Not-So-Sloppy Seconds

So I remember when I was growing up, my parents taught us not to waste much. Not to be environmentally friendly or particularly financially savvy, just doing so because it was right. Things like shopping at the discount bread store (always got Hostess cupcakes as a treat there), saleable but bruised fruits and vegetables to make pies or soups, and meat, for starters.

(Mom is adding the PS here - try garage sales for new-to-you toys and spare winter coats - much cheaper than consignment shops. Now I haven't done much of this but I DO shop and sell EBAY, another post for another day.)

I know some people, even my husband, would turn up his nose at some of this. But people before us and those not as fortunate live off the land and use all of what they have. Since when did we get so self-righteous? A store won't sell you something that would make you sick, for pete's sake. Take a deeper look into what I'm saying:

First, consider the discount bread store - I LIVE for it at Myrtle Beach outlets!! They sell frozen garlic bread and goldfish and milanos and GODIVA there (among other things, but I just highlight the important things). We all know bread freezes just fine. And so does chocolate (if you can't eat it fast enough, though how that could happen, I'm not sure, but anyway). And I don't know many preschoolers who have noticed their goldfish are approaching the sell-by date. So the next time you wander by, pop on in and get some of the things on your grocery list!

Next I mentioned bruised fruit and vegetables. Usually these are on a layered cart in the back of the store within the produce section. Fresh is always better than frozen and especially canned - have you looked at the amount of sodium in canned vegetables?? Brown bananas make terrific banana bread. Bruised apples make a yummy pie (have an easy recipe for that one, too). Bruised vegetables can be added to a vegetable soup or boiled in a stock, even cooked in a chicken potpie. I think that stores mark down produce early in the morning.

But you don't have to just buy discounted produce - be creative with what is starting to go bad in your house.

Finally the discount meats - I remember when we (Wes, few-month old Lily, and me) lived in Phoenix, I'd go to Frye's Marketplace, which is owned by Kroger, and I'd go right at 8:30 in the morning. That's when the meat manager would mark down meat and I would follow her around to buy my meat for the week. Anything that not used in 48 hours would go into the freezer and added to my freezer list posted on the side of the fridge. Discount meat is just meat that is within 24 or 48 hours of the sell-by date, not the eat-by date - and beef can go much longer than fish, chicken, and pork. Wes calls it aging; with beef I call it buying a better cut of meat for the same price as a cheaper cut.

A final thought about meat - buy a fresh turkey the week after Thanksgiving and freeze it for a cold weekend in February or buy a ham the week after Easter and save it for May (hams have lots of preservatives and last a while longer in the fridge, if you have the room).

By both buying discounted consumables and using all of what I have, I'm getting more for my money or saving money that I can use on other treats, like that Godiva at the Pepperidge Farm outlet at the beach. Hope this works for you, too!