Tip 63: Vacation groceries

Sorry for the limited posting last week. We spent our final week of freedom before the school year begins hanging out at the Duck, NC beach house with the dogs, soaking up some remaining summer sun. We also tried a new trick this trip, and I'd say it was a success, so I share with you...

Tip 63: If you're going on a trip where you'll have access to a kitchen and you plan to cook many meals, purchase your groceries at home and pack them in your car. It will save time and most likely money.

We are fortunate that we get to stay in Matt's parents' beach house, which is fully stocked with every kitchen implement and pantry staple you could need. So, that cuts down on what we need to bring or buy. But, for some reason, on past trips we've done all our grocery shopping at the beach, which involves visiting grocery stores that are not nearly as well stocked as the ones we have at home, or the prices are more expensive, or both. I also generally dislike shopping in grocery stores when I'm not familiar with the aisle layout. I love to get in, get what I need, and get out.

This is a really simple strategy, but it's one I plan to implement in the future because it meant that we brought with us only what we needed, used what we needed, and eliminated some of the inevitable waste that comes with poor menu and grocery list planning. It's also a great way to use up anything left in your fridge or pantry without worrying about it going bad while you're away.

And, of course, by doing your grocery shopping before you leave for your trip, you get to maximize the time spent relaxing with your loved ones. We are happy to report that on this trip our dogs showed the least fear they've ever shown around water (despite their size, they are kind of wimpy). And Doc loves digging -- unsuccessfully -- for crabs on the beach.

Small girl, giant dog

Happy end of summer, everyone!

Homemade baby carrots

OK, so maybe the title of this post is a little deceiving. I am not growing carrots in my backyard (that is solely reserved for herbs that are doing quite nicely, thank you very much). Instead, I am trying to completely remove "convenience foods" from our lives.

Overall, we are not suckers for packaged, pre-cut and pre-washed vegetables. We pick our green beans from the bin, we don't buy vegetable medleys or fruit, such as pineapple or melons, that have already been cut up and stored in plastic containers. We also don't eat frozen dinners, but that's an entirely different post about our attempts to cook as many meals as possible at home.

But we do eat (edit -- Matt eats) a lot of baby carrots. Last month I was thinking, "Baby carrots...what are baby carrots?" They can be one of two things: 1) large carrots cut down to a small size (that then take on the name baby-cut carrots) or 2) carrots harvested when they're young (true baby carrots). (Read more about this phenomenon at Snopes.) All this time we've been buying the "baby-cut carrots," which is just another way of saying we were buying carrots that a machine had cut up for us. And we were paying for it.

So, I've started buying full-size organic carrots and peeling and cutting them up into two-inch-long pieces to mimic the baby-cut carrot concept at a fraction of the price. This also has the added benefit that, for some reason, I really love peeling carrots.

Our only other convenience foods, besides baby-cut carrots, are packaged spinach or lettuce mixes for salads. We are trying to buy whole heads of lettuce that we then clean and store ourselves. I will say, though, that the potential downfall of this plan is that some packaged romaine hearts can last for a really long time. On the flip side, I sometimes don't like the taste. So, part of this experiment will be finding the right type of lettuce that tastes good and lasts.

What convenience foods have you tried to cut out of your life?

Tip 56: Bulk foods (and a cookie recipe!)

You may already know about my love/hate attitude toward Costco and unnecessarily out-of-control consumerism, and if so, you may find the title of today's post confusing. Let me clarify...

Tip 56: Make the most of your grocery store's bulk foods section. Consider dry goods you typically buy in packages, and see if it makes sense to purchase just the quantity you need from the bulk foods section. You will probably discover yourself being more economically and environmentally friendly.

At my grocery store's bulk foods section, I've always been tempted by the bulk candy, so much so that I often overlooked all the other treasures waiting to be uncovered.

See? I like candy and tiny containers, like these mini-gummy bears I picked up in the bulk foods aisle and stored in this small canning jar.

But then Matt started buying dried fruit and nuts in the bulk foods section, and I started to look at the section of the store from a different perspective.

Save money
Once we embraced the bulk foods section, we started saving a little money. This is partially because we started replacing some brand-name products with essentially generic bulk foods products. Before we would buy walnuts, pecans, almonds in the baking aisle in pre-packaged quantities. Then we'd put the unused pieces in the freezer, and two years would pass and we'd forget about those pecans in the freezer. Buying in bulk has helped us get what we need and use it while it's fresh.

Be green
Anytime you can waste less, you're being green in my book. Buying in bulk also helps cut down on packaging. We try to be painfully honest in our bulk foods purchases, so that we only mix together items of the same price in one bag. Even with separate bags, though, for items of different prices or from different categories, we still have less packaging on average than we would find in the regular grocery store aisles.

Welcome to the future: copious bulk foods
I'm also impressed by the variety you can now find in many bulk foods aisles. Besides dried fruit and nuts, you can also find grains, chocolate (great for baking) and snack items. Our Wegmans grocery store has an organic and non-organic bulk foods section. Whole Foods has even more selection, which includes beans (and I'm trying to get us away from canned beans thanks to their significantly higher sodium content and BPA-lined packaging). I know I'm probably not shocking you with this information, but if you're like me there's the possibility that you've never really appreciated the deals you might find in this area of the store.

And now, a recipe I tried out last week using items from Wegmans bulk foods section!

This recipe is from the September 2009 Everyday Food magazine, and though it is gluten-free, we did not make it because of any sort of dietary restrictions. This is a great recipe for anyone, but I could imagine it could be especially great for anyone who needs to avoid gluten.

Flourless Double-Chocolate Pecan Cookies
From Everyday Food, with my comments in bold italics
Makes 12

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt [be careful not to add too much salt like I did accidentally]
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped [we found this item in bulk foods]
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts [our substitution...bulk foods was out of pecans!]
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in chocolate and pecans. Add egg whites and stir just until incorporated (do not overmix). [This point about not overmixing is crucial.]
2. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 3 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. [If you're like me, there will be more batter than seems reasonable for 12 cookies, so you'll wind up making much bigger cookies than you anticipated.] Bake until cookie tops are dry and crackled, about 25 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. [I cooked ours for a little over 30 minutes.] Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.) [You can keep these way longer than 3 days...we're on day 6 over here, and those cookies are still great. They'll be light weight in your hands but heavy in your stomach, so proceed with caution!] 

Tip 6: Grocery lists and pantry items

First of all, a follow up on yesterday: the French onion soup was a major success! I am so pleased because we tried a different recipe about a year ago and it totally flopped. So, if you have about an hour to make a soup, this is the way to go. It's not an hour of actual labor. The most difficult task is caramelizing the onions, and that just requires some occasional stirring. Thankfully, the recipe calls for few ingredients, some of which I already had on hand because I've learned to follow...

Tip 6: Keep a pantry stocked with staples from several food genres.

We make a decent amount of Asian food, a decent amount of pasta and homemade pizza, and we sometimes make a dessert. So, I've learned to keep the following items on hand so that when I actually make the grocery list, it usually just involves fruits, vegetables, dairy and proteins.

Basic supplies:

• oils: olive, canola
  
• vinegars: balsamic, white wine, red wine, apple cider, white
• flour
• sugars: regular, brown, confectioner's
• salt: table, kosher
• peppercorns
• spices: allspice, ancho chile, basil, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ground coriander seed, crushed red pepper, cumin, curry powder, dill, garlic powder, garlic salt, ground ginger, nutmeg. oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, turmeric
• vanilla
• yeast
• honey
  
• Texas Pete (a staple in our house, at least)
  

Baking items:

• light corn syrup
• cocoa powder
• espresso powder
• baking powder
• corn starch
• semisweet chocolate chips

Asian-inspired items:

• soy sauce
• rice vinegar
• Sriracha hot chili sauce
• fish sauce
• sesame oil
• Asian noodles

Other dry or canned goods:

• a couple types of pasta
• crushed tomatoes
• rice: brown and jasmine
• beans: black, pinto, kidney

In our freezer you'll often find:

• ginger (this is how you make your ginger last for a long time)
• bread (for turning into bread crumbs)
• shrimp
• chicken
• fruit (for smoothies)

And we try to always have these items in our fridge:

• milk
• eggs
• unsalted butter
• lemons/limes
• dijon mustard
• pizza sauce
• cream cheese
• maple syrup
• red onion
• bell peppers (they last so long!)

 By knowing what we have in our freezer, fridge and pantry, we minimize our grocery list.

Speaking of grocery lists....my shopping experiences have been revolutionized since purchasing a Droid phone. I downloaded the free application called OurGroceries (also available for iPhone and iTouch) and now I can make a list and buy all the items on the list in record time. Here are the great things about this program:

1. You cross off items as you go, and they get sent to the bottom of your screen. There's maybe nothing more satisfying than electronically crossing something off.
   
2. You can change the quantities of each items you need. So, type apples, and then increased the number needed to six, and a little 6 appears next to apples.
   
3. You can share it with another phone. So, Matt and I walk around the grocery store and we can both look at the same list AND check off items simultaneously. I was about to get some apples, but looks like Matt just got them. How do you like them apples?
4. It saves your data, so next week when you need to type up a new list and you type A, it brings up all the items you've bought that start with A (and yes, I am type A).
5. You can have multiple lists going at once. So, I'll make my standard Wegmans grocery list, and I'll have a separate one running for Costco or Target or Bed Bath and Beyond....whatever! I even made a "Wish List" of more expensive items I'd like to eventually purchase, and of course Matt has access to that one...hint, hint.

Now I'm inspired to make next week technology week!

But for now....food week!

Next up....organizing your recipes.