Listen to this episode of Moms Gone Geek.

Grab yourself a snack and tune in to this packed episode where we discuss all things geek AND food with Kat and Dave Curlee of the shows "Cooking with Kat" and the new "The Kitchen Gadget Show." Who knew just how much tech and geek talk could be involved while discussing cooking! Discover your inner geek — on the other side of the screen — in the KITCHEN! Listen to the Curlees share their cooking tips, family stories, production techniques, favorite links and cooking tools — all this week on Moms Gone Geek!

Social Networks & Recipe Sharing

Cooking with Kat www.KatCurlee.com

The Kitchen Gadget Show www.KitchenGadgetShow.com

Facebook Fan Page www.facebook.com/CookingWithKat

Dave's Website: www.DaveCurlee.com

Kat on Twitter: @KatCurlee
Dave on Twitter: @DaveCurleee 

Meal Planning
Kat's Ten Back-to-School Meal Planning Tips That Can Save You Money

1. Make fewer trips to the grocery store—or fast food restaurants—and cut your fuel costs. Frequent trips to the grocery store waste time, gas and money. So, create your meal plans for the week and make all of your purchases in one trip to the store.

2. Eliminate wasted food that goes uneaten in your refrigerator. When you plan your meals you make better use of the food you purchase and reduce spoilage. For example, soups and stews are a great way to make use of extra vegetables, milk or cheese.

3. Buy fresh produce in season—when it’s cheaper. You’ll pay more for food purchased off-season so choose recipes that use seasonal ingredients.

4. Build meals around sale items featured at your grocery store. Take advantage of what’s on sale by searching our recipe database by ingredient.

5. Clip coupons and check store promotions for foods you buy on a regular basis. This is a money saving habit that can really add up over the long term.

6. Stock your pantry when items you can store in the cupboard or freezer are on sale. In addition to saving money up front, buying more of your kitchen staples when they go on sale will also ensure that you always have healthy food on hand for those nights when you don’t know what to cook.

7. Eat a healthy breakfast from home—decrease spending on expensive convenience foods eaten on the go or purchased from vending machines. Breakfasts do not need to be complicated. Having simple foods on hand, such as yogurt, whole-wheat bread, fruit and cereal, provide important nutrients often lacking in convenience foods.

8. Pack your lunch. Lunch and snacks prepared at home save money. Packing your lunch will keep you from feeling pressured to purchase expensive and often less nutritious meals or snacks from convenience stores, vending machines and restaurants. If you’re already making a lunch for your children, it only takes a few more minutes to make an extra sandwich or snack for yourself.

9. Buy in bulk. Purchase and prepare your favorite and frequently eaten foods in bulk—such as, purchasing two for one gallons of milk. Preparing dinner "in bulk" by doubling a recipe or adding another serving or two will cost very little extra and leave you with leftovers for lunches or another dinner later in the week.

10. Eat at home. Make time for family meals at home. Meals prepared at home are often more nutritious and less expensive than restaurant meals. In addition to providing your family with nutritious meals and cutting food costs, eating at home gives you the invaluable opportunity to talk to and connect with your family.

Creating Digital Cookbooks

DigitalCookbook.tv
PanDigital.com sells a Kitchen HDTV Digital Recipe/Picture Frame using Bon Apetite collection. Can be used as a counter top device or install it under cabinet.  

Favorite Sites

MealsMatter.Org
Hershey's
Kraft Food & Family
FoodTV
GroceryGame.com
Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller

Favorite Gadgets in the Kitchen

Sankotu Knife
Egg Slicer
Kitchenaid Mixer
Great Grandmother's Cast Iron Skillet

Kat's Favorite Tech Tools from a Mom's Point of View

iPod Touch!!! "I can keep my schedule, pictures, music, check weather, etc. It's my FAVORITE!"
"My notebook in my kitchen!"

Listen to this episode of Moms Gone Geek.

We're gettin' goo-goo geeky-ga-ga talking about technologies surrounding birth and parenting. It's fascinating thinking about how far technology has advanced in this area of our lives — or hasn't in some cases. We've gone from polaroid pictures to online web albums; from paper journals to websites and blogs. We're curious to know what it was like when you were having kids? What kinds of tech was available for new moms and moms giving birth 10, 20 or 30 yrs ago? We want to know what was something you thought revolutionary for its time? It's all about Baby 2.0 Tech and how we're ga ga for baby gear — all this week on Moms Gone Geek.

Bonus Trivia Question

Can you identify the musical reference to a John Hughes movie at the end of the show? What was the name of the movie, song title and artist?

Pay close attention to the lyrics and I bet you can guess the geeky reference it also points to. The answer is at the end of this post for attribution. Don't cheat now!!

Special Guest

Pat Fauquet of MacMousecalls.com and Partner of Dr. Mac Consulting with Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus

Thanks for the awesome feedback to Freida, Jodi Spangler, and SwitchingGranny just to name a few.

Geeky Parenting Meme

Share with us something geeky you did or are currently doing as it relates to conception, pregnancy, parenting, grandparenting, etc.

For example, TheMacMommy used Apple's iCal to track her fertility for both pregnancies. (Tip: don't email your husband calendar invitations from your fertility calendar, it's just not sexy.)

Uber Geeky Mom Allison Sheridan showed Melissa the spreadsheet (pre-Excel days!) she saved of her basal temperature when she was trying to conceive her daughter. What an adorable little memoir!

Baby Registries

Suggestions for Baby Registries

External Hard Drives for backing up all those precious memories and all the data our kids now generate

Products

Pumpin' Pal

ItsBeen Baby Timer

Digi Time Capsule

Resources

BabyCenter

BabyNames.com

Babyname Wizard

Awesome Geeky Dads at DadLabs.com

Reviews

TheMacMommy Reviews Diaper Pails

TUAW Reviews Parenting Apps for the iPhone

iPhone/iPod Touch Apps

Baby Monitor

Baby Namer

My Baby (for saving your favorite baby names)

Pregnancy Kick Counter

Total Baby

Baby Tracker: Nursing

Baby Tracker: Diapers

Pregnancy Tracker

Special Thanks to Aaron Griffith of Baby Activity Logger for the iPhone.
TheMacMommy will be reviewing the app to report on later. Thanks for the review code!

For Fun

Lilypie Tickers

Bonus Trivia Sound Clip Answer

The Song: "Full of Love"
Written by Stephen Duffy and Roger Freeman
Performed by Dr. Calculus

The Movie: "She's Having a Baby" directed by John Hughes 1998 

 

Babies Don't Keep

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton