8 Tips on Safely Cooking Ground Beef

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As news of Canada’s “blanket recall” for ground beef products by New Food Classics hits our news feeds, and as the recall takes its first step into the U.S., don’t get bummed out on the burger blues! For this week’s #TuesdayTips, we bring you eight pointers on cooking ground beef safely and to
completion that will help you keep the whole family safe.

Tips for safely cooking ground beef from the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service:
  1. Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase (one hour if temperatures exceed 90° F). Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.
  2. Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be thoroughly cooked.
  3. Wash hands before and after handling raw meat with warm/hot (preferred) or cold soapy running water by rubbing hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds.
  4. Also wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot (preferred), soapy water and clean up any spills right away. The mechanical action of vigorous rubbing of hands and utensils/surfaces creates friction that helps to dislodge bacteria and viruses from hands and surfaces.
  5. If soapy water is not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations. However, sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs, including viruses.
  6. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry, and their juices and thoroughly cooked foods.
  7. Thoroughly cook ground meat such as beef to an internal temperature of 160° F, as measured with a food thermometer, before eating.
  8. Color is not a reliable indicator that ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

What tips do you have for making sure the food you cook is safe to eat? Share them in the comments. (Photos by lizzardo and aMichiganMom)

#TuesdayTips: Travel Pointers to Get You Through the Holidays

Since March, I’ve traveled over 60,000 miles for business - both ConsumerBell and wedding photography. My Foursquare checkins at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport? 32. My most explored locations on Foursquare aren’t amusement parks or even just parks - they’re airports (22 different places) followed closely by hotels (16).
 
Needless to say, I consider myself to be somewhat of a traveling expert now. I’ve learned how to live out of a carry-on for two weeks and the easiest way to travel on a budget and as stress-free as possible. For parents, minimizing your necessary luggage and cheaper ways to travel are a win-win for everyone.
 


Here’s 10 #TuesdayTips for traveling stress free and on a budget:

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#TuesdayTips: Trick-or-Treat Alternatives for this Halloween

Your kids think about candy a lot, but never more so than during Halloween. The candy corn, the tootsie rolls and the chocolate; the caramel apples, the caramel corn and the regular caramel; the Skittles, the suckers and the gumdrops won’t eat themselves, and chances are your kids are eager to get the job done.

Consumer Recall Safety - Jack O Lantern

What will your kids be for Halloween this year?

But traditions are nothing if not evolving, and many households opt for different types of “treats” than the ones that ended up in our Jack-O’-Lantern pails when we were kids.

For this week’s #TuesdayTips, we’re giving you some pointers on changing up the treats you give out to the ghouls and goblins.

1. Think creative: If you live in a neighborhood where you’re friendly with the families, you can always make treats to give out. Try sugar cookies with Halloween or harvest -themed decorations.

 

2. Think alternatives: You don’t have to give out candy. Well, you don’t really have to give out anything. But try this list of inexpensive goodies and toys you could give away to trick-or-treaters. When I was little, one of my neighbors who was a dental hygienist gave out toothbrushes and floss. That might be a little extravagant if you’re not in touch with those resources, but consider your networks and who you know.

Consumer Recall Safety - Candy Corn

Will you give out candy corn this Halloween to trick-or-treaters?

3. Think healthy: Giving out fruit snacks, granola bars, or fresh fruit is not necessarily “normal,” and you might get some weird looks from Batman or Princess Jasmine, but you can rest easy thinking of the vitamins the kids in your neighborhood will get.

4. Think philanthropically: Are you planning on going out for Halloween or being out of town? Donate the money you would have spent on candy to an organization you’re passionate about. You might disappoint the neighbors, but you’ll make one group very happy.

As always, be safe during Halloween. Carryflashlights when trick-or-treating. Make sure your kids trick-or-treat in groups. Educate them on only eating wrapped candy and candy that looks trustworthy; a recent study found 1 in 4 kids couldn’t tell some common candies from over-the-counter medications.

How do you get creative during Halloween?

#TuesdayTips: Make Your Own Halloween Costume On a Budget

What’s it going to be this year? A ghost? A pumpkin? A mummy? Batman?
 
Listen up ghouls and goblins- it’s now October which really means one thing: Halloween! We heard something about Columbus Day and maybe even a few big football games, but when it comes down to it, Halloween is what we’re all waiting for.
 
@MNMSpecial used cardboard and felt to make ladybug wings for her daughters.
 

For this week’s #TuesdayTips, we’ve collected some pro pointers from my friend Meghan Carlson, Halloween expert with a doctorate degree in costume-making, on how to make your own costume without breaking the bank.  
 

Get your idea. Your kid probably already knows what they want to dress up as, but it’s only fair that you can dress up, too. Try thinking of current trends, famous people and your own interests: think cheesy, timely, classic or scary.

See what you have. Look at resources you already have and then think of ways you can cut down on the amount of costume pieces you’ll have to buy. “The inspiration usually just comes from what’s sitting around my house,” says Meghan. “I think, “What does that box or dress look like? How could I change it to make it even better?’”

Be Creative. Just because you’re limited on time or money, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the awesome-factor. Meghan recommends investing more time and energy into bringing a fun idea to life than in worrying about the actual costume. She says to add little touches.

Think in groups. Pairing up with a friend or rolling with a group adds another dimension to your costume and also helps defend against any embarrassment you might have felt had you dressed up a lone. The cast of Jersey Shore is suddenly acceptable whereas Snooki might just be awkward. Making costumes in groups can also help share the workload of making the piece and bring the price down on items you can share like makeup.

Makeup and wigs are cheap, and can usually carry the costume. “When I was Little Red Riding Hood, I made my boyfriend the Big Bad Wolf, and made his costume as well. All we did was dress him in black, then I painted his face like a wolf. We bought a $5 wig that was supposed to be for a hard rocker costume (it was black and shaggy and crazy) and sewed felt ears into it. We also glued fake hair and claws to cheap gloves, and he wore those all night. No one even noticed that he was just wearing a black shirt and pants because his hair and face makeup and hands looked so awesome.

Homemade doesn’t have to mean sewing or complicated construction. A hot glue gun can be your best friend.

Wearability. We don’t know if this is a real word, but it will be come Halloween. Make sure that you’re comfortable in your costume and that it won’t slip off or fall apart. “It’s not nearly as fun for anyone if you want to rip it off an hour into wearing it,” says Meghan.

  1.  

Meghan dresses as a head of lettuce: "I added ruffles to a short, bright green dress I found at a thrift store, then bought a visor and hot-glued actual pieces of lettuce to it. A cheap pair of bright green tights and some green eyeshadow rounded out the whole thing."

 
 
Let us know your costume ideas in the comments and send us your photos of past costumes for our photo album! Email them to info@consumerbell.com


Find Meghan at work for Buddy TV and on Twitter.