Clean out that Pantry

Ah the pantry: the spaghetti sauce stockpile, the canned bean bunker, the foodie fortress. If your pantry is anything like mine, it's overflowing with items you've (hopefully) accumulated from grocery store sales, wholesale clubs, and sometimes even inherited from friends with changing dietary habits (new vegetarian, gluten-free, diabetics for example).

But since your spring-cleaning is in full-swing, you might as well crack open that pantry door, open up a trash bag, and prepare to toss out some of your precious food reserves. Items that have been infested by bugs or worms, and cans that have bulging lids or dents that compromise the interior food product should be immediately thrown out. Check open bags of grain or flour, as these are favorites for little pantry bugs. Take everything off of the floor, and give the place a good sweep.

Then, there are certain items, that you can probably donate to your local food pantry (provided they were never opened) so check that the interior seal is still intact. The April 2010 Fitness article, "Pantry Raid: 11 Healthy Food Swaps" provides you with some ingredients to replace it with, while cutting calories, fat, and cost.I've summarized the article below, but read the full article for details on how these ingredients stack up nutritionally:

Which Organic Products are Worth the Money?

If you haven't tried organic foods yet, you certainly should! 

Organic can be defined as " produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones." For more information on organic products check out organic.org and ewg.org.

Celery and Peaches are more likely to be contaminated by chemicals, so it is worth it to buy these organic.

But buying organic can really add up at the check-out line. If you have been weary about spending extra money on organic products, check out the "Organic Cheat Sheet" from Fitness.com. As a general rule of thumb, if you plan on eating the skins of the produce, you should probably go for organic.

5 Spoilers in your Fridge

The May 2011 Every day with Rachel Ray mag had a great article on common "Food Storage Flubs" that people make at home. I have listed them for you here.

Are Chocolate Covered Strawberries Worth the Expense?

Valentine's Day is one of my top 3 favorite holidays, although most tightwads have mixed feelings about this particular yearly observance. After all, why do we need to spend all that money on greeting cards, flowers, and candle-lit Italian dinners? The truth is, you don't need to.

 I love Valentine's Day because it's a day where I can reflect on the people (and animals) I care about in my life. This day is about celebrating various types of love. Enjoy today as a way to show affectionate love for friends, family, significant others; or to proclaim your passion for a social issue; or even to appreciate yourself!

I usually show some self-appreciation by splurging on fancy chocolate covered strawberries from Godvia Chocolatier boutiques.

It's happened to the best of us, you walk by that elegant display case with that luscious, fat, strawberry sitting there covered in rich chocolate, and it practically calls out to you by name! You silently justify the indulgence to yourself, (I walked 4 miles today, I took the stairs at work all week, etc) and you mosey on into the store only to find that one chocolate dipped strawberry is $7.00! 

Home-made White Chocolate/Dark Chocolate strawberries , Dark Chocolate Almond strawberries, Dark Chocolate Pecan strawberries, Dark Chocolate Walnut strawberries.

You gasp.
You are sure that this is way overpriced, but by how much? Well, The Thrifty Scholar has worked it out for you:

-I purchased approximately 30 medium sized strawberries in a wholesale store for $5.99.
-I was able to purchase 11.5 oz Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips for $2.00 at my local grocery store.
-It only takes me 4.5 oz to cover all 30 strawberries. The 4.5 oz of chocolate cost me $0.77.
-My total cost for chocolate and strawberries was $6.76 and each unit came to $0.23 to make.

If I estimate that 2 medium strawberries covered in Ghiradelli chocolate make up the weight of the large strawberry at Godiva, then I spent $0.46 by making my own chocolate covered strawberries at home. Net savings: $6.54.

In comparison to the $42 box of 6 Godiva chocolate dipped strawberries, net savings were $39.24.

Read on to see how I did it.

Saving the Spotted Banana

A harsh winter in New England means that our produce pickings are sadly sparse. However, the trusty banana remains a tasty ally in helping Americans achieve their 5 fruits and vegetable servings a day. (If you want to calculate exactly how to break down those 5 servings according to your age and gender try this tool from the CDC).

But all too often our favorite plantain languishes on the kitchen counter, ripening, and becoming the squishy, spotted banana. Usually we throw away these unfortunate fruits, and if we estimate that the average American family throws away 1lbs of bananas every 2 weeks (that's 3 medium bananas) then at $0.69 a pound that is costing you  $16.56 per year. That may not seem like a lot of money, but consider other costs that aren't necessarily financial.