In this Feb. 21, 2020 photo, a worker checks items on a shelf in the produce section of an Amazon Go Grocery store set to open soon in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Following the opening of several smaller convenience-type stores using an app and cashier-less technology to tally shoppers' selections, the store will be the first Amazon Go full-sized cashier-less grocery store. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
If you feel challenged when it comes to managing food prices, especially fresh produce, you are not alone.
We all know our diet should include plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit but making that happen can mean having to change our habits.
There is no point in buying a whole bag of avocados cheaply if you can’t eat them before they go bad.
It’s made me recall the shopping habits of British women decades ago. With a wicker basket on the arm women walked to the neighbourhood supermarket daily to buy what was needed for that day’s meals.
Times have changed but it is still better to shop more frequently and only for the items you know you will use.
Don’t buy a cabbage, 10 tomatoes, a bag of apples, a bag of spinach and three cucumbers unless you have meals in mind to consume them in the next few days.
When I see a fresh cabbage that actually has green outer leaves – that is a rarity now – I immediately think of a meal where a coleslaw would be ideal for that night, sausage and mash with cooked cabbage the next night, the leftover cabbage and mashed potato being a great base for supper on the third night. That would be what British people call “bubble and squeak.” You allow the cold mash and cooked cabbage mixture to slowly brown in a skillet and develop a crispy outer layer. That can be a meal in itself or a few pieces of bacon makes it really special. If there is any fresh cabbage left over for the fourth night I will go back to coleslaw with chili that I pull out, cooked, from the freezer.
Personally the only meat I ever put fresh into the freezer is a roast. I make a point of buying meat in large quantities when it is on sale at a very good price. I go home and cook it all that day.
If it happens to be ground beef I will make chili with some, cooked a portion of it with onion and herbs as a base for cottage pies and also sausage rolls. The mixture for cottage pies will need leftover mashed potatoes from another meal added. The mixture for sausage rolls has to cool down completely before you can assemble them using some shortcrust pastry that is easy to make. If I really have a large quantity of ground beef some will become a beef curry.
All that cooked food is stored in containers that provide the serving size I need for one meal and are then placed in the freezer.
Since adopting this strategy, about 10 years ago, we eat out less than we ever did before and preparing a meal with fresh vegetables or salad each evening takes very little time. You are also never paying full price for meat.
If you live alone it is a great strategy because you can take advantage of sales, cook in quantity but enjoy single servings when you’d like a home cooked meal. Over time the variety in your freezer will be considerable to choose from.
It is possible to reduce the cost of healthy home cooked food but it does mean having a strategy.
Here’s to a new way to ensure you eat healthily and here’s To Your Health.
To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or 403-528-8635.
