Thursday, April 17, 2008

5 Tips to Lower Your Grocery Bill

You have to eat. But you don't have to spend as much money at the grocery store if you follow a few basic tenets.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the typical American family of four spends $8,513 per year on groceries. That averages out to $709 per month. And food prices are on the rise. Groceries gobble up the largest part of a family's household budget, to the point of rivaling a mortgage payment in some parts of the nation, but there are a number of things consumers can do to help out their wallet.

Sissy Osteen, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension resource management specialist, offers five tips to help you put food on the table for less money:

1. Shop less frequently.
"Make a big trip once or twice a month," Osteen advises. "The fewer times you're in the store, the less opportunity you'll have for impulse buying. Research indicates that consumers making a 'quick trip' to the store end up spending 54 percent more than they intended." A consumer who goes to the store three times per week and spends $10 on impulse purchases each trip will end up spending an additional $120 per month. By going to the store just once per week, consumers will spend only $40 per month on these purchases. Shopping once per month results in only $10 spent on impulse items. This can have a huge impact! The shop-less, save-more strategy can save families nearly $1,000 per year.

2. Make a list.
Whether you're going to shop once a month or once a week, you need to be organized to pull it off. No more wandering into the grocery store after work and walking up and down the aisles trying to figure out what to eat for dinner that night. To save the most money, make a menu for the meals and snacks for that week or month and list the ingredients. Then stick to your list! If possible, shop without your children so you are not tempted to give into pressure from youngsters for an extra treat or toy that is not on the list.

3. Buy the store brand.
Shoppers can easily shave several dollars from their grocery bill by purchasing generic or store brand products over national brand items. "In most cases you won't sacrifice much in quality," Osteen said. "Everything from cereal and frozen vegetables to canned goods and prescription drugs is available under a generic or store brand label. You can save from a few cents to a couple of dollars per item. The savings can quickly add up."

4. Compare stores' sales ads and cut coupons.
If there are a number of grocery stores in your area, compare the weekly sales ads and plan menus accordingly. Look for cheaper cuts of meat. Chicken thighs and legs cost less than chicken breasts. Osteen said coupons also can be a good way to save money. Many stores will double coupons up to a dollar. "Be sure to compare the discounted price to the price of a store-brand product," she said. "Even with a coupon, you may be better off buying the store brand."

5. Compare prices on everything.
"Be sure to compare prices on everything. Bagged apples may be cheaper than bulk apples," Osteen said. "Bagged salads will cost you more than buying the ingredients separately." Most grocery stores post the price per ounce, pound or other unit of measurement. The largest size of a product may not always be the cheapest, especially if you buy more than you will use. "If you end up throwing things out, you've wasted your money, no matter how good the deal was to begin with," she said. "Additionally, if you find that you have accumulated too many grocery items, skip a shopping trip and plan your week's meals around what you have on hand. This saves money and time."
--From the Editors at Netscape



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Summer Fun Recipes with Aerolatte FrothersAerolatte Frother Models

SUMMER FUN RECIPIES

 
Cappuccino is only one of the great coffee drinks that can be made with the aerolatte® frother. Explore a little and try these amazing Italian treats created by Marco Finocchiaro, Italian gourmet for aerolatte®.
All recipies and content Copyright 2008 Green Lane/aerolatte.
Banana and cinnamon milkshake© - hot or cold
The banana and cinnamon combination can be refreshing in summer or very warming in winter when made with hot milk. Make it with ¼ volume of banana purée to ¾ volume of milk (remembering to only fill the glass 1/3 full). Froth it with the aerolatte® frother into a smooth high foam and dust with cinnamon. It's delicious.
Caffè frappée© - in seconds
Remember that great holiday in Greece with the groovy little coffee frappées they served? With instant coffee, you can make a cold coffee frappée in seconds. Put one teaspoon of instant coffee in half a glass of cooled still water; add a drop of sugar if required and froth it up with the aerolatte® frother! Add a little bit of Irish cream liqueur with the instant coffee to make this a summer drink to remember.
Chocolate milk©
Regular drinking chocolate enters a new dimension with the aerolatte® frother. Use natural chocolate or cocoa - avoid using instant chocolate powders with emulsifiers, which do not froth well. Don't worry that normal drinking chocolate advises only to use hot milk - the aerolatte® frother will dispense the chocolate granules through the milk.

Fill your glass one third with fridge cold milk and add one or two small spoons of chocolate powder. Whisk together with the aerolatte® frother and you'll have the richest tasting chocolate drink. Try adding some orange liqueur to give it a whole new aspect. Can also be used with hot milk

Coffee milkshake© - in seconds
Of course, you can make a coffee milkshake very quickly with one regular small spoon of instant coffee into a high-sided glass. Fill the glass to a third of its height with fridge cold milk. Whisk it with the aerolatte® frother for a delicious smooth frothy coffee milkshake.
Fruit milkshakes© in less than a minute
The basic recipe for a fruit milkshake is to use two parts of chilled milk (the colder the better) to one part of cold fresh juice. Fill a tall glass or aerolatte® Shakes tumbler to a third of its volume. The aerolatte®will froth and expand the mixture up to the rim of the glass in less than a minute.
 
Sometimes, I add a small spoon of sugar to bring out the fruity taste - it's a matter of personal preference and has no impact on the "frothability" of the milk. These fruit juices make great shakes: lemon, orange, grape, honey melon, pineapple, banana, strawberry, wild berry, apple and pear. You can use almost any kind of fresh fruit - if it is puréed or liquidised before you add it to the cold milk. Using the aerolatte® frother is the simplest way to make a really delicious and healthy milkshake. Try using skimmed (0% fat) milk and puréed fruit for a great, fat-free, healthy treat.

Experiment and discover new tastes by using your favourite juices in different combinations, for a vitamin packed, health drink.

Honey milk©
Don't forget one of my personal favourites, a drink that always reminds me of sweet Summer days in Italy - honey milk. This healthy drink is given a new twist when prepared with the aerolatte® frother.
 
Put a small spoon of liquid honey in a high-sided glass, which is a third full of fridge chilled milk. Whisk with the aerolatte® to the rim. Take two amaretto cookies and finely crush them. Sprinkle these on top of the frothed milk.

You can also try this with hot milk as a wonderful winter warmer.

Mixed fruit milkshakes©

With a little extra effort you can combine different fruit juices. But remember to fill the tumbler to only a third of its height to allow for the drink to expand. Here are a few of the combinations I particularly like:

¼ of pear juice, ¼ peach juice and ½ ice cold milk
¼ of pear juice, ¼ cherry juice and ½ ice cold milk
¼ of strawberry juice, ¼ grape juice and ½ ice cold milk
¼ of orange juice, ¼ pineapple juice and ½ ice cold milk
¼ of pear juice, ¼ kiwi juice and ½ ice cold milk
¼ of peach juice, ¼ orange juice and ½ ice cold milk
1/5 honeydew melon, 1/5 pineapple juice, 1/5 papaya juice and 2/5 cold milk
1/6 papaya juice, 1/6 orange juice, 1/6 puréed banana and ½ cold milk

All recipies and content Copyright 2008 Green Lane/aerolatte