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Show r ' j It -N Makes ' V Cents ;U ; By r',-:, VI JUDGE BLAKE Vfc Awake during the night and unable un-able to get back to sleep, I kept thinking about how difficult unemployment un-employment is for parents, especially es-pecially those with large families. Even with public assistance, it must be difficult to provide nourishing food for their children. So, today I'm going to present some basic rules to help financially distressed families and others cut their food costs without sacriicing basic nutrition. Rule 1. Don't tolerate waste. According to the Attorney General (based on a seven-year extensive survey) $1 1-billion worth or about 15 of edible food is wasted in our nation annually. This is disgraceful. disgrace-ful. Rule! Buy ahead. Bulk foods, beans, rice, wheat, dry milk, oatmeal oat-meal so many staples can be purchased pur-chased by the sack (25, 50 or 100 pounds) at a tremendous overall saving. Watch sales. Buy ahead. Whenever something you regularly use is on sale, buy at least two, more if you can. "We can't buy ahead. We can barely keep up with today's needs." I hear this all the time. But you must, even if it means living on beans and bread and sacrificing in other ways for a week or until you can get enough ahead for a sack of at least one staple the next week. Rule 3. Rotate your food supply. sup-ply. Dry milk, for example, needs to be used within a year or sooner. Use it in all baked goods calling for milk. Drink it. The kids turn up their noses? Mix it a day ahead, add a pinch of salt and a few drops of vanilla and serve it ice cold. They still complain? Mix it with regular milk, one part to four at first, then half and half, and so on until they learn to like it. Rule 4. Use meat sparingly. No one will complain, for example, when you substitute wheat kernels soaked, then simmered until tender, for meat in well-seasoned chili. Wheat, beans, rice and legumes provide plenty of protein without meat Rule 5. Be a "savvy" shopper. Shop only once a week. Twice a month is even better. You'll not only avoid impulse buying, but also save time and gasoline. Compare Com-pare brands, quality, size of container, con-tainer, bulk versus packaged products, prod-ucts, fresh against processed. Read labels. Don't pay for water (as in canned green beans, fruits) and so on. Stay away from convenience foods. You pay too much for the convenience. Rule 6. Learn to enjoy simple foods. Rule 7. Be a nutrition expert, which could be your greatest contribution con-tribution to your family's health. Study. Free help is readily available avail-able in magazines, newspapers, books, extension service, government govern-ment bulletins. Oranges are rich in vitamin C. So is less expensive cabbage. We need some raw vegetables veg-etables every day, but instead of serving salads that are mostly lettuce, let-tuce, which, nutritionally speaking, is quite expensive, try cole slaw, grated carrot and apple salads. Rule 8. Use your freezer wisely. A nearly-empty freezer requires re-quires more energy than a full one so fill any empty space with empty boxes. Cook double batches of beans, stew, or soup and freeze what's left. Rule 9. Make your own snacks. Never buy junk foods. Nutritionally Nutrition-ally speaking, they are a total waste. Homemade bread and honey, carrot sticks, apple slices, fruit juice, even small potatoes boiled in their jackets with a sprinkle of salt and pepper - such after-school snacks provide energy and satisfy hunger. Rule 10. Never buy soda pop. Nutritionally, it's also a costly waste. Substitute fruit juice. It may cost about as much, but it's nourishing as well as refreshing. Rule 11. Make it from scratch. Prepared mix, particularly seasonings, season-ings, and convenience foods such as pie crusts and fillings, frozen rolls, biscuits, bread, main dishes and desserts cost too much for the time saved. Rule 12. Grow as much food as you can. Most families can find room to grow some food, even if no more than a tomato vine or two and a few clumps of lettuce. Rule 13. Serve a lot of pasta --spaghetti --spaghetti with vegetables instead of a meat sauce; pasta salad with plenty of raw vegetables; noodles, bread, and cooked cereal, especially whole grain. For detailed way to follow these basic rules, consult my book, IT MAKES CENTS. Your diligent effort to cut food costs without sacrificing nutrition will result in rich rewards for your food budget. Your family may complain at first, but the com- plaints will stop as their health improves and you become more relaxed re-laxed because you're handling this problem instead of letting it handle you. READERS: This is your feature. fea-ture. Your good ideas help all of us, so jot your down and mail them to: IT MAKES CENTS, 328 South 300 East, St. George, Utah 84770. If I can use your letter here, I'll send you $2.00 or a copy of one of my booklets, "Kitchen Tricks," or "Discard Tricks." |