Family & Parenting » Grocery Shopping

Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget – with Recipe

Jennifer — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:58:07 +0000

This Teriyaki Tuna Bowl is a recipe that takes just minutes to make and is fun to eat.

(ARA) – American households are rediscovering the art of cooking at home. More than 35 percent of consumers are cutting back on their restaurant dining, according to a recent American Research Group study. As many of us make this shift away from our favorite eateries, you may be tempted to turn to fast food rather than your kitchen.

Sixty-three percent of Americans believe that healthy foods cost more than unhealthy, and almost half think it may be cheaper and faster to go for the drive-through than to prepare a wholesome meal at home, according to an October 2008 CIGNA Healthcare survey. So if you’re a little rusty at healthy cooking on a budget, you’re probably not alone.

It’s time to take a look at strategic grocery shopping and healthy meal preparation to better survive the recession and keep you and your family healthy in the process.

Plan Your Meals

As you begin to reduce costs by cutting out trips to restaurants, fill the void with a meal plan and a well- thought-out grocery list. A big concern for many busy families is having enough time to actually cook the meal before all of the ingredients spoil. One way to avoid this is to make a calendar of meals that will fit your schedule and to use ingredients that you can keep at hand in your pantry. Have the whole family help in planning and preparing the meal. In the end, you’ll be healthier and have more time together.

Choose Ingredients that Fit Different Dishes

Many of the key items that are used to create a host of meals are found in the canned and packaged food aisles of your favorite grocery store. These aisles provide a plentitude of ingredients for most of your favorite recipes, while offering both convenience and nutrition at a great value.

“A great way to make sure you maximize the value of your purchases at the grocery store is by going to Web sites beforehand that offer coupons and multiple recipe ideas for one type of product,” says registered dietician Stephanie Clark. “I like the BumbleBee.com Web site because you can stock up on their healthy, protein-packed seafood items and never run out of delicious recipe ideas. The site has a user-friendly recipe finder that allows you to search by meal type, ingredient, and even special dietary considerations. It is a great tool for planning out your shopping list.”

Use the Food Pyramid

The food pyramid has been a meal planning tool seemingly forever, and with good reason. The new MyPyramid food guidance system is another great way to help you identify how much to consume from each food group in order to achieve a healthy lifestyle that balances nutrition and exercise.

As a key building block of the MyPyramid system, proteins, particularly those like chicken and fish, can provide the basis for many healthy meals. A wide variety of these meals can be prepared for a couple of dollars. With just a few cans of tuna and a bag of whole grain pasta you can make meals rich in protein and heart-healthy omega-3s. When you add in a glass of milk, some vegetables and a side of fruit, you’ve got that trusty pyramid on the table in minutes.

Get creative. Lean protein, such as tuna, does not have to be limited to traditional tuna sandwiches, but can be played up into low-fat meals with a twist. Here is a recipe that takes just minutes to make and is fun to eat. Serve it with chopsticks to add some extra flare to your table.

Teriyaki Tuna Bowl

Servings: Serves 4
Course: Dinner
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Dietary Considerations: Good source of omega-3s, Kid-friendly, Low calorie, Low fat, Low sugar

Ingredients:
2 cans or pouches (5 ounces) Bumble Bee Tuna, drained and flaked
8 cups cooked rice
1 cup cooked julienned carrot
2 cups cooked broccoli florets
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (to taste)

Directions:
Prepare rice according to package directions. Set aside. In sauce pan, steam carrots and broccoli in water about 10 minutes until tender crisp. Heat teriyaki sauce in microwave to warm. Serve rice, tuna and vegetables in small bowl with warmed teriyaki sauce drizzled to cover.

Nutrition Information for one serving (253 g): Calories 230 (from Fat 10), Fat 1 g (Saturated 0 g), Trans Fat 0, Cholesterol 30 mg, Sodium 1650 mg, Total Carbohydrates 33 g, Fiber 3 g, Sugars 5 g, Protein 22 g

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Strategies for Saving a Bundle on Groceries

Jennifer — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:19:08 +0000

Food prices are up, way up. The overall cost of weekly groceries today is nearly 6 percent more than last year – higher than the inflation rate. As food prices continue to rise, shoppers are on the hunt for easy ways to save money on groceries.

“The key to cutting the grocery bill is not about changing the way you eat, but about changing the way you buy the foods that you like to eat,” says Stephanie Nelson of www.CouponMom.com. She offers three simple principles to help everyday grocery shoppers become “strategic shoppers” who can save big at the checkout.

Know How to Get Low Prices: Strategic shoppers learn the price ranges of their most common grocery items by starting a “price book” and stocking up when favorite items hit the lowest prices. By taking this approach, shoppers can save an average of 50 to 70 percent off of these items.

Store loyalty cards are another key strategy for saving at the grocery store. Some loyalty programs send extra coupons in the mail and even offer discounts on the food bill once a certain dollar amount is spent in the store.

Know How to Use Coupons: When it comes to coupons, it’s important to know when to use them, where to use them and where to find them. As a strategic shopper, be sure to recognize when favorite brand name items hit their lowest prices and use the coupons at that point to save the most money on the grocery bill.

Many grocery stores offer shoppers even more savings through “bonus” coupon programs. This means that these stores will double or triple coupons up to a certain amount, such as 50 cents. Shoppers can also use the free grocery deals lists for 41 stores in 50 states available at www.couponmom.com to save money by combining sales and coupons.

Know Where to Find Coupons: Strategic shoppers seek out coupons from traditional sources, like the Sunday newspaper, as well as from online coupon Web sites, like http://www.Shortcuts.com. A few coupon-collecting strategies include:

* Buy more than one copy of the newspaper when it is a high-coupon week.

* Sign up for store loyalty cards to receive special coupon mailings and coupons at checkout.

* Use free online coupons that can be linked to loyalty cards at http://www.Shortcuts.com.

* Review the weekly ads for local grocery stores for extra savings coupons and specials.

* Look out for coupons in the store: red coupon shelf boxes, tear off pads on store displays, at the customer service counter and on product packages.

Log on to http://www.Shortcuts.com for a free e-book called “Shortcuts and The Coupon Mom System Show You How to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half.” Full of tips to help shoppers take full advantage of coupons, this e-book offers tips that can help anyone see significant savings on their receipt, every time they shop for groceries.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Navigating the Meat Case

Jennifer — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:25:09 +0000

The Informed Shopper’s Guide to Understanding Your Beef Choices

(ARA) – Have you ever paused in front of the beef case in your favorite grocery store, overwhelmed at the choices available? Armed with a little knowledge about the options — like grain-fed, grass-finished, certified organic and natural beef — meat case shoppers can make an informed decision and feel good about taking home the type of beef that best fits their family’s needs.“Rather than feel overwhelmed, consumers should be excited that beef producers are providing a variety of choices to fit our varying lifestyles and tastes” says Janet Anderson, M.S., R.D., food safety expert and director of the Safe Food Institute. “The key to navigating the meat case is to understand the differences and similarities between the various choices of beef.”

Before your next trip to the local meat case, bone up on the different choices of beef to make your shopping a breeze and make sure you get what you’re looking for:

Grain-fed beef

Grain-fed cattle spend most of their lives eating grass in pastures before moving to a feedlot. While at the feedlot, they are fed a carefully balanced diet of grain and important vitamin and mineral supplements for approximately four to six months. Research shows consumers generally prefer the taste of grain-fed beef because of its tenderness and flavor-enhancing marbling.

Did you know? If packaging doesn’t indicate otherwise on a cut of beef in the grocery store, it’s probably grain-fed, because that is the most widely produced kind of beef.

Grass-finished beef

Grass-finished beef (sometimes marketed as grass-fed beef) comes from cattle that have been raised on pasture their entire lives. While most cattle spend the majority of their lives in pastures eating grass, then move to a feedlot for grain-finishing, grass-finished beef cattle remain on a pasture and forage diet for finishing. Most grass-finished beef is imported from Australia and New Zealand, where grass is in greater abundance than feed corn and grows year-round.

Did you know? Grass-finished beef may have a distinctively different taste and can benefit from alternative preparation methods, including marinades and shorter cooking times.

Certified organic beef

Certified organic beef must meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program standards. Organically raised cattle must be fed 100 percent organic feed. In addition, the organic standards require that cattle may not be given hormones to promote growth or antibiotics for any reason. If an animal is sick, it cannot be denied treatment to ensure its health, however, any animal that is treated with antibiotics must be taken out of the National Organic Program.

Did you know? Both grain-fed and grass-finished cattle can qualify for certified organic programs.

Natural beef

Natural beef must be minimally processed and contain no additives. However, the government’s definition of natural does not relate to the way animals are raised or what they are fed. Unlike certified organic products, currently there is no government certification program for naturally raised beef. Many companies have created their own “natural” production guidelines. Common production claims are “Raised without Hormones,” “Raised without Antibiotics” or “Corn-fed.” Read the label carefully to understand what a particular company means when it says “natural.”

Did you know? By USDA’s definition, most beef in the meat case is natural, whether the label says it or not.

“While each type of beef varies slightly from the next, the common denominator is safety,” Anderson says. “No matter which type of beef you choose, all beef goes through the same rigorous inspection process and government guidelines to ensure our beef remains the safest in the world.”

Beef producers are vigilant on the farm and food safety processes take place throughout the entire beef production chain to ensure the safety of beef from the pasture to the grocery store. But the attention paid to food safety can’t end when you check out at the grocery store; you can play a role in keeping beef safe by practicing food safety in your own kitchen:

* Use an instant-read thermometer to make sure beef is cooked to the proper internal temperature: 160 F for ground beef and 145 F for steaks and beef roasts.

* Keep your foods out of the danger zone — the unsafe temperatures between 40 F and 140 F — to prevent the potential for bacterial growth.

* Avoid cross-contamination by keeping your hands, countertops, dish towels and cooking utensils clean after handling uncooked meat by washing thoroughly with soap and hot water.

For more food safety tips along with great-tasting and healthy recipes for all of the choices of beef, visit www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. Funded by The Beef Checkoff.

Courtesy of ARAcontent