Center Plate

Yet, another blender we buy

After 4 months of use our Cusinart blender is busted. It seriously just blew up the other day. Yes, blew up as in loud angry noises and smoke coming out of its vents. Not a good scene. The kids started to cry thinking our house was on fire, and I ended up with a chunky protein smoothie. I normally would've made the effort to call Cuisinart to see what can be done but since this is my second Cuisinart Blender that busted in the last year, I decided it was best to air my contempt and get over it. I actually like Cuisinart products. I have their toaster, food processor, mixer and cutting boards. Those are working fine. But, their blenders . . . in my personal opinion, forget it. My first Cuisinart blender was this one

 

The SmartPower Premier 600 Watt Blender is supposed to be the bomb. At $99.95 it certainly had the power to whip up any smoothie receipe from cake batter to protein shakes. It just didn't last longer than 12 months. I guess our twice a day smoothie intake was too much for this highly touted expensive blender. Still loving Cusinart, I bought this "cheaper" version.

yeah, at $69.95, I wouldn't necessary call it cheap but it was cheaper than the first. I'm a firm believer you get what you pay for and I wanted a dang good blender to make my Omni Pro Plus Protein smoothie. So now that that blender is now residing here

I am currently the proud owner of this Krups blender

and for now I am one happy smoothie maker. This baby is quieter than its competitor and faster too. Seriously. It took just 5 seconds, if at that, to blend 8 frozen strawberries, a cup of ice cubes, 1 scoop of Omni Pro Plus Protein Powder, and a cup of skim milk. Again, I wouldn't say it's cheap. I bought it 10% off its $149.99 price tag from a big box retailer that's going out of business. But I wanted power, speed, and only one-page of how-tos. With only 5 buttons and a 1000 watts this was as good as it gets. Time will tell if it can last being used twice a day, 7 days a week. A smoothie for an afternoon snack and a smoothie before bed--just as Stacie recommends to supplement our clean eating.

Hey, I'd love to hear what kitchen products you depend on a daily basis that has let you down to where you've had to buy a new one constantly. On Friday, one comment will be randomly selected to win a free Midwestern Meats seasoning valued at $5.99.

(You can buy the Cuisinart Blenders at your own risk here and here. For the Krups blender, go here and here. For the best-tasting whey protein isolate powder, you can order it here or contact Stacie here. She's got an awesome collection of protein smoothie receipes that's yummy and healthy. I'm sure she'll love to share them with you.)

Get help when you need it

This last week has been crazy silly busy for Rod and I, and the gang at 4308 East Main Street. It began on Tuesday with a Midwestern Fitness cookout at Gold's Gym in Mesa; Friday, grilling brats and burgers at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee during the football game; Saturday, serving up sample chicken breast and sirloins for a promo at MaxMuscle in Scottsdale; later that evening, Ed was at another high school football game in Union Hills; Sunday, pre-game tailgate (Cardinals vs. Cowboys) catering for 25 mostly Cowboy fans nonetheless from Insight.com, and then, later, a post-game (how about dem Cards!) tailgate party for 300 or so Cardinal players, staff, family and friends. Our final cookout was yesterday at the LA Fitness location in Ahwatukee.

As Rod and I worked our little hiney off, our children who were on Fall break, spent time with Nana. I don't know what I would've done without my mother--probably have a highly paid Nanny with health benefits! As I plan for the rest of this week, I see that we have a community cookout for the Cortina HOA this Saturday, a block party on Halloween night in our neighborhood, two NASCAR catering gigs Nov. 6, 7, and 8 (one for a private party and one for a local radio station), Nov. 3 a post-game tailgate party for the Cardinals; then, soon, comes Thanksgiving, my annual cookie exchange party, Christmas, New Year's, Valentines and finally St. Patrick's Day. Goodness, my head hurts just thinking of it all.

Luckily, Rod and I learned a long time ago that to get things done around the holidays or any special event takes team work. You need to start with one long list that might turn into 3 or more lists that gets divied up to your team. One team you can count on is us. We are pros when it comes to food. Just ask me. No joke. As a fulltime working mother and wife, how else do I get my children fed on days when I get home right at dinner time. I stock my freezer with ready-to-eat food from Midwestern Meats of course! It's fresh and nutritious with no extra additives. For the upcoming Halloween block party, I'm ordering a Halloween inspired cake, baked whole chicken, and a few bakery treats for the kids goody bag. That's at least 8 items crossed off my to dos list.

I believe the only time I'm cooking anything is for my annual cookie exchange where I have to share the receipes. But, even this event is planned to help me and my friends save time and expense baking holiday cookies for gifts and Santa.

Is it expensive to cater out? Not when you think of it in this way: with each event I plan, I ask myself where am I most valuable? Is it doing the groceries AND cooking the meals? Or am I more useful helping my daughter practice math or coloring dinosaurs with my son? Or how about watching the news with my husband? The choice becomes clear. Get the pros to help with your to dos. By choosing how you want your time spent, and including it in your cost equation, you'll discover like I have that there's no savings whatsoever doing it all by yourself. Time or money.

Holidays and celebrations are things we are extremely good at because we have a team experienced in all things food. Our meat department can help you decide exactly how much turkey or prime rib you need to order to feed a party of 5 or 5000. If you love to cook, I suggest you choose the entree you are famous for and leave the rest to us. Be it bread rolls or pumpkin pies. Not only will your guests remember the great food you served, but how you did it with little time spent in the kitchen. Imagine, you will actually look fresh, not tired, in the pictures.

To begin crossing items off your party list, plan now to save time by clicking here and here for starters. Check back often as we rev up for the holidays with more menu guides and planning ideas for the upcoming season.

October 20-25 Specials

Specials for next week are: 10-13 to 10-18. 

Meat Dept. 

Pork Steak $1.99/lb.    NEW ITEM - Turkey Apple Sausag $2.99/lb.

We are now taking orders for Roger's Finest Fresh Turkeys.    Order early to assure you get your family the very best Turkey in town.  More info on Thanksgiving items will come later. 

Bakery/Deli  Squaw Bread $2.59/loaf  and Pumpkin Squares $1.29/ea.

Restaurant 

Monday- Shrimp Stir Fry $9.99  and Chicken Parmesan $9.99          Tuesday- Chicken Cordon Bleu $10.99 or Homemade Lasagna $9.99     Wednesday- Spanish Style Stuffed Pork Roast $10.99 or Stuffed Cabbage Rolls $9.99       Thursday- 1/2 Baked Chicken for $9.99 or Apricot Glazed Salmon for $10.99          Friday  8 oz. Sirloin Steak $10.99 or Pork Roast w Peach Glaze for $10.99        Saturday  Chicken Fried Chicken for $10.99                  

Meatboy Politics-  Can a young boys idea, cookies, decide who will win the election.  You can purchase your favorite Presedential candidates cookie, and each one you purchase will count as a "vote" for that candidate.  We will do this until November 3rd and see Meatboy politics will correctly predict the outcome.  We will also take one person who bought a cookie that is the winning candidate and they will win a meat bundle.  So get your cookies and get your name on the list. 

Update and current standings are as follows:

McCain/Palin  -  248 votes

Obama/Biden - 257 votes

With only a couple weeks to go its a tight race.   

10 Urban Food Myths

10 Urban Food Myths

By Joe Wilkes

There have always been rumors spread about food. Remember the one about the Kentucky Fried rat or Mikey, the kid from the Life cereal commercials, who allegedly expired after washing down his Pop Rocks with a Coca-Cola? These, like so many, turned out to be apocryphal; but now, in the age of the Internet, it seems like there's always some story making the rounds about a grocery item that will poison you or a food that will miraculously cure what ails you. Here are some myths we were able to dismiss.

Stretches You Can Do At Your Desk

Sitting at a desk for long periods of time can cause muscular tension. But you can prevent the buildup of stress in your muscles by taking a few minutes to stretch. Try these 5 easy exercises when you need to reenergize, or throughout the day to keep your muscles relaxed.

Low-fat Pumpkin Cookies

 

Meatboy Politics Update

 

Totals through October 3rd.

161 total cookies sold

116 total cookies sold

McCain and Palin are pulling away. 

Early Turkey orders

We are starting to take early All Natural Fresh Turkey orders today.

Fresh Turkeys sizes range from 10 to 29lbs.  Fresh Turkey's are 100% Natural USDA Grade A birds.  Direct from the Midwest. 

Turkey's will cost $2.39 per lb.  Please reserve early to guarantee your family the best bird in town. 

also available will be turkey breast, cooked turkey, ham or prime rib dinners, smoked turkeys, prime rib, pork roast, and anything else you may need for Thanksgiving. 

You can go to EXTRA STUFFING to downlad a early turkey form.  Fill it out and fax it to 480 924-1714.