It's grilling season! Just so happens my buddy was on his way home from a fishing trip and called me up to let me know he had some fish collars for me. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited! You may be wondering what a fish collar is, why I was excited, and what it even looks like. Behold the redfish collar in all its glory...

As I was slicing up a fennel bulb for the en papillote blog post, it occurred to me that there was going to be some left over for me to experiment with. Easy, healthy vegetable sides are always held at a premium around my house, so it was only natural to seek out the CSA box contents for the week and combine them with my fennel in order to create something hearty, delicious, and relatively simple. This took me all of eight minutes, and it was awesome...

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the glorious smells that fill your home when you cook with aromatics. Don’t you wish you could capture that aroma in a concentrated form? En papillote (in parchment paper) cooking is a technique not often used by home cooks, but it is one of the easiest ways to create deep, complex flavor and achieve this blast of smell-good. This method of cooking simultaneously steams and roasts the contents within a convenient parchment paper pouch, trapping most of the magnificent aroma that normally escapes and disperses into the air as it wafts through your home. By the time it’s done cooking, that aroma is locked, loaded, and waiting for you to slice the pouch open and breathe it all in with a big smile on your face. Hungry yet? No? Check out this picture of the finished product...

Yep, that’s what I thought. Let’s get started then!

Hey, Everyone!

Thought for the day: a dull knife is a dangerous knife. If it’s not sharp enough to pierce whatever it is you’re cutting, it may slip off the side and cut you instead. There will be several blog posts in the next week or two that cover basic knife skills (with videos, recipes, and pictures included), but I could not in good conscience provide this information without first touching upon the great importance of using a properly sharpened knife.

You’re probably asking yourself questions such as: “There are so many sharpening options out there, so how do I choose one? What is the best way to sharpen a knife, prolong its life, and maintain that wicked sharp edge? How often should a knife blade be sharpened? How do I know if the blade is sharp? How much is this going to cost me? Would Crocodile Dundee think my knife is worthy of being called a knife?” Don’t worry, I’ve got the answers (and a couple helpful videos and links) to all those questions and more below.

Hey, everyone!

One of the primary goals of this blog is to offer up ideas for saving you a little money while simultaneously pursuing the quest for improving health. “Organic, seasonal, local/fresh”...these words are often associated with high quality ingredients that carry exorbitant prices. Exorbitant? Nope, as Fiscally Fit Foodies, we don’t roll like that.

If I told you that it was possible to obtain organic, seasonal, and local/fresh produce at a price similar to that which you pay for non-organic produce at the grocery store, that would be pretty awesome, right? Well, you’re in luck!

Hey, everyone!

When I’m thinking of something tasty and healthy and easy, guacamole is often one of the first things that comes to mind. My version is lower in sodium than just about any you'll find in a store (and no preservatives) and, due to the secret ingredient (orange juice), it's packed with flavor! It's great with carrot sticks, multigrain chips, and tacos. There are many times when I’ll cook up a lean protein like chicken breast or shrimp and just eat it with those. It’s also great in wraps, on sandwiches (sammiches), and as a condiment twist for burgers.

Guacamole is fully customizable to you personal preferences. Don’t like cilantro because you think it tastes like soap? Have a date with someone special and are worried excessive amounts of garlic/onion will mess with your mojo? You like your lips to tingle from extreme spice? Don’t particularly like avocados but you know they’re healthy and you want to incorporate them into your diet? No problem!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to what is hopefully the first of many blog posts on this site!

It seemed only fitting that the first post should be dedicated to introducing myself and to giving you a general idea of what you should expect from the Fiscally Fit Foodie blog. Other posts will contain more visually appealing content (LOTS of pictures and videos), but that is downplayed in this first post that outlines the essence of what I'm trying to achieve with this website. Without further ado, I present to you the Fiscally Fit Foodie blog!