Fresh Savings

I have said that we do our best to save money yet still have fresh food.  Well our main savings is in the $1 a bag bin of our produce department at the one and only grocery store in town.  They take the bruised fruit and veggies and bag them up for quick sale.  I love it for then I can buy them really cheap.  Bring them home and create some great meals with them.

Here is a lil bit of my $6.00 investment today.  The $1 bags had 2 large eggplants in one bag.   Another had a head of lettuce with some tomatoes that were getting really ripe.  Then there was a bag with cucumbers, squash and zucchini together.  The 4th bag had a batch of ripe mango's.  Another had apples and bell peppers.  Yes, there is not a real rhyme or reason of what goes in a bag together.  The last bag contained broccoli and cauliflower.   I took these and started cutting, chopping and bagging them up for my freezer.

Meanwhile Dear Hubby was taking the grapes that were on sale for $1.99 a pound and fixing them to freeze.  Frozen grapes are my favorite quick snack that is healthy, sweet and totally guilt free.  We just rinse them, pick the off the vine, plop them in a big bowl and place them in the freezer.  At snack time you grab a glass and scoop out a bunch to munch on.  Helps keep you cool in the hot summer.

Another thing I did to keep cool while having a wonderful snack is make up some fresh all fruit mango Popsicles.  Yeah, peeled, chopped and then ran them through the blender.  Poured them into our lil Popsicle holders and into the freezer they went.  Nothing but natural fruit.  If you buy them at the store they will have water, sugar, mango, lemon juice concentrate, natural flavor, guar gum, carob bean gum  in them.    I made up a dozen for $1 compared to $6 in the store for 8 bars.

Well I finished chopping up everything.  And here is my veggies and fruits ready to go.  I have the cucumbers ready to go in cucumber ginger lemonade and also creamy dill cucumber salad.  The lettuce is in glass jars to go in the fridge for salads.  It will keep fresher for a longer period of time this way.  Every thing else is to go to the freezer.  I will have apples for pies ready to bake.  Veggies for stir fries or to go in soups.  Tomatoes are looking to be made into sauce for pasta.  Plenty of eggplant to make a meatless meal from.  Just think all of this for only $6.00  What would it have cost you?