Produce Salvage: Raid The Mark-Downs Like A Pro

Okay, it's true: the longer fruits and veggies sit after harvest, the more nutrition they lose. Going head to head, flash-frozen veg would almost certainly beat the mark-down shelf in terms of vitamin content.

Does that make older produce worthless? Hardly.

It is still quite valuable in terms of vitamins and minerals. Plus, it is still full of flavor, color, and excellent natural fiber. In terms of health bargains, it has a lot to offer.

For best results, pay attention to the suggestions for identifying produce in still-usable condition. Some stores put produce on the mark-down shelf while it's still looking great, while others wait until it's half-rotten to mark it down. You need to know when to buy and when to pass it by.

Here are some tips for preserving the cheap black sheep of the produce aisles.

Zucchini and Summer Squash - Avoid the ones with wrinkled or dinged-up skins. This is an indication of bitter flavors. If the skins are still firm and mostly blemish-free, you can cut out a few small bad spots and still make use of the rest.

* Slice thinly and spread on a cookie sheet. Freeze through, then pour into a bag. Press out as much air as possible - air is the main cause of freezer burn. Label, date, and double-wrap before storing in the freezer for future use.

* Shred and press out excess moisture for 30 minutes. Add to ground meat as an extender, stir into pasta sauce, layer into a casserole or mix into muffin batter for added nutrition.

Tomatoes - It's okay if they are soft, as long as they are not mushy. If there are a few small bad spots, cut them out.

* Smaller tomatoes are great for drying. Split them up the middle and squeeze out the bulk of the seeds. Place cut side up on dehydrator trays and dry until leathery. Allow to cool completely before storing in a sealed container in the fridge. If you dry them until completely crisp, they can be stored in the pantry.

* For larger tomatoes, boil a pot of water. Drop tomatoes into water for 2 minutes and then remove and drop into cold water. The skins will easily come off at this point. Slice them open and squeeze out the seeds. The remaining flesh can be frozen as-is or slow-cooked to create tomato sauce. Puree it before cooking or storing, if you prefer.

* Save the squeezed out seeds by rinsing them through a strainer, then spreading out on a paper towel to dry thoroughly. Store for sprouting next spring and grow more tomatoes.

Potatoes - Sprouts are okay, as are a few bad spots that can be cut out. But if potatoes have gone green, you will need to be very careful to peel away ALL the green portions before eating.

* Cut up sprouty potatoes so that each chunk has one or two good eyes on it. plant in the garden and grow more!

* Mashed potatoes freeze well! Chunk up the whole lot of them and simmer in boiling water until tender, then mash and freeze in serving portions.



Apples - As long as they are not totally rotten or bruised, you can use the heck out of apples.

* Organic apples can be sliced into thin rings and dehydrated until crisp. Kids love these for snacks. After storing in a sealed container for a few weeks, they will soften to the typical dried-apple consistency, in which case you can eat as-is, or add to oatmeal, cookies, etc. Also try simmering them in apple cider to make a dried apple pie. Don't do this with non-organic apples, which are apt to be dipped in a waxy coating and should be peeled.

* If apples are mealy, chop them up and make applesauce by simmering in a little water and lemon juice until tender. Mash or puree smooth, add sugar or cinnamon if you wish. Or simply cook the chunks down with a bit of water, cinnamon, sugar and butter to make "fried apples" to serve as a side dish or to top pancakes. These freeze well, too. You can also use a mealy apple for apple butter or to add pectin to other fruits being preserved for jam. Just cook along with the rest until the spoon test comes out to your liking.

* If apples are not mealy, make apple pie filling. You can freeze the filling if you don't want a pie right that moment, or use the filling to top pancakes.

Berries - As long as they are mostly still firm and not moldy, grab 'em! Throw away any moldy ones and soft ones, give the rest a very gentle rinse in cold water and drain well.

* Freeze as-is, just spread on a cookie sheet in freezer until hard, then funnel them into a bag and double-wrap. Drop some in muffin or pancake batter, use in smoothies, oatmeal, pies, whatever.

* Strawberries and seedless berries dehydrate well. Dry until leathery and cool completely before storing in sealed container.


Celery - If it's not totally limp or seriously scarred, grab it. You can chop off the core end and stand it up in a glass of water in the fridge, where it probably will perk back up. If it doesn't, chop it and freeze it for seasoning cooked dishes.

Carrots - If they are a bit flabby, try slicing them into sticks and standing them in cold water in the fridge for a day. If they perk up, great. If not, chop it and freeze it for seasongin cooked dishes.

Lettuce and Leafy Greens - If they are wilted but not rotten, try running them through a wash and dry cycle and leave them in the fridge for a few hours. Usually they will perk back up. If not, use them for cooked greens. To preserve for later use, pour boiling water over them to wilt, then drain well. spread on a cookie sheet and freeze hard, then double-wrap and save for later.

Broccoli and Cauliflower - Set up a colander or steam basket in a pot with about an inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, then fill steamer section with broccoli/cauliflower that has been trimmed of any small brown flower heads. Steam for about 5 minutes, then dump into a tub of cold water to stop the cooking. Drain very well and then freeze, double-bagged, until you want it.






Don't forget to add all your cores and peelings to the compost bin for maximum value!

Ten Ways To Save $100 This Year

1. Pack 4 lunches per week.

2. Buy 10 articles of clothing at thrift stores and yard sales instead of paying retail.

3. Hang four loads of laundry per week instead of using your dryer.

4. Reduce milk costs by using reconstituted powdered milk in cooking instead of fresh.

5. Once a month make pizza from scratch at home instead of having one delivered.

6. Reduce soda consumption by 4 cans a week. Better yet, get rid of it altogether and save even more on dentistry bills.

7. Write a good, long letter or email, or send a card, instead of making one long-distance phone call per month.

8. Bake two loaves of bread per week.

9. Reduce your smoking by 3 cigarettes a day (or give up smoking altogether and save even more).

10. Handmake at least 6 presents per year, or buy them from small artisans and handcrafters instead of purchasing something mass-produced at a retail store. (Check out etsy.com for incredible handmade goods at very fair prices.)

Welcome!

I spend so much of my time thinking of ways to conserve without feeling deprived. Been doing it all my life. So I thought, 'why not share?' I know a lot of other folks are thinking about similar things.

Some say all the good ideas are already taken. Truth be told, everything here may have already been thought of by someone else. That's fine. If you find something here that works for you, take it and use it. Toss the rest. Have fun! And thanks for reading.

Thrifty Is As Thrifty Does

Times, they are a-changing. For many of us, the spendthrift lifestyle we have grown accustomed to has gone beyond the occasional guilt-twinge and become downright problematic. As I, and everyone I know begin cinching our belts ever-tighter, I have been looking around for painless ways to stretch our groceries without having it feel too spartan around here.

But hey, while I am economizing, why not also economize on the energy used to prepare our food? And what about my time spent making it? Why not economize there, as well?

Here are some of the top tips I have been using lately to stamp out excess in all three areas.

1. Pickle Juice - Don't throw it out. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil while you wash and carefully dry the jar and lid. Pack the jar with fresh carrot or celery sticks, radish halves or other veggies and pour the pickle juice over them. Store in the refrigerator. The lightly pickled veggies are good to eat almost immediately (give 'em a few hours at least) but they get even better after a week or more has past. Over time as the pickle juice is depleted top it off with the juice from another emptied pickle jar.

2. Cooking Starches and Grains - If you're going to use the time and energy to boil a huge pot of water, make it do the maximum amount of work. Cook a whole pot at a time. Use what you need, put the rest into single serving portions and freeze for later. Not only does this save energy, but it saves your food prep time many times over. It can also save you money on fast food if you know that the fixings for dinner are only a few microwave minutes away at home. This works well for all grains as well as pasta and potatoes.

*Bonus* - When cooking potatoes, buy organic. The extra cost is worth it because root vegetables tend to really soak up the chemicals buried in the soil. No need for extensive scrubbing, just a quick rinse and slice them in half before boiling in water. Later, when they are cooled, it's a simple matter to peel the skins off with your fingers and there is a lot less waste than when using a paring knife. Plus, the nutrients in potatoes are very close to the skin, so you lose less nutrition that way.

3. Recycled Produce - If they are in good shape, there is no need to toss fresh fruits and veggies left over from salads or packed lunches. I toss all the leftover fruit bits into a bag and then on Saturday mornings I simmer them in syrup to top pancakes. You can also cook them down with a chopped apple (natural pectin) and some sugar to taste in order to replenish your jam jar. Or toss them into muffin batter for fruit muffins. As long as they get cooked, it's all good.

For raw veggies, I save them all up, along with bread heels, cracker crumbs and bits of cheese and make a veggie quiche on the weekends. Again, as long as they are in good shape and they get cooked, no harm is done.

If the produce is not in good shape when it comes back to you, you can still get maximum use from it by tossing it into a compost bin rather than the garbage.

4. Scraps - Before you toss peelings into the compost bin, consider whether or not they would make good soup stock. Asparagus ends, carrot tops, onion and garlic peels, celery stems, tomatoes and even lettuce cores add nutrition and flavor complexity to your next batch of stock. Leave out strong, sulphur-y veg such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage, but with everything else simply toss into a freezer bag and save it up until you have a bunch. Then simmer in water with herbs until cooked down soft. Strain and continue cooking the stock to condense the flavors. Now you can make soup, or freeze the stock for later use. The leftover veggie mush can still be tossed into the compost bin now.

5. Whatever Soup - Often we will end up with little bits and pieces of leftover food in the fridge. Not enough to feed everyone for another meal, but too much to feel good about throwing away. I love to save these bits up and whenever a cool or rainy day approaches, I toss them all together in a soup pot. Tweak it as needed by adding extra grains, meats, veggies, spices or a can of stewed tomatoes, but this basically creates a huge pot of food for pennies. So far, we have never had a combination that wasn't tasty, but if it ever happens, very little has been lost in the process, right?