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Trader Joe’s is the king of dreaming up new and unusual ingredients that suddenly everyone has to have in their kitchens. The prime example is, of course, their Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning that obtained an almost-instant cult-like status. Have you tried it? You really need to try it.

The grocery giant recently added another, super-unique kind of seasoning that I imagine you’re about to see everywhere: Mushroom & Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend. The mixture of kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper, mushroom powder, and mustard seed promises to give all your dishes an extra savory kick, but can Trader Joe’s make lightning strike twice? To find out, I tried out the blend on three different proteins I typically eat for dinner on weeknights: chicken tenders, ground turkey, and a salmon filet. Here’s how it went.

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Pizza is one of those foods that’s good even when it’s bad, but this weekend I learned the exception to that is when your slice gets soggy. See, Reddit (always a source of intriguing life and food advice) had a post that the best way to reheat pizza is to do it on the stove in a pan and add a little water and cook until completely burned off. “Perfect pizza, like it just came out of the oven,” was the promise.

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In 2018 the U.S. bore the brunt of more than a dozen weather-related disasters, including but not limited to hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, the effects of which spanned the entire country, cost a lot of money, and impacted our nation’s food system at large.

As of October 9, there have been nearly a dozen weather events that each achieved the dubious award of costing over a billion dollars, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). This tally did not yet include the raging Camp, Ventura, and Woolsey fires that ravaged California from November through early December.

For many, it’s easy to forget a big storm or fire after the news cycle jumps to the next subject. But for others, especially those whose livelihoods depend on the wellbeing of crops or livestock (i.e., farmers and farm workers), the impacts are more largely felt — and for much longer.

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It might be months before you have to worry about the onslaught of flies bugging you on your outdoor picnics, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of some unfortunate truths. Last week Business Insider shared one of their classic horrifying-yet-informative videos on Twitter highlighting the germs that lurk in everyday life. BI says that simply swatting away a fly chilling on your potato salad or fruity frozen drink is no longer an option without knowledge of consequence.

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Cooking for a family is expensive; there are multiple mouths to feed, big appetites to satisfy, and picky eaters with costly demands. But cooking family meals that are both crowd-pleasing and budget-friendly is possible. How? By using inexpensive staple ingredients (like pasta, beans, or eggs) and putting them together in ways that only taste like they cost a lot of money.

To make your life easier, we rounded up 15 hearty family meals you can make with $10 or less — and focused on finding ones that are flexible enough to make everyone in your family happy. So the next time you’re not sure what to make, turn to these. Your family will love the recipes, and you’ll love the fact that they don’t cost a fortune.

A note on pricing: Our costs were calculated based on grocery prices sourced from Instacart, so your local prices may vary. (We also assumed you had a few staple ingredients — like olive oil, salt, and spices — on hand already.)

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Getting rid of things in order to save money certainly feels counterintuitive. But purging household items sets you up to waste less and spend less down the road. Here’s why.

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When we reached out to you guys on Facebook to see what cuts you make to your grocery lists to save money, a few of you pushed back, saying that you’d rather scrimp elsewhere — on dinners out, movies, or your Starbucks habit — before shaving your grocery bill. Others said there are a few small changes that can save you some money without making too big a sacrifice.

Here are 10 cuts that have helped our readers save on groceries.

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If you’re anything like me, I bet chicken is in constant rotation in your Whole30 meal plan. But I don’t just pick any chicken recipes. Since Whole30 requires a lot of cooking, I’m always after chicken recipes that are easy (both in effort and on my food budget) and can be made in big batches to stretch across multiple meals. These 10 recipes check all the boxes — and then some.

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As a design writer, I find trends to be a funny thing. I’m either on the hunt for “new” trends to report on, talking about what trends are “tired” and “over,” or, personally, hoping a trend hurries up and passes so I can go back to loving it and using it in my home without feeling “basic.” It’s a complicated relationship, if you couldn’t tell.

In all my years of doing this, I’ve learned that there’s one room in the house where ideas tend to stick around a bit longer — and that’s the kitchen. Good thing, considering ripping out cabinetry/appliances/fixtures on a whim every time a new trend pops up is neither budget-savvy nor sustainable in any way.

In fact, kitchen trends have a way of staying around for at least seven to 10 years. And while we seem to be nearing the apex of another shift (bye, all-white-everything), certain trends and design ideas we’ve all known and (maybe) loved in recently years don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Let’s discuss.

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If you had to make a big pot of soup to describe your personality, what would you throw in it? Is it smooth or chunky? Totally classic or completely out there? Does it call for obscure, fancy ingredients, or pantry staples? We looked to the stars and did some guessing of our own. See how your soup stacks up!

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