Top 10 Links of the Week: 3/5/10 – 3/11/10

Tangent!

Dunno if y’all have been watching Idol this season, but so far, it exemplifies what I both adore and loathe about the show. I love that the heretofore unheard of Crystal Bowersox is receiving a wider audience, because girl can saaaang. Simon might have discovered a young Bonnie Raitt or Emmylou Harris there.

On the other hand, with last night’s ouster of Lilly and Katelyn, it seems like the finals will once again be dominated by angel-voiced 16-year-olds who know very little about music. Which? Boh-ring. You’ve heard Aaron warble one schmaltzy country ballad, and you’ve heard his entire bag of tricks. Lilly may have had the weaker vocals, but at least she kept it interesting. I’m curious to see how the next few weeks go. Readers?

That aside, the links!

1) What I Weigh Today: 152
I loved this whole post, in which the author comes to accept her weight, but this line really struck me: “When I think about the hours, years, decades of my life that have been sacrificed to body loathing and dieting, I just don’t want to surrender another second to it.” Word, Joy.

2) Good Medicine: Health vs. Pork - Congress Debates the Farm Bill
You knew meat and dairy were subsidized at much higher rates than fruit and vegetables, but seeing it in graphic form is another thing entirely. Thanks to reader Kristen for sending the link.

3) Videogum: The Videogum Why Don’t You Caption It? Contest - Sandra Lee’s Cocktail Face
Aunt Sandy made up a drink consisting of vodka, lemon juice, and heavy cream, the thought of which curdles my brain. Someone (god bless ‘em) slow-motioned her reaction after taking a sip. It’s almost performance art.

4) Lifehacker: The Common Sense Guide to "Organic" and Other Food Labels
Excellent rundown of food labels worth your attention. Preview: “antibiotic free” means almost nothing, while “certified humane” is mos def a good thing.

5) Food Politics: Does Fighting Obesity Also Mean Fighting Corporations? So it Seems.
Corporate interest in money will always supersede corporate interest in well-being. The trick, I think, is making well-being seem profitable.

6) Casual Kitchen: The "It's Too Expensive to Eat Healthy Food" Debate
Love this eloquent rant about the nutrition/cost debate, not just because Dan uses “shibboleth” in the second sentence. It reminds me of that old chestnut about freeing your mind: “If you always do what you have done, you will always get what you have gotten.”

7) The Simple Dollar: Convenience Foods – What They Really Cost
Great post reiterating a key concept in keeping grocery bills low: cut up your own food. This CHG piece from August has more.

8) Money Saving Mom: How to Build a Stockpile
MSM’s "31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget" series is still going on, and this excellent post pretty much negates any reason for CHG’s existence. In other good news for MSM readers, Crystal is creating a “lite” RSS feed, meaning you get none of the coupon deals (which were pretty tough to wade through), but all the articles. Woo hoo!

9) Money Talks News: 28 Tasty Ways You Can Save on Food
I’m a sucker for tip roundups, and this one hits a lot of cheap/healthy bases. Forward it to a friend just beginning their journey.

10) The Kitchn:
How Do I Find a High-Quality, Affordable Chef’s Knife?
Clearing the Pantry? Make a Free-Form Pasta Casserole.
Ideas for Healthy Snacks That Ship Well?
Three questions I wonder about nearly every week, once again solved by the masterminds at The Kitchn.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Ars Technica: The New Age of Online Grocery Shopping
Good run-through of popular online supermarkets. (Thanks to Eat Me Daily for the link.)

Eat Me Daily: Fruit Kicking Cancer’s Butt
Tomatoes and papayas FTW!

Eater: Bagel Store Owner Confirms Plans for Williamsburg Starbucks
Brooklynites: biggest bummer, ever. French toast bagels, I’ll miss you most of all.

New York Times: Women Drinkers Gain Less Weight
Any excuse for a mimosa, you know?

Serious Eats
The 5 Commandments of Sautéing Food
Taste Test – Store-Bought Tofu
Use the first link to cook your veggies correctly. Use the second one to add the right tofu.

Slate: Can It - At-home preserving is ridiculously trendy.
In which the author attributes the canning boom partly to its photogenic nature. Strange arguments herein.

Tasty Kitchen: The Theme is Homemade Ingredients
Short-n-sweet compilation for the DIY enthusiast.

AND ALSO

The Paper Towel Gang feat. Bounty's Pool Balls Test
The bearded Nordic-looking gentleman in this hilarious Bounty ad is my friend Chris. He is a genius.



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