| Grocery Guide
Today, the average supermarket has more than 20,000 products to choose from. Variety is one variable that can influence our choices in the grocery store, along with convenience, nutritional value, price and taste. Making wise choices for you and your family can be challenging.
What you put in your grocery cart will likely determine most of your familys nutritional intake. Taking time to plan meals and shop wisely for nutritious foods will help to keep you and your family healthy. Here are some grocery shopping tips to help you save time, spend less money and eat better!
- Plan your daily menus and check the foods you have on hand to help you decide what you need to buy.
- Plan to try a new recipe from a heart-healthy cookbook. Make a note of any special ingredients you will need.
- Look for store specials and clip coupons for products you normally purchase.
- Make a list and stick to it. Group your list by aisle and by food category so its easy for you to follow. Put an asterisk next to items that you have a coupon for.
 |
|
|
 |
- Learn the layout of your favorite store so you can find items quickly and avoid impulsive buying.
- When possible, shop around the outer perimeter of the store where healthier choices such as fruits, vegetables, milk products, meat, poultry and breads are kept. Processed foods tend to cost more and have less nutritional value.
- Check the expiration dates on products to ensure freshness.
- Compare unit prices among brand sizes to save money.
- Read food labels for nutrient content. Look at the daily value. If the % Daily Value for a nutrient is 5 percent or less, its considered low. If the % Daily Value exceeds 20 percent, its high.
- Buy only what you need or can properly store. Plan ahead so you do not run out of essential items since prices tend to be more expensive at smaller neighborhood stores.
- Step up your pace to shop as carefully and quickly as possible. The longer you stay in a store, the more money you are likely to spend.
- Pay attention to checkout scanners for pricing errors. Help to sort products on the checkout line so similar foods (for example, frozen) are bagged together
|
|
|
|
- Unpack items quickly and store properly. Keep frozen foods frozen and refrigerate meat, poultry, fish and other perishables as soon as possible.
- Store new items in back of opened ones to avoid waste. Keep an eye on expiration dates.
Use the Food Guide Pyramid to help you plan daily meals and snacks. The guide can help you decide how many servings from each food category you should eat daily for a balanced diet. If you are watching your weight, choose the lower number of servings and go easy on fats and sweets.
Use the Food Guide Pyramid to help you reshape the traditional square meal to a more balanced diet for you and your family. Learn to think of vegetables and grain products such as rice and pasta as the main course, and meat, poultry or fish as the side dish.
- Make snacks part of your total diet rather than extras. Snacking makes up about 25 percent of an adults caloric intake. Choose nutritious snacks to help you satisfy your hunger and enhance the nutritional quality of your diet.
- Keep it simple. Avoid high-tech foods such as breakfast bars, main dish helpers and salads in a box. They are often more expensive and less nutritious similar dishes you make on your own.
- Watch for new products that can save you time without compromising nutritional value. For example, whole-grain brown rice is now available in quick-cooking form. Low-fat salad dressings can be used as quick marinades for chicken and fish.
- Plan for the use of leftovers. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers, such as vegetables, rice, meat and poultry, properly so they can be added later to soups, stews and stir-fry dishes. Or, wrap them up to take with you for a quick, easy lunch.
- Build up your inventory of menu ideas and store them for future use. Most households use only eight to 10 recipes over and over again! Look for new menu ideas in magazines, newspapers and on the Internet. Keep a file of your favorites.
|
|
|
|
Convenience foods can help you prepare meals quickly. But some are high in fat, sodium and calories. To select healthful convenience foods, be sure to:
-
Read food labels for fat content. A product that has 3 grams of fat or less per 100 calories serving is considered to be low in fat.
-
Complete frozen dinners or entrees should provide (per serving):
-
No more than 300 calories
-
No more than 10 grams of fat
-
At least 15 grams of protein
-
No more than 800 milligrams of sodium
-
Watch out for excess sodium. Try to limit sodium to 1,100 to 3,300 milligrams per day. Use these guidelines to rate foods for sodium content:
-
Low less than 100 milligrams per serving
-
Moderate 100 to 400 milligrams per serving
-
High more than 400 milligrams per serving
- Complement your meal with fresh fruit, vegetables and a serving of low-fat milk, cheese or yogurt to add vitamins, minerals and fiber that are often lacking in convenience foods.
|
|
|
|
Use our personalized menu planner to plan your meals and organize your shopping list. Write down your menus for the week. Plan to try a new recipe from a heart-healthy cookbook. Check the foods you have on hand. Write down the ingredients and grocery items you will need.
- The USDA recommends two servings of vegetables per day.
A. True B. False
- Snacking makes up about 25 percent of an adults caloric intake.
A. True B. False
- Frozen dinners or entrees should provide no more than 300 calories and no more than 14 grams of fat.
A. True B. False
- Processed foods tend to cost less and have less nutritional value than unprocessed foods.
A. True B. False
Go to the answer key and see how you did.
|
