Stop being “lazy” and save on your groceries

There is a very simple way to always save on groceries in USA; do some work yourself. Stop buying fruits inside little containers and start peeling pineapples, cantaloupes, watermelons and go on. Also, get cheese in blocks (they are cheaper and taste better) and shrimp in the shells (ask your husband to clean it for you = )) Again, peel, shred and chop yourself and, for sure, you will save some money.

How to pay less for your electricity

If your electric bill is higher than you would like it to be, start paying attention to what time you have been baking, doing your laundry or running your dish washer. The idea behind it is simple; if you use electricity at high demand hours you will need to pay more for it. In the summertime, the best hours to save on your electric bill are between 11PM and 6AM. If this is too early or too late for you, try at least to run your dryer and dishwasher right before bed. Also, try to avoid the period of 1PM to 6PM. During these hours your cost of using electricity is increased of the high demand. More information: www.tampaelectric.com/residential/saveenergy/energyplanner/

In this website there are charts showing the low, medium, high and critical demand hours on weekdays, weekends and different seasons. Good luck!

$$$$ Gas $$$$

A week ago I went to Race Trak gas station and I spent 27 dollars to fill my tank. This week I went to another gas station, to be honest I don’t remember which one was it, I spent 31 dollars. I got confused about this difference so I checked if gas prices got higher, but it didn’t. The answer is: the prices can be really different in every gas station. So before filling the tank of your car, check on line the best price in the area you live. Why pay $ 2,65 if you can get for $2,49? Those are some websites to help you to find the best deal:
1)http://www.tampagasprices.com/GasPriceSearch.aspx
2)http://gasprices.mapquest.com/
If you find a big bargain in Tampa area, let me know = )

Go by walk or ride your bike

I grown up in a big city called Sao Paulo, in Brazil, watching my parents walking to the grocery store, pharmacy, street market and go on. When I first came to USA to do an exchange program in Clearwater (FL) I got so surprised because everything was far away and some streets and roads didn't have sidewalks. For sure it is a good excuse to don't walk but this is not a reality in everywhere. Acording the Clean Air Campaign website - http://www.cleanaircampaign.org/Take-Action/Improve-Your-Commute/Bicycle-Walkin - in the U.S. more than 25 percent of all auto trips are less than a mile. I bet there is at least one store close to your house. What about if you walk or bike to get there tomorrow? For sure, it will be good way to work out a little bit, be gentle to the environment and save gas. = ) By the way, I walk sometimes to Sweetbay close to my house and on Christmas I will get a bike to ride around.

Tap or bottle water?

A few months ago I was filling the bath tub and the tap water was light brown. I got scared and instead of calling the water system office to ask what was going and fight for an upgrade in the municipal water treatment, I just have decided to start buying bottle water. It means that since that day I have been wasting money and polluting the environment. But finally, today, I have decided to change it, so I started looking for solutions and information on the internet. Here it is: the New York Times estimates that drink it costs about $1,400 a year to someone to eight glasses of water a day from a bottle, versus about 49 cents for an annual supply of tap water. Also, looks like bottle water (Aquafina, Dasani and go on) are essentially filtered tap water. For me, those are good reasons to make us buy a filter and use to improve the water that comes out of the faucet home. But there is more: it is our greenest option since bottled water has many negative environmental impacts from the manufacture of plastic bottles through their disposal (almost 80% of them go directly to the garbage and not to the recycle bin). If you want to check the quality of water Tampa Bay area, go to: http://www.tampagov.net/dept_Water/files/Annual_Report_and_CCR/2009_water_quality_report.pdfTo know more about different filter options, from inexpensive pitchers to more costly systems: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/kitchen/water-filters/water-filter-buying-advice/index.htm.. I am planning to buy my pitcher this weekend, what about you?

My lion and elephant pets

When I was a little girl I remember asking my dad, more than once, if he could give me a lion and an elephant pet as a birthday present. In my imagination they would never grown up and we would have so much fun together. Of course, my dad never gave me this animals and he never explained neither that those are wild animals, who grown up a lot, who need eat a lot of food, who have a wild behavior and who must live a wild life. I got it by myself before I was 8 years old, but it seems like a lot of grown- ups still have this child fantasy. I don’t know about elephants, but lions and tigers “pets” are on sale on the internet. Unfortunately, it is so easy to find, believe me. In the e-how website they even teach you how to play with a tiger “pet”, which is incredible for me. Check this out: http://www.ehow.com/how_2049505_play-pet-tiger.html. Last weekend I went “The Big Cats Rescue” (http://www.bigcatrescue.org/), an animal sanctuary in Tampa, and saw dozens of rescued big cats (tigers, panthers, jaguars, leopards, lions) from all around USA who were abused, injured or abandoned. Please don’t try to be exotic, have a dog or a cat as a pet. And also teach your children that they can always watch animals in zoos and sanctuaries with no need to touch or have them at home.

What should we eat?

I need to confess that sometimes the more I read books and magazines the more I get confused about what I should eat. There are so many diets, so many nutritional findings and food pyramids. Also, there is a magazine telling me to eat salmon (frozen, fresh or farmed?), the other tells me about acaiberry from Brazil (a bottle of acai juice can cost $35 in USA. Can I buy fresh blueberries instead?), other about probiotics (is it ok to eat greek yogurt?), other about green tea (do I need to use the fresh herb or the one in a bag works too?)…the list is endless. Looking for some answers I got a book called Food Rules, by Michael Pollan. It doesn’t answer any of the questions above but has wonderful tips to all of us living in a “processed food era”. Here are some of them: a) Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food b) It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (Big Mac, Cheetos…) c) It is not food if it arrived through the window of your car d) Shop the peripheries of the supermarket (where produce, meat and fish, and dairy are) and stay out of the middle (processed food, candies, and staff made with high fructose corn syrup). I hope you like the tips and you can help me with some answers = )

Reduce waste and save money

“All You” magazine has a great idea in its August issue which is reduce waste using reusable mugs. How does it work? Every time you go to a coffee shop you bring your own mug and avoid creating trash. Check this out: many Starbucks locations offer 10 cents off if you bring your own container. Look this model that Target and many other places are selling: http://www.target.com/Not-Paper-Cup-Reusable-Mug/dp/B0016CSBJS. It costs around $20 dollars and lasts forever. By the way it can be a wonderful gift for coffee lovers.

Vegetarian once a week

Have you ever heard about "Meatless Monday"? It is a campaign that goals reduce meat consumption by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of the planet. As a “fake” vegetarian (it means that I still eat seafood and sometimes turkey) and a fan of healthy food, I love this idea. So this week, after reading an article in Time magazine about this subject, I told my husband (he likes meat) about this idea, and he sad “Do you want us to do it”? Can you imagine my answer? Yes, yes, yes! Ok, Monday there is no meat home anymore, but we will still have great dinners! If you want join us, what I really recommend, start reading the campaign website where there is meatless recipes ideas: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/. To be honest I haven’t tried any of them yet. But next Monday I want to try the Quinoa Zucchini Burguer = ) and share with you. Also, next October 25 (Monday at 6PM), I am planning to go to Publix Apron’s cooking school to take their Vegan Meatless Monday cooking workshop($35). The menu of the evening will be: Smokey Portabella Chili; Grilled Tomato and Eggplant Strata with Creamy Corn Sauce; Marinated Seared Tofu Filets with Autumn Vegetables; Silken Tofu “Cheesecake”. After a hands on workshop you eat what you just helped preparing. Check this out and let me know if you want join me: http://www.publix.com/aprons/schools/Tampa/ClassDetailReservations.do?childId=12308