National Fried Chicken Day

Take this day to enjoy the hot, crunchy goodness of fried chicken. If you’ve never made it yourself before, today is the day to heat the oil and fry it up. Or order some from your favorite restaurant.

**

NATIONAL ANTI-BOREDOM MONTH

During the entire month of July, we celebrate National Anti-Boredom Month. This monthly observance encourages everyone to identify what makes us bored and find ways to combat it!

July was selected, according to the founder Alan Caruba, because after July 4th, there’s not much going on and it’s the hotter part of the summer break from school. That’s no excuse to experience boredom during July, though.

When fending off boredom, it’s important to know what the symptoms are and why we get bored. We often associate being bored with having nothing to do, but that’s not always the case. Many times, we have plenty to do or are even doing it, but the task at hand does not stimulate our minds. It may be repetitive or not challenging enough.

When this happens, we can become irritable, tired, or begin to not care about how well we do a task. We may also seek out stimulation to relieve the boredom. Depending on what we seek, it may be good or bad for us; We can form good habits or bad addictions.

HOW TO OBSERVE #AntiBoredomMonth

Finding creative and healthy ways to beat boredom will improve our everyday lives. Once we’ve identified our causes, approach boredom with a set of positive challenges or stimuli to keep it at bay.

• Play – Board games are an excellent way to fight boredom.
• Get physical – Exercise not only provides stimuli but also helps change the scenery and improve health.
• Learn – Visit a museum, read a book or take a class.
• Clean -Tackling a cluttered cupboard, closet or even garage brings about a bit of satisfaction for a job well done.
• Cook – Making in our own kitchen with ingredients we enjoy gives us two ways to be satisfied.
• Be creative – Even if you usually don’t create, just trying can help break the boredom cycle.
• Volunteer – Helping someone who needs something more than you often makes us reassess why we were bored in the first place.
• Get social – Visit a friend or neighbor. Kids, this includes you! Aunts, uncles or cousins would enjoy a friendly conversation over an ice-cold popsicle.

Try these and ideas and more to beat boredom. Share your best approaches by using #AntiBoredomMonth and follow on social media.

We have 21 Ways to Beat Boredom if you need more suggestions.

THE BORING HISTORY

In the late 1980s, Alan Caruba created National Anti-Boredom Month as part of his on-going boredom themed efforts.

**

Did you know?

Stocking up on store sales is a great way to get deals and save money. It’s also convenient to fill up the freezer and have meals at the ready, cutting down on the number of trips shoppers must take to the supermarket. When purchasing and storing meat, shoppers need to keep safety and taste in mind. According to FoodSafety.gov, frozen meat that is kept at a temperature of 0 F or lower will be safe to eat indefinitely. However, being safe to eat and being fit to eat are two different things. Meat can degrade over time due to freezer burn, which can affect flavor and texture. In general, the FDA offers these guidelines:

• Whole chickens and turkeys — 1 year
• Poultry pieces — 9 months
• Raw steaks — 6 to 12 months
• Chops — 4 to 6 months
• Roasts — 4 to 12 months
• Pork chops and roasts — 4 to 12 months
• Processed pork products — 1 to 2 months
• Fish (lean) — 6 to 8 months
• Fish (fatty) — 2 to 3 months
• Ground meat — 3 to 4 months

**

Skillet-Fried Chicken by Betty Crocker

Ingredients

• 1/2cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
• 1tablespoon paprika
• 1 1/2teaspoons salt
• 1/2teaspoon pepper
• 3- to 3 1/2-lb cut-up whole chicken
• Vegetable oil

Steps

Prevent your screen from going dark while you cook.

• 1 In shallow dish, mix flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Coat chicken with flour mixture.
• 2 In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil (1/4 inch) over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil, skin sides down, about 10 minutes or until light brown; reduce heat to low. Turn chicken skin sides up.
• 3 Cook uncovered about 20 minutes, without turning, until juice of chicken is clear when thickest pieces are cut to bone (at least 165°F).