Money Saving With Produce

There are some easy ways to save money on fresh produce for you an your family.

Obviously, looking for sales on produce is the first step to saving money in the produce department. Sales are a great way to trim your grocery budget in all departments in the grocery store.

There are not a lot of coupons available for fresh produce, so finding great sales are the best way to save money.
Shopping the seasons are always great as well.
Click here for a list of produce and the best time of year to purchase!

When you find a deal you can't pass up it is always a good idea to buy extras and do some freezing for future recipes!

These peppers were a little soft, but nothing that wasn't easily fixed by washing chopping and throwing in the freezer.


Now we have a huge bag of peppers in our freezer waiting to be used! 

Produce 101

We've all done it. 

Lets be honest. 

There are always produce items that go to waste in our fridges at the end of the week. 

I get so angry at myself when this happens. 

I buy that item for a specific meal, or to have on hand for snacks or sides. 

So why is it going to waste when it had a purpose to be placed in my shopping cart?

I personally can track this careless act of wasting produce down to two separate things.

1. Forgotten Item in Fridge

2. Leftovers never used

One of my 2014 goals is to be more frugal in the items I am purchasing, and to get more out of that particular item. 

Forgotten items in the fridge - there are many ways to make this occurrence less frequent. I have found that the produce that is placed in my crisper drawer gets forgotten about very easily. The drawer is completely opaque and I find that because we can not see into it, we forget what we have put in there. A solution might be to open the drawer more often, but I have always found that out of sight out of mind often happens with me. I recently went to the local dollar store and purchased a large plastic basket that now sits on the fridge shelf with all our produce on it. Now every time we open the fridge we can see all of the produce we have on hand. What do I now do with the crisper drawer? I put extra milk bags, extra condiments, or things I want to hide from J so he doesn't eat it before a particular meal! 

Leftovers Never Used -  There are many produce items that I buy on a regular basis; bananas, apples, oranges, pears, kiwis, etc, where there are certain produce items I may purchase for the use in a particular recipe. After making that recipe there are usually left overs of that item depending on how much the recipe has called for. After pooping the item back into the fridge I find that I often forget about these items and then they are going to waste. What I have started to do over the last few months is either freeze these items for the next recipe it calls for, or finding a new way to use that item. As you've probably already noticed, I think freezing is amazing. It is so easy! All you do is clean the item, pat it dry, throw it in a freezer bag or container, label it and pop it in the freezer for the next time you plan on making that recipe. I have also found that finding new ways and recipes to use items is also a way to reduce waste. For example, if I am making mushroom and spinach fettuccine alfredo that week, I will find other recipes that week to incorporate leftover spinach or mushrooms. By doing this I am getting the most out of the item I possibly can.

Easily Freeze Spinach

Spinach is great. 

It has so many different uses, and is easily a staple produce item in our household. 

I sometimes find that we have troubles finishing all the spinach before it starts to go bad, so I have started to freeze the spinach to get the most I possibly can out of it. 

Frozen spinach is not the best for salads, but it works great for soups, stews, pasta recipes, or even spinach dip! Yum-o. 

Here are my simple steps to freeze fresh spinach for later uses:

• Place spinach in a sink full of cold water. 
• Gently swish spinach around sink making sure all spinach is getting covered with the water.
• In sections, place spinach into salad spinner and spin until dry. 
• Transfer spinach into freezer safe bags (I highly recommend dating these bags for easy use!)
• Tie bags and toss into freezer 
• Pull out spinach and throw directly into recipe, or allow time to let it thaw!  

Have a fantastic day everyone! 
Enjoy your produce!

Vegetable Tray

 

 

Recently, I was pondering ways to eat all of the fresh produce we love in a timely manner. More then once I have thrown something into the crisper drawer and then completely forgotten it was there only to find it has gone bad the next time I venture into that drawer. Then having to throw it out, basically throwing out cash every week.  

I found this great tray at the local dollar store and knew it would be perfect for this project.

The container was 4 large section, and one smaller section.

It was only $3.00.

 

Currently In Our Vege Platter:

~ Baby Carrots

~ Cucumber Slices

~ Celery Sticks

~ Pepper Slices

~ Broccoli

 

These Veges Would Also Work Great:

~ Cherry Tomatoes

~ Mushrooms

~ Cauliflower

~ Radishes

~ Green Beans

~ Snap Peas

 

 

I pull this tray out every day with lunch and sometimes in between for snacking.

It is great to be able to have fresh, ready to go produce ready for eating.

At the end of the week I take whatever is leftover and chop it up and add it to whatever dinner e are having that night.

Pasta, soups, stir fry, sauces.

These vegetables are so versatile that there are tons of things you can throw them into!

 

What are your families favorite veges for snacking on?