Market to Mouth: Organizing groceries can save money
June 17, 2009 by Louise Ross
Filed under A & E
Louise Ross
Last month, I wrote that eating well does not need to cost a lot. I proposed creating a budget as the most effective way of reducing grocery expenses, and then I listed the following six tips for staying within your budget: Write a grocery list; buy produce in season; avoid packaged food; buy bulk instead; stick to your list; avoid impulse purchases; don’t buy more than you need; and don’t buy what you can’t afford.
This month, let’s focus on minimal-waste benefits of organizing your groceries once you arrive home from the store.
Consider these four useful tricks:
1. Before adding fresh food to the fridge, move leftovers to the very front so they’re visible and easy to access. Even though fresh groceries are more enticing, it’s a good idea to eat leftovers first.
2. If you’ve purchased lots of leafy greens, say spinach, chard or unwashed lettuce, wash and dry the greens and store them in a salad spinner or wrapped in a linen dish cloth. If you don’t think you’ll eat all your greens within the week, sauté a portion in olive oil till they wilt, then freeze that portion for later use.
3. Do the same with protein items. For instance, if you’ve purchased more chicken pieces than you’ll eat before it turns less than fresh, wrap individual portions in foil, or toss pieces in zip-lock bags with marinade, and then freeze.
4. Decant your bulk items, like grains, pulses, oats, granola and nuts, into recycled glass bottles so, like the fridge, whatever’s in your cupboards is highly visible and easy to get at.
With tip No. 1 in mind, try this deliciously easy meal made with leftover mashed potato or leftover pasta:
Garlic, tomato shrimp with potato or pasta
Toss chopped onion and a smashed clove of garlic into a pan with olive oil. Sauté gently until transparent.
Wash and chop leafy greens and several tomatoes. Add veggies to pan with onion, stir, add lid to pan, turn heat to low and let veggies cook in their own juices for about 10 minutes.
Pour whole or chopped unfrozen shrimp over veggies, replace lid. Cook 10 more minutes.
Reheat leftover potato by adding it to a pot with milk and butter; reheat pasta by steaming, or boiling rapidly for 3 minutes.
To serve: Season, add a side of sliced avocado, squeeze lemon over the lot, top with chopped cilantro.
Ross, of Boulder, writes a recession-strategy food blog, www.markettomouth.blogspot.com. Here, she shares tips on grocery shopping on a budget and cooking healthy meals with no waste and no fuss. Contact her at markettomouth@gmail.com.
