Single Serve Coffee Website

I recently found this website devoted to all things that coffee drinkers who own single serve makers would enjoy. It bills itself as "the one cup cofee lovers website" and has reviews of all coffees, teas and cocoas that come in single serve containers. We own a Keurig but my uncle owns a Nespresso which takes their own unique pods. Singleservecoffee.com reviews K cups and pods for the leading coffee makers and actually rates coffee based on aroms, acidity, body, flavor and mouth feel. For example, a new K Cup by VanHoutte Coffee, Raspberry Chocolate Truffle scored quite well in those mentioned areas. It scored 10 in aroma, 9 in acidity, 10 in body, 10 in flavor, and a 9 in mouth feel, totalling a 98. This would be a highly recommended K Cup for those who like flavored coffee. I found this site to be well written, informative and very visual. It is a treasure trove for those who own or perhaps use at work single serve coffee makers. Its url is : http://singleservecoffee.com/

 Photo of stacked K-Cup Boxes by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Coffee,Kyle

Maybe I'll rethink how much sodium I eat.

Ever since my grandfather has been on a low sodium diet, I've been reading food labels religiously. It's been very difficult finding food that is low sodium and has some semblance of taste. I'm told going low sodium is an acquired taste but it's something I'm not looking forward to. I've always wanted to know what level is considered low sodium and what products were rated well in many food categories that were low sodium. I did some research and found some great websites. Food that is low sodium has 5 percent of the total sodium count for the day and 100 mg or less per serving is recommended. Any foods with more than 480 mg per serving is not recommended. The other website showed a comparison of fast food restaurants and their foods by category in calories, sodium, fat and carbs. What I found was not surprising. As an example: McDonald's 6 piece chicken nuggets - 250 calories, 670 sodium, Wendy's 5 piece chicken nuggets - 230 calories, 520 mg sodium. Both would be unacceptable. The websites are: http://www.lowsaltfoods.com/ and http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-foods.php

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Posted in: Food,Health,Kyle

Boar's Head has another fan.

We have what we think is a 14 year old cat. He was rescued from the mean streets of Island Park. Learning that cats are obligate carnivores and eat only meat we are finding out some interesting things about his preferences in human food. He loves Boar's Head deli meats. His preference is for roast beef but chicken or turkey will do in a pinch. What is so surprising is that even though the usual supermarket my parents shop in doesn't carry Boar's head, the cat knows and will not eat any other line of cold cuts. I did an experiment one day to see if he could tell the difference. I gave him Waldbaum's non Boar's Head turkey and bought a small amount of Boar's Head turkey from a local deli. I placed them side by side and it's as if he could read the package, he devoured the Boar's Head. Actually, I prefer Boar's Head too.

 My cat's daily diet. Photos by Kyle Karlin.

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Posted in: Food,Kyle

Food Shopping at Target

I read somewhere that Wal-Mart and Target are trying to include fresh foods in their stores. I know Wal-Mart has supermarkets in some places but the local Wal-Mart do not include them. After a trip to Target I was surprised by the quality of produce and meat sold there. As I was browsing the cold food cases I saw bagged salads, yogurt, fruit, cut up vegetables and steak. It would have been easy for a person to make a complete meal from what Target had to offer. For a single person or a small family Target could easily replace going to a supermarket and I saw many younger people browsing in addition to myself. The prices were very competitive to supermarkets and while the area target placed its food items was about a quarter of the store, this is a convenience for shoppers now can buy what they need from one store. I always liked Target for their selection of t shirts, DVD's, electronic gizmo's and now, food.

 Better than a 7-11 and more fun too. Photo by Kyle Karlin.

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Posted in: Kyle,Target

Eat This Not That

I recently picked up a copy of "Eat This Not That", a series of nutrition books by David Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health magazine. There a several books in this series. The copy I looked through was mainly for those interested in buying the healthier versions of common prepared foods. For instance, I liked Rice A Roni but found out that between the sodium and transfat levels I could cut them by substituting Lipton Knorr's rice sides versions. This seemed to be an easy trade and as I found out, a delicious one too. This book was held my attention and even though I didn't expect to look at it for a long time, I pretty much read the whole thing. I recommend this series. Making substitutions for food seems an thing to do and I'm willing to try.

                                                         Photo of book by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Dinner,Food,Guides,Kyle

Beware of the Bottle Return Law

I return bottles religiously. My mother thinks I'm a tad obsessive but it usually puts an extra  few dollars in my wallet that have come in handy. Unfortunately while cleaning up my room last week I found several old scrips that I never cashed in. I mentally totalled them up and they came to a good chunk of change. That was enough to try to cash them in.

I went to the supermarket the scrips came from and was told they would only cash $12.00 per day. Okay, I cashed the first amount in. When I went back the next day I was now told that the scrips had to less than 24 hours old and in addition to the $12.00. The store did make an exception and cashed the scrips in. On a whim, my mother took $12.00 of slips in a few days later and came back with the money and nothing was said to her. I tried again the next day after that and the same garbage was said to me. My mother again took them in a few days later and again had no problems. What is with this store? Nothing like consistency.

                  Photograph of water bottles on my parents kitchen table- Photograph by Kyle Karlin
 

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Posted in: Food,Kyle,Laws,News

Friday night dinner

We used to go to dinner at the drop of a hat, especially at the end of a workweek. It took a job crisis to make my parents rethink their priorities and start to make meals at home more frequently. But, there does come a time when going out to eat is a necessity. That was last Friday.

My Dad loves Houlihan's and we had no hesitation to go there. The food is good, prices reasonable and usually we take food home to have another lunch or dinner. It was also the day after St. Patrick's Day and we predicted that since the place was probably hopping the night before, it would be empty that day. We were correct. Anyway, we got there and saw the manager we came to know when we went there on a more frequent basis. He came over to our table and said that he would like to pay for appetizers for the family. I was totally amazed and took him up on the offer. For three of us it saved us a tidy sum of money but I was very appeciative of his offer. It made going out to dinner that much sweeter.

                             Food from Houlihan's on my kitchen table- Photograph by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Dinner,Food,Kyle

A Coffee Fieldtrip

On the main counter top of my kitchen sits a Keurig coffee machine and an accompanying coffee carousel. My mother's mission seems to be to keep the carousel full of coffee, tea, hot cocoa and now iced tea "Kcups". For a while it looked like the only places to purchase K cups were online distributors, Keurig  and eBay. I was always finding packages of K cups on my deck and I became a K cup taste tester. Recently, my mother was given a place to actually test and buy Kcups. It's called Filterfresh Distributors and is located a few blocks from Farmingdale State on Smith Street.

We decided to take a field trip to see this place and actually buy some of the harder to find coffees and teas. The building is inconspicuously placed between other industrial buildings and has a few parking stalls. We actually missed it on our first go around but when we arrived we were intrigued. The main entryway had various size  Keurigs and every K cup listed on the obligatory order form that you take upon entry to the building. The people who greeted us were extremely helpful, very knowledgeable about their products and VERY patient. The prices for Kcups were very competitive with online, supermarkets, and big box stores. One could drink several cups of coffee, tea, hot cider and cocoa as long as you want. It was literally a Keurig paradise. We ordered 16 boxes of coffee and tea, established an ongoing account and actually had an employee load the car. It was an interesting experience and well worth the trip.

Picture by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Coffee,Coffeemaker,Keurig,Kyle

New Food Recall

Peanut Butter Recall- Possibility of Salmonella in Skippy Peanut Butter.- Time Healthland There could be Salmonella bacteria in select dated products of Skippy Peanut Butter 16.3 ounce jars. More recalls of foods because of limited government oversite of food processing plants. The recall is because of stool in the peanut butter that may be caused by pigeons living around peanut butter processing plants. A way to prevent contamination of peanut butter is to have a detailed plan to prevent water from entering the inside of the machines the peanut butter is processed in. The water in the peanut butter will only spread the Salmonella. A way to ensure Salmonella is not in your peanut butter is to make it on your own.

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Posted in: Kyle,Peanut Butter,Recall