Tuesday Megalinks

Great googly moogly, it’s just a faboo lineup this week, with a huge number of posts from an enormous variety of blogs. Of special quality: Tony Bourdain’s DCist interview, an advice powerhouse from Zen Habits, Simple Mom’s menu-planning ideas, and a GREAT piece on corn syrup from David Lebovitz. Enjoy!

Carrie and Danielle: Tips and Tricks to Eat Healthy on a Budget
Quick rundown of well-known tips – a good read if you need ‘em all in one place.

Consumerist: Snapple's Acai Drink Just Pear Juice And Corn Syrup
WHAT? Wendy the Snapple Lady, how could you steer us so wrong?

David Lebovitz: Why and When to Use (or Not Use) Corn Syrup
Post of the week, folks. Fantastic FAQ explains the difference between regular corn syrup and the high fructose version, AND gets into how, when, and why you should put Karo in your baked goods. (Thanks to Culinate for the link.)

DCist: Chewing the Fat with Anthony Bourdain
In which my beloved Tony goes to town on Alice Waters, then waxes philosophical on eating in America: “Alice Waters annoys the living s**t out of me. We're all in the middle of a recession, like we're all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I'm not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I'm a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits. I'm suspicious of orthodoxy, the kind of orthodoxy when it comes to what you put in your mouth. I'm a little reluctant to admit that maybe Americans are too stupid to figure out that the food we're eating is killing us. But I don't know if it's time to send out special squads to close all the McDonald's. My libertarian side is at odds with my revulsion at what we as a country have done to ourselves physically with what we've chosen to eat and our fast food culture. I'm really divided on that issue.”

Epicurious: Top 10 Money-Saving Ingredients
I was pretty surprised at this, because 50% of the list is comprised of foods I eat most: cheese, chicken, legumes, potatoes, pasta, apples, etc. Beef’s inclusion is suspect, but it passes for now. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

Gather Little By Little: Festival of Frugality #162
This week’s festival includes CHG’s The Argument for Spending More on Food, plus 60+ other quality entries.

Get Fit Slowly: Ideas for Losing Those Last Pounds
Have you plateaued? Are those final ten impossible to take off? Will you ram your head into a wall if you go another week without a discernible loss? MacDaddy has the answers.

Globe and Mail: How Mark Bittman saved the world and lost his belly
The How to Cook Everything author credits his weight loss to heightened awareness, less meat, and part-time veganism. Good times. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

Happy to be @ Home: Raising Good Eaters
Amy raises her kids like my mom did: she doesn’t cajole, insists they try a bite of everything, and establishes early and often that she’s not a short order cook. Hardcore!

House Beautiful: An Inside Look at Barefoot Contessa’s New Barn
I realize this post is akin to torture during these economic times, but the beautiful slideshow will make you gawk in awe. I WANT THAT HOUSE. Ina fans: please note the prominent stand mixer nook. That’s my girl. (Thanks to The Kitchn for the link.)

Jezebel: Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of the Word “Fat”
Writer Kate Harding is fat. But people don’t call her fat, because she argues it carries such loaded meanings, “includ(ing) ugly, unhealthy, smelly, lazy, ignorant, undisciplined, unlovable, and just plain icky.” She goes on to explain, “I want to be called fat because it's the simple truth … I am a kindhearted, intelligent, attractive, person, and I am fat. There is no paradox there.” Interesting discussion.

The Kitchn: Organize Your Fridge With Sixpacks
K.I.S.S. (the acronym, not the glam rock band) in action.

Men’s Health: The 20 Worst Foods in America 2009
I’m in sugar shock, so I’m just going to list the nutritional facts for the worst food and then go vomit:
Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake
2,600 calories
135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fats)
263 g sugars
1,700 mg sodium

My Open Wallet: Details on the Food Budget
If you ever wondered how a single woman in New York could spend $8000 on food in a year, this is a good explanation. I totally empathize.

New York Times: Flush Those Toxins! Eh, Not So Fast
Doctors generally agree that detoxes and colonics are a load of hooey. Here, the Gray Lady explains why.

The Non-Consumer Advocate: Food Waste
I really like the post (about preventing too much dinner from being chucked in the garbage), but I liked the blog banner even more. It merits a rating of four out of four adorable kitties. (Thanks to Slashfood for the link.)

Serious Eats: Store-Bought Chicken Stocks, Reviewed: Which Are the Best?
The winners: Swanson’s Chicken Cooking Stock, Kitchen Basics, and Glace de Poulet Gold.
The losers: chickens everywhere.

Serious Eats NY: Fast Food Oatmeal Taste Test – The Good, the Bland, and the Goopy
The winners: Jamba Juice and Au Bon Pain
The losers: bizarrely, still chickens everywhere.

The Simple Dollar: Treasures in the Cupboard – Eight Tactics We Use to Maximize the Value of Our Pantry
The definitive post on why stocking a pantry is important, plus extra tips on how to get the most out of yours. Related story: my office manager sent out an e-mail last year asking everyone to clean out the panty. He meant pantry, of course, but the image was fun.

Simple Mom: How to Menu Plan AND Money Saving Mom: How I Save Money by Planning a Menu
If you didn’t know the hows and whys of menu planning, you do now. Simple Mom has a particularly organized approach. She uses charts! CHARTS, people!

Wise Bread: 6 Ways That Dieting and Budgeting are Exactly the Same
#7: They both end in the letters “ing.” (Hey-yo! I'm here all week, folks.)

Zen Habits: The Zen of Real Food – Keeping Eating Simple
Read it. Live it. Love it:
“It’s as simple as ‘Eat Real Food.’ So what do I mean by Real Food? Simple…
Food grows and dies. It isn’t created.
Food rots, wilts, and becomes generally unappetizing, typically rather quickly.
Food doesn’t need an ingredient label (and probably isn’t in a package either).
Food doesn’t have celebrity endorsements.
Food doesn’t make health claims."

(Photos courtesy of USA Today, The New York Times, and I Can Has Cheezburger.)