Let’s Be Food Smart - part 1

Last year, I wrote a few posts on social media and on the blog with suggestions about going around cooking “without” some items that incredibly disappeared from the supermarket shelves: rice, flour, pasta, NOT toilet paper… 😊

Then, I went on about cooking “without” WASTE, and I did that because when you can’t go shopping at any time you want, have trouble finding some items and might be, on top of it all, facing financial constraint, it is good to make the most of each gram of food you’ve paid for, right?

You can check the previous blog post here.

Since then, stocks have gone back to normal volumes and coronavirus infection rates have been under control in this country. Or that was the case until recently, because right now there are quite a lot of us, Australian residents, in lockdown. So, I thought I could give a little contribution and send out a few more suggestions that might help those who are facing a bit of a hard time feeding their loved ones.

I want to start with…

PLAN SMART

Foost’s Kate Wengier’s very practical week’s menu plan

Kate Wengier, a mother of four, is the mastermind behind Foost. Look at her weekly menu planning in the above picture. It looks almost like it is literally a ‘mental picture’! 😊 To me, it looks like a very simple reminder for the weekly shopping run. You may think it’s messy, but if it works for her, I'd say it’s just perfect!

My point is that planning meals ahead of time doesn’t have to be an elaborate task:

- You decide what you want to cook/serve in the coming days, roughly… then

- Make a quick shopping list. I leave a little notepad on the kitchen bench and take note of items as I notice they are running low or items I’ll need to cook what is my ‘mentally planned’ menu.

Note: you don’t need to actually COOK every single meal. Takeaways, deliveries are also good options if you choose smart! 😉

You can also be a little more elaborate by printing this out and sticking it on to your fridge:

Or go even further and get really serious by subscribing to a meal planning membership. Bec Lloyd has her Unyucky Cooks Club where you can get a monthly plan.

Planning ahead helps you avoid shopping too much or too little.

SHOP SMART

First of all, never go shopping, especially for food, when you’re hungry! Make sure you’ve had a meal, even if a snack, before you enter the grocery store or supermarket. Research has shown that we tend to buy more of energy dense foods – think cookies, chocolate, ice coffees – when we’re hungry (1). Although I’m yet to see a study done with online grocery shopping by hungry people, I’d say fill your stomach before ordering your groceries online too, just to be on the safe side! 😉

I’m a huge advocate of taking children shopping for groceries whenever possible as it’s an opportunity to educate them about food choices, let them develop self-help skills and agency etc. But, if taking the children shopping with you means they will not stop nagging and begging for foods you don’t want to buy, then go child-free. Or, order online, away from them.

Also, buying items in bulk can mean big savings:

These are two examples of how to buy exactly the same product and save quite a fair bit. I won’t even mention the amount of plastic packaging you would save too! 😉

Convenient packaging is, well, convenient for when you’re on the go or to send it in the lunchbox, but, when kids are not going to school and you’re not going out as much, - like people in lockdown - you can save a little cash with the less convenient and less expensive packaging of the same foods, right?

Also, keep an eye for specials at your local supermarkets and produce stores. Special prices, at times, may mean wonky fruit and veggies which is fine if you’re going to purée or blend them. Specials may also mean they are starting to wilt or are close to their expiry date. That’s totally fine too if you know you can use them up quickly or how to store them properly to make them last.

A few weeks ago, I bought capsicums on special. The usual price is $6.00+/kg, I got them for $0.57/kg!! So, I ended up with a huge stock of green and yellow capsicums and, to make them last longer, I cooked them in different ways and stored frozen or in jars, preserved in olive oil.

I also take all extra points I can into my Flybuys card! I’ve been able to cut $10 off my groceries shopping every month. It’s $120 saved at the end of one year! 😊

In part 2, I’ll talk about storage and cooking so you can save time and $$$ while making sure everyone is having good nutrition and keeping healthy to face the challenges of these times.

What are YOUR tricks to feed your family, SMART-style?

References:

(1) Qualitative analysis of COACH: A community-based behavioural intervention to reduce obesity health disparities within a marginalized community (Study, 2019, USA). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6804499/