Cajun creation

Cajun creation
A1's New Orleans Cajun Steakhouse Marinade impressed Chicago Tribune testers with its bold flavor and pleasantly potent heat kick. Red pepper, lemon juice and hickory smoke flavors balance well with the (ubiquitous) corn syrup. We used it as a marinade and sauce on steak, and think beef is the best destination for the product. A 16-ounce bottle costs $3-$4.20 at grocery stores.
Elastic plastic
New from Tupperware are Flat Out! storage containers. They are adjustable bowls that can expand to hold up to 4 cups and as little as 13/4 cups, depending on what you need. When not in use, the containers flatten for storing. The containers are freezer and dishwasher safe, but the downside is they aren't recommended for microwave use.
Flat Out! containers are sold in sets of three for $18.99 at Tupperware mall kiosks. Or you can locate a representative in the area by visiting the Web site www.tuppeware.com or calling (888) 919-8099.
Cooking for one
The prospect of maintaining a kitchen for one, cooking alone and dining alone seems to drive many singles to eat out, take out or order out. But, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, commercially prepared meals often have too many calories, too much fat and sodium and too few vegetables and fruits for keeping a healthy weight and building protection against chronic disease.
Learning to cook for yourself may be the best way to care for yourself, the AICR suggests to singles. To help do this, the institute has published a brochure, Cooking Solo: Homemade for Health. It explains how to organize shopping, storing and preparing food, and it has tips for fitting cooking and healthy meals into a busy contemporary life. The brochure can be downloaded from the AICR Web site: www.aicr.org . Or it may be obtained by calling toll-free (800) 843-8114, ext. 457, to order a single copy.
One dollar in seven
The typical family spends roughly 14 percent of each food dollar on meat, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. This is a significant amount of your weekly food budget, and the September issue of Family Circle magazine offers some tips and tricks for buying, storing and cooking meat. Among them:
When shopping for beef, check the color of the fat. It should be almost white. The meat itself should be pink, not red, with little flecks of white, known as marbling.
There are eight different USDA quality grades for beef. However, we usually see only the top three in retail stores: Prime, Choice and Select. Prime has the most marbling. Choice has more marbling than Select, but less than Prime. Select, with the least amount of marbling, is leaner than the others but not as tender or flavorful.
Steer clear of the eye of the round steak. Even though it may look enticing in the meat case, it's not very tender or flavorful. If you do buy it, braise it for best results. Also avoid the bottom round. It lacks flavor and tends to get stringy when cooked too long. Again, braising is the preferred method.