a few tips

So I get a lot of people ask me if couponing is "just for junk food" "do you eat anything healthy"....um yea. I have a $50 (sometimes $60) a week budget for food. There is a list called grocerysmarts, (you can get to it off utahdealdiva.com) It tells us the most popular stores and their sales that week. I often find myself spending quite a lot of money in produce sometimes. So I will but when it is on a great sale and buy alot...but I know produce goes bad, but I freeze alot of what I buy. I have been shopping at farmers markets lately, and have been buying much more than I need right now.

I do this with onions, peppers, tomatoes, squash, zuccinni and anykind of berry. These are the items I feel like really freeze and thaw well. I first wash and cut up the veggie I am going to store. I let it sit out for about 10 min to dry...then I spread it on a baking tray and place in the freezer for about 25 min. (tie a string around your finger or something, I do this alot and often foget about it, and the next morning find them totally dried out and ruined:(...) Then I place in a cheap ziploc type brand, and then put that in a nice freezer bag (these were just on sale for $1 from almost $4 per box, so I bought about 15 boxes!) Then I mark it with the date. I try to use them within 3 months or so.

Next week I am going to make stuffed bell peppers and I would not recomend freezing and entire bell pepper...im frugle but not crazy, so I will stock up on those at the farmers market this weekend.