Budget Ideas

A good budget plan can save both time and hard earned income.

Sound budget practices are essential to frugal shopping and sensible, healthful home cooking. Each purchase can impact your financial bottom line and also immediately affect your health. In many cases, a grocery store's pricing practices often affect the your personal eating habits and the type of food you'll eat.

Dining

A well-prepared meal can act as a catalyst for good health and serve as an easy way to maintain a sound budget. While the average restaurant bill can affect your wallet after one night of eating out, a home-cooked meal allows ample time for quality decision-making and budget-friendly purchases. While dining in, you use your own amenities and cut travel costs, while not being vulnerable to making impulsive food choices.

Reduced Items

Many grocery chains negotiate inventory turn-over by reducing the price on food items to eliminate excess inventory. A well-timed visit to a local grocery chain can net an abundance of name brand food items at significantly reduced cost. These chains will often designate an area of the store to shelve these items while simply marking them as price reduced. The customer service desk in the local grocery store can often offer information on the location and timing of the reduced price offers.

Shopping

Plan your shopping trips well to avoid returning to the store for forgotten necessities. Planning can also help you avoid the use of higher-priced local convenience stores. A detailed grocery list of needed items along with sales dates and coupons can help you save on gas and streamline buying decisions.

Fruits and Vegetables

Many local fruit and vegetable stands may offer reduced prices on items that are slow sellers, overstocked or out-of-season. This can afford the frugal shopper the opportunity to not only add healthful value to a grocery list, but save cash as well. Many fruit or vegetable stands will individually bag these items while placing them in the front area of the store for a quick sale.

Tags: affect your, area store, food items, fruit vegetable, fruit vegetable stands, grocery list

Budget Meal Ideas

For a family on a tight grocery budget, it can be crucial to make every grocery dollar count. For some families, the grocery budget is the only place in the spending plan that has any wiggle room at all. Since diet makes up so much of our health, it is important to not sacrifice your health to save a few dollars. It is possible to eat healthfully on a limited budget. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Focusing Money Where It Counts

For a family on a tight grocery budget, it is crucial that every food dollar provide as much energy and nutrition as it can. Focus on "nutrient-dense" foods over "empty calorie" foods if you are going to save money without sacrificing health and nutrition. Nutrient-dense foods pack the greatest amount of vitamins and minerals per calorie, whereas empty calorie foods pack calories without many nutrients. For example, 1 oz. of cheese curls contains 160 calories, with little or no vitamins or minerals. But 1 oz. of roasted almonds packs a similar number of calories and gives you 13 percent of your daily recommended phosphorus, 37 percent vitamin E and 35 percent manganese.

Some of the most nutrient-dense foods include whole grains, meats, fish, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. The adage "shop around the perimeter of the grocery store" can be powerful in eliminating unnecessary purchases. Grocery stores tend to keep the "whole foods" around the sides of the store, with the processed "impulse" foods in the center aisles.

Tips for Saving Money

Once you are focused on buying "plain," it is helpful to know how different ways of buying can affect how much you pay. Buying the larger container often means paying less per unit. For example, if the 1-lb. bag of navy beans costs $1 and the 5-lb. bag costs $2, you essentially got 3 lbs. for free. Taking a calculator to the grocery store can help you sort out the cheapest deals.

Purchasing foods from the bulk bins can often save money because you are not charged for the packaging. Compare prices of rice, for example, in bags versus scooping it out of the rice bin yourself. Most grocery stores have a "bulk" section where dry items can be purchased in this way. Another option is to join a food cooperative, where many food items are available from bulk bins.

If meat is costing a disproportionate amount of money in your budget, consider buying soup bones from the butcher. These are usually very inexpensive and give the nutrition of meat without the cost. Soup bones can be stretched very far by simmering in a lot of water to make soup, and using the meat on the bone to add to the soup.

Stay away from recipes that call for spices and other ingredients that you must buy especially for the recipe. Using what you already have on hand is the best way to eliminate wasted money.

Recipes

Recipes with few ingredients are simple and inexpensive to make. Soup recipes are often the best nutritional value for the money because they stretch far with water, and also are comprised of vegetables, whole grains and a small amount of meat (if desired). Coupled with some homemade bread, soup can be a full meal.

Eggs are an inexpensive source of complete protein, and are tasty for breakfast, or for other meals in the form of a savory quiche or omelets.

Tags: grocery budget, budget crucial, bulk bins, calorie foods, empty calorie, empty calorie foods

Survival Food Ideas

A survival food kit is essential during natural and man-made disasters.

When disaster strikes, whether man-made or a natural occurrence, having an emergency survival kit may mean the difference between living and dying. Now is not the time for Twinkies and junk food; now is the time for nutrient-rich foods that have enormous shelf life. Keep your home and family prepared for such emergencies with a collection of foods that will keep you going through the rough times.

K.I.S.S.

K.I.S.S. is an old anagram and truism that stands for "keep it simple, stupid." This is especially important when setting up an emergency and survival food kit. As a general rule, a healthy adult needs approximately 2,000 calories a day to maintain normal activity. For emergency food stores, think of what keeps on the shelf. Store dried beans and nuts in vacuum-sealed bags for a protein source. Dry pasta and rive provide the needed carbohydrates. Dried fruit and powdered vitamin drinks give needed vitamin C and help make bad-tasting water easier to stomach.

Keep a minimum five-day supply of food, per person in the household, in the survival kit.

Storage Ideas

The food you keep must be stored so it remains dry and free of spoilage or mold. Purchase a vacuum sealer and baggies. Store all food in the vacuum-sealed bags, and then place the bags with the food in a watertight plastic bin or container. Number-5-sized buckets found at hardware stores serve this purpose. In addition, purchase silica gel packs and place them in the bucket. These absorb moisture and keep the bucket dry and safe.

Food Prep

When dealing with dried foods like beans, rice and pasta, you need a way of cooking them. Keep a small backpacking stove, and several canisters or propane fuel in the buckets. In addition, keep several lighters in the bucket. Next to the bucket keep a medium-sized pot and lid. Again, stay true to the K.I.S.S. adage and use as few dishes or pots as possible. Do not waste water on washing the dishes or pots. A single pot allows all family members to dip into the pot and eat from a common bowl, limiting water waste and conserving space.

Water

No one will live without water. Like the food, the water needs to be stored in a way that keeps it fresh and free of molds. In the kit, place two to three 5-gallon water jugs full of fresh water (or next to the kit). Add one drop of bleach into each jug before you place them in storage. Keep a water filter (available at sporting goods stores) and iodine tablets near the water.

Tags: dishes pots, emergency survival, foods that, place them, survival food, vacuum-sealed bags

Restaurant Pest Analysis

A PEST analysis can benefit a restaurant.

A PEST analysis is a business tool that can help determine the macroeconomic factors that will impact a business. Specifically a PEST analysis measures the political, economic, social and technological factors that impact a business. A PEST analysis of a restaurant can be useful for determining if the environment is appropriate for such a business.

Political Factors

Political factors deal with the degree to which the government influences and controls businesses. For a restaurant, the most important factors will be health regulations relating to food preparation. A restaurant will be affected by factors that affect other businesses as well, such as tax rates and labor laws.

Economic Factors

Economic factors are extremely important to a restaurant. This is because restaurants are a luxury, not a necessity; people must have the disposable income to spend at a restaurant. Economic growth is, therefore, extremely important for restaurants. A restaurant will also be affected by the economic factors that affect most businesses such as the cost of capital and inflation.

Social Factors

The social factors of a market will have a huge impact on a business. For example, in a very health-conscious market, a restaurant should offer healthy foods, while in a market where people prefer high fat foods, they should not. Another important social factor is the attitude that people have toward restaurants and eating out; a restaurant stands a much better chance in a market where people prefer to eat out than in one in which people prefer to stay at home.

Technological Factors

In general, the restaurant industry is a low-technology industry. If there are strong technological demands in a market, this may make it difficult to enter the market. In the restaurant industry, specialized equipment is the largest technological factor. For example, if all the pizzerias in a market use specialized ovens to cook their pizzas quickly, then it will likely be necessary to acquire such an oven to compete with these restaurants.

Tags: factors that, impact business, people prefer, extremely important, factors that affect

Culinary Arts Careers

Culinary Arts Careers

The National Restaurant Association claims that there will be two million jobs in 2018 for food prep and cooking professionals in the United States. A majority of these positions will not be available in high-end restaurants in New York City and Chicago. These jobs will be available in casinos, hospitals and small boutiques that are looking to take advantage of America's increasing culinary consciousness. Culinary school graduates should look at careers with high growth potential as well as the freedom to use finely tuned cooking skills.

Personal Chef

The U.S. Personal Chef Association has determined that the number of personal chefs will double by 2016. Personal chefs work with busy professionals and celebrities to prepare meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner. These chefs have to take into consideration the food allergies, preferences and budgets of their clients when creating meals. A personal chef may also work with wait staff and cooks to plan dinner parties. While the income for a personal chef trumps the pay for kitchen chefs, clients may ask for fancy meals every day that require hours of preparation.

Chef Instructor

Chef instructors work with novices and budding cooks to refine their skills in classroom settings. Technical colleges, community centers and schools such as the Art Institute hire chef instructors to oversee courses in culinary education. Most institutions look for chef instructors who have worked in all aspects of kitchen management. Younger chefs with specific experiences in niche areas such as French food and pastries may be able to get instructional jobs on a semester-to-semester basis.

Food Service Manager

Hospitals, nursing homes and universities hire food service managers to create fantastic meals from moderate budgets. These institutions look for culinary school graduates and chefs who can bring a high-end sensibility to meals that are typically written off by consumers as bland or unimaginative. Cooks and chefs working as food service managers can earn steady paychecks and benefits unavailable in the restaurant industry. The trade-offs for most culinary professionals are relatively spartan surroundings, limited resources and the dietary concerns of patrons that can hinder meal options.

Cake Decorator

Cake shops and chain grocery stores look for cake decorators to help increase their pastry sales. These decorators mix colored frosting and apply it to cakes, cupcakes and other pastries using pastry bags. A cake decorator can earn up to $15 per hour after a few months on the job, though specialists can earn more working on wedding cakes. Chefs need to know mix colors, apply different types of frosting and use fondant and other accents to succeed as cake decorators.

Chocolatier

A chocolatier's work is similar to the painstaking work done by vintners creating the perfect wine. Chocolatiers need to think about the purity of the chocolate, the shape of each piece as well as the context in which it is consumed before putting out their products. While companies such as Godiva and Hershey hire chocolatiers to maintain their brand quality, fine dining restaurants are beginning to hire these chocolate experts to create desserts and treats. A successful chocolatier has to think about fillings, flavor blends and decorations to remain successful in this highly competitive niche of the culinary profession.

Tags: work with, Arts Careers, cake decorators, Culinary Arts, Culinary Arts Careers, food service

Natural Vs Organic Foods

Natural Vs Organic Foods

As society strives to increase the sale and consumption of healthy foods, more consumers buy produce, meat and other food products labeled "natural" or "organic." However, the labels are not self-explanatory, and you may be confused as to what the different designations mean. In order to make informed food purchases, it's helpful to understand the requirements the food product must undergo to qualify as natural or organic.

Labeling

Although food labeled as "natural" indicates a lack of the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides or other synthetic additives or protectants, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate the term. When the word "organic" appears on the retail label of a food product, however, the grower or producer must meet strict production standards and be certified as an organic grower under the regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Preliminary

Before a producer may qualify for a "Certified Organic" designation, the land on which he grows or raises livestock must qualify. In order to acheive this, the soil must test free from chemicals for a period of two years prior to certification. On the other hand, farmers marketing their products under a simple "natural" designation are not bound by this transition period (see Resources below).

Cost

Unfortunately, the expense to certify a farm or a producer as "organic" is cost-prohibitive for many small farmers. The USDA allows producers who sell less than $5,000 of product annually to use the organic designation without paying a certification fee. These small producers must still keep daily detailed records and submit to inspections of their farms and their records upon demand.

Certified Naturally Grown

A self-regulating organization representing small producers who sell more than $5,000 per year but do not qualify as large corporate farms offers an alternative to the USDA organic certification process. Foods produced by these farmers is likewise held to strict production standards. Consumers may purchase foods with the initials CNG (Certified Naturally Grown) and rest assured that the producer is following strict organic farming practices (see Resources below).

Methods

Seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and soil enhancers for both Certified Organic and CNG food products must be natural. Records of organic seed purchases and receipts for organic alternatives to chemical and synthetic growing products are required of both groups. Crop rotation is encouraged to ensure higher production levels, and the soil is tested annually for chemical residue.

Misrepresentation

Unfortunately, consumers may reach for a food product with the word "Natural" on its label thinking it was not produced with the help of chemicals, when, in fact, it was. For this reason, consumers should shop carefully and choose only products with the term "Certified Organic" or "CNG" on the label if they want a food product free from chemicals.

Tags: food product, Certified Organic, Certified Naturally, Certified Naturally Grown, food products, free from, free from chemicals

Cooking Dried Pinto Beans

Pinto beans start out a speckled tan and turn pink as they cook.

Pinto beans are an excellent food choice for several reasons. They are inexpensive. They are a source of fiber, which is believed to help lower cholesterol. They help control blood sugar levels, a benefit especially important to diabetics. They contain molybdenum, folate, manganese, the B vitamin B vitamins-thiamin, riboflavin and niacin, phosophorus, magnesium, iron, potassium and copper. Mixed with whole grains such as brown rice, pinto beans are a source of high-quality, non-animal protein and are low in calories. One cup of dried pinto beans is only about 235 calories. Buying dried pinto beans and cooking them yourself is an alternative to using canned beans, which usually contain preservatives, such as sulfites. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1. Purchase pinto beans in prepackaged containers or from the bulk section of a natural food store. If you buy beans from bulk bins, make sure the bins are covered. Store the dried beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place until you are ready to use them.

2. Spread out a cup of dried pinto beans on a plate or countertop. Go through them with your fingers to check for small pebbles, other foreign matter and damaged beans. Put the beans in a strainer and run cool water over them to finish the cleaning process.

3. Presoak the pinto beans. Place 1 cup of beans in a bowl with 2 to 3 cups of water. Set the bowl in the refrigerator for 8 hours. A quicker way to presoak the beans is to put 1 cup of beans in a saucepan with 2 to 3 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil and boil the pinto beans for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove, cover it and allow the beans to stand for 2 hours. Remove the beans, drain them and rinse them again with clean water.

4. Place the pinto beans in a saucepan and add 3 cups of water or broth for each cup of dried pinto beans. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the beans for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until they are tender. You can tell that they are fully cooked if you easily crush them with the back of a fork. Do not add salt or any acid to the pinto beans while they are cooking to avoid hardening the skin of the beans and preventing them from cooking through.

5. Use the cooked pinto beans in chili, mixed with hamburger, combined with brown rice or another grain such as bulgur, refried beans, tostados, salads and soups. Some ingredients that work particularly well with pinto beans are onions, oregano, cheese, chiles, cilantro, garlic, olives, savory and all vegetables.

Tags: pinto beans, dried pinto, cups water, beans beans, beans saucepan, brown rice

Vinegar & Olive Oil Health Benefits

As a fruit, olives are full of healthful properties.

Vinegar and olive oil have become increasingly popular over the years because of their health benefits. In 2004, Americans spent $450 million on olive oil alone. Gaining popularity partly because of the Mediterranean diet trend, which focuses on fruits, vegetables and healthy fats, both vinegar and olive oil have secured a spot on Americans' plates.

Weight Loss

Using vinegar as a salad dressing can help drop pounds.

While there is little research summarizing the health benefits of vinegar, a decrease in caloric intake can come as a result of using it instead of other high calorie condiments like mayonnaise and oil in salad dressings.

Calories in vinegar range per tablespoon, depending on the type. Most vinegars are virtually calorie free and aged balsamic vinegars can have up to 30 calories per tablespoon. Vinegar has a very strong flavor, so not much is needed to flavor up a dish anyway. Try mixing vinegar with Dijon mustard for an oil-less low calorie salad dressing to save up to 100 calories per tablespoon.

Anti-Inflammatory Agent

High amounts of the polyphenol oleocanthal is present in extra virgin olive oil.

Research done in 2009 by the journal of Chemical Senses suggests that a polyphenolic compound in extra virgin olive oil called oleocanthal has shown to contain anti-inflammatory properties. The inflammatory process is responsible for immune responses like asthma, blood clots, and even promotes growth and division of cancer cells. The type of olive oil with the greatest amount of oleocanthal is called "extra virgin." Extra virgin describes the oil's low acidity level and is a reflection of top quality care and processing and higher levels of polyphenols compared to "virgin" or "pure" olive oil. A little extra virgin olive oil everyday may help control asthma symptoms and decrease cancer risk.

Heart Healthy

Keep your heart in good shape by consuming two tablespoons of olive oil daily.

Along with its anti-inflammatory properties, olive oil contains high amounts of poly and monounsaturated fats and very little saturated fat. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration announced that "eating about two tablespoons of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat" (FDA News Release, 2004). As long as calories are not increased, consuming olive oil every day can protect your heart and blood vessels. Finish pasta with olive oil to improve your heart's health.

Lowers Cholesterol

The unsaturated fats in olive oil help lower LDL cholesterol.

Cholesterol is found in all animal products, like meat, cheese, eggs and butter. These products also tend to have high amounts of saturated fat. Cholesterol and saturated fat work to increase LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) and total cholesterol. Olive oil contains very low amounts of saturated fat and high amounts of monounsaturated fat, which works to lower LDL and even increases HDL ("good" cholesterol). Substitute butter with olive oil for a cholesterol-lowering meal.

Tags: extra virgin olive, high amounts, virgin olive, your heart, amounts saturated, anti-inflammatory properties, calories tablespoon

Activities In New York For Kids

New York, a city with abundant activities

New York abounds in activities not only for adults but for children as well. Kids can enjoy numerous outdoor pursuits and visit many educational attractions that spark their interest in the arts, science and nature. No matter what time of the year, New York has something to offer active and curious children to keep them busy and entertained.

Outdoor Recreation

New York has an endless list of outdoor recreational opportunities. Whether families choose mountains, lakes or beaches, New York's state and national parks are filled with outdoor activities for the entire family. Kids can swim in the children's wading pool, enjoy a picnic or take a walk on trails in Saratoga Spa State Park. In 16,212-acre Finger Lakes National Forest, children can walk on trails, camp, go fishing, horseback ride and view wildlife. Children will also enjoy boating, rafting and tubing in Lake George.

Saratoga Spa State Park

19 Roosevelt Drive

Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

518-584-2535

saratogaspastatepark.org

Finger Lakes National Forests Headquatrers

5218 State Route 414

Hector, NY 14841

607-546-4470

fs.fed.us/r9/forests/greenmountain/htm/fingerlakes/f_home.htm

Lake George

lakegeorge.com

Amusement Parks

Families can spend a day at the Adventure Racing Family Fun Center in Queensbury and play in the game room, challenge friends to a game of laser tag or paintball, go rock climbing, and ride indoor bumper cars and go-karts. Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course in Bolton Landing offers tree-top adventures with six courses, over 100 obstacles, zip lines, rope bridges, swings, slides, nets and ladders. In Farmingdale, kids can go on more than 30 rides in Adventureland. From April through October, Amparo Family Fun Center in Liberty lets kids enjoy six paintball fields, a paintball target range, an inflatable bounce house, a mini-golf course, a T-ball practice range, arts, crafts and birthday parties.

Adventure Racing Family Fun Center

1079 Route 9

Queensbury, NY 12804

518-798-7860

gocartslakegeorge.com

Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course

35 Westwood Forest Lane

Bolton Landing, NY 12814

518-494-7200

adirondackextreme.com

Adventureland

2245 Broadhollow Road Route 110

Farmingdale, NY 11735

631-694-6868

adventureland.us

Amparo Family Fun Center

2807 Route 52 W.

Liberty, NY 12754

845-292-2386

myspace.com/amaprofuncenter

Animals

Animal lovers can visit Adirondack Animal Land in Broadalbin to see more than 500 animals and take a safari ride. Guests view exotic animals at The Animal Farm Petting Zoo in Manorville where children can also bottle-feed baby farm animals, go on pony and train rides and enjoy shows. At the American Museum of Natural History in New York, children can learn through exhibits in the Dinosaur Hall, Hall of Biodiversity, Hall of Planet Earth, Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium.

Adirondack Animal Land

3554 State Hwy. Route 30

Broadalbin, NY 12025

518-883-5748

adirondackanimalland.com

The Animal Farm Petting Zoo

296 Wading River Road

LIE Exit 69

Manorville, NY 11949

631-878-1785

afpz.org

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park W. at 79th Street

New York, NY 10024

212-769-5100

amnh.org

Museums

The Brooklyn Children's Museum has a play area for toddlers and educational exhibits that teach children about world cultures, history and science and nature. See live animals and a collection of 30,000 historical artifacts. Children's Museum of the Arts displays children's artwork and has a performing arts venue. The museum also offers programs that introduce children to art-making tools and workshops for creating art. Children will also enjoy interactive exhibits and virtual, multisensory technology and view restored aircraft and submarines at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

145 Brooklyn Ave.

Brooklyn, NY 11213

718-735-4400‎

brooklynkids.org

Children's Museum of the Arts

182 Lafayette Street

New York, NY 10013

212-941-9198

cmany.org

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Pier 86, W. 46th Street and Twelfth Ave.

New York, NY 10036

intrepidmuseum.org

Tags: Children Museum, Family Center, Adirondack Animal, Adirondack Animal Land, Adirondack Extreme, Adirondack Extreme Adventure

Eat Healthy With Beans And Nuts

Beans and nuts are an excellent, inexpensive source of protein and fiber.You can buy both canned or fresh. They are an especially important addition to a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Instructions

Eating Healthy with Beans and Nuts

1. Beans could almost be called a superfood. They are loaded with healthy nutrients like folate, magnesium, alpha-linolenic acid, calcium, potassium and vitamin B6. They're rich in protein (one cup of beans provides as much as 16 grams of protein) and are a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber.

2. Choose between black beans, pinto beans, aduko beans, garbanzo beans and many others. Add them to chillis, casseroles, dips and salads to name a few.

3. Try and eat raw nuts rather than roasted, salted or honey roasted. Nuts that are roasted and salted or honey roasted have added oils, fats and sugars. Even better, try and eat organic raw nuts as they are not treated with pesticides or herbicides.

4. In terms of nutritional value, almonds and walnuts rank at the top. Almonds have nearly 25 percent of your needed daily value of magnesium, they are rich in potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium and calcium. Walnuts are rich in healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids and they contain the antioxidant compound ellagic acid, which is known to fight cancer and support the immune system.

5. Other delicious nuts include pecans, Brazil nuts and cashews.

Tags: Beans Nuts, honey roasted, roasted salted, roasted salted honey, salted honey, salted honey roasted

Change A Gas Supplier

It's easy to shop around for a supplier of LP gas for your home.

There are several reasons you might wish to switch from one supplier of liquid propane gas, often called LP gas, to another. As when dealing with any retail merchant, you should consider price, service, reliability, reputation and other factors when choosing who will gets your business. If you own the tank, just ask the new supplier to deliver the gas. Often, gas dealers lend or lease tanks to homeowners so you can't just call an alternate dealer. If you don't own the LP tank outside your home, your new dealer won't put his gas into the old provider's tank. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1. Contact the dealer with whom you want to start using to find out how long it will take to install one of their tanks or one you have purchased.

2. Monitor the gauge on the LP tank outside your home to see when the contents drop below 15 percent. You might as well use the gas you've already paid for before switching dealers.

3. Contact your present dealer once the gas level gets to 15 percent so you can schedule the company to remove its tank from your property before it drops below 10 percent.

4. Call the new dealer once the appointment is set to confirm their arrival to install the tank so you aren't out of fuel for a significant length of time.

Tags: your home, below percent, dealer once, outside your, outside your home

Sell Precooked Food From Your Business

Offering precooked food is a business strategy employed by some restaurants.

Pre-cooked foods help chefs deliver food faster to hungry restaurant patrons. In the book "Good Food Tastes Good," Carol Hart explains that Tyson sells pre-cooked chicken wings to restaurants all over the country and gives the restaurants permission to give them titles like "Small Town Restaurant's Famous Wings." The truth is that more often than not those wings and the sauces are precooked by the manufacturer. Working mothers save time with precooked meals. When selling precooked foods, sell the convenience first, then the taste second.

Instructions

Menu and Packaging

1. Make a list of the foods that you are best at cooking and you think will have the highest chance of success in the market. Organize a taste test. Ask grocery store managers what are the top selling precooked selections in their stores. Interview chefs from various restaurants to see which precooked foods they purchase the most.

2. Contact your local health department and get the specifications for refrigerating, heating and storing foods to sell to the public. Buy cooling and heating units. Schedule a health inspector visit to approve your cooking and preparation area for food sales to the public.

3. Develop a distinct brand name for your food line that is separate from your business. If you want to keep your business name, develop a catchy brand slogan. Test several slogans until multiple people agree that it is the one that you should go with.

4. Hire a graphic designer and decide on packaging options. Use colors from the company's brand image color palette for all products. Think about the way that Swanson uses red packaging for regular products and white packaging for Lean Cuisine.

5. Construct a website for the new line of food products. Hire a professional photographer familiar with photographing food so that the food looks appetizing to the public.

Selling to Businesses

6. Build a mailing list of all the grocery stores and restaurants in the state. Create a brochure of your new food product line. Add plenty of pictures of your appetizing new entrees and a few short statements about why people will love eating and buying your precooked dishes.

7. Send the brochure to the buying department of all the major grocery stores in the state or country and to the owners of independent grocers. Follow up with a phone call. Ask for a chance to come to the store and bring samples for the executives to taste.

8. Show up on time to the meeting. Bring along plenty of samples and the sales figures for similar food items sold in the state and elsewhere. Close the meeting by asking the grocer when would they like to place its first order.

9. Schedule a separate presentation for chefs. Send your brochure and an invitation letter. Allow the chefs to taste your foods. Pass out ordering forms and encourage them to place their first order before they leave.

Selling to Consumers

10. Offer samples in local grocery stores or in your own store. Hire an employee with an attractive personality to be in charge of inviting people over to taste a sample.

11. Send out a press release to news representatives in the state. Promote the fact that a local company has broken into the precooked food business. Write about how your precooked meals will save time for working families who are too tired to cook when they get home.

12. Offer a promotion for the first few months that your products are carried in the grocery stores. You can offer a "buy one, get one free" promotion, a percentage-off discount or any number of purchase incentives. Print a coupon in the Sunday paper. Contact the newspapers' advertising sales departments and discuss your options.

Tags: grocery stores, first order, food business, foods sell, precooked food business, precooked foods

What Is Millet Spray

Millet spray contains the mature, dried seed head of foxtail or finger millet. It is sold almost universally in pet stores as a treat for pet birds, and is the most popular such treat. Seed heads of milo are also sometimes sold as "jumbo millet spray," although they bear only a superficial resemblance to genuine millet spray.

Features

Millet spray ranges from approximately 6 to 18 inches in length, depending on the variety, and around 1 inch in diameter. It consists of a long, thin stalk from which small "tufts" of tan seeds extend. Each tuft has between 25 and 50 millet seeds, and a full millet spray, which may contain thousands of seeds, can be clipped to a bird's cage or cut into smaller portions to facilitate training.

Types

Many varieties of millet spray are sold, but most vary only in size and color. Jumbo millet spray is sold for larger parrots, although they show no preference for this form. Some millet spray is coated in a colored mixture of minerals to encourage birds to consume more calcium. This technique is unlikely to be effective, because pet birds hull their seeds, and the mixture of minerals does not penetrate the seed hulls.

Benefits

Nearly all pet birds capable of eating seeds relish millet spray. This is especially true of parrots, which tend to be destructive feeders. They enjoy not only eating the millet, but shredding the natural "packaging." Millet spray is particularly useful for behavioral and trick training. It is also very low in fat, which makes it a useful addition to the diet of pet birds that refuse to eat other foods. Many of the seeds included in commercial seed mixes contain excessive levels of fat, which can contribute to obesity and other health problems.

Considerations

Millet spray is often touted as a nutritious source of food for pet birds, but this is generally untrue. Millet contains extremely low levels of most nutrients that are of high value to pet birds, namely vitamin A and calcium. Although millet spray is perfectly acceptable as a treat, it should not be fed on demand to pet birds, especially parrots and other psittacines. Many birds will eat millet spray to the exclusion of other foods, which can rapidly lead to serious nutritional deficiencies.

Expert Insight

Millet spray has other uses as well. Many birds greatly reduce their food intake when they are ill, and offering millet spray can encourage them to eat. Millet spray, especially if soaked in warm water first, is an excellent weaning food for immature parrots. The appeal of the treat, as both food and toy, encourages young birds to learn to eat independently. Entire millet sprays can also be sprouted, which increases their nutritional value.

Tags: millet spray, millet spray, although they, Many birds, Millet spray

Lawn Treatment For Fleas & Fire Ants

Almost without fail, anyone with a lawn eventually faces an insect problem. Some insects do substantial damage to lawns. Meanwhile, many insects are pests that attack or infest humans and pets. Chief among the offenders are fleas and fire ants. Knowing treat your lawn for flea and ant problems plays a key role in how well you address the problem. Several options area available. Does this Spark an idea?

Understanding the Problem

Fire ants create mounds in your yard. Each mound has at least one queen, which lives up to 25 feet underground. Queens live about two years and produce approximately 1,000 eggs per day.

Fleas make their way to your lawn from infested animals, including the family pet. They sometimes attack humans and pets. The female flea lays eggs on the skin of the host animal. These eggs fall off when the host walks. This is how the eggs can become deposited on your lawn. Some flea eggs can remain dormant for months or years until they are activated by the vibration of a passing host.

According to the University of Florida Extension, flea larvae develop best in shaded, humid areas and will drown in a flooded environment. Therefore, rainfall is often enough to curb larval development outdoors. To maximize the impact of rainfall, remove loose debris and weeds from your lawn, and keep it mowed. The extension notes that spraying the yard with water is often enough to reduce flea populations, but it might not wipe them out.

Insecticides

A sure-fire way to rid your lawn of fire ants and fleas is to treat it with an insecticide. Insecticides can be purchased from gardening shops and home improvement stores. Insecticides come in pellets, sprays and, in the case of at least one variety, a fogger.

These solutions, though, must be used sparingly and with caution. The website American-Lawns.com suggests only using a pesticide when a known problem exists. Examine your lawn. If you don't find any fire ants or fleas, you don't need an insecticide. The University of Florida extension recommends limiting the use of insecticides to the areas where fire ants and fleas are known to be. "Spraying the entire yard is wasteful and irresponsible," the extension's website says.

Some pesticides contain chemicals that are harmful to humans, pets and wildlife. American-Lawns.com suggests reading the directions and labels on insecticide containers before using them. If you do not feel comfortable treating your lawn, you can hire a professional service to do the work. Insecticides, though, can be an expensive alternative, and hiring a pro only drives up the cost. As well, some insecticides only kill fire ants on contact.

The University of Florida Extension recommends that insecticides such those containing pyrethroids be used only during dry seasons. Focus the use of these insecticides in shaded areas where pets frequently roam or rest. You can apply it once every two to three weeks, the extension says.

Nematodes

Nematodes help eliminate fire ants and fleas from your yard. These tiny worms live in soil and feed on fire ants, fleas and other insects. You can buy them at some garden centers. Several websites also sell them.

Nematodes are advantageous because they are not harmful to humans, pets, wildlife, birds or soil. A handful of soil can contain thousands of nematodes, which actively search for insects and insect larvae by sensing slight increases in temperature or the release of methane gas.

Nematodes come in many varieties. More than 2,000 species exist, and different species work best against certain lawn pests. The basic nematode is known to attack fleas and flea larvae. The website DirtWorks.net recommends two species of nematodes for killing fire ants. Steinernema carpocapsae, the "sal" strain, and Heterorhabditis indica. DirtWorks sells a special mix of both of these species for fire ant problems. The site says the Heterorhabditis variety is especially helpful in warm climates, where fire ant problems pose a constant problem.

Other Treatments

Diatomaceous earth also works for fire ant and flea problems. You can buy it at garden shops and home improvement stores. The product features fossilized microscopic shells found in nature. Diatomaceous earth eliminates fleas, fire ants and other pests in your yard by damaging their exoskeletons, which kills them.

Tags: your lawn, ants fleas, fire ants, fire ants fleas, fire ants, humans pets

Grill Chicken Breasts Outdoors

Grilling a boneless, skinless chicken breast might sound like a simple task. In reality, it isn't very difficult. Unfortunately, though, if you fail to follow some basic guidelines your chicken breast is likely to turn out dry on the grill with very little flavor. You want your chicken breast to be nice and firm on the outside, but juicy and flavorful on the inside. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

Preparing the Chicken Breast for the Grill

1. Trim any extra fat from the chicken breast, and any attached rib meat if you wish to remove it.

2. Decide if you are going to use a marinade on your chicken breasts. If you are, it typically takes 2 to 4 hours for a marinade to flavor a boneless, skinless chicken breast nicely.

3. If you are not using a marinade, you should apply a rub to season the chicken breast. Chicken breasts work well with many different rubs. I highly recommend a rub that includes some sweetness and some spiciness. A jerk rub is great for chicken breasts. You might also want to use a mixture of oregano, paprika and pepper with just a touch of brown sugar for sweetness. After applying the rub, place the chicken breast in the refrigerator.

Grill the Chicken Breast

4. Remove the chicken breast from the refrigerator and start your gas grill or light your charcoal grill.

5. Give your grill or briquettes a good 15 minutes to warm up. Too often people make a mistake of putting the chicken breast on the grill before the coals or the grill are hot. If you are using a charcoal grill, spread the coals and place the grates above them to form the grilling surface.

6. Cook the chicken breast over direct heat. This means you should place them on the grilling surface directly above the coals in the grill. It should take about 5 to 7 minutes on the first side of the chicken breast depending on thickness.

7. Flip the chicken breast on the grill. Do not puncture the meat while flipping it. Use tongs to flip the chicken. If you puncture the chicken breast with a fork while flipping it, juices may escape while grilling, causing the chicken to dry out.

8. Apply a finishing or barbecue sauce to the side that is face up after 4 minutes on the grill for the second side. Do this so that the sauce does not burn. Many barbecue and finishing sauces have high sugar contents, which result in the sauce burning.

9. Wait 2 minutes. Flip the chicken breast and apply a coating of barbecue sauce or finishing sauce on the other side of the chicken breast. Let this cook an additional minute to start to caramelize, glazing the chicken breast. You can then remove the chicken breast from the grill.

10. Allow the chicken breasts to rest for 5 to 10 minutes on a serving platter covered in foil. Serve to your guests with any side dishes you prefer.

Tags: chicken breast, your chicken, barbecue sauce, boneless skinless, boneless skinless chicken, breast from, breast grill

The Best Foods For Gray Hair

Adding green leaf vegetables to your meals can contribue to youthful and healthy hair.

Incorporating more greens into your diet is good for overall health and can even contribute to preventing gray hair. Also adding seaweed, nettle, sesame seeds and other raw (uncooked, unprocessed and organic) foods can even reverse external effects causing damaged hair by improving your body's internal processes. Combined with scalp massage and natural shampoo, both men and women may find adding more raw greens worth the extra effort, especially since these healthy practices may help in more ways than one. Does this Spark an idea?

Why Hair Grays

Cells in your hair follicles called melanocytes create pigment, including melanin, which results in coloring. As you age, those hair follicles decrease production, producing reduced melanin and gray hair, which may be undesirable to you. Consuming overprocessed foods, saturated fats, proteins and too much sugar, and salt also can contribute to graying your hair, as does poor health, stress and bad habits such as smoking. Reducing toxic behaviors can contribute improved circulation, which also results in healthy hair. Knowing that what you eat and how you act can age you prematurely may be just the motivation you need to mend your ways.

Recommended Dietary Changes for Restoring Color to Your Hair

By adding more green vegetables to your diet, you can increase the amount of hydrochloric acid in your stomach. This aids in mineral absorption which contributes to healthy hair. Common vegetables that cause this effect include kale, swiss chard, fresh parsley, dandelion greens and other raw greens. Commonly available leafy greens can be used in salads, as wraps or stewed and steamed. It's easy to incorporate these vegetables into your diet with a little planning as you shop and prepare meals for yourself and your family.

Restoring color and luster to your hair can be as simple as improving your general dietary habits to eliminate empty calories. Think about trying some less conventional nutrients as well. Try adding wheatgrass, available as a juice or powder in health food stores, to your diet. Although claims of wheatgrass juice contributing to hair graying prevention have not been substantiated by the United States Food and Drug Administration, the chlorophyll molecule (present in all green leafy vegetables) is structurally similar to hemoglobin and is generally designated as beneficial for good health, while serious risks are not evident.

Complementary Recommended Lifestyle Changes

You can also use wheatgrass juice as a shampoo, since the nutrients seep into follicles and encourage new growth of pigment-producing cells that enable luscious locks of color. For added benefit when you have extra time, massage your scalp for a few minutes with coconut oil and lemon before you wash it. Use natural henna as directed.

Drink more water for increased hydration, eliminate smoking, get sufficient sleep and engage in vigorous exercise several times a week to naturally encourage healthy hair. The end result can be reversal or prevention of gray locks or at least healthier hair, which is certainly worth your investment of time and effort.

Tags: healthy hair, your diet, adding more, gray hair, hair follicles, hair which

Use All Bran Cereal For Breading

Bread white fish or chicken breasts with All Bran.

Traditionally, the breading of fish and chicken involved rolling the fillet or breast into a mixture of flour, breadcrumbs and wet ingredients. More recently, chefs and health-conscious consumers have been choosing to replace the flour in breading with substances of a higher nutritional value. All Bran cereal has become a choice for some due to its complementary texture and high fiber content. Breading with All Bran replaces the flour completely, and depending on the recipe, can eliminate the bread crumbs as well. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1. Measure the amount of All Bran cereal required for your recipe. To make four baked fish fillets you will require 1/2 cup of cereal and 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. To make four baked chicken breasts, you will require 1 cup of cereal.

2. Prepare the cereal to be used in your recipe. For the fish fillets, place the cereal in a plastic bag and crush it with a mallet, or by pressing a large spoon on the outside of the bag with the heel of your hand. For the chicken breasts, create fine crumbs by running the cereal through a food processor.

3. Combine the cereal with the spices outlined in your recipe. To continue with the fish, cream 4 teaspoons of butter and add 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest, parsley and chopped black olives, along with a pinch of black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Mix the bread crumbs and All Bran into the spice mixture. For the chicken, mix 1-2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley into the All Bran along with 1/4 teaspoon each of black pepper and garlic powder.

4. Bread or coat your fish or chicken and bake. Place the fish fillets in a greased baking dish and spread the All Bran mixture on top of each fillet. Cook for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the fish is cooked. Brush the chicken breasts with Dijon mustard and lay them in the All Bran mixture to coat. Place breasts on foil on a baking sheet and cook 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until chicken is cooked through.

Tags: chicken breasts, fish chicken, fish fillets, your recipe, along with

What Equipment Is Needed For Aging Beef At Home

How is it that the beef at the steakhouse always tastes better than the steak you have at home? The secret is that they age their beef, which dehydrates the meat gradually, concentrating the rich, beef flavor and tenderizing the meat. Most steakhouses age their beef for weeks, but you can enhance your next steak at home by aging a smaller piece of meat in only a few days with a few simple pieces of kitchen equipment. Dry-aging beef at home is a relatively short and simple process compared with commercial aging, but it has the same delicious effect. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Climate Control

In a commercial setting, the temperature and humidity are constantly monitored in entire rooms dedicated to the aging process. At home, smaller cuts of meat can be aged in the refrigerator, where the temperature and humidity can closely match that of the commercial aging rooms. A refrigerator thermometer should be used to measure both conditions. Ideally, the temperature should be between 34 degrees and 38 degrees, and the humidity should be between 50 percent and 60 percent.

Ventilation

Whole sides of beef are hung on hooks from the ceiling in commercial aging rooms. Home cooks dry-aging a smaller cut of beef, such as a rib roast, can use a sheet pan with a rack. The rack should fit neatly in the pan and be sturdy enough to ensure proper ventilation and drainage all around the meat. Paper towels should be placed over the top of the meat to help absorb moisture. Drain the sheet pan and replace the paper towels every day.

Time

Some commercial steakhouses age their beef for months, but home cooks should not age beef for more than three days, according to chef Alton Brown. Aging beef for longer than three days in a household refrigerator could result in the meat spoiling rather than aging properly. Fortunately, the smaller cuts of beef served at home can be aged in only a few days. Even aging beef overnight, using only the simple equipment mentioned above, can enhance the flavor and texture of the meat.

Misconceptions

It may seem strange to American cooks to leave meat exposed in the refrigerator with no plastic or even butcher paper. However, if care is taken to place the meat on the bottom shelf and in the back, and the refrigerator temperature is monitored closely, the risk will be minimized. As with all raw meat, practice basic sanitation before and after working with the aging beef. Once the meat begins to age, the surface will darken and shrivel slightly. The meat is not spoiling but dehydrating, so there is no need to be alarmed. Once the dark edges are trimmed, the meat will be rich red inside.

Considerations

When choosing equipment to age beef at home, make sure the pan is large enough to hold your cut of meat and small enough to fit in your refrigerator. Put a heavy pot on the rack before buying it to make sure it will not bend under the weight. The thermometer should be easy to read, accurate and tell you both the temperature and humidity at a glance, so the refrigerator door needs to be open for only a moment at a time. Monitor the temperature of the refrigerator closely, because it's essential to keep the temperature below 40 degrees to limit the risk of contamination.

Once your equipment is in place, buy the best beef you can afford from the most reputable butcher you can find.

Tags: commercial aging, temperature humidity, their beef, aging rooms, beef home, commercial aging rooms, make sure

Easy Macrobiotic Meals

The word "macrobiotic" comes from Greek roots and means "long life," referring to the belief that a macrobiotic diet has powerful disease-fighting properties. The macrobiotic diet we have become familiar with in the West is based mainly on the popular book of the same name by Michio and Aveline Kushi, first published in 1978.

What is a Macrobiotic Diet?

The macrobiotic diet avoids processed foods and foods that might disturb the delicate balance of the digestion. It emphasizes lots of whole grains and vegetables and few animal-based foods.

Macrobiotic meals are easy to prepare if you master the daily "building blocks" of your meals, and then add in the weekly food allowances and other optional ingredients.

Easy Macrobiotic Meals Every Day

Whole grains typically make up 50 to 60 percent of the macrobiotic diet and are consumed at each meal. You can eat brown rice, couscous, barley, millet, rye, corn, rolled oats, quinoa, buckwheat and other whole grains in a variety of ways.

Vegetables typically make up 25 to 30 percent. One-third can be eaten raw. The rest can be steamed, boiled, roasted or eaten in soups, another essential component of the macrobiotic diet.

Beans are 10 percent of the daily food intake. This includes cooked beans such as kidney or adzuki as well as bean products such as tofu and tempeh.

Weekly Options

Eat fish or seafood up to several times per week in small portions. It should be eaten with wasabi or ginger to help the body remain in balance. Avoid meat, poultry, eggs and dairy.

Eat raw seeds and nuts in moderation.

Apples, pears, peaches, berries and other locally grown fruits are allowed several times a week.

Desserts are permitted two to three times per week, at least a half an hour after the meal to allow for digestion. Fruit and dried fruit are allowed, as are natural sweeteners such as rice syrup and barley malt. Sugar, honey, molasses and chocolate are not permitted.

Other Ingredients for Your Easy Macrobiotic Meals

Drink only when thirsty, and mainly water. Drinks containing caffeine or alcohol or sugars should be avoided.

Cooking oil is typically unrefined vegetable oil. You can also use dark or light sesame oil for added flavor.

Seasonings include natural sea salt, tamari, shoyu, brown rice vinegar, wasabi, grated ginger root, fermented pickles, roasted sesame seeds and seaweed.

Easy Macrobiotic Meal Tips

Get an inexpensive electric rice cooker, so your rice comes out steamed perfectly every time.

Eat a lot of soup. It is a great way to incorporate all the main components of the macrobiotic diet into simple one-dish meals.

Use extra firm or firm tofu in main meals as a protein substitute, and silken tofu for "creamy" sauces and desserts.

Stir fry your food to save time.

Eat your fruit allowance as snacks and dessert.

Plan your meals ahead.

A macrobiotic diet can seem daunting at first, but once you are familiar with the guidelines, you can enjoy easy macrobiotic meals every day.

Tags: macrobiotic diet, Easy Macrobiotic, Easy Macrobiotic Meals, times week, brown rice

New Orleans Cooking Schools

The regional cuisines of New Orleans and Louisiana--Creole and Cajun cooking--are legendary staples of Southern cooking. Southern cooking is a popular sub-specialty in the culinary arts and cooking schools in New Orleans offer various cooking classes and culinary degrees taught by professional chefs.

New Orleans School of Cooking

New Orleans School of Cooking is in the French Quarter in a renovated molasses warehouse from the 1800s. In operation since 1980, the school's classes are taught by Creole/Cajun experts and local chefs. Coursework includes the basics as well as specialties of Louisiana cooking. Kevin Belton, Michael W. DeVidts, Anne Leonhard and Tom Nagelin bring their wide range of cooking fame, expertise and specialties to the school's students in a variety of classroom formats including open demonstration lunch classes, private demonstration classes and hands-on cooking classes. While not a full culinary degree program, the interactive and entertaining format of the instruction ensures students learn cook "Louisiana style."

New Orleans School of Cooking

524 Saint Louis Street

New Orleans, LA 70130

504-525-2665

neworleansschoolofcooking.com

The New Orleans Cooking Experience

The New Orleans Cooking Experience is located near the French Quarter and the New Orleans Museum of Fine Arts. The classes are in a renovated Creole plantation built in the 1790s, including landscaped gardens and lawns, courtyard and cottages. The school offers a variety of cooking class formats, including cooking vacations and series classes with personalized instruction. The school's chefs are Frank Brigsten, Chiqui Collier, Janice Macomber, Gerard Maras and Poppy Tooker, all professional chefs specializing in Louisiana cuisines.

The New Orleans Cooking Experience

2275 Bayou Road

New Orleans, LA 70119

504-945-9104

neworleanscookingexperience.com

Culinary Apprenticeship Program of Louisiana

The Culinary Apprenticeship Program of Louisiana is presented at Delgado Community College in the culinary arts and hospitality division. The college offers a culinary certificate, a pastry certificate and an associate of applied science degree in culinary arts with a catering option or an apprentice option. Students receive two years of general education and food preparation training with classes such as food preparation basics, food and safety sanitation, bakeshop fundamentals and food and beverage purchasing.

Culinary Apprenticeship Program of Louisiana

Delgado Community College

615 City Park Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70119

504-483-4208

dcc.edu

Sclafani Cooking School, Inc.

Sclafani Cooking School, Inc., 10 minutes from New Orleans, offers commercial cook/baker training and certification by an experienced chef. The coursework is four weeks of intensive professional chef skill training. Food supplies, paper goods, linens and hands-on practical kitchen experience are all covered in the training to benefit new chefs, career-changers and current chefs interested in refreshing or updating skills.

Sclafani Cooking School, Inc.

107 Gennaro Place

Metairie, LA 70001

504-833-7861

sclafanicookingschool.com

Tags: Orleans Cooking, Apprenticeship Program, Apprenticeship Program Louisiana, Cooking Experience, Cooking School

Nyc Restaurants For Private Parties

Decor and stylish furnishings add to the enjoyment of your event.

Eating out in New York City can be exciting, entertaining and quite enjoyable. Choosing a restaurant involves more than finding one with a good menu, however. The restaurant's size and atmosphere are just as important, especially when you wish to reserve space for a private party. Restaurants in New York City offer variety, from small with comfort food to large with fine cuisine. Consider the mood of your special occasion private party, and choose a restaurant with the decor and general atmosphere to ensure a memorable afternoon or evening. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Minetta Tavern

Minetta Tavern takes parties up to six to eight people for dinner during the week and weekends. Brunch offers more flexibility, with the restaurant accommodating a party of nine to 10 people. A separate room is not available, and large parties receive one large section of the restaurant. The menu offers French comfort food. The best known item is a black label burger made from aged beef. A dish with lentils also is available, as is a poultry dish. The decor is casual yet upscale. The restaurant has no dress code, but patrons tend to be on the dressy side. Pictures of the former owner decorate the walls, as do other old photographs. Reservations must be made 30 days in advance.

Minetta Tavern

113 Macdougal St.

New York, NY 10013

212-475-3850

minettatavernny.com

M. Wells

M. Wells is another restaurant with French food, and its influence is Quebec, the birthplace and original country of owner Hugue Dufour. Other offerings are Americana. This restaurant, which is actually a long railroad car, can accommodate parties of 10 to 20 people. Private parties are seated in a separate room furnished with two long farm tables. Besides the basic items of beef and poultry, the fare includes fried pickled pork tongue and salmon. The dress is casual yet upscale. Reservations must be made 30 days in advance.

M. Wells

21-17 49th Ave.

Long Island, NY11101

718-425-6917

mwellsdiner.com

Char No. 4

Char No. 4 has a large private room for private parties of up to 23 people. Generally, the restaurant serves either brunch or dinner for private parties. Brunch offers a choice of four entrees, three side dishes and standard beverages, such as orange juice, coffee and Bloody Mary. Dinner offers a choice of any five appetizers and four entrees or family-style meals. This restaurant accommodates children without charging extra fees. Char No. 4 offers American food with a Southern influence. It features several smoked items, such as bacon, pastrami, short ribs and chicken. It uses local ingredients when possible. Otherwise, the ingredients are shipped in fresh. Reservations must be made at least three to four weeks in advance.

Char No. 4

196 Smith St.

Carroll Gardens

Brooklyn, NY 11201

718-643-2106

charno4.com

Vandaag

Northern Europe inspires the cuisine of Vandaag. The basic items of meat, fish and pork are prepared with Scandanavian spices and flavors. For instance, the restaurant offers a pork chop with toasted barley, pear and mead. The menu also includes grilled quail with sweet and sour brussels sprouts and wild rice. Private party guests during the week may choose sandwiches for lunch or select from the full menu for dinner. The private parties are only during brunch on weekends. No separate room is available, but private parties can take place in one of the restaurant's alcoves. Vandaag can take reservations with as little as one week's advance notice. The establishment also is willing to take calls one day prior to an event but offers no guarantee of a reservation.

Vandaag

103 Second Ave.

New York, NY 10003

212-253-0470

vandaagnyc.com

Tags: Minetta Tavern, must made, private parties, Reservations must, Reservations must made

Housewife Job Description

A housewife makes her home a loving haven for her family.

Whether she calls herself a homemaker, a stay-at-home-mom or a Domestic Goddess, being a housewife is a full-time job. In fact, since she is at work 24 hours a day, it is the equivalent of three full-time jobs. Even without adding childcare to the mix, today's successful housewife is a highly-skilled professional with a mind-boggling job description. Her daily responsibilities range from chemistry to carpentry--and her paycheck is her family's well-being.

Housekeeper

Caring for her home is one of the most visible of a housewife's responsibilities. She needn't do all the work herself--she may have paid help, if she can afford it, and she may assign certain chores to her children, if any--but it is her job to see that her family's surroundings and possessions are clean, hygienic and in working condition. This includes, but is not limited to, cleaning floors and carpets, washing dishes, dusting and polishing furniture, scouring bathrooms, and clothing care. And yes: a housewife does windows.

Jill-of-All-Trades

A good housewife has mastered basic handyman skills. She can perform minor repairs on the household appliances, do essential carpentry such as installing curtain rods and hanging pictures, and carry out the routine maintenance of her home's plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems. She is also responsible for maintaining a file of service people who will fix problems that are beyond her capabilities and for overseeing their work.

Chef

A housewife is responsible for her family's meals. She must plan a menu of nutritious meals that will fit within her budget, shop for the groceries, prepare and serve the food, clean up afterward and keep the kitchen sanitary. She is expected to plan her meals around dietary restrictions, remember her family members' food preferences and allergies, and make special meals for holidays, parties and other festive occasions.

Decorator

In addition to keeping her home clean, a housewife keeps it attractive. She is most often the one who chooses the furniture, colors, textiles and ornaments that will adorn the family home, and if she has creative talent she may paint, wallpaper and sew things like curtains and throw pillows herself. She may update her home's décor several times a year, and she is responsible for gathering, displaying, dismantling and storing seasonal decorations.

Bookkeeper

Quite often a housewife oversees all the family finances in addition to the housekeeping money. She may budget the money brought in by the wage-earning partner, pay all the bills and set small sums aside to make larger purchases or build a savings account.

Diplomat

A housewife is often the public face of her family during the business day. She is expected to deal with phone calls and deliveries, to visit trades people and to run errands for her family. If she has children, it is the housewife who interacts most often with teachers and health professionals on their behalf. It's up to the housewife to keep relations cordial with the neighbors and to keep track of her family's social obligations.

Tags: most often, that will

Job Description For A Mom

A job description for mothers is unlike that of any other occupation. Mothers have a lot of responsibilities, and yet there's no accrediting institution, mandatory minimum educational level or other assessment to prove one's qualifications. If you're considering motherhood, or are unaware of exactly what the job entails, you might be in for a surprise.

Nature of Work

According to the Mom Salary Wizard at Salary.com, a mother must be a multi-talented individual and be able to act simultaneously in 21 different professional areas ranging from transportations and logistics, education, mechanical, technical, economics and fashion.

Moms are required to have diplomatic skills, negotiating matters of global importance, like sharing. Moms are also required to constantly research and adapt systems to meet the ever-changing nutritional, educational, psychological and spiritual needs of children, without sacrificing her commitments as a wife.

It's a 24-hour-a-day job, and there's often no training to prepare a woman for the tasks at hand. Often, a mother will need to use intuition and smooth-talking to ensure that her charges are well-adjusted and socialized.

Qualifications and Qualities Necessary

To qualify as a mother, for technical purposes, it's merely necessary to produce a child through adoption or physical reproduction. However, to be recognized by society as a good mother, moms must make an effort to raise children that look and act like the rest of respectable society, without breaking the child's spirit or causing irreparable psychological damage. To do this, moms are often required to have bold personal qualities such as spunk, spirit, inner strength and wisdom.

Wisdom and spunk allow moms to stand up for the needs of their children in the face of cultural norms that are counterintuitive to the natural needs of a child. For example, many moms decide to breastfeed their children, even though modern American culture isn't always supportive. Another example of moms with spunk and wisdom can occur in school, when children are under the leadership of adults who have never met them before. Having known the child their entire life, moms know when their child is being treated unfairly by a teacher and administrator and must be able to speak up, to preserve the child's reputation and faith in the world.

Personal organization is a plus, as each child carries a fair amount of paperwork to be dealt with. Mothers also must keep track of birth records, medical records, infant development records, school records and an ongoing record of accomplishments.

Duties to be Performed

Moms are expected to do a variety of tasks, such as ensuring that the entire course of antibiotics is finished, writing the child's last name on the tag of every piece of clothing, scanning every room in the house for choking hazards, attending prenatal appointments, sewing cow costumes with less than 24 hours' notice, sifting through Halloween candy for signs of tampering, get yelled at during random intervals for being unfair, pay obscene phone bills, wash strange things from children's hair and clothing, send a thousand thank-you cards, plan themed birthday parties, teach children important things like sort laundry or tell if a cantaloupe is ripe, explain the concept of "outside voices" to a 3 year old and finally coordinate after-school activities that grow exponentially more complicated when additional children or activities are added to the schedule.

Work Schedule and Comments

All work is to be performed between the hours of 12:00 a.m. on Sundays and 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays, which amounts to 168 hours a week. If mom chooses to sleep, use the restroom, go on vacation or take on outside employment, she is still on call. While on call, mother may be summoned to deal with fevers, disciplinary situations or sudden emergencies. Furthermore, a non-emergency situation can cause mom to be called when child care arrangements fail or kids simply need her.

Salary

In exchange for this work, moms are generally paid on a sliding scale. According to the Mom Salary Wizard, the value of a mom's work begins at $68,000 a year and increases, depending on how many children she has and how long she spends doing various tasks. Most mothers, however are paid in the short term with slobbery, toothless smiles. As time goes by, their pay is received in the form of laughter and fun times or by spontaneous help around the house. Some mothers are paid long after their children have moved out, in the form of grandchildren. With grandchildren come the pleasure of spending stress-free time with little people and knowing that your own children are in charge.

Tags: their children, According Salary, According Salary Wizard, required have, Salary Wizard

Homemade Ground Squirrel Repellent

Homemade Ground Squirrel Repellent

Ground squirrels make burrows in the ground, digging up plants and scattering dirt everywhere. There are many types of ground squirrels found in the United States, including the California ground squirrel, Belding's ground squirrel, the Franklin squirrel, and the Richardson squirrel. These squirrels can wreak havoc on a yard, so it is good to have many repellent options on hand. Does this Spark an idea?

Cayenne and Pepper Flakes

You might consider trying red pepper flakes or cayenne as a homemade squirrel repellent. You can coat plant bulbs with cayenne pepper, or simply scatter the cayenne in areas where plants are located. You may also consider making your own Tabasco spray by mixing one small bottle of Tabasco with one gallon of water and a tablespoon of liquid soap in a spray bottle. Shake the contents of the bottle and then proceed to spray your plants with the homemade repellent. You can also grind pepper flakes and scatter them into birdseed. This won't harm the birds, but will keep the squirrels away. Also try putting safflower seeds into the bird feeders and plant areas. Safflower seeds have a bitter taste that squirrels dislike.

Removing Items

You may have to get rid of or limit the squirrels' access to some items in your yard which are drawing the squirrels there. Squirrels are drawn to birdseed, pet food, berries, flower bulbs and water. Removing these items or zoning them off will make your yard less attractive to ground squirrels.

Bird feeders are notorious squirrel attractors, for both tree squirrels and ground squirrels (while they make their homes in burrows, ground squirrels are good climbers). The drastic solution is to keep bird feeders out of your yard. However, if you plan to have a bird feeder, place a baffle above and below the feeder, as birdseed often will fall from the feeder and attract the ground squirrels.

Other Repellents

Squirrels hate the smells of moth balls, dried blood and fox urine. Obviously the moth balls have a bitter odor and taste, smelling like cleaning fluid, which squirrels try to avoid. Dried blood clearly carries the scent of dead animal. And fox urine smells like skunk, an animal that squirrels stay away from. While it may not possible for you to find dried blood or fox urine easily, moth balls can be purchased at any hardware store and used - provided that they are in an enclosed space away from both humans and animals. Another method is to coat the perimeter of areas with a sticky substance such as honey. Squirrels, like most animals, don't want their fur to get sticky and will avoid these areas if they are well-coated with honey or another sticky substance.

Tags: ground squirrels, moth balls, your yard, away from, bird feeders

Senior Project Research Paper Ideas

The mainstreaming of tattoos can spark many ideas for research topics.

Senior research projects should be on something that inspires you or at the very least maintains an interest. An idea that grabs your interest for the time it takes to do the research and put the project together should lead to more fulfilling results \in terms of the end product and the grade you receive.

Tattoos and Body Piercing

Tattooing and body piercing have fully entered the mainstream and left the spectrum of rebellion behind. Ideas for tackling this topic as a senior project include studying the health risks associated with body art and piercing, whether minors should be required to get parental consent and even the fact that what were once fringe social outlets of expression have become very much a part of the mainstream.

Hate Crimes

A research project could focus on the topic of hate crimes. One angle would be to research how hate has become a primary focus of sentencing and punishment over the last few decades. Another would be to research whether intent such as expression of hatred should lift a crime like vandalism into a more serious degree of concern. Ask and answer the question, does hate make a crime worse?

Skateboarding

A research paper sure to gain the interest of some seniors is checking into whether banning skateboarding in public places is a violation of rights. Find out if similar recreational activities have been allowed in the same places where skateboarding has been prohibited, and why some activities are allowed and others aren't.

Energy Drinks

Energy drinks make almost supernatural promises of power to those who consume them. A senior research paper could check into the validity of the claims made by these drink manufacturers. Begin by researching exactly what claims of energy are made by these products, and then lead into whether those claims are fulfilled.

Teenage Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery has begun to filter down into the world of teenagers. Cosmetic surgery to make young girls look prettier has not been around long enough to determine long-term consequences, but a research paper could take the path of determining the full extent of the impact of advertising images on the decision of a teenage girl to undergo the knife to attain a level of idealized beauty.

Hip-Hop and Violence

Hip-hop music has gained a reputation for inspiring illegal and violent behavior among listeners, based on the violence deaths of many of its biggest stars. A research paper could seek to determine whether there is a link between listening to rap and engaging in violence. The paper could also seek to determine the average makeup of the listener of rap music and analyze other media influences that do not get the same bad rap.

Tags: paper could, research paper could, into whether, made these, research paper

Become A Fruit & Vegetable Trader

Start selling fruits and vegetables to make money.

Whether you grow your own fruits and vegetables or not, you can become a produce trader. It is a profession that will supply your home with plenty of inexpensive fruits and vegetables, as well as create additional income. A lot of small farmers markets started popping up when the U.S. went into a recession in 2008. More people started growing their own fruits and vegetables because they couldn't afford to buy them. Many people are selling their produce to make up for lower incomes, so you may have a lot of competition.

Instructions

1. Check with your local tax office to see what types of licenses you need to sell fruits and vegetables at local markets. Each county has different license requirements. You may need a business food-handling license and a sales tax license.

2. Make business cards and fliers to post them on bulletin boards around town. Most people like to be able to contact the person they buy their produce from, and caterers or restaurant owners will sometimes buy directly from you at your home or by the phone. If you get several caterers or restaurants to supply, you will have a constant income. Give out fliers to advertise the things you sell, and give coupons to encourage your customers to come back.

3. Buy or grow your vegetables. You can buy your produce in bulk from local farmers or from the farmers market, and most farmers will sell in bulk to small businesses. They make more money selling to individuals than they do selling to grocery stores. Separate the vegetables into smaller size containers. Resell the containers at a higher price. You will still be able to sell the vegetables more cheaply than a grocery store, and make money for yourself. If you grow your own vegetables, you will make more money, and will be able to tell the customer exactly how things have been grown. Organically grown vegetables sell for a much higher price than vegetables that have had chemical fertilizers and insecticides. People who go to farmers markets often want freshly grown organic produce.

4. Get booth space at a farmers market or flea market. Check with the local farmers cooperatives to see if there are any local farmers markets that you can go to. There are a lot of small markets that have popped up over the last few years, and many of them do not charge a booth space. If you can find a good one, you will develop a group of loyal customers that will look for you each week. If you can't find any inexpensive farmers markets, set up a booth at a flea market. You may get a larger crowd of people, and higher sales.

5. Keep your booth interesting. Don't just shove some vegetables on the table and expect them to sell themselves. Put a nice cloth on the table. Use some decorative baskets or bins. Add some cute items that will make people to take notice. Many people are more likely to stop at your booth if it catches their attention.

6. Talk to your customers. The longer you keep a customer talking, the more likely they are to buy something. Remember, people buy more from businesses where they feel welcome. Be friendly, and your customers will like you more.

Tags: fruits vegetables, farmers markets, grow your, local farmers, that will

Careers & Jobs In Agriculture

Agriculture employs people both on and off the farm.

As of early 2011, agricultural commodity prices were rising, planting projections increasing and rural incomes improving. The times seem favorable for a career in agriculture. There are many phases of food production from farm to plate, and many roles to play in the process. The business of agriculture employs people of all temperaments and talents. Finding the right niche comes from surveying the available vocations.

Production

At the very heart of agriculture is the farmer. He prepares soil, plants, cultivates and harvests crops for sale. Working his own land or that leased from another, the farmer may or may not employ farmhands to assist in operations. Often the farmer's family staffs the farm, operating a tractor and various soil-intensive implements. Farmers may also raise livestock, requiring different skill sets, such as rudimentary veterinary care, hygiene maintenance, waste disposal or recycling, feeding and housing. Whether crops or livestock -- in many cases, both -- the farmer has the options of contracting with food companies, selling his harvest independently for the best offer or marketing through a cooperative. An alternate career for those with a farmer's aptitudes is that of a farm manager. Corporately owned farms will hire a manager for a salary to supervise the operation, but this employee need not be engaged in the business of bringing the harvest to market since the farm owner is usually a food company.

Research

Agricultural history tells the story of how people, over time, have harvested greater yields on ever-shrinking parcels of land. This increased production per acre is the result of discovery and analysis. Agronomists, for example, examine the dynamics of the soil and crop relationship, and how the ecology affects plant growth. They may work for universities, government agencies or seed companies. On the other hand, animal physiologists study the anatomy and function of livestock breeds in order to determine optimal feed composition and reproduction cycles. Like agronomists, animal physiologists are employed in educational and government settings. They can also find work with pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Communication

Farmers have a need to keep up on the latest developments in agriculture. Advances in research, new government regulations and commodity price fluctuations are all of interest to growers and rural communities. Agricultural journalists specialize in writing or broadcasting on issues relevant to the production of food and fiber. Jobs in this field can be found at print publications, television and radio stations, commodity organizations and related industries such as farm machinery. Similarly, agricultural photographers take still shots of crops, livestock, farms and rural community functions. These photographs often accompany articles in newspapers and magazines, or are posted online. Some agricultural photographers produce portraits suitable for framing and sale. Otherwise their career options reflect those of journalists.

Education

Vocational agricultural education encompasses scientific, business and practical knowledge. People engaged in this profession serve as gateways to agricultural careers for inquiring students. Employed at vocational-technical high schools and community colleges, these teachers often partner with state Future Farmers of America chapters when designing their curricula. Education does not end with a diploma, however. Land-grant universities in every state oversee extension services that provide continuing education to farmers, related businesses and rural residents. Often referred to as "county agents," the specialists who staff these agencies are trained in a variety of agricultural sub-specialties, sometimes doubling as faculty at their sponsoring universities. They provide advice and direction on all types of issues, such as crop rotation, manure storage, sustainable agriculture and wildlife management.

Tags: agricultural photographers, animal physiologists, crops livestock, employs people

Usda Regulations For Slaughter Houses

USDA regulates the standards for slaughter houses and require humane treatment of animals during the pre-slaughter and slaughter process

The United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) and World Organization for Animal Health regulates most slaughterhouses in the United States. Meats raised for human consumption that are regulated by the USDA are cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, horses, pigs, ratites (flightless birds) and poultry. Additionally, the USDA regulates personnel employed by slaughterhouses, as well as pre-slaughter methods used in the production of meat for human consumption.

Personel Employed by Slaughterhouses

The USDA and World Organization for Animal Health requires that a veterinarian be on site at all times and that personnel handling, herding, stunning, moving, transporting, or otherwise working with live animals be patient, considerate, competent, and familiar with USDA guidelines. Additionally, all handlers must be experienced and knowledgeable with the animals behavior patterns.

Pre-Slaughter Regulations

Pre-slaughter regulations are mainly concerned with transporting, herding, and gating animals to be slaughtered. Moreover, each animal is inspected for illness, disease, injury, and welfare before they are taken into the slaughtering facility. Any animal that is suspect of disease or illness is killed immediately.

Slaughter Regulations

Slaughter regulations take into consideration the type of animal and its behavior. For example, equipment used for chickens differ from equipment used for cattle; however, all equipment and procedures used at the time of slaughter are designed to kill without unnecessary harm or distress to the animal. Furthermore, animals in groups or herds are not restrained and the positioning of individual animals must be upright.

Gates, Pens, and Walkways

USDA and the World Organization for Animal Health regulates that gates, pens and walkways are free from distractions that can cause animals to balk, stop, or turn around while they are being herded. For example, lights, reflections or the sound of equipment must not cause or result in the animal fleeing or becoming distressed. Also, the use of restraints and equipment such as yokes and herding chutes must not cause the animal to struggle or vocalize due to excessive force or pressure.

Stunning Procedure Regulations

Stunning procedures are used to only kill animals in slaughterhouses, but they are regulated. The stunning regulations by the USDA provide by the state that stunning equipment span the brain, be cleaned regularly, and have the required level of electrical current to stun the animal within one second. Stunning equipment is strictly prohibited in the moving, guiding, or herding of live animals. Dr. Temple Grandin's website discusses in depth handling and stunning practices used to regulate USDA guidelines.

Considerations

The regulations set for the slaughter of animals for non-human consumption may differ from those set by the USDA for animals intended for human consumption.

Tags: Animal Health, human consumption, Organization Animal, Organization Animal Health, USDA World

Home Remedies For Ant Killers

Home remedies for killing ants are an effective and frugal alternative to using a pest control company. A number of suggestions are provided as solutions. Does this Spark an idea?

History

Although there is no definitive date, the need for pest control probably dates back to the origins of agriculture, around 8000 B.C. Ants are one of the most widespread and irritating of these pests. Home remedies have been around for a long time to keep them and other pests away. For example, crushed mint leaves have been used for thousands of years, long before the advent of modern-day chemical products.

Identification

According to the Ant Institute, there are 11 types of ants most commonly found in the United States. Three of them are below.

Carpenter ants range in size from ¼ inch to ¾ inch. They build their nests in decayed wood. However, once established, they do attack healthy wood. If left unchecked for extended periods of time, they could create structural damage to a home. These ants can be difficult to get rid of, so if you have a large infestation, consider employing the services of a pest control company.

The fire ant comes in several colors: red, brown and black. Their nests are identifiable by the mounds that are found in sand or dirt. They are very territorial and will attack if disturbed.

The pharaoh ant, also known as the sugar ant, is a yellow color. They are very small, reaching no longer than 1/12 of an inch in length. They are found all over the United States but are most prevalent in the South.

Types

It's estimated that there could be as many as thousands of possible remedies for treating ants. Of course, not all are effective. Try the following popular solutions.

Kill the queen. Mix the following recipe, and make it available for the ants. They will take it back to the nest to feed the queen. A few hours after eating the concoction, she will die. But be careful! Keep this mixture away from children and animals because it will make them sick if swallowed.

3 1/2 oz. of jam

1 1/2 tbsp. of wet, canned cat food

1 tbsp. of boric acid

Create your own bug spray by soaking a cigarette in 1 qt. of water overnight. Nicotine, a poison, will suffuse the water. Place the mix in a spray bottle and use it to kill the pests.

Get rid of fire ants by pouring 2 to 3 gallons of hot water into the mound. Do this on a warm day between the hours of noon and 2 p.m. That's around the time the queen will be most active and you're more likely to kill her. Repeat at least two more times to ensure the water has reached throughout the colony.

Place instant grits in the area where there is ant activity. The ants will take the grits back to the nest to feed the others. Their stomachs will swell and burst, killing them.

Prevention/Solution

If you want to keep ants away from your property, try the following:

Put out cucumber and citrus peels where ants are active.

Put down a line of cayenne pepper, baby powder or coffee grounds. Ants won't cross over the line.

Keep tree limbs or bushes from touching the house.

Considerations

The home remedies you employ may not work immediately and could very well require several treatments. Only you can determine how long is too long when dealing with your ant problem. Should you find you can no longer be patient, a professional service is always an option.

Tags: pest control, away from, back nest, back nest feed, control company, have been, Home remedies

Food Chemistry Jobs

Food Chemistry Jobs

Food chemists or food scientists with a bachelor's degree typically work in food production, but those with a master's degree or a doctorate often work in research positions. A 2003 survey by the Institute of Food Technologists found that a food scientist with a bachelor's degree made an average salary of $65,000, while one with a master's earned $73,500 and those with Ph.D.s earned $85,000. Food scientists with MBAs had salaries averaging $95,000.

Government Jobs

Food chemists work for government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. Because of heightened interest in healthful diets, preventing disease through diet, and food safety, the demand for food scientists is expected to remain strong.

Food chemists working for the government may inspect food production facilities for safety, or work in research analyzing the effects of foods on certain medical conditions or analyzing food ingredients for their nutritional value.

Academic/Research Laboratories

Food chemists may also find employment in colleges and universities as researchers and professors. Among working for universities, food chemists with a bachelor's degree make an average annual salary of $43,700, with a master's degree $44,250 and with a Ph.D. $75,500, according to the Institute of Food Technologists survey.

Those working for research laboratories make between $64,000 and $92,500, according to the survey. Researchers, whether for academic or private labs, work to discover better or safer food production techniques or study the impact of nutrients on health. They may develop new ideas on better ways to preserve or process foods, or improve the packaging or transportation of foods.

Food Manufacturing

Other food chemists work for food industry companies, such as manufacturers. These scientists develop ways to improve the company's product by testing for health benefits, safety processes, better preservatives or more cost-efficient and safe packaging methods. Most food scientists working in this area made between $60,000 and $90,000 a year, according to the Institute of Food Technologists survey.

While food chemists work predominantly with chemical processes, most have strong science backgrounds in a related field such as biology or pharmaceuticals. Often food chemists work with a team of scientists with different areas of focus on the same topic, such as how a certain preservative reacts with a substance in a certain food.

Tags: chemists work, bachelor degree, food chemists, food production, food scientists, Food Technologists, Institute Food