My favorite grocery store tips

Everyone has to shop at the grocery store here and there. Even if you eat at restaurants, you have to go to the store sometimes. So, here are some of my favorite grocery shopping tips to make your experience a little easier and to help save some money.

• Plan ahead. I cannot stress how important this is! Use the store ads to plan your meals around the sales for the week. Check to see what items you have and what you need for the meals. For example, if large packages of chicken are a good special this week, plan a meal or few meals around chicken. You can even cook it once and refrigerate it until you will use it. Or you can freeze part of it for later.
• Make a list. The more time you spend in the store wandering around, the more money you will likely spend. A list helps you stay organized, you are less likely to forget items (less trips to the store saves money), and gets you in and out quicker.
• Use the unit price. Most people just look at the sticker price and completely ignore the unit price. The unit price gives you a price per amount (an ounce or pound for instance) and helps you compare different sizes and brands. There are many times I thought a sale item was a good price, until I used the unit price to compare the different sizes and brands. Focus your attention on the unit price, not the sticker price or sale price.
• Spend less time in the middle aisles and more time on the perimeter of the store. Most of the healthiest items are on the perimeter - fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and protein (meats and eggs). Shop the middle aisles for frozen and canned fruits/vegetables, whole grains, and beans. Spend very little time in the junk food aisles.
• Have a snack or meal before shopping. Shopping hungry is our worst energy - we end up with more food than we planned or unhealthy items.
• Do not be fooled by the end-of-aisle displays. They are not always the best bargain. If you find an item you like, go to the section it would normally be at and compare the unit prices.
• Be realistic about what you will eat. Food waste is a huge expense for many of us. Maybe you know you need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but also know that your family will not eat great amounts of them. You could buy smaller amounts and increase each week to help your family eat more healthy foods, but if you just end up throwing them away, it is not worth the extra expense.
• While you are at it, park further away from the entrance. A little extra activity is good for all of us.
•  What other tips do you use at the grocery store?

Cookie dough

I copied this blog from the MU Nutrition Mythbusters site because it contains valuable info.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Myth: Raw cookie dough is always safe to eat if you use pasteurized eggs.

Answer: BUSTED!

Many Americans (including myself) love to bake and eat cookies during the holiday season, as well as throughout the year. I know I am not alone in that I also would love to pop some of the raw dough into my mouth when I am baking. In the past, the general thinking was that if one would just use pasteurized eggs in making the cookies or just buy refrigerated cookie dough, any harmful organisms that might be present in the eggs would be eliminated and thus the dough would be safe to eat raw.

However, an outbreak of E. coli in 2009 that was linked to purchased ready-to-BAKE (not ready-to-EAT!) cookie dough changed this thinking. This dough used pasteurized eggs which appeared to be handled correctly. So what ingredient was making people sick? Although investigators were not able to definitively identify the problem ingredient, it appears that the flour may have been contaminated with E.coli. Many manufacturers of commercial cookie dough now use heat-treated flour, which will reduce the risk of foodborne illness; however, it is still safest to bake the cookies before eating them, as the package clearly states.

Most home bakers do not use heat-treated flour (which is not currently readily available for consumers to purchase), so if you are making cookies at home this holiday season (or anytime), it is safest to bake them before eating. I have found that you also end up with more cookies if you don’t eat the dough! :) If you have a hankering for cookie dough (as I do!), you can safely consume cookie dough ice cream or similar products where the cookie dough has been heat-treated for safe consumption. There are also recipes online for cookie dough made with cooked garbanzo beans and no flour that would be safer to consume.

Enjoy the holiday season safely! No one wants to have foodborne illness over the holidays, so following some simple food safety practices can help ensure that. For more information, see Tips for safe as well as delicious holiday meals.

Contributor: Londa Nwadike, PhD, Extension Food Safety Specialist, nwadikel@missouri.edu, 816-655-6258


Link to article on MU Nutrition Mythbusters site. 

Re-freezing meat

Here is the answer to a question that our State Food Safety Specialist received - something I have wondered in the past.

Q. Is it safe to re-freeze thawed meat?

If meat or any other food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking (although there may be some loss in product quality). However, if foods were thawed using the cold water method or in the microwave, those foods should be cooked before re-freezing as parts of the product may have been over 40F in the thawing process, which would allow pathogen growth.

But, it may be easier and safer to cook and then freeze meat that has been thawed. USDA has more information available on this topic, as well as on general defrosting safety.

If you want to read more - check out USDA info on safe defrosting methods. 

December Cook It Quick

Do you use Pinterest? You may find the happy healthy holidays pinterest board in the December Cook It Quick newsletter fun and helpful!

Here's what else you can find in the December Cook It Quick newsletter from University of Nebraska Lincoln:

• Roasted baby carrots with garlic
• Wasabi trail mix
• Sweet potato casserole
• Quick oven smashed potatoes
• Gluten-free holiday recipes
• Chunky cranberry dip
• Beef roast for the holidays
• Roasted peppered pork loin

Check it out now!

In the mood for soup?

It seems like more of us get in the mood for soup when it's cold and wintry outside. This time of year is a perfect time to try a new soup. Add the ingredients that your family enjoys, be creative, and don't forget the seasonings.

University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension has a resource called Simple Soups and Stews. You will find the following recipes on their page:

• Ten minute corn chowder
• Turkey stew
• Turkey or chicken soup
• Italian white bean soup
• Ground beef - corn chili with rice
• Brunswick stew
• Quick chili

Some other soup tips:

• Making your own soup at home can help control the sodium, which is the enemy in most canned soups.
• Soups can be a full meal by adding crackers or bread or you can serve with a salad or a sandwich for an appetizing meal. Add fruit for dessert and you have a well-balanced and tasty meal.
• Broth-based soups are healthier than creamy soups. Nonfat milk and a little flour can thicken a soup without adding a lot of calories or fat.
• Keep a plastic bag in the freezer and add leftover veggies to it anytime you are cooking. After a while, you will have a veggie medley to throw in your soup.
• Your slow cooker can do the work for you while you are at work, running errands, or busy at home. Slow cooking also helps blend the flavors.
• Don’t forget the seasonings. The right mix of ingredients and seasonings can make a boring soup take on a new appeal!
• Use low-sodium broth to cut the sodium in your soup recipes. You probably will not even notice the difference.
• Canned tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, or vegetables can be a quick addition to soup. They are a little higher in sodium, but can add good nutrients to your soup.
• Whole grains such as quinoa, barley, corn, or brown rice can add some fiber to your diet and help you meet the goal to make half of your grains whole.
• Canned beans are also great to add to any soup. Rinse them to remove up to half of the sodium. Try black beans, great Northern beans, kidney beans, or cannellini beans. They are inexpensive and add protein to your soup.
• Plan to eat leftover soup within three to four days. Never leave soup out at room temperature for more than two hours.
• It is best to repackage soup into smaller containers for refrigeration, rather than putting the entire pot in the refrigerator. A big pot of soup will take longer to cool completely and bacteria may grow rapidly and make it potentially unsafe to eat. It could take a large pot of soup up to 24 hours to cool completely. Plus, smaller containers make it easier to re-heat for leftovers!

Nutrition Mythbusters blog

Some of my colleagues in University of Missouri Extension have a blog called Mizzou Nutrition Mythbusters. Check out the most recent post and their archives here.

Cook it Quick newsletter - Oct/Nov 2013

The Cook it Quick newsletter from University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension has one of my favorite topics this month - slow cooker recipes. There is also a Thanksgiving Pinterest board to help prepare and serve food on the holiday.

In this month's issue, you will find a slow cooker meals handout along with many recipes. Slow cookers are great this time of year and make it easy because they do the work for you. Time to get out those slow cookers and make use of them!