Monday Megalinks: Defi-ant Edition

Usually on Mondays, I post delicious, inexpensive, highly nutritious recipes guaranteed to knock your sock off / tempt your tastebuds / put your undies in a bundle.

But I have ants. Again.

Why? WHY?!? Why, on the first semblance of a sunny day, do they take the opportunity to turn my kitchen into their own personal Ant-igua? WE ARE CLEAN PEOPLE. Ack.

Anyway, it means the galley has been thoroughly off-limits the last few days, since we’ve laid down some highly toxic chemicals designed to nuke them from orbit. (It’s the only way to be sure.) With luck, I’ll have a new recipe up on Friday. In the meantime, here’re the Megalinks, which would normally appear tomorrow.

Casual Kitchen: How to Fight Back Against /Just Say No to Overpriced Cereal Parts 1 & 2
Dan ruminates on the high health costs of low-nutrition breakfast cereals, then explains how to purchase them intelligently. Bonus feature: the ingredient rundown for Cocoa Puffs, in which three of the first four components are some kind of sugar.

Consumer Reports: Save Money on Organics
If this quick, by-the-book piece on organics was link-less, it wouldn’t be up here. Fortunately, there are several helpful suggestions for relevant sites. Sweet.

Get Fit Slowly: The Importance of Finding Fun in Exercise
I hate exercise, yet I know now, at 31-years-old, I have to get on the ball. Maybe this post will lessen your loathing as much as it did mine.

Heavenly Homemakers: Feeding the Family – Hey, Mr. Produce Man
Instead of buying by the bag, HH calls up her supermarket manager and arranges to purchase produce by the case. This way, he gets rid of quick-rotting foods, and she gets a discount on fruits and veggies for her growing family. I’ve never heard of this before, but it sounds like a solid shopping strategy. (Thanks to Like Merchant Ships for the link.)

Jezebel: Aack! Hungry Girl Turns Us Into a Nation of Cathy Comics
The title sums up my opinion of Hungry Girl almost exactly, but the full post is worth reading for Sadie’s acute observations of the HG phenomenon, as well as its detractors.

Miami Herald: Putting Your Pantry to Work
Doth your pantry overflow with half-empty bags of barley and near-containers of corn flour? Jeanne Besser has recipes and a few tips for kicks.

New York Post: Gourmonsters
Last week, I praised the Post for writing a relevant article aimed at people who appreciate multi-sentence paragraphs. This week, they’re back to form with this sour grapes denunciation of several prominent food figureheads, including my bald fake boyfriend, Michael Pollan. Boo.

New York Post: CHECK! (CAREFULLY!)
Some Big Apple restaurants are charging patrons for water, butter, and bread. It’s bad form and worse PR. (Okay, Post, you’re back in semi-good graces for this one…)

New York Times: Take 1 Recipe, Mince, Reduce, Serve
Recipes in 140 characters or less on Twitter. That’s 2x as long as these 2 sentences.

QueerCents: When the economy gets tough, people cook (in rented kitchens)
If you’ve ever dreamed of starting a food business, an incubator kitchen might be of some interest. Nina breaks down a recent LA Times article about the phenomenon, and offers some of her own insight.

The Simple Dollar: Five Frugal Food Tactics from Trent’s Kitchen
Go for the first two tactics: Trent has his own homemade recipe for cream-of-whatever soup, as well as an inventive use for leftover fruit juices.

Slashfood: When Should You Eat the Rind?
When it comes to cheese, I’m happy when I don’t eat the wrapper.

Slate: Scratch That - How cost-effective is it to make homemade pantry staples?
Bagels, cream cheese, yogurt, jam, crackers, and granola: are they cheaper to make at home? Is the (presumable) compromise in taste worth it? Jennifer Reese explores.

Wall Street Journal: Food Firms Cook Up Ways to Combat Rare Sales Slump
“In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spending on food fell by an inflation-adjusted 3.9% from the previous quarter -- its steepest drop in 62 years.” The WSJ explores how Campbells (maker of its namesake soup and dozens of other products) is working to combat the difference. Taken as a microcosm of the larger industry, this is really interesting stuff.

Wise Bread: How Many Will Lose Money on Those Frugal Gardens This Year?
Do you plan on saving $1 billion Euros this year by planting your very own backyard garden? WB bursts your bubble.

(Images courtesy of Qwipster, Stuff Hollywood Assistant Like, and Meet Me There.)

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