Posts Tagged ‘Food’

PF Weekly Reading List #21-Pay me $100,000 And I’ll Flip You A Burger

Posted: May 24, 2013 in PF Weekly Reading List
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What's For Dinner Burgers

Winning $100,000 in the Sutter Homes 2012 Build A Better Burger competition for Erin Evenson of Brooklyn, New York must have been a dream come true. I know that putting lots of hard work into something you are passionate about takes a dedication and an optimistic outlook to bring it to life.

Cooking Contests

I think it would be a rush to enter a food contest such as this to see who can create the best burger around. I’m sure we have similar competitions around Canada but I often watch them on the Food Network and let’s be honest, people love to eat.

In the summer bigger cities that I am aware of host a Ribfest competition and judges vote on the best ribs of the weekend. You should see the people who turn out to watch a cooking contest. It’s phenomenal.It’s also fun to watch and fun to eat.

Food On Television

Don’t tell me there is no drooling when you watch Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, or John Catucci on You Gotta Eat Here. You know the funny guy who charges around Canada looking for the best food going. He’s passionate about food and when someone is passionate about something they stop at nothing to follow their dream. I know my stomach is always rumbling and my mind is creating meals when I watch.

I’m often left alone in the kitchen because the wife fears for her life when I’m moving at a million miles an hour. You can often hear my wife joke, “Yes Chef” when I ask her to help me out, but all in good fun. She loves to eat what I create although lately with her low GI diet  and the fact that we are eating less food she has to pick and choose what she tests.

Erin calls her winning burger the “7 Train Caramelized Green Curry Burger” , and what a catchy name that is. The name apparently comes from train 7  that would take her to her favourite restaurant that introduced her to fried watercress, something she had never had before but captured her heart.

Follow Your Passion

The story behind her win is what caught my eye because all foodies who are passionate about what they cook in the kitchen want to have their food to be famous. Some people leave the corporate world to ditch 9-5 or working overtime under someone else’s control. They want to bring their passion to life but for most making that step can be the hardest decision anyone might make.

Erin was laid off from her job but her passion is in food so she stopped at nothing and put everything she’s got into this burger recipe and now she will use this big win to launch her new food career. In most kitchens famous may mean the family digs what you prepared or your friends tell their friends who tell their friends, who all want your recipe.

I know I say my homemade Sloppy Joes are famous but we all know they are only famous in our house not world-wide (yet). Keeping an optimistic outlook when entering competition and spending hours putting together the best creation that you can for the judges will show in your food.

She spent upwards of 4-5 hours a week perfecting her burger over the course of eight months. The best part was that her boyfriend encourages her when she comes up with a recipe idea. I think it’s great when couples can inspire each other to reach their goals in anything that they do. That’s what a relationship is all about, partnership, working together and inspiration.

I’m sure that list should be much longer but in this moment, for this story, this is what I can think of. I know when I get in the kitchen I am always encouraged by my wife to try something new and not to be afraid to fail. If we are afraid to do things because we will not succeed or it will cost us too much money than maybe we didn’t want it as bad as we thought. You have to have passion and drive to make it to the next level. Depending on what you do money helps too but budget cash if you want to work on something that will cost you out-of-pocket.

Food Foraging

Erin talks about how growing up her parents would go foraging for food and watercress was one of the foods she would eat. I think it is a great way to teach kids about different types of food and how we can learn to survive from what is growing around us in the wild as long as we know what we are picking.

I know just walking around our area I can find fiddleheads and asparagus growing in the wild. Not all foraged food is created equal so be cautious. If I want to go mushroom foraging as there are plenty in our area. I never suggest picking wild mushrooms unless you are experienced as some can be deadly if not fatal if you ingest them.

How Is A $100,000 Burger Created? 

Well, have no fear because Sutter Homes has the winning recipe posted along with all the finalists which I thought was brilliant especially with her mix of Asian flavours to create this burger masterpiece. Be careful when you click the recipe link, be prepared for a burger like no other. In fact you can see all the award-winning recipes of current and past finalists since 2004 that have won the build a burger competition, it’s been going on that long.

This towering burger is of a South-east Asia flair piled high with deep-fried crispy watercress salad (this sounds awesome), sweet and spicy green curry glaze, pancetta slices, roasted cashews and a mint bail aioli. I’ve made my own aioli before and it’s easy to make and well worth the time and effort if you can make homemade aioli.

Cooking Substitutions

It’s not always realistic for some families to create everything homemade even if we think it costs less money. Most families have both couples working full-time so picking up some ready-made condiments to speed up a recipe is a time saver.

What I thought was great about this story was at the end Erin shares some tips to make the recipe less time-consuming and convenience short-cuts. There are some ingredient substitutions you can make if  you want to serve this winning burger to your family. If you don’t like cashews, use peanuts and buy store-bought may and toss in some mint and basil and blend and buy store-bought curry paste.

Never give up on your dreams, heck pay me $100,000 and I’ll Flip You A Burger. We all know that hard work means  lots of elbow grease and success is not handed to us on a silver plate, so get out their and follow your dream.

Questions: Have you ever entered a competition that you had to work on to perfect something and won it? If you didn’t win tell us what you had to do and how hard you worked to make your dream come true? Have you left a job or found an opportunity to follow your passion in life? Do you have a famous burger recipe that everyone loves?

Feast Your Eyes On These Blog Posts and then Join me nightly from 5-10 pm on the Canadian Budget Binder Facebook Page and share your award winning “What’s For Dinner” recipes!

PF WEEKLY READING LIST

Here is this weeks reading list which includes some of the best blog posts from many blogs that I interact and comment on and who also have a common interest in CBB. I’m working hard to customize it so you can all enjoy it and get the greatest benefit from the reads.

I’ve switched it up a bit as requested to see how this works out for my readers who want a bit of variety in their reading list choices each week. I will switch up the categories each week to get a variety of posts for all of you.

Mr.CBB’s Top Pick: The Joneses are Probably Broke- You Only Do This Once

I Can Buy It But Can I Afford It

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The Grocery Game Challenge May 20-26,2013 #3: Eating Too Much Food

Posted: May 21, 2013 in The Grocery Game
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Eating Too Much Food Grocery Game

When I started The Grocery Game Challenge last year we were stocking up on lots of food and soon realized that we were buying too much food. If you stare at the food in your house and know that it’s been there for ages, you’re likely buying too much.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I quit smoking as well last year and since then we’ve learned lots about our eating habits. Different people require different foods depending on their personal circumstances.

We can easily see grocery budgets go up in expenses but with time we can also see that if we stop eating too much food we can further reduce those costs. Purchasing groceries on a budget means you will plan what you are purchasing and learn how to effectively use the foods you buy to create meals to fit your lifestyle.

Just recently with the wife going on a  low GI diet we both noticed that it wasn’t so much what we were eating as we generally eat very healthy. The problem was more so in the fact we were eating too much food. In a conversation with our friend who is also a doctor he explained that many people tend to more than their bodies need.

He also went on to say that people who go on low-fat or fat-free diets may eat too many carbohydrates that the body struggles to process. He’s been helping my wife by answering questions she may have as well as offering suggestions such as not using EVOO to cook but if we do to add a knob of butter.

He suggested using coconut oil which we already do and find the Grace Coconut oil to be the best brand so far. We picked that up at the Bulk Barn using the Spend $10 save $3.00 coupon which makes it a great deal.

He has suggested to eat portioned amounts of butter, bacon and sausage as the body processes proteins but limit the carbohydrate intake as we simply don’t need to eat that much food. Portion sizes are critical to eating the right amounts of food and if you don’t believe me you would be shocked to see what a portion size really is. You know those lean cuisine meals? Although I’d never buy TV dinners or prepared meals the nutrition label tells is like it is.

We started to find that when we would eat too much food we would feel bloated and just not an overall sense of happiness even though I would work out every day. It’s easy to get caught up in good food when it’s all around us but we have since learned we can eat it, just not too much of it.

Some other effects of eating too much food for me was acid reflux especially if I ate too much spicy food. I find that I am not taking my medication much now since we have changed how much we eat and what we eat.

If you remember our friend Bonnie who got fit on a budget and has lost a significant amount of weight by including   walking every day as well as portioning her food while making healthy food choices. Her results speak volumes for anyone who wants to lose some weight or simply stick to a healthy eating regime for life.

What are Good Foods To Eat?

Healthy Foods ranked by Nutrition

Good Question and for us it’s anything that is not processed. I found a great photo the other day on Pinterest. I found it on Tracey Bregmans Pinterest (yes the lovely Tracey from The Young and The Restless) who is also a vegetarian. It ranks te top 20 fruits and vegetables by nutrition which I thought was lovely. We certainly enjoy many of these foods in our cooking.

Eating Too Much Food

When you read the calorie count, fat count and other nutritional information and then look at what you get for all that you likely sink in your chair. You already feel like you will be starving and that you won’t even feel like you’ve eaten anything at all. The reality is that we should be consuming enough food in accordance to what our nutritionist and doctor recommends for our body type, activity level, health and Body Mass Index (BMI).

We have started to weigh and measure our food so we get a better understanding of portions and how much we should be having. I found out some of my meals contained enough food for 3 people to eat. I’m a healthy eater but I’m also very active. I can stand to eat more calories with the amount of daily heavy lifting I do and exercise but that doesn’t mean I have to eat enough to feed 3 people.

 If you are not sure where to begin, talk to your doctor which I highly recommend. The more carbs we eat the more work we have to do. We also see a spike in our insulin levels as well when we eat too many carbohydrates. Eating has been a challenge since we quit smoking but we vow to get back on track to healthy eating because eating too much food is simply not good enough for us.

What food challenges do you face in your diet?

Grocery Game Weeks for May

If you missed grocery game posts for this month just click on the links below and post your shops in the comment section.

Grocery Saving Tips

Free Money Saving Downloads just for YOU!!! Get organized with a freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more!!! Click, Save and Print.. It’s that easy~

What’s In MrCBB's Shopping Cart

Food Basics

  • Head of Lettuce Reduced $0.69
  • Irresistible Bio Quinoa $2.67 (first time buying or trying it)
  • Red Seedless Grapes Sale $0.88lb $1.96
  • Astro Yogurt x 2 Sale $1.88 Organic Plain and Vanilla
  • 1 Whole wheat Pita Sale $1.00
  • Premium Bananas $0.57lb $ 1.29
  • Radishes $1.50
  • 2x Seedless Cucumber Sale $0.88 each
  • 4x Glad White Garbage Bags reduced $0.99 each

Total Out Of Pocket $18.85

Yearly Grocery Budget For 2 : $2819.38
  • Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $235.00 or $78.33 week with one no-shop week per month or $58.75 for 4 weeks per month. (During the months with 5 weeks we just make it work)
  • Total Budget For May: $72.26
  • Total Coupons Used this Week : $0
  • Total Discounts this Week: $0
  • Total Gift Cards Given Used this Week: $0
  • Total Rewards Points Used: $0
  • Stockpile Budget: $20.00 Used: $0
  • Total Spent This Week:$18.85
  • Total Spent So Far for (May): ($162.74)+($42.23)=$204.97
  • Total Over/Under spend this shop: $ N/A
  • Total Over/Under spend for the month of  (May): $N/A
  • Total Left to Spend for the Month: $11.18
  • Total Coupons Used This Month :$6.00+$0+$0
  • Total to Carry Over Next Month : ($ 162.74 has been carried over to May from April 2013)
  • Total Spent To Date This Year: $206.95 (Jan)+ $160.77 (Feb) + (March)$169.62 + (April)$397.74=$935.08
  • Rendezvous Account: $65.38 (this will be used for a date night or a summer holiday)

Weekly Overview:Well it seems we only needed vegetables and fruits this week so it helped keep the budget down. We are really working on eating what we have in the house to help the overspend from last month.

Canadian Coupons Found This Week

We didn’t find any manufacturer coupons this week although we only went to one store. I’ll keep my eyes peeled though.

Frequently Asked Questions

Grocery Game Challenge RULES….. Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible. 

  1. Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop? No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have a few players from around the world.
  2. When does the Grocery Game Close each month? The Grocery Game Challenge Closes at Midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month. You can post your shops all month-long.
  3. Does Your Grocery Budget Include Health and Beauty and Laundry? Yes our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap etc. We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be effected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any more. It’s just one way to help cut your budget to save money.
  4. Where can I find Canadian Coupons? Here are your latest Coupon Match-ups  of the week including Checkout 51 from 25 Newspaper Inserts around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.
  5. How Do I Know what stores accept coupons? You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
  6. How Do I Grocery Shop?- I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices. Over time you will gradually learn where you should and shouldn’t go in the grocery store or at least how to say no, I’m on a budget I don’t need to buy this or that. You may also substitute items in order to stick to your budget to make it work.

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