Spend Smart. Eat Smart.

We all know that fruits and vegetables are great for weight management and reduce the risk of chronic disease.  Fewer than 10% of us eat the amount we need.

Why don’t we eat 4-5 cups of fruits and vegetables a day like we’re supposed to?  Sometimes it’s because we don’t have them on hand at home, we don’t like the taste, we don’t know how to prepare them, they aren’t available at our local store, or we think they cost too much.

The index price of fruits and vegetables has gone up by about 40% in the last 30 years while the price of some processed foods has gone down. Wal-Mart’s recent announcement of lowering the cost of fruits and vegetables in their stores sounds great.  If fruits and vegetables are more affordable, we will all benefit. 

I just hope Wal-Mart doesn’t lower the prices they pay to farmers. They say they are going to lower their costs by making their supply chain more efficient.  I hope they can do it.  

In the meantime, if you want great recipes that include fruits and vegetables check our recipes on the Spend Smart Eat Smart website.

-pointers from Peggy

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With the holidays behind us its time to find ways to trim some of those extra pounds and pay off some bills.  It’s possible to eat healthier and stick to a budget.  Here are three ways to trim your food spending without sacrificing good nutrition.

1. Before you go to the store know what you are going to buy.  First, check your refrigerator and cupboard.  Do you already have items on hand for this week’s meals?  Then review local flyers for weekly specials.  No need to buy a newspaper; most stores have their ads online.  Include some of the sale items in your weekly menu.  Finally, make a list.  It’s critical to help manage your grocery budget; otherwise, it is easy to be swayed by unhealthy foods and things you don’t really need this week.

2. Back to Basics.  Fill your grocery cart with fruits and vegetables, meat, beans, chicken, fish, pasta, brown rice, whole grain bread, basic cereals like oatmeal, non-fat or low fat milk, and yogurt.  Skip the high profile foods like granola, power bars, chips, special drinks, and juices.  Package your own single size servings of  cheese and crackers and granola bars. (Peggy’s Pet Peeve …. Frozen vegetables are a good buy because you can use only what you need and the rest won’t spoil. Now, in the name of convenience, it’s hard to find a bag that isn’t a “steamer” bag.  The cost of the bags hasn’t changed, but now there are only 12 ounces instead of 16.)

3.  Drink Water.  Stop buying soda, juice and sports drinks, and switch to plain water or water with lemon.  Consumption of sweetened beverages for women in the U.S. has more than doubled, at a cost of 300-400 calories a day and $500 a year.  Soda, fruit drinks, sports beverages, lattes, smoothies, and sweetened iced tea are thought to be one of the main contributing factors to our epidemic of obesity.  Invest in two (2) refillable water bottles for each member of the family so there is always a cold one in the refrigerator.  Label them with names so you can reuse the containers.

-pointers from Peggy

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We are constantly reminded that non-food items are more expensive at grocery stores than big box stores. Is this true? Not at the stores I checked in central Iowa! The laundry detergent, Xtra, was cheaper than the store brands at 3 of the 4 stores, and only one cent more at Fareway. Also, the store brands were almost always more than the Xtra brand.

This just goes to show that sometimes you have to get out your calculator and do the math to figure out the best price. Unit price = cost/unit (loads, ounces, number of items). However,  unit price doesn’t compare quality or consider your family’s preferences.

So where should we go to get the most economically-priced laundry detergent? If you are grocery shopping and need laundry detergent, I would recommend purchasing it there. It will save you the time and fuel used in making the trip to a big box store. 

With laundry detergent, another way to save is to carefully measure out the recommended amount instead of just pouring directly into the washer.

 -advice from Amanda

resources cost, detergent, grocery store, laundry, non-food items, unit price

Thanksgiving is just a couple weeks away and for many of us that means lots of great food. But it doesn’t have to mean a lot of calories, extra weight, and an empty wallet. Last weekend we figured out a traditional menu that will serve 8 people a healthy meal for $30. 

Why is it healthy? The turkey is roasted—not fried, the food is homemade so it isn’t loaded with sodium like many of the  convenience foods, the vegetables and fruits are prepared letting the natural flavors shine rather than be smothered, and we have skipped the crust on the pie and gone right to the ‘good for you’ pumpkin filling. 

My sister is trying to promote a “Turkey Trot” on Thanksgiving morning for us—just like they do in her husband’s hometown. The Turkey Trot is a 3K route and everyone walks or runs as far as they want and are able. This sounds like a great plan to me, and I think it would work with our family since we share the cooking. Walking and talking sure makes the exercise go more quickly.

Check out the turkey dinner recipes and see how we figured the costs.

-pointers from Peggy

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Last summer, Stacey Krawczyk posted an article on food and health.com called “Salmon is less expensive than hot dogs.” The article focuses on the cost of protein foods since meals usually revolve around protein, and protein foods are a high cost item in meals. Ms. Krawczyk compared the cost per gram of protein in various products. We did the same thing with prices in Ames. The prices are a little different, sometimes because of the type or brands that were used (for example, Krawczyk used kosher hot dogs). Hot dogs seem inexpensive because the cost per pound or package is less, but you have to eat 4 hot dogs to get the same protein in a 3-ounce hamburger.

If you would like to see the protein cost comparisons for Iowa, check out the cost of 1 gram of protein comparison. We have posted our findings from lowest to highest cost per ounce.

-pointers by Peggy

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100-calorie snack packs are a temptation when I am trying to keep my calories under control…I’m tempted because they are convenient, but I always balk at the price. Plus, most of them are higher in sugar and fat than I usually eat. The University of Arkansas gives ideas for healthy snacks you can portion yourself in 100-Calorie Snacks: 20 Choices.

-pointers by Peggy

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Yes, it costs money and takes some time to eat healthy. But when people who have a large, flavored cappuccino or a 32-ounce soda in their hands tell me that they can’t afford fruits and vegetables, I want to point out how many they could have bought for the same amount as their snack.

Every six months we update the prices on our handout, Fruits and Vegetables-Try for More. The prices this time were less than they were last time we updated. This might be because many of the fruits and vegetables are in season.

When I can buy 9 medium apples for $2.00, I think that is a good deal.

-pointers by Peggy

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What is cheaper? The slaw mix or the entire head of cabbage and shredding it yourself?

This was a question I encountered recently when I was planning to make broiled fish tacos.  (If you have access to fresh fish, this is a way to prepare the fish without drowning it in grease by breading and deep fat frying!). I discovered I could pay $ .22 per cup for the prepackaged cabbage slaw, or just $ .11 per cup if I shredded it myself – half the price! That’s pretty impressive. But whether you use the slaw mix or the whole head, either is an inexpensive source of nutrient rich vegetable.

 -pointers by Peggy

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Small seedless?…Larger with seeds?…Cantaloupe?

Last week I took the time to weigh the melons and figure the unit price by dividing the price by the pounds ($/#). It turns out all three pictured were around $.28/pound. I was surprised because I thought the seedless would cost more.

Seedless watermelon – 11 pounds for $2.99 = $.27/pound
Seeded watermelon – 18 pounds for $4.99 = $.28/pound
Cantaloupe – 7 pounds for $2.00 = $.29/pound

Of course, none of this information tells us anything about the flavor or ripeness. Last week I got a melon so ripe I called the store and complained. The manager told me next time I shop to bring the receipt and get a refund.

Three tips for selecting ripe melons include:

1. they should feel heavy for their size,
2. have a sweet smell, and
3. have a yellow underside where they touched the ground.

-pointers by Peggy

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Is fresh fruit expensive? Many people think so. Recently I was really hungry for fresh peaches. The store I was at had only 1 variety. They were $1.48 per pound and the peaches were very large. I bought 4 of them. When they rang up, they totaled $2.92…more than I thought they would be and more then I would normally pay for 4 pieces of fruit—$.73 a piece.

Here are some tips for controlling the cost of fresh fruit:

1. Watch size of individual fruit. Small peaches would have been about 3 per pound and even at $1.48/pound they would have been less than $.50 a piece.
2. Watch quantity purchased. I purchased fresh cherries earlier this summer. They were $2.99 per pound, a pretty good price for fresh cherries. I was so surprised when they rang up over $10!  They were pre-bagged and even though the bag didn’t seem that big, I had purchased over 3 pounds of cherries.  Just be sure you can eat the quantity you purchase!
3. Store them correctly. If fruit needs to ripen (like peaches), place them in a basket on the counter or in a brown paper bag. Once they ripen (or if they were already ripe when purchased), place them in the refrigerator—either in the paper bag or in a bowl/basket. Some fruits (like peaches and pears) spoil from the inside out when kept in a plastic bag; so, when you get home from the store, take the fruit out of the plastic bag you bought it in.
4. Keep it in perspective. My peaches were $2.92 and that seemed like a lot, but I recently bought a bag of baked chips that cost $3.79—less filling and less nutritious than the 4 peaches! Also, $.75 for a piece of fruit may seem expensive, but a regular-sized candy bar at a convenience store is $1.19.

So, enjoy that fresh fruit!

-contributed by Renee

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