Super Bowl Sunday: a day of celebration and indigestion, a joyous combination of football, friends, and of course–food. Here is Social Grocery’s low down on the Super Bowl Snackdown!
Click the image for a larger version.
Don’t be embarrassed. Sometimes we go a little overboard with food shopping and the result is a fridge you don’t want to look at, let alone let other people see it. But one of the things that results from fridge clutter is spoiled food. Do you find yourself often asking “is this still good?” or “when did I buy this?” or “how long does leftover pasta stay good for?” — you are not alone. It’s pretty much the dirty little secret that we all share.
But to help you keep track of your own food, here are a few key items you should be keeping tabs on more than the rest. Feel free to print this and keep it on/near the fridge.
LEFTOVERS
MILK
FRUIT
COTTAGE CHEESE
CHEESE
PACKAGED MEATS
JELLY & JAM
OPEN CANS
* List adapted from VitaminsandMinerals.net
What items do you tend to forget about in your fridge?
Social Grocery // Facebook // Twitter
We”ve seen the shows, we”ve read the blogs, but are we living the trend? The reality is that many people have realized the amount of savings that couponing can bring you — but there is a way to save without going to the extreme. With the state of our economy, and the money in our pockets more precious than ever, there are tools available to help cut the costs when it comes to groceries. Hello technology, goodbye sad bank accounts.
In a recent survey conducted by CouponDivas.com, of the over 10,000 couponers that responded, 46% say they spend approximately 2 to 3 hours a week or more making their shopping lists, coupon searching, matching sales, etc. But with blogs such as FabulesslyFrugal.com, CouponDivas.com, CouponMom.com and TheKrazyCouponLady.com, it even easier for you to shop at your favorite stores and cut your savings planning time by a significant amount. There are also phone applications being developed to help you create grocery lists and scan items while in the store. *
** (Source: DailyFinance)
For more tips, check out our Grocery Shopping 101 blog post.
Are you a couponer, or are interested in trying out couponing? What”s the determining factor for you?
Social Grocery // Facebook // Twitter
November is one of my favorite months–mostly, for the delicious meal I engorge myself with on the 24th (and for a few days after that!). But, I also enjoy it because it reminds us to be truly thankful for some of the things we”re very privileged to have in our lives.
Recently I found out about a food challenge in Vermont sponsored by Hunger Free Vermont called the 3SquaresVT challenge (named after the state”s food stamp program). It simply asked people to change their eating and shopping habits for one week to live on the state”s average food stamp allowance: $38.
As a single twentysomething, this wouldn”t be too far of a stretch for me. Resort back to the college ramen and PB & J diet, cut out a beer allowance, and I could survive. But honestly, not for long–I couldn”t do it for weeks and weeks. And if you added kids into that mix? It was a scary thought.
I scoured the internet for more information and found a similar challenge on a national level called the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge created by FRAC, the Food Research and Action Center.
It challenges others to live on the national food stamp budget of $1 a meal, or $3 a person a day. $21? I was dreading $38! If you want a fun and interesting read, FRAC took it one step further and asked members of congress to participate in the challenge. Click here to read their responses and how cutting their budget to $21 severely impacted their meals and food challenges.
When a budget is so restrictive, every factor that one might usually use in the store (nutrition, health, environmentally friendly) goes out the window–Just the price tag. Fresh fruits and produce are out of the question. Forget organic or diet specific foods, or even whole grain or whole wheat. It”s a whole lot of white breads, pasta, and rice. Is living on $21/week possible? Sure. But more importantly, can you receive all the nutrients you need and still eat healthy on $21/week? That, well, I”m just not sure.
Personally, I”d be picking at bones to savor the last little pieces of food–and now I have quite a few bones to pick with the food stamp system.
Could you do it? Could you feed yourself (and/or your family) on $21/person/week? Let us know, we want to hear your thoughts on this one.
Move over skeletons, ghosts, and ghouls–we all know what Halloween is REALLY about–candy! We love it all, Tootsie Rolls, Snickers, M& Ms, chocolate, gummies, gum, all of it! We hope you have a spooktacular and sweet Halloween from all of us at Social Grocery!
Click the image (or here) for a larger version.
How many times have you struggled with a produce label? First, you have to fight with it to peel it off. Then you finally get it off, but it”s stuck to your hand and you play musical hands with different inanimate objects trying to find something that the label will stick to instead. And heaven forbid you FORGET about the label and start to wash your produce — GOD SPEED TO YOU, FRIEND. You”re better off just cutting it off or avoiding that part of your fruit/veggie altogether than trying to get that sucker off. Basically, produce labels are not our friends.
But now (well, hopefully in the near future) ..
This bright new concept from Amron Experimental is nothing short of genius, in my opinion. Instead of struggling with produce labels, think of a world with Amron”s Vanishing Fruitwash Labels! This concept sticker would give you the option of either peeling off the sticker beforehand (but why would you?) or rinsing it with water. By rubbing/washing the label, it will dissolve into an organic produce wash that removes wax, pesticides, dirt and bacteria.
AND HOW COOL IS THAT?
Someone please invest in this concept now. I can guarantee that all fruit and veggie eaters will be behind you on this one.
If this concept became a reality, would you still peel off the sticker or use the wash?
+ Social Grocery
+ Social Grocery on Facebook
+ Social Grocery on Twitter
Heads up everyone! There is only a month until Thanksgiving. That”s it. A month. Not sure about you, but Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. In fact, lately I”ve been finding myself honestly dreaming about turkey dinner and hallucinating the scent of turkey and gravy. A problem? No — I just call it anticipation.
And because November 24th will be here sooner than you realize, now is the time to start figuring out your dinner plans. Who”s house this year? What to bring? Meanwhile, I”ll be listing off the usual dishes present at my favorite feast of the year:
TURKEY (obviously.)
gravy
stuffing
mashed potatoes
cranberry sauce
creamed corn
steamed veggies
butternut squash
sweet potatoes (with marshmallows!)
brussel sprouts (not my personal favorite, but nevertheless they”re usually present.)
creamed onions and peas
dinner rolls
banana bread (homemade and with walnuts, please.)
zucchini bread
corn muffins
apple cider
wine
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
apple pie
… Have I made my case yet? Thought so!
For some fantastic recipes to wow the crowd this year, check out Food Network”s Thanksgiving section. There are so many goodies on there, you could be browsing for hours.
What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes?
+ Social Grocery
+ Social Grocery on Facebook
+ Social Grocery on Twitter
The life of a sales shopper — how many of you have key rings like this?
It”s time to get truthful. When it comes to loyalty, where do you fit? Are you an open up the Sunday newspaper and check out each store”s sales type of person, or do you gravitate towards one particular store? Maybe you could care less and just stop at whatever store is most convenient. When you think about it, our shopping habits could say a lot about our personalities.
Do you like a challenge? You”re probably a sales shopper. You love finding the best sales and saving the most you can on your grocery bill. You have no problem working each store flyer to get the best deal on your kitchen cupboard essentials.
Are you organized, or maybe a teensy bit opposed to change? You might be a loyal shopper. You know your store”s layout like the back of your hand. The deli counter knows how you like your cheese sliced and checkout associates know how you like your groceries bagged.
Spur of the moment, carefree individual? Most likely, you”re a convenience shopper. Running out for a few things? No problem — whatever store is open and closest is your go-to. As long as you”re able to get your favorite brand of ice cream, who cares where it comes from?
Do you agree? What type of shopper category do you fall into?
+ Social Grocery
+ Social Grocery on Facebook
+ Social Grocery on Twitter
A little over a month ago, Hurricane Irene made landfall along the Eastern Coastline, causing over $10.5 billion dollars in damage. Here in Vermont, the home state of Social Grocery, many towns, businesses, and people are still cleaning up the mess it left behind. Our parent company, MyWebGrocer, took a look at its online sales data and found that many consumers were stocking up prior to Hurricane Irene”s landfall. So, we give you our “Preparing for Hurricane Irene” infographic.
(click image for a larger version.)
Questions? Concerns? Let us know! We”re listening: Facebook || Twitter || Email
The closest I ever got to traveling the world when i was younger was “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?”. (Anyone? Anyone?) It wasn”t until I was a junior in college that I got my first opportunity to leave the country.
Now that I”ve done a bit of international traveling, I”ve realized one of my favorite things when traveling is finding new and strange foods. Some are new and exotic dishes in restaurants or street markets, and some of them of fun packaged foods sold in grocery stores in that country. So, you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon Jaunted.com”s weekly “Foreign Grocery Friday” blog series. These fun folks are in the travel biz, and therefore have come across some of the world”s best (and strangest!) foods.
In their most recent post, Jaunted features a product that combines my favorite Sunday morning breakfast with my favorite Thursday night bar snack. Enter pancake flavored pretzel sticks called Pretz.
At first glance they look seemingly harmless, but the Jaunted.com reviewers warn of the sickingly artificial sweetness smell that overpowers your nose on first sniff. Apparently the taste is just as sweet, according to their post:
” The flavor has been baked into them, and it”s the flavor of Japan”s idea of Pancake Syrup: an extremely rich honey milk paired with regular syrup. Just one stick should do for a while; five and you”ll think you”re due for a cavity.”
Want to read more on this or other fun, foreign grocery Friday finds? Check out their blog here.