Shopping to cook and eat better

As I make my grocery list for the week I began to think of how I used to cook and eat. When I say "cook" what I mean is "make hamburger helper" lol I did not know how to cook when I met Rhett and boxed or microwave food was the extent of my cooking skills. So after we both gained 70ish pounds during my pregnancy I began to teach myself to cook healthier. After a while of cooking and eating better we have both lost the weight. I never bought fresh or frozen veggies before I always bought canned everything. I finally tried frozen veggies and I found that they taste sooo much better! I buy fresh green beans and broccoli and many other fresh fruit and veggies too. My husband and my son both love fruit as much as me if not more than I do and if I keep three or four pieces (at least) in a fruit bowl where they can both see it and reach it (this is the case for Rylan not so much Rhett lol) then they choose that as a snack rather than cookies or chips or unhealthy choices. In fact Rylan will "sneak" and grab fruit when he thinks I'm not looking and I let him believe he is getting away with something lol. So shop for fruit and veggies when they are in season. Google it if you aren't sure there are plenty sites that will tell you what season to buy what fruit and veggies at the best time of year and get the best prices. For example at summer time is the best time to buy strawberries right now fall is here and I priced strawberries yesterday at 3.99 for a package. Buy extra when they are under a dollar (during summer months) and freeze them, all you have to do is wash them and cut off the stem then you have  fruit for smoothies in your freezer too! Next meat is always going to be a big ticket item at the grocery store so buy when they are on sale. At wal-mart you can price match other stores and get cheaper prices too whatever store you shop at the way to save money and eat better is to watch what is on sale. If you look on the bottom right of my page you will find my favorite blogs to follow and on those sites you can find some of the best sales and deals for your next shopping trip. Winn Dixie on a Dime is my favorite because she checks all the items that are priced at best to buy prices so there is no guess work to it. There are some staple items I always try to keep around the house to ensure I am able to make dinner with little to no planning and also I like to keep things that are not every day items that way I don't have to rush out to the store for one item. I always keep at least one bag of "seasoning veggies" in the freezer, this is a bag of already cut up onions, red and green bell peppers, and I think celery and some herbs. This is a great staple for starting a lot of meals because this means you don't have to cut up all these items if they are called for in a recipe and your time will be cut when cooking. (sometimes fresh is better but if you are looking for just a quick start then this is the way to go) I also ALWAYS have olive oil in my pantry. You can substitute olive oil lots of time to cut fat instead of using veg. oil. You will also always find at least one can of low sodium chicken stock in my pantry. I actually found last year that I love the taste of vegetable stock in the place of chicken stock most times. It is better for you and can make a great trade for those of you who have a non-veggie eater in your house. Janette knows what I mean lol. I have been saying I was going to try Jerry Seinfeld's wife's cookbook. She uses blended veggies to hide them in other meals and you can't even taste them. I watched her on a show where she brought a bunch of her cooked recipes to a kindergarten class and had them taste them before telling them what was in it and they loved it. She has a brownie recipe loaded with prunes and a pizza recipe made with half carrots in the sauce and she has a mashed potato recipe that is made with cauliflower. Sorry my brain goes all over the place lol Back to items I keep in the house. I laugh at my mother-in-law becasue she keeps enough canned tomatoes in her pantry to make spaghetti for the rest of her life and ours aslo lol but you will always find canned tomatoes in my pantry (don't tell her lol) I try to keep one box of whole wheat pasta also because that is a good staple for a lot of recipes.  I like whole wheat instead of white because it is more healthy and doesn't turn into sugar in your body as quickly and it is not as proccessed either. Low sodium soy sauce, and lots of different seasonings are great to have on hand because you can sprinkle some different seasonings. Don't be scared to try different meats, if you find something on a great super sale then grab it and try it out. I grabbed ribs on sale once at Albertsons for buy one get TWO free and guess what I went home and googled some recipes and cooked them slowly for 4-6 hours and they were AMAZING! (I also decided to make my own bbq sauce and rib rub I found online to cook them). The list goes on and on and on for items to keep in the house for easy cooking, but the best things to remember when shopping to eat better are a few easy tips. First always shop the outside of your grocery store meaning the cooler sections that is where fresh not processed foods are, so dairy, meat, produce, and bakery (there are plenty of good foods in the freezer sections too but try to stay away from boxed stuff it is easy but not always good for you) Second if the ingredients list on a package of food from the "middle" sections of the grocery store contain items that you can not pronounce you shouldnt want to eat that. Third if your great grandmother wouldn't know what it is you probably don't want to eat it. Last if bugs won't eat it and it doesn't go bad then you definitely don't want to eat it. A coworker of mine did an experiment once and ruined one of my favorite things at McDonalds for me, apple pie. We had an apple pie at work for at least 3 months and I swear to you it still looked just as delicious the 90th day as it did the first day! Take that in for a minute, if you left an apple on the counter for 90 days it would be pretty gross but somehow this "pie" looked and smelled great! Now I can't eat them lol same thing will happen if you leave a twinkie out even a roach will come over smell it and leave they won't eat it why would we? They will eat poop! This is the start of what to buy to eat and cook better for you and your family.