Saturday’s Saving Tips – Saving money on produce
There are ways to save on everything you purchase. Today we’re talking about fresh produce.
Saving on produce can mean growing your own. Before you start picturing rows and rows of vegetables on half an acre behind your house and start saying “I can’t do that!”, hear me out. Growing some of your own produce can be as simple as a couple tomato or bell pepper plants in pots on your back porch. See? How easy is that? Less than $10 worth of plants can easily save you double or triple that amount in a growing season.
But that’s just one way to save on produce. We’re going to talk about saving on produce in the grocery store.
- Red bellpeppers are the most expensive bellpeppers on the produce aisle. Try substituting yellow or orange to save a little.
- Overripe bananas are often put in sacks and priced cheap (half or more off per pound). My son loves bananas and eats one for breakfast almost everyday. They also make great snacks. I’ll grab up a bag with 4 or 5 overripe bananas knowing that we can easily finish them off in a day or two. Overripe bananas are also good for baking breads with. Grab some and bake up some banana nut bread for a quick breakfast or to pack as a special treat in lunchboxes!
- Buy vegetables on sale in bulk that freeze well. Broccoli, carrots, celery, okra and squash are vegetables that I freeze. Carrots and celery I chop up and freeze to easily add to soups later (no need to thaw!) Okra and squash I slice up and freeze to fry later.
- Buy in season and on sale. Plan your meals around the produce that’s on sale. I love a good BLT. So if tomatoes and lettuce are on sale in the same week, we are likely to have BLTs twice that week! Same with potatoes. If 5lb bags of potatoes are on sale we will have roasted potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato soup and potato salad until the potatoes are gone!
- Check the prices at your local produce stand. You might be surprised what you find! I can get bananas for $0.20 less a pound than I can at the store. And I can get tomatoes and onions for $.50 each.
- Get coupons! If you’ve followed the blog long, you know about the Contact Us program. I’ve received produce coupons from Chiquita and Dole!
- Avoid pre-sliced fruit trays or containers. They cost more than if you bought the fruit yourself and sliced it.
Share with us! How do you save on produce? Do you have any good recipes for when you’ve stocked up on produce?
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