Coupons for Crap

You know just by the headline that I am opinionated about food. I supposed if I looked I could find Blogs about the joys of blue-box macaroni and cheese and instant mashed potatoes, but obviously that is not why I am here, and if you are reading this, I suspect that is not what you are looking for here either.

What has triggered this outrage is an article in Fridays paper. "Electronic coupons hook the tech-savvy". This you woman went from spending $500 a month to $300 a month on groceries for TWO people! Are you kidding me! The pictures shows a peek into her shopping bag....it is full of Blue box mac and cheese!

Processed foods are killing people. There, I said it. Too much salt, sugar, chemicals. Too little actual nourishment. Too much packaging. Too much, too much, too much!

It is expensive in so many ways.

We mouth the words that people (read Americans) need to change their diets. That we need to eat more veggies and fruits, more whole grains, less meat and less sugar and salt. Yet when you open the Sunday paper and all those advertising supplements spill out, what are those coupons for? Slim-Fast, Froot-Loops, Welch's Fruit Snacks, Taco Seasoning Packets, Pringles. Oh, and Prilosec, because heartburn is an American way of life.

What we need are coupons for carrots, lettuce, broccoli, green beans, peaches, watermelon and grapes. Coupons for the bulk bins in most supermarkets. Have those marketers that demo foods actually demo something that IS food. Cook some brown rice, saute fresh veggies and serve over whole wheat pasta. Combine some spices (organic of course) to season a chicken breast.

How on earth could someone spend 500 bucks for two people to eat in a month? Because she is relying upon processed foods. Shredded cheese is a luxury in this house. After all I got the Cuisinart for my class, I need to us it. And if I shread cheese for a recipe, I shread extra, zip it into a bag or a recycled plastic container and put it in the cheese drawer. Ready for the next use. I wash all the veggies are once and use what I need, placing the rest in paper toweling in a bag in the crisper, ready to use the next day. When I make pizza dough, I double or even triple the recipe. The extra goes in to the freezer for use later.

I work full time, yet I cook from scratch completely. It just takes desire (for good, wholesome, healthy food) and a bit of preparation to accomplish. And the outcome is a healthier family and a huge cost saving.

I said yesterday that I had those beautiful tomatoes to do something with. I believe now that I will just can them whole, available for soups, stews and pasta sauces all winter. If I come upon some more this week, I will also get some onions and peppers and make some salsa. Always a hit here.

Looking out our bedroom window this morning I realized that the plum trees actually have plums this year! Sounds crazy, but this particular variety of prune-plum seems to skip a year (or more) to actually producing a decent crop. They are not my favorite variety, because they are dry not juicy like a good Satsuma or Red plum, but they came with the house. And they will make nice jam, and I will try again to dry some as prunes. My last attempt was not all that successful. Try, try again, is my motto.

So, if you take nothing else away from this, please turn that box on its side and look at the ingredients list...check the sodium, the sugar, the preservatives. Then put it back on the shelf and go buy the ingredients to make it from scratch. Turn off the TV and spend some time in the kitchen, share the space with your spouse or kids and make dinner. It's fun, it's creative and it's relaxing. And you will actually enjoy the final product because it was made with love.