[hellokitty81668]

Hi, I just wanted to post some finds I am using to help with the price of food.
At Sam's club they sell a big bag of frozen fruit( there are a few different kinds, I got dole mixed fruit, it has strawberries, melon, grapes and peaches in it), I defrost this, add Stoneyfield not fat vanilla yogurt and mix it together and it makes a great snack.
I also shop at some mexican/latino stores, in my area there are 2 places to go,, the flea market on the weekend has lots of booths with fresh fruit and veggies, much cheaper than the local stores. I also discovered a supermarket called Super Compare markets.. they cater to Latin americans, and have lots of fruits and veggies, I bought 15 limes for 97 cents, bananas 33 cents a pound, mangos 2 for $1.
There is also CSA...You buy a share in a farm, and pick up weekly boxes, usually is is $20-$25 a week during spring and summer.
Cheryl

[TempleBody]

Good stuff. Here the cheapest stuff is at discount markets and asian markets.

Sometimes I buy peppers (yellow, orange, red, green) that are plastic wrapped and marked 99cents. They're usually about to go bad, BUT I chop them up and freeze them the same day I buy them. They last in the freezer and are perfect for cooking.

[BlueToBlue]

Your local farmers' market can also be a great souce of cheap produce (and it's much fresher than anything you get in a store).

[K8-EEE]

Gotta love Costco!! My kids gobble plates and plates of veggies so I buy the big bags of persian cucumbers, mixed bell peppers, carrots...

Right now they have the fresh french-style green beans, sometimes I just blanch them (boiling water for 2 minutes and then cold water) spray then with olive oil spray and but a BBQ style seasoning on them, one of my kids' friends moms actually called me shocked that her kid came home raving about them!

One great idea I read about in another 3FC forum and have been doing, is, get the giant bags of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, ($2.99/lb at Costco) and put them in freezer bags with some kind of sauce....

I usually do either olive oil/garlic and lemon juice, or cut up the chicken in small pieces and freeze it with soy sauce/garlic/ginger/sesame oil sauce.

That way all you have to do is take it out of the freezer the night before, and the next day at dinner you have marinated chicken to toss in the pan with veggies and voila....DINNER!

My other trick is to make BIG batches of brown rice, freeze them in cupcake pans, pop them out of the the pans and store in the freezer in zip lock containers. Instant brown rice in 1/2 cup portions. Put it in the steamer with fresh veggies and they are both done in 7 minutes.