Photo a Day May: A Smell You Adore

I promise I took this photo yesterday, but I didn’t get the chance to upload it and write out this post until this morning. Sorry about that! Moving on…

Coffee is one of my absolute favorite things in life. I drink it daily, and it has long been a staple in how I start my day. The smell of coffee is an experience for me. When I’m at the grocery store, I always make it a point to take a stroll through the coffee aisle, regardless of if I actually need anything there or not, just so I can take in the scent of the variety of coffee beans. When I wake up, I start brewing my first pot of coffee as soon as I make it down to the …

Yoplait Lactose Free Yogurt Review and Prize Pack Giveaway [Closed]

I love my dairy products. Ice cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, I love them all, and consume them happily as often as my heart and stomach desire. Unfortunately, my partner has had a love/hate relationship with dairy for years. As someone with lactose intolerance, he often denies himself the foods that he wants to eat because of the uncomfortable and sometimes painful consequences that come with them. He is just one of millions of Americans who are lactose intolerant, and while passing on dairy can spare people the effects of when it disagrees with their stomachs, it can also have unintended health consequences.

The National Institute of Health has stated that when dairy is avoided, there are lower intakes of calcium and vitamin D in a person’s diet. These nutrients are important for building and caring …

The Little Things Keep Romance Alive — Dr. Oetker Ristorante Pizza Review and Prize Pack Giveaway [Closed]

Just a little over a month ago, stories, advice, tips, and ideas from how to sweep our lovers off their feet to the specifics of planning romantic gestures both grand and simple were coming at us left and right. Every blog, magazine, and talk show host had something to say about how to spend Valentine’s Day. Yet the very next morning, our workloads, routines, multi-tasking, cleaning the house in our sweats, and everything else that makes up our every day lives was back in effect and the topic of romance was no longer on everyone’s collective minds. Love isn’t in the air solely during the month of February. Romance is something every relationship needs frequent doses of all year long.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the stresses and tasks that we all …

Start Your Day Off Right with General Mills Cereal with Whole Grain First Ingredient — Cereal with the White Check Giveaway [Closed]

The most recent Dietary Guidelines recommend that people get at least 48 grams of whole grain in their daily diets. If you’re like me, you have no idea how that translates into how much of what you should be eating daily. I have never been able to crack the Dietary Guidelines Code. I can read as many food packages as I want, but after reading off a seemingly endless list of ingredients for everything I put into my cart at the grocery store, I still walk out of there with a wish and a hope that I have a week’s worth of daily whole servings of what my body needs. Isn’t this the stuff we all learned year after year in health class; if it was easy enough to teach to us then, then …

Do You Know the Difference Between Gelato and Ice Cream?

Gelato is Italian for ice cream, right? Well, not exactly. True, they are both dairy, they are both cold, and they are both desserts, but the similarities end there.

For starters, they look different, with true gelato resembling something more like frozen yogurt than ice cream, and in many displays, it looks like flavored whipped cream. Here’s some more detailed, delicious insight into the two treasured desserts:

American vs. Italian Ice Cream

American ice cream, we all know, has a pretty high milk fat content. Legally in the United States, a product must have 10% fat to use the label “ice cream.” Higher quality brands of ice cream have about 18% fat, which makes for a delicious ice cream, but a pretty pathetic gelato.

Gelato has a much higher milk to cream ratio. This means that the milk fat content …

3 Ways to Cut Food Costs and Get Back to Basics

From the small restauranteur saving a dollar per case of shallots, to the largest car manufacturers getting a half-cent off each gallon of paint, all businesses benefit from cost-cutting. Getting just a little bit more bang for your buck is in your best personal interest, too–ever pass by a gas station because the one down the street sells gas for three hundredths of a penny less?

Being frugal does not mean you have to sacrifice every little thing that helps you get through the day. It just means using your creativity to maintain your lifestyle as best you can through any economic turmoil. Even if there’s no turmoil, what does it hurt to have a little extra money lying around?

When it comes to keep your food habits, you can absolutely get imaginative without sacrificing quality. With …