My sister makes the best pie from key limes, which are not in season! Credit: little blue hen/Flickr
Here’s the list of what veggies and fruits will be cheap at your grocery store or farmers market in coming weeks through November. In season produce is almost always cheaper than out of season, which is often imported. My favorites from the list include grapes, mushrooms, pears, and sweet potatoes. If you opt not to make a cheat sheet, shop by price in the store. Clicking on the links below take you to recipes for that particular item.
Acorn Squash
Asian Pear
Barbados Cherries
Corn is already $.20 an ear in my 'hood. Credit: Bitman/Flickr
Coupons for produce is almost unheard of, so one way I keep my grocery bill down is buying in season fruit and vegetables. Look for prices on the below produce to start falling. Produce grown close to home is also a good bargain bet.
This list comes from FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org, which has more info and recipes when you click on the links below. My favorite summer produce includes beets, green beans, corn, peaches, strawberries with mint for dessert, and tomatoes for fresh salsa. What about you?
Apricots
Asian Pear
Beets
Black Currants
Bell Peppers
Price war: giant Kale v. tiny pepper
I purchased this giant bunch of kale yesterday and I could not believe how cheap it was! Especially after seeing a red and green pepper ring up for $2.09. I really love to munch on peppers, but paying $2.99/lb is too much.
This just proves that buying in-season produce really can reduce your grocery bills. Kale not one of your faves? I’m not surprised. I can hear you recoiling as you read this. She wants me to eat…kale?
I’ve actually started to crave kale after my step-father made it for me. Here is his easy kale recipe. (Click “more” to see how cheap this kale was.) (more…)
norwichnuts/Flickr
I like to share updates on what produce is in season because it helps me reduce my grocery bill. In season veggies and fruit are almost always cheaper than out of season produce! Look for prices on the below produce to start falling. If gas prices continue to rise, prices for food that travels long distances to get to your grocery store will climb, offsetting in season price drops.
This list comes from FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org, which has more info and recipes when you click on the links below. My favorite spring foods are asparagus, green beans, and snow peas. I’m surprised to see corn and strawberries on the list, which I consider summer produce.
domib34/flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
I’ve written about ways to save money by gardening but here’s the real dirt on how to cut household costs by using herbs and produce that grow in your garden instead of spending money on store bought products.
Rosemary – Not only can you use rosemary to season your Thanksgiving turkey but you can also use it on your locks. Rosemary is known to stimulate hair growth, naturally darken it and battle dandruff. Simply pour one cup of boiling water over dried rosemary and steep overnight. Strain the tea and use it in the shower as a final rinse. Rosemary along with other fragrant herbs like lavender and thyme makes natural potpourris or sachets.
Parsley and Mint – Next time you’ve got garlic breath don’t reach for a mint candy, but instead chew on parsley or fresh mint. These herbs are great bad breath fighters.
Apples – If for some reason you do not have your toothbrush and toothpaste handy, chew on an apple or any food that requires a lot of chewing like celery and carrots. These can help keep teeth clean and whiten teeth naturally.
Tomatoes – They’re delicious in salads and sandwiches and combat bad sunburns. Sliced tomato can be directly placed on (more…)
I got a forwarded email from a reader about figuring out what country a product was made in by looking at the bar code. This email has been circulating the web since 2008 so it might be familiar. Clearly, a lot of folks are still worried about recalls and contaminated products from abroad. Others are trying to buy closer to home to reduce their carbon footprint. The email says:
If you want to know where the food and pet products you are looking at in the stores are coming from, make sure you read labels at the grocery store. Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located. It is important for consumers to read the bar code to track the origin of the product.
How to Read Bar Codes
If the first 3 digits of the bar code are 690, 691 or 692, the product is made in China.
If the first 3 digits of the bar code are 471, the product is made in Taiwan.
If the first digits are 00-09 – it’s made in USA & Canada.
If the first digits are 30-37 – it’s made in France.
If the first digits are 49- it’s made in Japan.
If the first digits are 40-44 – it’s made in Germany.
If the first digits are 50 – it’s made in UK.
But as it turns out, the email is only partly true.
A lot of emails contain kernels of truth that have been exaggerated or glossed over until they become a mix of true and false information, which is what happened with this email about bar codes, according to the myth-busting site Snopes.com.
“The UPC-A bar code and its cousin, the European Article Number (EAN) bar code, incorporate two- or three-digit country codes, but what those country codes indicate is the country or economic region where a particular bar code was assigned, not necessarily the country where the product identified by that bar code originated,” Snopes says.
A product could be manufactured in one country but carry a country of origin code of the company’s headquarters in a different country. So food can be grown in one country (Guatemala, for instance) but because the company importing the food may be located in another country (perhaps Mexico), the UPC code would indicate the product was from Mexico.
Your best bet is look for the “Made in [country name]” label on the food or product packaging.
Thanks, Marie!
