Extension for Real Life
Description
Extension for Real Life is a product of the MSU Extension Service’s Office of Agricultural Communications.
That’s a long way of saying we are professional communicators who get to talk about food, families, 4-H, flowers, and farming for a living.
Blog content is created by a core team of communicators, including Susan Collins-Smith, Ellen Graves, Natasha Haynes, Qula Madkin, Michaela Parker, and Jonathan Parrish. But we get by with a lot of help from our friends in Ag Comm and Extension!
You can reach us at 662-325-2262 or extreallife@msstate.edu
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The Food Factor: Freezer Meal Prep for Orange Teriyaki Chicken
Freezer meals are all the rage as everyone looks for ways to save time in the kitchen. This recipe is a simple, marinated chicken recipe that you could easily double or triple.
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How to Mulch
If you are planning your spring garden chores, mulching is likely on your list. But you may not know that there is a right and wrong way to apply mulch.
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Spicy Venison Burgers
Video by Jonathan Parrish
You may not know that our “set” for The Food Factor is a real kitchen in the home of one of our team members. Her husband loves to hunt and share food, so while we are working on the show we often get to sample a variety of venison dishes.
We found this flavorful recipe for Spicy Venison Burgers in a venison recipe booklet from Cornell University Cooperative Extension and thought it would be perfect for The Food Factor!
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Tips for Growing Indoor Plants
If you need something green to brighten up your space or get you through the winter months, there is a plant out there for you. But efore you shop for plants, understand the environment of your home or office because different plants have different needs. You must consider six factors when choosing indoor plants if you want to be successful: light, temperature, water, humidity, soil, and fertilization.
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How to Make a Kale Salad
Kale is a healthy leafy green vegetable that you’ll find year-round in the grocery store but grows abundantly in winter. While it’s great chopped up in soups and stews, it can also be delicious as the base of a tasty salad.
I've discovered two tricks that help make kale better as a salad green. Let’s be honest: kale can be tough to chew and bitter in taste. The first trick is to remove the kale leaves from the stems and massage them. The stems are typically stringy and crunchy, so that helps with the chewiness. Massaging the kale leaves gives them a softer, more silky texture and also reduces the bitter flavor.
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Easy Ways to Start Recycling
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Tips for Controlling Portion Sizes
The holiday season is finally over and life is slowing down a bit. Everyone has made their New Year’s resolutions to be the best versions of themselves for 2020.
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The Food Factor: Top 5 Posts for 2019
To wrap up 2019, we wanted to share with you our most popular posts this year.
It's always fun to see what resonates with our food-loving friends. We strive to share recipes we think are healthy, fun, and realistic -- no 25-ingredient recipes here!
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Gardening Tasks for January
Do you have improving your garden or landscape on your New Year’s resolution list? If you don’t, you should! Each month, we are going to offer a few suggested tasks to do. So, without further ado, here are four tasks for you to complete in your garden and landscape during the month of January: