by Sara from Selfmademom

It’s easy to lose track of the trends when you’re watching your pennies. The last thing I feel like doing now is buying the latest issue of In Style only to realize I really can’t afford, and don’t really need the hottest pair of shoes.

But there are many ways to stay stylish without breaking the bank, or feeling guilty.

• Shop your closet.  Look back through the years and you’re sure to find some hidden treasures.  I recently dug up an old Bohemian skirt from a few years back, rolled down the waist, and voila! A now-trendy maxi skirt.  Don’t underestimate your savvy self back before you became a recessionista.

• Skip the salon. I know- it’s like saying skip lunch. But drastic times call for drastic measures and sometimes you have to do it yourself.  It’s near impossible to give yourself your own haircut. (Bang trim, maybe if you have a steady hand.) However, when it comes to coloring your locks, there are many do-it-yourself techniques available at an affordable price. (Frederic Fekkai, anyone?) Julyne Derrick of About.com has a great how-to on the ins and outs of coloring your hair.

• Host a clothing swap party. A friend of mine recently invited a bunch of her friends over for a clothes swap party. Bring stuff that you don’t wear, or doesn’t fit you any longer and swap it for someone else’s duds. It’s brilliant, and you’ll walk away with some new pieces from a reputable source.
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Every other week our awesome guest contributor, Katie Workman, shares her favorite easy recipes and cooking tips and tricks as part of our What’s for dinner? series. Katie Katie is the Editor in Chief and Chief Marketing Officer of Cookstr.com , a website devoted to great, tested recipes from chefs and cookbook authors, so she knows her way around the kitchen.

A Rub for Ribs

I was always intimidated by cooking spareribs.  They always seemed likely to turn out tough and chewy, instead of tender and juicy.  And once you start reading about different theories and methods of cooking them, it’s easy to become even more intimidated.  Barbecue has such hard core followers that any friendly question can turn in to hours of heated debate.  I swear it’s safer to walk into a church and say “who thinks the sacrament is really the body of Christ?” than to walk into a room full of pit masters and query, “who thinks brining ribs makes them more tender?”

Anyway, this is how I’ve been cooking ribs lately, slow and low, and from the pile of bones left on the table, the consensus seems to be that they’re pretty good.  I’ve been going with just a rub, no sauce, which makes a less stickier rib, but one that still has lots of flavor.  I like a healthy food debate, but not always…and what I really like is making something delicious and not having to take a graduate course in the subject to get there.

Here’s the rub (get it?).  And you can also use this on really anything; chicken, steaks, any meat you like.
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By Rachel from A Southern Fairytale

That is a question that I get all the time and really, it depends on you, your personal cooking style, what flavor profiles you prefer and how adventurous you are.

Not all of those hundreds of little bottles on your grocer’s shelves are actually ’spices’ a good portion of them are herbs, but for the purpose of today’s discussion, we’ll refer to them all as spices.

There are a few basic  spice staples that everyone should have in their arsenal (we’ll ignore salt and pepper for now because if you don’t have those, well..):

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We just spent the weekend with our good friends from New York City. We have a lot in common, including a love of food and good conversation, which go well together. So weekends we spend together usually include some amazing food and always too much of it. Looking ahead to a lighter week, food-wise, I’ve found a few new salad recipes to try out.

Allrecipes.com: Spinach and strawberries salad

Simplyrecipes.com: White beans and cherry tomatoes salad

Kaylin’s Kitchen: Asian cabbage salad with sesame seeds and peanuts

By Linda

With two small kids at home, a part-time job, and a smattering of freelance assignments, it’s not always easy to get to the gym. I’ve been on a fairly steady exercise routine for about a year now, and for me the critical element to staying committed to working out is the ability to do it at home.

Truth be told, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to lace on my Nikes and put in some sweat equity while I’m in the same living room that has the nice inviting couch with a butt-shaped dent built just for me, but it’s the exercise option that’s almost always available to me—even if I have to do it last thing at night, after the kids have gone to bed.

Here are a few of the products that I’ve come to rely on for a good workout without leaving the house:
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Every other week our awesome guest contributor, Katie Workman, shares her favorite easy recipes and cooking tips and tricks as part of our What’s for dinner? series. Katie Katie is the Editor in Chief and Chief Marketing Officer of Cookstr.com , a website devoted to great, tested recipes from chefs and cookbook authors, so she knows her way around the kitchen.

Simple fresh mozzarella pasta casserole

by Katie Workman

This is definitely great with just a salad, and I’ve put it into a beautiful baking dish and served it to company in a pinch and people cannot stop eating it.  If you want you can pretend you made the vodka sauce yourself.  Some odd tips: if you are a family who likes the crust, use a shallow baking dish, so you have more surface area.  Conversely, if you are a creamy family, use a deeper dish, less crusty top, more gooey inside.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried pasta, such as ziti, penne, cavatelle, bow-ties, or any chunky fun shape
• 1 16-ounce jar vodka sauce(or any other pasta sauce you may have)
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes (yes, you can use packaged mozzarella, but try, try to find fresh - it makes all the difference)
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water, add the pasta and cook until almost al dente (follow package directions).  Scoop out half a cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta.  Throw the pasta back in the pot, and toss in the cooking water, mozzarella and vodka sauce.  Mix it all up, turn the mixture into a casserole and sprinkle the parmesan on top.  Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 25 minutes, until the top is a bit brown.

Variations:
I sometimes make the casserole and bake it later, but either bring to room temp before, or add some time to the cooking time if it’s chilled.  Somehow, this thing is very hard to overbake!  Kids really really love this.  I have also made it with other shredded cheeses, but fresh moz is best.

I also often add cubes/chunks of cooked chicken, or cooked shrimp, or slices of turkey kielbasa, or some crumbled cooked bacon is excellent.  Also try slices of roasted pepper, with or without any of the prior thoughts.  Sliced black olives are also yummy (unless your kids will be like “EW!” - mine love olives.  Also, sliced drained canned artichoke hearts.

By Angella of Dutch Blitz

So! Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday. As if all of the cheesy ads on TV weren’t enough to remind you, I am here to add to the bombardment of commercialism.

I am kidding. Really. Before I was married, and for many years afterward, I gave the big middle finger to commercialized holidays such as Valentine’s Day and the others. I might be getting soft in my old age, but maybe in the midst of our crazy lives we need an official “holiday” to remind us to appreciate those around us.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought that I would share some of my favorite gifts that I have received in these past six-and-a-half years of being a Mom.

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I love soup. Growing up in Russia soup was the traditional start to every dinner and we still eat a lot of soup as a family. Early on I found it was an easy way to get tons of veggies into my daughter — for some reason, if they were in some liquid form, she’d eat them up. So here are a few spring soup recipes to try out:

Real Simple: Scallion and potato soup

Barefoot Contessa: Fresh pea soup (I’ve made this many times and it’s absolutely wonderful. Quick, fresh, and the mint makes it really unique.)

All Recipes: French spring soup (I’m going to do this for our Mother’s Day dinner).

Do you have any favorite spring soups?