Trading Up Downtown

Last Sunday, the Boston area got hit hard with nearly two feet of snow. Talk of the storm had been all over the TV and radio for days, so my husband and I made sure to prepare ourselves to be snowed in, which included stocking our kitchen with lots of delicious and nutritious food!

Not surprisingly, everyone else had the exact same idea. It was nuts!

My husband and I split up the grocery list and each took two reusable bags to grab what we needed around the store. We find that using bags instead of a shopping carts speeds up the process– no getting stuck in those narrow aisles!

I had a huge stack of coupons that will expire at the end of the year, so I finally cashed them. Don’t forget to use your coupons that expire on 12/31/10 this week!

The cashier was pretty annoyed with all of the coupons for ‘free’ items that she had to enter manually, but I saved $45!! That’s no chump change, people! It was totally worth dealing with a disgruntled employee. (Maybe she was stressed about the impending snow storm?)

This week’s shopping was HUGE! We were out of just about everything, so we needed to restock a lot of essential items. We also went a little crazy with all of the fun food choices. Our local grocery store doesn’t have such a great selection!

In this week’s cart:

• Teddie Unsalted Old Fashioned Natural Peanut Butter (NuVal score: 49)
• Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
• Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
• Sweet potato (NuVal score: 96)
• Onions (NuVal score: 93)
• Kettle Backyard BBQ Chips (NuVal score: 24)
• Apples (NuVal score: 96)
• Store brand bacon
• Store brand tomato paste
• Raspberries (NuVal score: 91)
• Blackerry Solixir
• Red bell pepper (NuVal score: 96)
• Siggi’s yogurt
• Arrowhead Mills Quinoa (NuVal score: 91)
• Store brand whole wheat penne
• Uncle Same 100% Whole Grain Toasted Cereal (NuVal score: 59)
• Pacific National Beef Broth (NuVal score: 4)
• Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes (NuVal score: 40)
• Store brand pasta sauce
• So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk (NuVal score: 29)

• Mushrooms (NuVal score: 96)
• Snap peas (NuVal score: 96)
• Brussels sprouts (NuVal score: 94)
• Green bell pepper (NuVal score: 94)
• Barbara’s Peanut Butter Puffins (NuVal score: 24)
• Cooking sherry
• Eggs (NuVal score: 33)
• Parsnips (NuVal score: 94)
• Nasoya Firm Tofu (NuVal score: 100)
• Store brand pitted olives
• Macro Greens Bar 
• Domino brown sugar (Nuval score: 1)
• Pink grapefruit (NuVal score: 99)
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Organic Waffles (NuVal score: 38)
• Nature’s Path Homestyle Frozen Waffles
• Stonyfield Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt (NuVal score: 94)
• Stonyfield Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• Stonyfield Oikos Caramel Greek Yogurt
• GT’s Kombucha Guava Synergy

Check out the goodies that I got for totally FREE! I always make sure that I cash-in coupons for FREE products!

Do you love coupons? What’s the most you’ve ever saved at the grocery store in one trip?

Kate Connell is a New England native who traded in her Boston accent for life in a small Midwest college town. She writes about food, travel, yoga, and swimming at What Kate Ate.

We’re fruit spread freaks. Really, in this household we regularly declare our love for spreads, jams, and preserves.

It’s a super versatile staple and we use it in a variety of ways. As part of a gourmet grilled cheese, as part of a flavorful meat marinade, baked into brie – and don’t even get me started on the many breakfast possibilities. Needless to say we love to include fruit spreads into our diets and we’ve even found a way to boost its Nuval score and cut out all added sugar by making our own.

Homemade Apricot Preserves

• 4 c dried apricots (NuVal score: 91)
• 1 c fresh squeezed orange juice (NuVal score: 100)
• Orange zest

Add dried apricots, orange juice,  and orange zest to a crockpot on low. Allow mixture to cook for 1-2 hours, remove and add additional zest if desired.

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This recipe is super simple and it uses everyone’s favorite winter gadget – a crockpot. And if you are like Tina or me, you already have ½ of the ingredients on hand! Plus making your own preserves means you can ensure a higher Nuval score (most apricot preserves are 1 on the rating system!) and you don’t have to stare at high fructose corn syrup on the ingredient list.

Are you a preserves person? What is your go-to flavor?

Here are 5 things you may have had an idea were good for you, but in case you didn’t know how, here’s the lowdown…

Vinegar

Increase metabolism by adding organic apple cider vinegar to water. It is said that few teaspoons of vinegar in a glass of water will suppress appetite, and burn fat. Researching the findings of vinegar and its effects on health will amaze you. Cholesterol, acne, allergies, digestion, and constipation are just a few of the uses for this pungent salad topper.

Honey and Cinnamon

Honey and Cinnamon are used for arthritis pain. It is mixed to create a paste, applied, and after fifteen minutes it starts to work its surprising magic.

Mix warm olive oil, cinnamon, and honey to prevent hair loss. Spread on scalp, leave on for 15 minutes, and rinse off with water.

Apples

It may not seem unusual or surprising, but there is more to them than the clichés. An apple, instead of your favourite cup of Jo, will give you energy without the stimulants found in coffee.

Apples are known to contain phloridzin, which is unique to apples alone. It is good food for all of us, but older women will be interested in the value when it comes to osteoporosis.

The juice of an apple can fight tooth decay.

Here is a fruit that the whole family will enjoy. From the tart freshness of the Granny Smith to the crisp sweetness of the Red Delicious, there is bound to be one to suit the taste of each one in your family.

Pregnant women would do well to crunch down on their daily apple.

Garlic

Garlic is good for your heart, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also is said to have anti-viral benefits.

Raw garlic may make you uncomfortable because it causes bad breath, so you may want to opt for garlic supplements.

Capers

Capers will help control flatulence. You and everyone around you will enjoy the salty goodness in salads, or other dishes. Your family and guests will be totally unaware of the trick that you have played on them.

This post was contributed by London Food PR Company Sauce Communications.