New Updates
You can now order your (non-perishable) groceries while you’re planning your menu! Click on the “Store” tab and order food to be delivered directly to your door! You can also get kitchen and garden supplies, cookbooks, and more. Orders are processed through Amazon.com.

Staying Cool
During the hot summer months, it seems that we’re always being reminded to stay cool and hydrated. True, we should drink plenty of fluid to replenish the liquids we lose to sweat, but did you know some foods could help you stay cool during hot weather?

Fruits and vegetables with high water content can help refresh you under the heat of the sun, as well as keep you healthy. Watermelons (which are about 90% water), grapes, apples, pears and oranges are some of the fruits that will keep you hydrated. Potassium-rich foods can help regulate fluid loss due to sweating. Vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, celery and leafy greens are great options, as are fruits such as bananas and oranges. Eat them raw, toss them in a salad or puree them into a smoothie.

When cooking, try to keep it light as well. Steam, poach, or boil foods rather than frying them. Believe it or not, a little bit of spice in your food can help – it will increase the body’s cooling mechanism.

What foods should you avoid? Meat is at the top of the list. It takes more effort for your body to process and digest. Surprisingly, really cold foods like ice cream should be avoided as well. They can make your body feel sluggish.

Staying Fresh
While your food is keeping you cool, are you making sure your food stays fresh? The summer temperature may be causing your food to spoil sooner than you anticipate. Also, the humidity can cause bacteria to multiply faster and cause a number of food-borne illnesses. Try to do your shopping in the early morning (if you go to a farmer’s market) or late in the evening, when the temperature isn’t as extreme. You may want to pack your spoilable items in hot/cold bags for long trips. Refrigerate or freeze meats as soon as you get home. Wrap fresh herbs in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag before storing them, to absorb any moisture. Tomatoes release ethylene, so store it away from other fruits and vegetables, especially cucumbers, leafy greens and watermelons. Finally, make sure you plan your meals so that you use up the perishable items as soon as possible.

Labels: Updates

New Updates
Do you blog? DinnerBeat will now create the HTML for your weekly meal plan – including links to your recipes. You can get to the page from a link in the center of the Plan Meals page.
Don’t forget that you can access DinnerBeat with your mobile device! View your recipe in the kitchen or your shopping list while at the store!

Grilling
It’s time to take the grill out and get ready for barbeque season! We’ve already anticipated the summer by blogging about barbecuing tips on YouTube, and now it’s time to put it all into practice.

Aside form being one of the oldest forms of cooking, grilling is also one of the healthiest ways to cook food. Grilling requires less oil than frying, and it’s easier to control the amount of fat on the meat. Also, grilling outdoors cuts down on energy costs. Cooking indoors usually increases the temperature in your house, which in turn, makes your air conditioner work harder.

If your grill has been in storage for a while, you may want to give it a quick check before inviting over anyone for a backyard BBQ. Make sure the grill is clean inside and out – the tubes, for example, may have bugs or pests hiding in them. An essential part of gas grills, the gas lines, could wear down over time, so make sure the gas supply line is in working order and doesn’t have any leaks. Giving your grill a once over will make sure it’ll keep you barbequing throughout the summer and beyond.

Dry Rubs vs. Marinades

It’s the age-old feud for BBQ enthusiasts. Some people advocate for marinating meats, while others prefer dry rubs. So which one is better? It really depends on the situation. Dry rubs have a stronger taste than marinades and can stick better to meats. A basic dry rub marinade consists of pepper, salt, paprika and sugar, which is massaged into the meat and can be left overnight. Also, since the components are usually just spices, dry rubs tend to contain less fat than marinades. A marinade, on the other, is a liquid sauce containing, for example, oil, spices, acid (like lemon or vinegar), sugar, or soy sauce. The meat is left to sit in the sauce for a few hours. For tougher cuts of meat, a marinade can be great way to tenderize the meat.

The length of time to allow for a marinade to penetrate depends on the type of marinade. Citrus-based marinades should be used for less than two hours, those with acid, alcohol or salt less than four hours. Meat in a sauce without those ingredients can marinate overnight. Remember, meat should always be marinated in the refrigerator, and marinade should never be reused!

Labels: Updates

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Food in Season
As we move from Spring to Summer, the changing seasons remind us of the different types of food that grow during various parts of the year. It used to be that people could only eat what was growing at that particular time of the month. These days, however, with the advances in science and the global marketplace, it seems there’s no such thing as “off-season” fruits. It’s not unusual to order a nice tomato salad at a restaurant in the middle of December.
Eating in-season produce does have its benefits. For one, it’s easier on the wallet. In-season fruit is less expensive than fruit that has to be flown in, due to the extra transportation costs. For another, it’s easier on the taste buds. Off-season food needs to be picked before its perfect ripeness to ensure that it doesn’t rot during shipping. Finally, it’s easier on the body. Eating seasonally forces you to eat different fruits and vegetables at different times of year, ensuring that you get a variety of vitamins and not just the ones found in your favorite produce. But whether they are local or not, vegetables and fruits are a vital part of a healthy diet.


Think having your own garden this spring is impossible? You don’t need a large backyard or 20 hours a week to have fresh ingredients on hand when you plan your meals. Believe it or not, some of the best herbs, vegetables and even fruits thrive even in the simplest container gardens. Here are some easy tips to help you get started:

1) Type of container:
Aside from choosing a good-size container, you should take other thing into consideration. Dark colored containers absorb more heat than light-colored ones, which can overheat and damage the roots. Choose a container that has a good drainage to let out excess water.

2) Sunlight:
A container garden will need an average of 5 hours of sunlight per day, though some plants can tolerate and benefit from more, such as cucumbers and tomatoes.

3) Water:
Plants in containers require more frequent intervals of watering – don’t wait until the leaves become wilted.

4) Soil:
Try to get some good potting soil (and mixing it with some good compost if possible) that retains moisture.

What are your own experiences with planting a container garden? We’d love to hear from you, so send us an email at DinnerBeat@DinnerBeat.com.

Labels: Updates

DinnerBeat Mobile is in Beta!

Testers will get exclusive access to the Beta version, along with a chance to give their input and shape the mobile site. If you want to be a part of this exclusive group of testers, please reply to this email.

Easter Breakfast
Start a new tradition for Easter Breakfast this year!This delicious bread has been updated from its original Greek ancestry to satisfy the American palate and pantry.The Greek name is tsoureki paschalino, and it is as delightful to look at as it is to eat. You can view the recipe here. The recipe is for use in a bread machine, since that makes this significantly easier, but it can be done by hand.

Inside the bread there is a hidden egg dyed red, the red symbolizing Chirst’s blood and the egg symbolizing new life.

Don’t forget to schedule this bread and the rest of your Easter menu on DinnerBeat! If you need ideas on what to serve, check out what your friends have planned, or search for new recipes. Then go to the shopping list page to print your shopping list. You can choose to shop for the week or just for the day. Planning a big meal has never been this easy!

Keeping up-to-date
If you haven’t stopped by the DinnerBeat blog recently, you’ll want to revisit that part of the site! You can now subscribe via RSS feed. We run a weekly “Healthy Dinners on a Budget” column, and now you can easily share the posts that you love via Email, Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, or Stumble.

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

Labels: Desserts, Updates

Have you planned dinner tonight?

I’m sure all of you usually plan out your meals well ahead of time. But every so often there will be a busy week where you suddenly find yourself in an unplanned day, or where this week's shopping is a day overdue. When this happens, it’s vital to have an emergency list of “pantry dinners.” These are a few of my favorites:

Beef BBQ with cornmeal biscuits (you can substitute milk for the buttermilk) and Baby Carrots
Chicken – Citrus (almond garnish can be omitted) with savory rice
Chicken – Maple Orange (if I have an orange) with frozen/canned veggies and elbow noodles
Easy Puff Pancake with Berry syrup and fresh or canned fruit
Fried Rice with frozen egg rolls if I have them, or just by itself
Parmesan Chicken with bread
Salmon: Maple with baby carrots and fresh or canned fruit

Purchase ground beef, chicken breasts, and salmon in bulk so you will have at least one of those in the freezer, along with some frozen vegetables. Stock eggs, onions, minced garlic, real maple syrup, soy sauce, and Parmesan cheese in the fridge, and some cans of mandarin oranges, spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce in the pantry. With these in hand, you'll be able to glide through dinner without a hint of chaos.

Add these to your Recipe Box, or come up with your own arsenal of "pantry dinners." The important thing is to be prepared for the unexpected!

The fight again Obesity

Do your part in the fight against obesity, starting with you and your family! Barry Popkin, author of The World is Fat is a leading expert in the study of obesity world-wide.

Even if home cooking is of the fried-chicken-and-mashed-potatoes variety, it rarely produces extreme obesity, said Barry Popkin, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Almost any kind of cooking you can produce in a kitchen is healthier than fast food.” The decline of home cooking worldwide, he said, is an underlying cause of obesity. – New York Times, 2/4/09 pD1

Take the DinnerBeat challenge! Make a commitment today to eat only home-cooked food for the next ten days. Compare your weight, amount of energy, and state of mind before and after. I’m certain you’ll want to continue! Tell me about your experiences: Liz@DinnerBeat.com.

Labels: Updates

Connect with DinnerBeat via Facebook, Twitter or our Blog!

We’ve been working hard to keep content fresh on the DinnerBreat blog, and one of our goals is to give all our members some useful tips and advice, and to keep you up-to-date on the latest meal planning and food news. We’re doing some regular posts such as “Healthy Dinner on a Budget,” which features a dinner menu that promises to be delicious, nutritious and won’t break the bank; “Food Gadget of the Month,” a piece on various useful, odd or quirky kitchen gizmos; and “In the News,” showcasing stories from around the world that pertain to food.

As a special treat, here’s a preview of the Valentine’s Day post, which is aimed towards the men:

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Surprise that Special Someone on Valentine’s Day

Since Valentine's is only a few days away, we here at DinnerBeat would like to help the guys prepare a scrumptious treat for the special women in their lives. And ladies, if you’re reading this, you might want to send that guy of yours a link to this blog...just to give him a nudge in the right direction.

Surprise her...

Most girls love a surprise! Try to let her know in advance, but don’t give anything away. A romantic handwritten note, or, since this is the 2000's, a quick and mysterious email/text message saying that you’re planning something should pique her interest.
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We’d like to invite you to take a look around the blog and leave a comment, or you can email us and tell us what you think. If you have a food-related blog, send us a link and we’ll add it to our blogroll!

You can also keep up-to-date by joining our Facebook Group I Love DinnerBeat or by following us on Twitter @dinnerbeat.

The benefits of using DinnerBeat
1) Save Money.
We can’t say it enough, so we’ll say it again – meal planning can save you money! Knowing what you’ll be cooking in advance assures that you’ll never buy too much of any ingredient or waste food because of spoilage.

2) Save Time.
How much is your time worth? Is anything more precious than being able to spend leisure time with your loved ones? Having a weekly meal plan allows you to spend more time with your family and less time in the supermarket and kitchen.

3) Prepare a variety of meals.
Tired of eating the same things over and over again? Planning out your meals assures that you never repeat the same meal in a row. Out of new recipes? Just check out your friend’s recipe boxes for new ideas.

4) Improve eating habits.
Sticking to a meal plan can break the routine of dialing for delivery or getting take-out when you’re out of ideas. Make your cooking decisions ahead of time to ensure that you’ll be able to provide healthy meals for yourself and your family.

5) Never be stressed over the question “What’s for dinner?” again.
There are plenty of things to worry about these days. Don't make dinner one of them! With DinnerBeat, planning dinner is a snap! Just pick out your recipes, print our your shopping list and you’re good to go!

Labels: Updates

Come See DinnerBeat’s New Features!

If you are a regular user of DinnerBeat, you’ve probably noticed our new look and upgraded services.

If you haven’t visited for awhile, I’d like to personally invite you back for another look!

We are still your best, free meal planning and menu optimizing resource.

But that’s not all! DinnerBeat can now schedule your meals for you! And it’s easy!

When you first log in, you will see a link in the middle of the page that says:

“Automatically schedule your main dishes for the next __ days.”

All you do is enter the number of days, and click Go! We do the rest.

Our system will randomly schedule main dishes from your Recipe Box, based on their ratings.

For example, if you’ve given a dish a 5-star rating, it will be 5 times more likely to appear than a dish that gets just 1 star. (Unrated dishes are treated as 1-star meals.)

We also have a new FAQ Page, linked at the bottom of every page. That’s where you’ll find answers to questions raised by users like you!

And we’ve made it possible for you to email recipes! Just click on the link at the bottom of the recipe and follow the simple instructions.

Finally, we’ve added a blog. Please leave your comments, or email me an idea for a blog post about a food-related topic or concern. It’s a great way to make and help new friends who have the same interests or needs that you have!

5 Key Benefits of Using DinnerBeat

1) It’s Free. Our service is absolutely 100% free to use – no hidden costs!

2) It’s Balanced. Nutritionists say that when you eat to a menu, you can be sure you are getting a balanced diet!

3) It’s Economical. Menu planning lets you mix more expensive meals with less costly fare, conserving money without creating the feeling that you’re living on a budget!

4) It’s Healthy. When you shop to a list you limit expensive impulse buying, which helps you resist those unhealthy last-minute temptations!

5) It’s Easy. Fill DinnerBeat with recipes and rankings, and let the system build menus for you! Or let us help you quickly find a new recipe!

Labels: Updates

Newton, MA December 8, 2008 -- Recently released from beta testing, DinnerBeat.com is a website that helps individuals save time and money when planning their meals. Budgeting limited resources for food has always been the toughest challenge that people face, now even more important in these troubling economic times. According to the latest study by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the average American family spends roughly $820 per month on food. With shrinking family incomes due to lay-offs or pay-cuts, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to cook healthy, inexpensive meals. Statistics prove that planning meals ahead of time is one of the most effective ways to save on food expenditures.

DinnerBeat.com is a free meal planning website that helps users generate menus ahead of time by organizing their recipes and printing shopping lists. The website makes family meal planning almost effortless. Unlike other recipe sites, DinnerBeat.com adds a social aspect by allowing members to add friends, exchange recipes and create and receive recommendations.

Liz Jimenez, a former finance professional turned entrepreneur, created DinnerBeat to assist other busy individuals who disliked making last-minute dinner decisions. Jimenez, a mother of two, decided to get organized using a simple meal planning spreadsheet to help her plan out meals up to weeks in advance. “I knew that other people were also struggling to provide consistent, healthy dinners for their families, so I decided to turn my spreadsheet into a website,” says Jimenez, who coded most of the site herself. “DinnerBeat is a great way to get meal preparations under control, on budget, and to just make planning dinner fun again.”

The website’s tools are simple and easy to use. The Calendar, which is the heart of the system, creates daily, weekly or monthly meal plans. An electronic Recipe Box functions as the keeper of a user’s favorite recipes. Members can also import recipes from their DinnerBeat Friends or from the Internet. When a recipe is added to the Calendar, an ordered Shopping List is automatically created, which can be printed out and brought to the supermarket. The Automate function can be activated at the click of a button. Users who are too busy even to plan individual meals can use this feature and let DinnerBeat arrange menus for them. The system selects dishes from the Recipe Box and places them on the Calendar. All the person has to do is print out the shopping list (which can also be sent to other people) and their meals are set.

“Thanks to DinnerBeat I no longer stress at the end of the work day about what to make for dinner,” raves Kathy, from Nashville. “With just a little effort on my part, my dinners are planned for weeks at a time, my shopping lists are organized, and I can relax knowing that each morning I'll have an email reminder about 'What's For Dinner!'

DinnerBeat is now available to the general public. Interested parties can sign up for free at http://www.dinnerbeat.com.

About DinnerBeat.com:

MIT graduate Liz Jimenez founded DinnerBeat.com in 2007 in Newton, MA, to help people plan and schedule meals through its easy-to-use interface.
A personal project which developed into a public website, DinnerBeat.com quickly grew into a large community of members who use, create and share recipes.

Contact: press@DinnerBeat.com

Labels: Updates

There have been a few major updates to the site over the last few days! Here are a few of the highlights:

*DinnerBeat can now schedule your meals for you! When you first log in, there will be a sentence in the middle of the page:

Automatically schedule your main dishes for the next _ days.

You just fill in the number of day, and click Go!

Dishes will be scheduled randomly, based on their rating. For example, a dish with five stars will be five times more likely to appear than a dish with one star. Dishes without a rating are equivalent to dishes with one star.

*We have a new FAQs page. If there are any questions you have, or have had, let me know and we will add them to the list. This can be seen through the links at the bottom of the page.

*You can now email your recipes to your friends, even friends that are not part of DinnerBeat. Click on the link at the bottom of the recipe and you will be taken to an email screen where you can customize the wording. The email will contain a link to an organized, printable recipe.

And, of course, this blog that you have already discovered.

Labels: Updates