With food costs going through the roof this year, it definitely effects the bottom line of most households.  I know that a typical run to the grocery store for my family on four runs us over $200 (and I have two little ones).  I can only imagine how much it costs those who have larger families or teenagers.  I am already seeing articles in our local papers about how the food pantries are having such a high demand, and it is not even the holidays yet.

One of the many ways people are making ends meet for their households is doing some debt consolidation. Now, debt consolidation isn’t going to erase your debts. However, it does allow you to get a lower interest rate on the debt you are carrying. By consolidating everything at a lower interest rate, you will have a lower monthly payment. You can do this by using a low interest credit card, getting a loan, or using your home equity (which just became much harder in this recession).  You also are able to make one payment a month instead five or ten to other places (just think how much you’ll save on stamps).  Debt consolidation also doesn’t hurt your credit score like bankruptcy can and does.  Actually, if you close the accounts that you consolidate together, it most likely will help your score.

Now, I highly recommend for items like grocery shopping not to charge them. You really don’t want to be paying interest on high priced groceries if you can help it.  Stop charging on the cards and make them for emergency use only until you get them paid off.  If you can, make more than the minimum payment.  You need to do what you have to do for your situation.  However, in these tough times, people are choosing between heat and food which is a choice that no one should have to make.  Hopefully, people can look at their situation and figure out how to make ends meet to get both.

In a hurry and need a quick and easy recipe?  This easy to make slow cooker recipe will be right up your alley.  I only use things that you will have around your house.  You just throw everything in, turn the slow cooker on, and it will be ready for dinner that night.  (This works extremely well when your significant other doesn’t come home at the same time every night, and you and the kids need to eat.  It is still hot when they come home.)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
4 potatoes cubed
1 packet of Onion soup mix

Place chicken breasts and cubed potatoes in slow cooker. Pour the can of cream of mushroom soup over the top. Then sprinkle the onion soup mix over the top. Cover and set to low for 6 - 8 hours.

My husband loves spicy. The kids and I do not. It makes cooking at my house extremely interesting since I would like everybody to be happy.  Morton’s Seasoning Salt and Cajun Seasoning was a huge hit in my house.  We recently tried this seasoning on some wonderful thin sliced porterhouse steaks from our local grocery store.  The seasoning salt gave my steak an awesome flavor. I am not one for seasoning most things, so I was surprised how the seasoning brought out the flavor of my already awesome steak.  I shared my steak with the kids, and they also liked it.  My husband tried the Cajun Seasoning on his steak.  He liked the kick that his steak got from it.  When I make steaks, I hadn’t been seasoning them at all.  However, now that I have been turned onto the delicious flavors of Morton’s Seasonings, I am now going to be seasoning everything I grill out on my Foreman Grill (remember, I live in Chicago, and it is a tad cold to grill outside).  If you would like to try out these seasonings on your own, they can be bought at any one of the 80 Morton’s Steakhouse locations and their website.  I have to decide what to make for dinner tonight, and I think steak sounds good, don’t you?

Now, you know I like to pass along tips (like my tip of the day feature I do daily).  If any of you are food bloggers (and I know several of you are), you definitely need to check out Dragon Naturally Speaking (and the Mac version is called Dictate.  Since I have a PC, I own Dragon Naturally Speaking).  I know you are asking yourself why?  Well, this software has literally made writing posts for this blog ten times easier!

How many times have you found yourself writing yourself notes on recipes that you are making?  I know I do this all the time — especially when I am modifying a recipe for my family.  I also find myself writing notes that I want to include on my posts on the recipe itself.  Wouldn’t life be easier if you could dictate this recipe while you were cooking it?  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to add your notes when you were making the recipe instead of having to remember them?  I can’t tell you how much time I have saved using this software. Want to see how easy this is to use?

Now, if he can use it on a windy day, you can use it in your kitchen. I use mine with screaming children in the background with no problems (note: if you accidentally swear, because you burned yourself it, it will record those words down. Not that I know this from experience or anything). I am writing this post right now with Dragon Naturally Speaking, and my children are right here playing like they normally do. Now, I have a wired headset for my computer. I just keep everything right next to the stove, so I can keep the headset on and cook. However, you can buy Bluetooth headsets, and will not have that problem! Oh yeah, and instead of typing what you normally do (if you don’t know, check out Dragon’s typing speed test), you can be typing around 150 words per minute. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Watch the difference:

Amazing, isn’t it? Now, there are so many more uses that you can use this for in your home. You don’t need a cooking blog to make use of this. I have four other blogs I use this on. I also am able to answer emails, IMs, and even making out my grocery shopping list! What uses for this would you have in your house?

I love popcorn.  It actually ranks up there for one of my favorite snacks of all time.  I would have to say that my favorite kind of popcorn has to be caramel corn.  Now, I don’t think I’ve ever given popcorn as a gift, but I have gotten it as a gift.  As long as there is caramel corn in the tin, I am a happy camper.

If you are looking for a great holiday gift for the person who has everything, I recommend checking out The Popcorn Factory.  They have gifts for every occasion — new baby, Sweetest Day, your favorite football team, your favorite baseball team, and snack for students — just to name a few.  The designed tins they have are awesome.  Since Halloween is just a couple weeks away, I thought I’d include a picture of a Halloween tin.  They only use the highest quality ingredients — 100% corn oil, real butter, and genuine cheddar cheese. They have 18 different flavors, so there is definitely something for everyone. If you are not sure what flavor you would like, you can even order a sampler pack!  Also, if you find a flavor you absolutely love, you can order refills too!  If you are feeling especially adventurous, you can even get their flavor of the month.

If you are a popcorn fan or know someone who it is, go check out The Popcorn Family.  I am getting hungry just looking at all this yummy popcorn.