Have You Lost Faith in Your Groceries?
April 26, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Have You Lost Faith in Your Groceries?
- Healthy Habits Wellness Action Group
- Free Wellness Pack
- Cheryl’s Blog - recent posts
Do you wince when you look in the fridge and see all the uneaten and decomposing produce?
Do the spotted apples and bananas in the fruit bowl make you feel like a bit of a failure? It does me. Try as I might to stay on top of eating what I buy, I throw food out sometimes. It hurts even more when I have to throw out withered organic produce. What a waste! At least I compost it-–that sooths my bruised ego a bit.
Do you waste food sometimes too?
It bugs me so much when I waste food that I sat down today to think through how this happens. I thought you’d like to know what I came up with.
Problem: You buy more produce than you can eat in a week.
Let’s say like most of us you have a goal–you want to eat more fruits and veggies. So you go to the grocery store all proud of yourself for taking action on your goal. The produce looks very appealing, and it makes you think, “Hey I want to eat more fruits and veggies–now’s my chance.” In your enthusiasm to reach your health goal–because the colors and textures look so beautiful–you buy way more than you can cook and eat before it goes bad. Bummer!
Because we live in a “preserved” universe, we get surprised when things like fruits and veggies decompose. With improved packaging and additives, we now even expect meat to last 2-3 times longer than it normally would.
Two Solutions:
Think ahead to the week and plan your major meals. Buy enough fruits and veggies for just those meals. Realize that this will not be the last time you can buy fruits and veggies. The next time you go to the store, there will be a fresh bonanza to choose from.
Make a simple pot of soup or a stir fry if your meal plan fails and you end up with too much of something, like greens or zucchini or carrots.
Here’s a hot tip: If your onions, celery and carrots (the trio) start to wilt, make a vegetable broth. Heat a pot of water, rough chop the veggies and simmer them for 2-3 hours. You’ll be proud of yourself for using up the veggies and for making a fabulous soup broth that you can freeze or use right away.
Problem: You get busy or lazy and don’t want to deal with your groceries.
The fresh pineapple looked SO great in the store–now it’s been sitting on the counter for a week looking a little soft and pale. Have you noticed that the longer a pineapple sits on the counter untouched, the longer it WILL sit on the counter untouched? When I glance at it on my to my office, it just looks like work! I don’t have the energy to cut it up now. So I pop it in the fridge hoping to get a few more days before I have to cut it up and eat it. I’m too busy to do it now…and I’ve been too busy for a week.
Then the final day arrives-–I need to clean out the fridge to make room for fresh produce. It looks like it’s time to chuck the uncut pineapple into the compost bin. Finally a decision has been made. I feel sorry for the pineapple.
Two Solutions:
One solution is to change my thinking. When I think that handling fresh produce is a pain, it ends up composting in the fridge because I have an attitude about it. I bet you’ve experienced this too. When I recognize that it just takes a few minutes to “process" the pineapple, I get it done without any struggle.
Judging from the prevalence of bagged salad greens, shredded veggies, and cut up fruit, I’m not the only one who wants to simplify food prep.
Another solution is to prep the produce as soon as you get home from the grocery store while you still have enthusiasm for your bounty.
Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, wash and bag the grapes into individual servings, wash and spin dry the lettuce in a salad spinner and cut up a couple of carrots to take to work the next day. You’ll be amazed how fast you can get this done. Don’t wait.
When I get home from a tiring day and open my fridge, if I see a bunch of plastic bags with veggies that need to be washed, peeled, and cut up, I lose my enthusiasm for making a healthy salad. But if I’ve done some of the prep work and everything is ready to go, I can make a tantalizing salad in minutes. And I do!
So, cut that golden pineapple up as soon as you get home so you can enjoy it all week. It will take less than 10 minutes. I know because I just did it. And I just did it in the nick of time! I was prepared to toss that pineapple into the compost bin, but when I cut it open, surprise! It was still good. Pleased with myself for "saving" the pineapple, I went one step further. I put the juicy cubes into individual glass containers and stuck a tooth pick in one of the chunks so I can easily eat it like a fun little snack without having to hunt for a utensil. Plus, this little trick makes this healthy snack more fun to eat. I know this is true because I just ate a cup full. I’ll bet your kids would love to eat it this way too.
Do Tell!
What are your biggest challenges with your groceries? Do you have some tips to share? See the "Make a Comment" box at the very, very bottom? Share your comments there.
To your healthy, happy life!
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As Cheryl's technology and business strategist, I've learned a new meaning to the word "sticktoitiveness." Far from being an ivory-tower, health primadonna prancing around in a leotard, Cheryl is a real, approachable person who doesn't hestitate to share her own life experiences and challenges. 
April 26th, 2007
Sometimes my cantelope or honeydew melons suffer the same fate as your pineapple. I wash them and then put them on the counter to “ripen”. A few days later I notice they have ripened too much
My solution is to leave a MELON warning in my Daytimer (calendar) after a couple of days of ripening. Then I cut the whole melon into bite sized chunks of fruit and store in the refrigerator for easy and delicious snacking. Cutting 2 or 3 chunks into smaller pieces makes a nice addition to my morning bowl of cereal.
Almost all “prepared” cereals on store shelves are a minefield of unknown and unpronouncable ingedients. Once in a while, I take a magnifying glass with me to the grocery store to read the ingredient lists. Don’t be fooled by the Name of the cereal. “AllBran” is not all bran, it has added salt , sugar and other ingedients. “Fruit and Fibre” has artificial this and simulated that and chemical formulas.
Calm down John and step down off your soapbox.
Go to build a bowl of healthy cereal. Rolled oats, maybe some puffed rice or puffed wheat. Pecan pieces or almond slivers. Fresh fruit pieces: apple, melon, blueberries, seedless grapes, bananas (whatever you have on hand). Two tablespoons of ground flax seeds and a teaspoon of pure cinnamon powder (not cinnamon sugar). I use fruit juice instead of milk. Chew thoroughly. m-m-m-m good. Have a good day. John B.
April 26th, 2007
I do the same thing with produce for the same reasons but, worse, I also do it with chicken. I know I can make several meals and save a lot of money buying whole chicken at 69 cents a pound, but there the carcass sits, drying out in the fridge after only one meal! It actually is quite a bit of work to boil it and then pick the meat off the bones but I know full well I can get two more meals out of it, as well as scraps for the cat and dog! I think it is because of the availability of the partially processed food items that we just get lazy.
April 26th, 2007
INSTEAD OF A WHOLE PINEAPPLE OR WHATEVER, TRY A CUT UP SELECTION. MY GROCERY OFFERS THIS, AND IT IS A LITTLE HIGHER, BUT IT IS ALL RIPE,MELON, PINEAPPLE, WATERMELON, GRAPES, AND I EAT IT ALL BEFORE IT SPOILS. NOTHING TO THROW AWAY, IN THE LONG RUN IT IS A MONEY SAVER.
April 26th, 2007
Oh Cheryl: you’re so right (again)!
I just started reading your letter, and I realised that there were some apples being waiting for me. By the time finished reading your article I had one apple eaten, another to the recycle bin (it was brown…) and had some other fruit made in pieces for this evening.
Thank you very much: you saved me by a whole epistel from my husband saying: “Don’t buy so much fruit and vegetables at once!”
April 26th, 2007
Cheryl:
Yes! This is ME!
I’m the one who gets lazy. I just tossed a wilted bunch of green swiss chard the other day.
I think I can use both solutions to solve my problem. Usually when I shop, I’m so tried from carry all that crap upstairs, I don’t even want to THINK about processing my veggies but, when I’m not, I can process them right away. Otherwise, I know it takes me about a half-hour so I can just say that to myself and “just do it”.
It was funny when you said, “I feel sorry for the pineapple.”
Thanks for a really helpful article!
April 26th, 2007
If I ignore my apples on the counter until they start getting wrinkly, I just pop one in a cereal bowl, top with a little brown sugar and butter and cinnamon, then cover with a lid and microwave for a minute or two. By the time dinner is over, the apple is soft and sweet and cool enough to eat.
April 26th, 2007
Thanks everybody for your comments. I had a feeling I might be channeling the collective consciousness when I wrote this article
We’re all in this together aren’t we!
April 26th, 2007
Good Grief! You must have been watching me look in the fridge and groan..it’s full of “stuff” that I don’t feel like fixing! Your newsletter article is like you read my mind. Too funny and sooooo true.
Great article and tips!
April 26th, 2007
Hi Vic - about that chicken. I think I have a solution for you. When I buy a whole chicken (yes it’s a lot cheaper!) I cut it into quarters (or in half) and freeze it that way. Then I pull out a quarter at a time. Then there’s no carcas and no pulling meat off the bones, etc. Sound good? Cheryl
April 29th, 2007
I’ve just subscribed to a local community supported agriculture cooperative and I feel like I might be more inclined to treat the food I get from them with more respect than what I get in the market. I am very aware with how much the foods cost, and also with the amount of work the young couple has put into the farm they are running. The throught of having a fridge and freezer full of organically grown local food for my kids is a really big motivator.
May 4th, 2007
Hi Cheryl
I do exactly that with the vegetables - throw them all into a soup and liquidise it all (you won’t even know what’s in there). Or if I’m lazy, I throw into the freezer and do the soup when I feel up to it. The quality of the veg doesn’t matter then.
Now I’m still working on the fruit thing