Sonic Giveaway Winners! Also, Tuesday Megalinks! Hooray!

We have winners from today's Sonic $25 gift card giveaway! Chosen by Random.org, here they are, along with their favorite food blog:#1: AB - $5 Dinners#2: Bashtree – Baking Bites and Gourmet#18: Broman – Closet Cooking#21: Amy – CHG (aw, shucks)#31: Karen – Closet CookingIf you guys can shoot me an e-mail with your addresses (cheaphealthygood@gmail.com), I can get those cards out tomorrow. Congratulations, one and all, and thank you to everyone for your most excellent suggestions. They’ll be part of an upcoming post.And with that, let’s go to the links! Today, it’s a lot of listing, restaurant questions, and yikes-inducing news for happy couples. All in ten words or less. (The descriptions, not the articles. Those are longer.)Bitten: Real Food...

Read more »

Posted in: Links

$25 Sonic Gift Card Giveaway

Sweet readers! Tuesday’s Megalinks are coming a bit later, but first we’re kicking today off with a giveaway from Sonic. The lovely chain of drive-in restaurants bestowed this fine blog with a few $25 gift cards, and we’re passing one each to five lucky winners this evening.So! Here’s the deal. I’m gonna choose the five folks at 9pm tonight using Random.org. To enter the contest, simply go to the comment section and leave your name and your answer to this question:What is your favorite food blog, and why?(Though straight-up recipe blogs are great, I’d love a few food news suggestions, a la Serious Eats or The Kitchn.)Again, five winners will be chosen at 9pm tonight, so get those entries in! Think of all the grilled chicken sandwiches (without...

Read more »

CHG Turns 2: The Year's Top Ten Recipes

You guys! So many things going on today.1. Last night, I received a KitchenAid stand mixer. For free. From my Mother-in-Law-Elect. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to joining this family.2. Also last night: bananas, stuffed with chocolate, wrapped in foil, and grilled. I now have proof that Heaven is a place on Earth. (Thank you for the heads up, Belinda Carlisle.)3. It’s CHG’s two year anniversary (er, as mentioned in the title)! Thank yous are in order to all you lovely readers, as well as Veggie Might’s Leigh, Jaime of City Kitchen Chronicles, and our frequent contributor, Rachel. Also, a huge shout out to all the blogs that’ve supported us for the last two years, including (but not limited to) MSN Smart Spending, Get Rich Slowly, The...

Read more »

Posted in: About Cheap Healthy Good

Kale with Garlic and Peppers: A Tribute

Today was going to be about the general awesomeness of kale – how it’s super-easy to prepare, lends crazy heft to lighter dishes, and is one of the cheapest, most natural foods you can pick up at the supermarket. As part of that, I was going to gush all over the innate incredible-ness of Cooking Light’s Kale with Garlic and Peppers. Mostly about how it’s one of the simpler, tastier sides I’ve whipped up in recent memory. Then I was going to babble about the profusion of kale dishes available here and at the eminently stellar I Heart Kale.After it was all done, I was going to stop writing. Soon enough, I would to dump my leftover Kale with Garlic and Peppers into some cold spaghetti. Then I was going to warm it up in the microwave with a tiny...

Read more »

Posted in: Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Nostalgia, Co-opted

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a regular Thursday feature about all things Vegetarian.For the last few days, I’ve been in a sweet, tangy, gooey haze of nostalgia created both in my imagination and in my kitchen. Just sweet enough, not too rich, it’s been delicious.Everyone I know has a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, or second-cousin Shirley who made the best strawberry-rhubarb pie/cobbler. Except me. Sort of.A couple weeks ago, on my Lehigh Valley excursion, I bought my first rhubarb. I’ve never used it before, and to my knowledge, never had it at home. I was excited to try it. When I got my stalks home, I tried a piece raw. It reminded me of a Granny Smith apple. But I decided to trust what I’d heard and cook...

Read more »

Posted in: Desserts and Snacks,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Food Network, the Decline of Stand and Stir Programming, and Where to Go From Here

Earlier this week, True/Slant’s Michael Greenberg wrote a scathing open letter to Bob Tuschman, the SVP of Programming at Food Network. In it, he rails against their lineup as of late. A few key quotes:“The Next Food Network Star sucks. It’s not entertaining. It has nothing to do with actual culinary skill. And it’s another troubling step in the ultimate devaluation of your network’s brand.”“Nowadays, prime time on the Food Network is all about competition shows and reality non-fiction programming — and it’s all about folks looking to make a name and buck. The food is just an afterthought for you, Bob, and it’s really starting to grate on me.”“It looks like my beloved Food Network has succumbed to the reality-show dreck that pollutes other...

Read more »

Posted in: Cooking

Tuesday Megalinks

Today it's recipe lists, weight loss for the very tall, and an infuriating article from the Gray Lady. Tuesday, I like you!Ad Age: Consumers Say They Want Healthy, But Aren’t Buying itOh, yikes. You know those calorie counts they’re starting to post on fast food menus? Apparently, they’re not making/they won’t make much of a difference in what good citizens are ordering. This is perplexing.Casual Kitchen: The Hummus Blogroll – 16 Easy to Make Hummus RecipesAs I am currently obsessed with all things hummus-related (we’re even watching Don’t Mess With the Zohan, where it figures in prominently), this is my favorite post of the moment. Chipotle Hummus? Thai Basil Hummus? Avocado Hummus? I’ve died and gone to Hummeaven.Chow: RSVP to My Damn InviteYarg....

Read more »

Posted in: Links

Poached Eggs and Hardboiled Eggs: Eggs Two Ways, No Yolking

It’s been five days, and the Husband-Elect and I have successfully polished off our haul from last week’s trip to the Farmer’s Market. (Friends helped.) While we appreciated the ground beef, liked the bacon very much, and freakin’ loved the bread, the highlight of our booty (heh) was undoubtedly the carton of eggs. The EGGS. Who knew?Lemme explain.Okay, you know how supermarket eggs are? Runny, pale yellow yolks with flimsy whites and shells that break if you look at them the wrong way? Farmer’s market eggs are not like that at all. They have bright orange yolks with a silky, almost syrupy texture. They have substantive whites you can actually bite into. They have thick, brownish shells that seem almost twice as hard as store-bought eggs.But...

Read more »

Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Breakfast,Eggs,Sides

Strawberry and Avocado Salad: An Exercise in CAPITAL LETTERS and Fat Reduction

I’m pretty ambivalent about salads. They’re okay, but I’d order almost anything else before paying for a staid pile of lackluster leafy greens. Still, I like strawberries. And I like avocado. And I like pecans. And this dressing sounded tasty. So I thought I’d give AllRecipes’ Strawberry and Avocado Salad a try.Sounds neato, right? I thought so. However, there was one minor issue: namely, 609 calories and FIFTY-POINT-SEVEN grams of fat per serving. I realize numbers higher than eleven aren’t usually spelled out. I wanted some extra emphasis there.Now, healthy oils are dandy, but to reiterate: FIFTY-POINT-SEVEN grams of fat? In a freakin’ salad? You gotta be kidding me. This wasn’t in the realm of possibility. In fact, I couldn’t even see the...

Read more »

Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Mains,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian

Veggie Might: People Need Potato Salad

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.Okay, enough with the rain, am I right, East Coasters? The sunshine teasers are just not enough. Anyway, I’ve digressed before I’ve begun.This past weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting my dear friend S in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. We spent a lovely (sunny!) couple of days playing with her little one, cooking (a fab bean salad I will share with you later), and catching up. On Sunday, we strolled through her local farmer’s market. I was able to score some choice produce to bring back to the city.I also got a little inspiration to make a zippy, healthy potato salad.Everyone has a favorite potato salad recipe. It’s a spring and...

Read more »

Posted in: Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Film Fest '09: Three Essential Documentaries About Food

Hypothetical situation: let’s say you’re teaching a junior high health class. Your arms are broken, so instead of giving notes, you’ve decided to show three movies that thoroughly explain the modern food industry. (Presumably, one of the kids will work the VCR. Or DVD player. Or whatever newfangled thingamabob they use these days.) What would those films be?This past weekend made the decision much easier for me, because the Husband-Elect and I caught an early screening of Food, Inc. in Manhattan. Without exaggeration, it changed the way we’ll eat from here on in. (Not too shabby for a Saturday matinee.) So there’s Movie #1.Afterwards, we rented King Corn, a 2007 documentary about the kernels’ influence in America. It was really well done, and...

Read more »

Posted in: Buying Food,Dining Out,Health

Tuesday Megalinks

Today it’s leafy greens, green grilling, and green sandwiches from Subway. Also, fish. It’s not green, though. Thank goodness.Consumerist: Don’t Put Too Much Faith in Fortified FoodsI wasn’t going to post this one, because the topic’s been done a bunch. But these parting words caught my eye: “Pay close attention to the details of the ingredients and not the claims on the packaging.” Truer words, never spoken. Packaging is advertising. The ingredient list is fact.Culinate: Grilling Gets GreenerMarissa Lipert tells you how to get the best taste from your grilled goods without hurting the Good Earth. Good stuff.Get Rich Slowly: Eating Organic on a Frugal BudgetMore on the Cost vs. Eating Ethically quandary, with customary smart commentary by GRS...

Read more »

Posted in: Links

This Movie Changed My Life (No, it's Not Showgirls)

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Monday recipe post for an important message: go see Food, Inc. This past weekend, the Husband-Elect and I managed to cram ourselves into a screening of the documentary at the Film Forum in Manhattan’s West Village. Directed by Robert Kenner with extensive commentary from both Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, it’s an important film, and it changed the way we’ll eat from here on in. No kidding.Some background: I’ve read Fast Food Nation (Schlosser), The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Pollan), and In Defense of Food (Pollan again), as well as an untold number of blog, magazine, and newspaper articles on the modern U.S. food industry. So I knew. But I don’t know if I knew. You know?You can read about cows hitting adulthood...

Read more »

Posted in: About Cheap Healthy Good,Frugality,Health

Vanilla-Buttermilk Pound Cake: Weather or Not

New York summers rarely afford the opportunity for baking, but it’s been a cool June here in the city, with frequent storms and temperatures that have only seldomly risen above 80°F. Usually, Brooklyn kitchens feel like bamboo steamers this time of year. Instead, our greenery is growing like gangbusters, and we’ve managed to postpone our yearly descent into Air Conditioning Bill Hell for a few blessed weeks. Except for mistaking 3am thunderclaps for shotgun rounds, life’s been pretty sweet.Life’s also been full of cake. Late last week, my roommate C whipped up a batch of Strawberry-Banana Muffins while I triumphed with a lovely Lemon concoction, and yesterday yielded 24 servings of Vanilla-Buttermilk Pound Cake from Cooking Light. It’s Cake...

Read more »

Posted in: Breads,Desserts and Snacks,Vegetarian