the kitchen.

The Simple Dollar: Summer Meal Series #1 – Honey Mustard Chicken Strips
Trent’s posting an inexpensive, taste-tested, child-friendly recipe every week all summer. This is his first foray. Looks pretty good.


AND ALSO

Neatorama: Rice University Students Invented Salad Spinner Centrifuge to Detect Anemia
A few days ago, I read an article about prep school boys who set up a Fantasy Sex League, assigning values to girls/classmates based on appearance and sexual acts performed. It made me sick in the WHAT IS WRONG WITH HUMANITY type way. (P.S. Way to go, guys! Those organizational skills should come in really helpful after your first rape convictions.)

Then, immediately after, I read the Neatorama piece, about college students at Rice University who were challenged to create “an inexpensive, portable tool that could diagnose anemia without access to electricity.” So, they made a centrifuge out of a salad spinner. It’s now being tested in Malawi and Swaziland, and it made humanity okay again. Woo hoo! Yay kids!

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