Vegetable Value

How to Save Money On Your Vegetables

Buy and eat in-season vegetables that are locally grown. In-season vegetables are cheaper because they are plentyful and taste better and last longer because they haven’t spent days in a refrigerated truck to get to your local supermarket.Take your time to choose each vegetable individually, you will be able to choose the best and eliminate any that could spoil the lot. Examine using all your senses. Vegetables that have a bright, lively color, have a pleasing smell or aroma, smooth, unbroken skin, with no blemishes, bruises, soft spots, or moldy areas or dead yellow leaves.

Only purchase the vegetables you’ will use in a week to ten days. Most vegetables kept longer   with the exception of some root vegetables. Shop with a list for sides dishes, snacks, and main dish preparation. Scallions, celery, onions, red and green peppers maybe frozen. Once thawed, they won’t be like fresh but are fine in soups, stews, chili, scrambled eggs, etc. Just wash, slice or dice, and put into a ziplock. bag. The price of vegetables varies throughout the year, and if you understand the annual cycles, you can plan. ahead. Your local newspapers and supermarket circulars may have a column telling what produce will have good prices in upcoming weeks. 

Try to grow your own vegetables. If an outdoor garden isn’t your thing, at least grow some herbs on a windowsill. Have you looked at the prices of herbs at the store lately? Or start some bean sprouts -- you’ll have your own fresh stir-fry ingredients in days. I also wrap my leafy greens in paper towels and put them in ziplock bags. The life of bagged salad mixes can be extended spinach can last for over a week when wrapped in paper towels Herbs are easy to grow, and some easy vegetables such as zucchini need very little care. Composting yard waste and kitchen scraps makes a good inexpensive and high-quality fertilizer.

If you have too much of vegetable which are about to go bad, you can freeze them. You can prepare them in a dish, making vegetable stock, soups, or a vegetable casserole
first, and then freeze.

Thai-Style Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb cooked chicken breast, sliced thin (can use any chicken meat desired)
3 cups shredded Napa cabbage can use regular
3 cups peeled jicama cut into strips (root vegetable)
1 small sweet red peppers, cut into strips
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, including stems
.
Dressing:

3 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1/2 cup sugar equivalent from substitute (liquid such as Sweetzfree preferred)
1 Tablespoon of ground ginger
Mint leaves
Cilantro leaves

Preparation:
Mix together all the salad ingredients, and in a separate bowl, the dressing ingredients. Toss to combine. Garnish as desired.


Chopped Salad

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 medium plum tomato, chopped
¼ cup chopped green pepper
¼ cup chopped apple
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ avocado, chopped
2 slices cooked bacon, cut up small
Preparation:
Toss ingredients together with an Italian or viniagrette dressing. Makes one large meal-sized serving. If you'd like something less filling, divide it, and/or use less avocado.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/budgetvegetable.

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