Congratulations to Elisabeth for winning the Grilling Accessories Set!  Have fun grilling safely!

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For those interested, Saturday night at 12:00 CST is the deadline for the NSF Certified Safe Grilling Set giveaway.  I received a set this week as well, and the tongs from Crate & Barrel are great.  The meat thermometer is a nicer one than the one we have, so our old one will be given away.  The Chef’s Apron is cool looking and will make me feel like I’m on Food Network, and the Rubbermaid container will probably be used very often (it would also be good to take salads in for lunch at work).

These are great items to have in your kitchen!   Come by and leave a comment if you would like to enter for a chance to win.

Remember I told you I was having a giveaway for a NSF Approved Grilling Accessories Set?  Well, I received one in the mail today for myself!  I was thrilled!  If you would like to enter the giveaway for the same set, all you have to do is click here and then leave a simple comment on my blog.  That’s it!  You have a good chance of winning because there are not many entries.

The tongs are really nice, from Crate & Barrel, and they lock when you want them to stay closed.  The Rubbermaid Premier container is BPA Free, stain resistant, and is from the AVEC Easy Find Lids grouping.  The meat thermometer is a nice one, nicer than the one we have.  And the Chef’s Apron looks like something from Food Network.  It’s so easy to enter the giveaway for a set for yourself!

Giveaway is now over.  Winner:  Elisabeth

NSF is a nonprofit organization that is committed to protecting public health and safety by developing standards and certifying products against those standards.   Their cooking and grilling tips are great for the novice and the grilling expert. With summer grilling going on and the Fourth of July just around the corner, a lot of people are grilling!  Check out this news article from CBS about NSF.  Then check out the tips below and also the GIVEAWAY for a 4-piece Safe Grilling Accessories Set!

COOKING & GRILLING TIPS TO REMEMBER

1.     Start with a Clean Kitchen: According to a swab analysis by NSF International, the kitchen sponge and kitchen sink were the germiest places in the home – items that are typically used in multiple stages of the cooking and cleaning process. Avoid cross-contamination by ensuring these items are clean by:

a.     Placing wet sponges in the microwave for two minutes once per day and replacing them often – every two weeks or more as needed. A better option for kitchen cleaning are dishcloths, towels and rags. These items can be sanitized by washing on the clothes washer’s hot water cycle with bleach. Replace every 1-2 days.

b.    Washing and disinfecting the sides and bottom of the sink 1-2 times per week with a disinfecting cleaner. Sanitize kitchen drains and disposals monthly by pouring a solution of one teaspoon household bleach in one quart of water down the drain. Wash kitchen sink strainers in the dishwasher weekly.

2.     Defrost Foods Safely. Don’t attempt to defrost foods quickly by leaving them sit overnight on a kitchen counter. Use one of the following methods:

a.     Option I – Place a covered food in a shallow pan on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator.

b.    Option II – Defrost the food item in the microwave, but keep in mind that you must finish cooking the food immediately thereafter, as some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during the microwave defrosting process.

c.   Option III – If there is not enough time to thaw frozen foods, it is safe to cook foods from the frozen state. However, the cooking will take approximately 50% longer than the recommended time for fully thawed or fresh meat and poultry.

3.     Practice Proper Marinating. If marinating food, marinate in a refrigerator overnight and dispose of any leftover marinade that has been in contact with raw meat. While acids in marinades can help tenderize meat, too much vinegar or hot sauce can cause meat to be more stringy and tough.

4.     Keep Hot Foods Hot and Cold Foods Cold Hot foods need to be kept at temperatures above 140 F and cold foods less than 40 F. Between these two temperatures, bacteria can multiply very rapidly and reach dangerous levels in as little as two hours.

5.     Don’t cook with your eyes; Cook with a thermometer. In order to ensure food has reached a safe internal temperature, always use a certified food thermometer. Any leftovers should be put away within two hours (one hour if the temperature is over 90° F).

6.     Avoid Cross Contamination. Since bacteria can easily spread from one food to the next via dripping juices, hands, or utensils, think ahead to avoid cross contamination.  Don’t use the same utensils and plates for raw and cooked foods, and always remember to wash your hands before preparing and consuming food.

With these great safety tips in mind, here’s a giveaway for safe grilling accessories.

Win it:

One lucky reader will win the 4-Piece Safe Grilling Accessories package as pictured below.  This contest is open to all U.S. residents. Entries will be accepted until midnight CST Saturday, June 18, 2011.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org.

• Grilling Tongs (Locking) from Crate & Barrel
  

• NSF Meat Thermometer

• NSF Certified Rubbermaid (BPA Free, Resists Stains)
  

• NSF Apron

Mandatory Entry:

Subscribe to Healthy Home Blog by email or RSS Feed.  See “Follow Me!” box at the top of this page.  Leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done this or if you already subscribe.

Bonus Entries:

Be sure and leave a separate comment for each entry.  And if you’ve previously subscribed or followed Healthy Home Blog, let me know that in a comment, too.

• “Like” Healthy Home Blog on Facebook.(1 extra entry)
• Follow me on Twitter (1 extra entry)

• Click the Facebook “Share” button below this post to share it on your FB wall (1 extra entry)

• Follow me through Google Friend Connect on my sidebar. (1 extra entry)

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

* I was supplied with the Safe Grilling Set for this giveaway. I was not compensated monetarily for this article.

Congratulations to Heather Torres!  Heather tweeted nearly every day of the giveaway this time, too.   Tweeting really helps!

Congratulations to Heather Torres, winner of the WordWorld T-Shirt. Somehow I’m not surprised that Heather won. She tweeted just about every day of the giveaway as well as entering her other entries. Way to go, Heather!
Thanks to PopFunk for supplying the T-Shirt!

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Are you familiar with WordWorld? If not, check it out and see if you agree with me that it is one of the best educational TV shows available for children. There are also WordWorld DVDs available, and I’m giving away their new one, “Get Up and Move,” which encourages children to exercise while also teaching them reading skills in a fun way.

WordWorld was the only show that our grandson would watch when he was a year old. As a teacher who has taught many children how to read in first grade, I immediately fell in love with the characters and the influence I knew they must be having on young children learning their alphabet letters and sounds plus teaching them how to read words.

WIN IT:
WordWorld is providing one DVD for giveaway. This contest is open to all U.S. residents. Entries will be accepted until midnight CST Wednesday, May 4, 2011. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Visit WordWorld – “Where Words Come Alive” and leave a comment telling me who is your favorite character.
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BONUS ENTRIES:

Must complete mandatory entry first! Leave a comment if you already follow or subscribe.

• Blog about this giveaway and link it back here (3 extra entries)
• “Like” Healthy Home Blog on Facebook (1 extra entry)

• Click the Facebook “Share” button below this post to share it on your FB wall (2 extra entries)

• Follow me on Twitter (1 extra entry) (leave a comment if you already follow me)

• Click the “Tweet” button below this post to share it on your Twitter feed (1 entry per day)

• Subscribe to my RRS Feed. (2 entries)

• Subscribe to Healthy Home Blog’s email updates- see sidebar. (2 entries)
• Follow me through Google Friend Connect in my sidebar. (1 entry)

* WordWorld is supplying a DVD for this giveaway. I was not compensated monetarily for this article. This is my honest opinion.