McTip of the Day

It what will surely be a news flash to many, the drive through, isn't always that fastest way to get your McGriddle. When the drive-thru line is around the block, or just around the building it may be faster to park and order inside. Especially during breakfast hours. Who knows you might accidently burn a couple of calories while you're at it.

Tea Tip of the Day

Don't put milk in lemon tea. Instant curdle.

-@andyfowler

Wrinkle Free Tip of the Day

How to make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with an Iron (Thanks @manic_mannix)

Oreo Tip of the Day

How to make Oreos better. (And some of you thought this wasn't possible)

Thought process:

1. Chocolate tastes good
2. Chocolate and mint go good together
3. Chocolate and peanut butter go good together

The Result: Hextuple Stuff Peanut Butter Mint Chocolate Oreo

How to Make Sweet Tea

A visual guide to make a gallon of sweet tea:

Step 1: Buy Big tea bags:


Step 2: Put 2 tea bags in water:


Step 3: Boil water to make tea:


Step 4: Pour hot tea into pitcher:


Repeat steps 2 through 4 with the same 2 tea bags. Or if you only want to do these steps once, use 3 tea bags.

Step 5: Add lots of sugar:
1 cup is equivalent to Kentucky. For more northern sweet tea add less, for more southern sweet tea add more. Lots more. Be sure to visit your dentist often.


Step 6: Add ice (get it? Iced tea):


Step 7: Stir sugar, ice and tea together:


Step 8: (Not pictured) add enough cold water to top it off.

Step 9: Invite me over

Yummy Tip of Election Day

Tomorrow after you vote, stop by your local Krispy Kreme for a special election day donut.

Thanks Queen of Free

Taco Tip of the Day

Taco Bell is apparently allowing you to Steal a Taco tomorrow from 2pm to 6pm.

Enjoy!

Potted Meat Food Product Tip of the Day

So a friend told me about an intriguing product he found on the top shelf at the grocery store. Libby's Potted Meat Food Product. What at first it sounds like a cousin to the Chia Pet, this wonder of the modern age contains an ingredient list straight from the ghost stores told to little chicks. "Mechanically Separated Chicken, Partially Defatted Beef Fatty Tissue, Partially Defatted Pork Fatty Tissue." Yum!

More great canned meat products are showcased on this page

Lobster Tip of the Day

Red Lobster's Endless Shrimp ends on November 10th, in case you were wondering.

Ice Cream Tip of the Day

On September 25th, from 5-8pm, Cold Stone is giving away free ice cream as part of their World's Largest Ice Cream Social promotion.

Additionally, Cold Stone, Baskin Robins and Red Robin all have birthday clubs. Just sign up and you'll get a coupon for something ranging from free ice cream to a free burger on or around your birthday!

Yummy

Thanks Queen of Free

Reddi Wip of the Day

It happens time and again. You have had so much fun inhaling nitrous oxide from the whip cream in a can, that you used up all the propellant but not the actual whipped cream. What to do. The package warns heavily (even on the light cream container) to not puncture the can. But out of propellant you haven't anything to fear, but you should do it in a controlled environment. The best™ way to open your can is use the one thing in your kitchen that is designed to puncture cans, a can opener! Since whipped cream cans aren't designed to be opened, you have to hold the can opener so the blade is on the side, not top down as you would for opening canned beets.



Proceed as expected, aka twist the twisty thing on the can opener and wha-la!



Whipped cream, ready and waiting for something to be plunked down on top of!

Chick-fil-A Tip of the Day

Chick-Fil-As in Lexington, KY are at it again. This week they are (again) giving away free breakfast.

Here is the menu:

• This morning - Sausage Biscuit
• Wed and Thurs - Chicken Minis
• Fri and Sat - Chicken Biscuit

Less Wal-Mart Tip of the Day

Thanks to the new thing called the internets, you can actually subscribe to your groceries, or Marketplace: your favorite toilet paper. It is a new program from Amazon.com where you can have items from their Grocery department shipped to you every month. Plus you save 15%!

McChick Tip of the Day

Tomorrow the 15th, McDonald's is giving away their McChick sandwiches (with the purchase of a medium or large drink, of course). In the afternoon it is a regular bun style sandwich, and in the morning it is a biscuit variant.
While this these sandwiches are a rip off of Chick-Fil-A, you do have to give McDonald's some points for originality, they put the pickles on the top, instead of the bottom.

Bonus: If you want your coffee cold, stop by Dunkin Donuts for free Iced Coffee Day, which is also tomorrow. With this one there is no purchase necessary.

Lemon Tip of the Day

Is there anything in the world worse then sipping on your water and having a lemon seed slide right up the straw with your sip? I'm sure there is, but maybe not for everyone. That particular someone came to his/her own rescue by investing the lemon shower cap. For those times when you want to get wet, but don't want you're seeds falling out…er or something like that

Peeps Tip of the Day

With Easter practically here, what are you going to do with all those marshmallow birds and bunnies. Here is an idea. Use them as a stress ball, and then when you just can't take it anymore, bite their heads off.

Pretzel Tip of the Day

Go get a free Pretzel today from Auntie Anne's. If you have one near you, you can get either a free original pretzel or a cinnamon sugar one from 10 AM - 4 PM. What a better way to spend Groundhog Day?
-Cherie Lowe

Waiting Tip of the Day

You decide to go to restaurant in downtown Lexington on a Saturday night (first mistake). You are there with fourteen other friends (second mistake). Be ready to wait. You even get a handy dandy pager. After about 45 minutes, you ask the waitress how much longer. You know it's a bad sign if she says, "Didn't we already seat you upstairs?" There was another group of 15 that came after our group and they got our place in line.

Here's the tip - Guard your place carefully. You never know when there will be another insanely large group come roughly around the same time as you and swipe your spot in line. You might also try giving them an unusual number (15.74) - bet no one else will have that number.

Chick-fil-A Tip of the Day

Chick-fil-A sells calendars that have coupons for every month. The calendars are only $5. January's coupon is a free chicken sandwich. You can also purchase a coffee mug for around $20 and get free refills for the year. If you go to Chick-fil-A often and/or like coffee, this is a great deal.

Also, they are serving free breakfast on Mondays during the month of January at the Lexington branches.

Lame Tips of the Day

So "The Nest", a magazine given to people who registered for TheKnot.com while they were planning their wedding, looks interesting on the cover, but always proves to be less then so once you really read the articles. For example, they have an article about how to "fake a fabulous party". Take a gander at these lame "tips" and our commentary:

• "Buy French fries from your favorite take-out place just before the party" - Yum, everyone likes cold limp French fries. Serious, the slow eaters of the world know that they should eat their fries before their burger aka. while they are still good.
• "Buy freshly made cookies from a bakery…and, yes, say you baked them yourself" - All your fiends love a little dishonesty for dessert. Want to make them really excited about cookie, rip open a bag of Oreos, and have plenty of milk on hand!
• "Use store-bought Caesar salad dressing instead of making it yourself" - That's not a tip, that's what 99% of party planners do anyway. The real tip: put it in a gravy boat so it actually looks like you are pretending to make your own. Then tell all your friends what you did, it will make for a great laugh.
• "Use 20 onces of forzen winter squash in lieu of fresh squash" - Now that is a tip! I didn't even know you could buy frozen squash, but I guess it makes sense, you can buy frozen anything.

How about this idea? Have a party where your friends will feel welcome and can be themselves and not have to put up a front to try to impress everyone else there. A time where friends can be friends, where you can laugh and chat and remember what a blessing you are all to each other. Now that is a fabulous party!

Meat Department Tip of the Day

Rumor has it that grocery stores use dye to make their meat look fresh. The truth? According to Oklahoma State University they don't. The FDA and USDA don't allow food processors to dye meat, but there is a small controversy about using carbon monoxide to color meat.

Thanks Blair and Anna for alerting us of this potential

Chocolate Bunny Tip of the Day

Just in case the need ever arises, here are three ways to kill a chocolate bunny.

Say Cheese Tip of the Day

You may have to "say cheese" twice if you're ordering food at Wendy's drivethroughs. Turns out many of the dual lane Wendy's are actually taking your order remotely to be more efficient, more customer-service based, and more likely to upgrade your meal. We heard this was the case, but wanted to verify at a local Wendy's in Nicholasville. Turns out it's true! The employee informed us that our order was taken in Lexington by a call center. So then we got to wondering how the whole 2-lane thing works. How do they know which person gets what? Well, it's because the order taker actually snaps your photo as you order! So, the clerk at the store matches the order up to the photo taken of you! So, if you're adding cheese to your hamburger, you better "say cheese" twice!

Turkey Tip of the Day

If someone pre-cuts the turkey and separates the light meat from the dark meat and tells you that they also took out the tryptophan, one of the 3 isn't true.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pizza Tip of the Day

5 Million Frozen Pizzas are being voluntarily recalled. First, I'm kind of surprised there are even 5 million frozen pizzas in the country. It seems like maybe I should have become a frozen food chef because there is obviously some money it. The problem involves something wrong with the pepperonis on the pizzas. As it turns out, instead of the high quality red paint General Mills asked their Chinese manufacturer to paint the pepperonis with, the manufacturer subsisted it for a cheaper red paint containing lead.

Ok, so maybe we can't blame this on communists, but it would be more interesting then the truth, another E. coli scare. What does the "E" stand for anyway?

Turkey Tip of the Day

Turkey Pepperoni = Better for you and they taste good
Turkey Hot Dogs = Better for you but they taste bland.

Just thought you should know.

Frozen Tip of the Day

If you left your milk too far in the top back of a fridge that was far too cold, you may want to use this method for gently thawing milk.

Eating Tip of the Day

Do not try to pass a piece of meat in between a knife and fork, instead stab the meat with your fork to hand to the person across the table, otherwise gravity may pull it down and it will fall into your neighbors wine.

-Elissa

Caffeine Tip of the Day

We found a great article to you quit consuming caffeine, or at least save you a few star-bucks.

Free ROOT BEER FLOAT Tip of the Day

Editors' note: We wanted to get this tip up early so you can take advantage of this great tip!

Summertime is the perfect time to play Pinky and the Fonz.

Grab your baby, load your Ipod with 50's tunes, and head on over to Sonic for a cheap date at the drive-in.

Thursday, June 7 Sonic is giving away free root beer floats from 8pm-midnight.

Just be careful about making out in your car, it is a family-oriented restaurant!
Perhaps you should head out to Lookout-Point, or behind the Cunningham's house.

For more details and restaurant locations check out their site.

Cereal Tip of the Day

When you open a new box of cereal instead of opening up the entire bag make a hole just big enough to pour your cereal out. This will reduce spilling and help keep your cereal fresh.

Burger Tip of the Day

Those of us who live in the Lexington area have probably driven past that sketchy, yes this clown's name is Sketchy, place on the sketchy north side of town that totes "79 Cent Burgers and Shakes" in a 50s-esque sign. You know you've been curious as to whether or not it's any good. Well, our insiders have tested it, and we're proud to say it's actually a good burger! You probably now have two questions. First, what's it like? And second, how are they able to stay in business? The place is a little "trek back in time." You'll walk in and there will be two old yocals who have been sitting there since '53 when the place opened. They'll stare at you and wonder why you're in "these parts" and expect you to be wearing a varsity letter jacket for admission. You'll then notice a scary contraption, which leads me to answer two. You see, much like Ford discovering the assembly line to lower production costs on their vehicles, the "79 Cent Burger Shack" has learned a valuable lesson. They have a machine that's been churning out delicious burgers since the place opened in '53. I hear it's never shut down. I think it self-maintains itself with burger grease. At any rate, the burger patty is picked up from a pool of indigenous greasy water. It's then put on a metal-runged conveyor belt, and slides out a little chute (so disturbing, right?) that looks like a waterslide. It then passes through the top of the iron-clad beast to be kissed by flames shooting out the top, for a quick second. It then slides down the chute, soon to slide down your intestines.

Hot Lunch Tip of the Day

Are you trying to watch calories, but the thought of cold carrot sticks for lunch makes you want to fold like a house of cards and call up the pizza place down the street?

If you like soup, let me suggest a nice steaming bowl full of Lipton noodle soup - that's right the kind that comes in a box. I'm not saying it's the healthiest thing you could eat for lunch (those worried about their sodium intake, be careful), but you can eat an entire envelope's worth (3 cups!) of the Extra Noodle variety for a grand total of 270 calories. It's hot, filling, comfort food which will remind you the lunches your mom used to fix for you on snow days. And I'm not talking filling like crappy diet-speak filling where they call three celery sticks and half a turkey sandwich "filling" when it soooo isn't. I mean, actually filling. Why else do you think the construction workers love to bring soup in their thermoses?

Besides taking a long time to eat (for those of you who are just as much "mouth hungry" as actually hungry), it will surely curb those hunger pangs you've been having since your 10 AM meeting, and it won't consume your daily allotment calories in one sitting (like that pizza almost surely will).

Warning: If you are drinking water whilst consuming these vast amounts of soup (as you well should because the water is good for you), you will have to pee approximately 23 times throughout the course of the afternoon. I'm just saying.

If Lipton would like to send me any free samples, please email me.

Czech Tip of the Day

Kolaches, the best dessert in the world.
If you happen to be visiting the Waco, TX area, you'll soon find that there's more to Waco than that weird cult thing where people killed themselves with white tennis shoes. In fact, it's a cultural marketplace, with diverse food offerings! If you're in Waco, head 15 minutes out of town to West, TX, home of a very large Czech population per capita. Enjoy sights such as the "Czech Inn," and especially the "Czech Stop," which literally has the finest baked goods you'll ever enjoy. Known as kolaches, these flaky, doughy, fruity little pastries will beckon you for more. You can't resist. And they're sold out of a gas station that is constantly packed, 24/7 with people buying these tasty pastry tschochkes, which I call "kolachkes." Go "czech it out" and tell 'em Pete and Jay sent ya.

Sick Tip of the Day

If you feel the first signs of getting sick, especially those nasty viral bugs like the cold, flu, etc., follow these steps to insure that your illness will be as short-lived as possible.

• First, begin by drinking as much water as you can stomach. And maybe even a little more. If you are not peeing constantly, you're not drinking enough! Oh, and if there's even a LITTLE color, you're not drinking enough!
• Second, drink a tall glass of orange juice at every meal. The vitamin C and acidity will help.
• Third, take 4 echinacea tablets per day.
• Fourth, take 3 "Airborne" dissolving tablets per day. (Each tablet contains, among other things, 1,600% of your RDA of vitamin C!)
• Fifth, take a hot bath.
• Finally, enjoy whatever foods you are craving. Since your body is fighting something, it needs what it's craving. And I swear that sugary foods help give your cells the energy they need!

Hope you'll be feeling better soon!

BBQ Tip of the Day

If you go to the "Salt Lick" in Austin, TX for the best BBQ in your life, do NOT order water as your beverage. If you do, you may think you've been like Coldplay, "swallowing the sea." Turns out that while they have the best BBQ in the buckeye state, they don't specialize in water. It's "unfiltered" tap water, they'll tell you, and it literally tastes like the Atlantic Ocean.

Inspiration Tip of the Day

Need inspiration for a project, idea, etc.? We have an easy solution. Get ready for bed, then pour yourself a glass of milk, and get out a package of Oreos. Eat at least 5, then go to bed. Within minutes, you'll be wide awake, your brain firing with great ideas. You won't be able to sleep, but at least you'll have some good ideas! Note: this tip has been tested by one person using 2% milk, and regular Oreos. Vitamin D, or skim milk has not been tested, nor have Double-Stuft, Chocolate, Mint, or Fudge Oreos been tested.

Rancid Tip of the Day

Today's tip is brought to us by my dear, sweet Grammy who is visiting! Before she came, I tried hard to make sure that our house didn't look completely like the bachelor pad it is. This even included cleaning out the fridge. But, apparently something was lacking.

We opened the fridge, and out wafted the nastiest, foulest smell to ever be unleashed from a refrigerator. Grammy tried to shield her nose, but this smell reached her too. I sought her advice as to what could be causing this odiferous malady. She said the culprit undoubtedly was two-week-old hamburger patties (that's right, from our kick-A Superbowl party).

So, Grammy's tip ended up being this: Don't keep beef (or any other meat) in the fridge for more than one week. I felt Grammy might be just a bit over cautious, but I listened to her wisdom. When I tried removing the rapidly-decaying patties, I was alarmed that the bottom of the package had become wet with bacteria-encrusted nastiness. The cardboard had affixed itself to the fridge! Grammy was right--there was NO way that meat was edible.

We'll see if it helps the smell. But, thank you Grammy for this AMAZING tip!

Conditioning Tip of the Day

For those of you who's cars' interiors happen to be enveloped in the hide of a once bellowing, cud-chewing bovine, this tip applies to you. We all know that overtime that once soft, plush leather tends to weather and crack. To prevent this unfortunate circumstance we are told by car manuals, dealerships, and car loving fanatic message boards and websites around the world to be sure to condition the leather every so often with some sort of expensive, slippery compound that would have worked great at sending us careening that much faster down the Slip 'N' Slide® in the days when our physique didn't play a crucial role in the bathing suit we bought or how often we wanted to put it on. However, as many of us lead very busy lives and don't have time to lotion the car, this simple tip will actually allow you to kill two birds with one stone. Next time the need to feed yourself strikes, immediately locate the establishment with the greasiest food possible. Go to the drive through and order your next heart stopping meal to go. Here's the catch: don't ask for napkins. After downing your curly fries and double quarter whatever sandwich, simply smear your slimy phalanges around the steering wheel, shift knob cover, or the seat next to you (just make sure no one happens to be sitting there). Oh, and also make sure you can actually maintain control of the vehicle once the wheel has been thoroughly lubricated.

-Matt

Snack Tip of the Day

I have been raving about my recent snack discovery called an Odwalla bar, and was told to post a tip, so here is the 411. Go to your local organic foods store (Good Foods Co-Op or Wild Oats if you are in Lexington), and mozy on down to the the energy bar section. The bars are labeled "Odwalla Bar! nourishing food bar...Whole Fruit & Grains You Can Pronounce." I read through the ingredient list to my roommate, and sure enough, I could pronounce everything, although soy lecithin was a bit of a stretch. Anyway, my favorite flavor is Chocolate Chip Peanut. I've tried about three other flavors and none of them come even close to this one. I have been working on a case that lives in my miscellaneous drawer at work. Another tip: Watch for sales and stock up, because these babies aren't cheap, but they are better for you than most of what we can find in the vending machine at work. Also in the Odwalla line is a wonderful fruit juice blend called "Mo' Betta." It is very tasty and it's supposed to boost your immune system. However, I recommend staying away from the protein drinks (superfood, super protein), because they have a questionable odor and the consistency of wet chalk and paint.

Etiquette Tip of The Day

When you arrive home at an hour when roommates still might be sleeping (11:00am on a Sunday, particularly), and there are houseguests in town, never assume that everyone's up and the security system is off--make sure you press "off" on the security system remote before you open any exterior door (two quick beeps is better then 10-12 longer alarm-type ones). Also, NEVER have cold groceries with you in this situation. You might be fortunate if the houseguest in the adjacent living room is a hard sleeper--you might just be able to get all of the cold items in the fridge. But you're out of luck if the kitchen sink decides to back up when you're getting rid of old milk when you're making room for the new. Then the big question arises--do you wake them up with the disposal, or do you let them slowly wake up to the smell of sour milk? I assure you, just follow the tip--no groceries on weekends before 2pm, and get that alarm turned off before you wake up the neighborhood.