Have you been throwing food away?

Answer sincerely: how much of your money is wasted every week in food that you buy but ends up in a trash can? According to USDA (United State Department of Agriculture) studies, 10 to 40% of family’s grocery spending is wasted. It is easy to imagine why. Who have never had a recipe calling for half avocado or bell pepper? The other half seats on the fridge for weeks until goes directly to the trash can. What about a bunch of leftovers that we forget eating the next day? I will share a way to avoid it. Start planning your shopping list and stop buying whatever you think you will cook. Plus, start a weekly meal plan. If you figure out what you're going to make ahead of time, it not only reduces the 'what's for dinner?' stress but also allows you to build your meals around what you have on hand and what you really need to buy. I have been planning my menu for 3 weeks now and it works. So by Monday I know what we will have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. By the way, today is left over for my lunch and pasta with broccoli and chickpeas for dinner. There is this nice website - http://www.grocerylists.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/GrocerylistsDOTorg_Deluxe_v3_0.pdf- with free printable grocery shopping lists. I hope you print it out, do you “homework” and stop wasting. There are too many people around the world with nothing to eat. Let’s be more conscious. = )

Where is my coupon for organic broccoli?

It is Sunday and I open the newspapers looking for coupons. Most of them are for a bunch of processed food like pizza, canned soup, chips (all Kinds) and others. I don’t want eat it and question myself: where is my coupon for organic broccoli or spinach or lettuce? I hope someday the “processed and fat and big portions culture” ends up and we can start eating the food we deserve, the one that keeps us healthy, slim and with lots of energy. In this day, when we open the newspapers on Sunday we will find $1 off coupons for organic veggies, brown rice, “cage free” eggs, turkey meat without antibiotics, fresh wild salmon, strawberries made in Florida. While it doesn’t happen, you can go on line and find some discounts in all types of organics (not a lot off veggies and fruits though): http://organicdeals.blogspot.com/. Good luck!

Organic. Is it worth it?

I confess that in the past few months I have been spending a lot of money buying organic vegetables and fruits at stores like Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Abby’s (Carrollwood). But once I became a “jobless” I also found myself looking for different ways to save in my grocery shopping. I have been reading more about organics and I want to share a tip with you. Buy organic just the fruits and veggies that have high concentrations of pesticide residues (see the list below). Low-residue produce such as bananas, mangos and pineapples, that you peel them before eating, might not be worth the extra cost. This week, I bought bananas at Wallmart and strawberries at the organic store Abby’s. This works for me! I hope it helps you too.

Buy organic:
1)Peaches
2)Apples
3)Sweet Bell Peppers
4)Celery
5)Nectarines
6)Strawberries and blueberries (domestic)
7)Cherries
8)Pears
9)Grapes (imported)
10)Spinach
11)Potatoes
12)Lettuce/kale/collard greens