Shakin & Bakin Foodie Blog: Celebrate Food Day With These 5 Budget-friendly Tips

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Welcome to my blog! I love to cook and bake for my family. I hope you enjoy the recipes, foodie reviews, foodie giveaways and cooking tips posted on my blog.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Celebrate Food Day With These 5 Budget-friendly Tips

Confusing food labeling, poor nutrition and unsafe food are primary targets of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. To bring visibility to the importance of these issues, the nonprofit watchdog group named today Food Day.

The organization is helping sponsor thousands of events on Oct. 24 in homes, churches, schools, farmers markets, state capitals and city halls from Alaska to Hawaii.

Here are five frugal shopping tips to help you join in on this effort.

1. Understand Shipment Cycles
Get the freshest food for your dollar by asking about shipment arrival dates at your favorite grocery stores, then shop on the days when new produce is available. The longer food sits around, the more nutrients it loses and the less appetizing it becomes.

2. Spice Up Your Diet
Did you know some herbs and spices can boost your metabolism without caffeine or sugar? These include cayenne pepper, cumin, cinnamon and others found in this LiveStrong post. Buy fresh spices in bulk from ethnic food stores or your local coop for 95-percent off the pre-packaged price, but store them in airtight containers.

3. Use Gift Cards
You might think it strange to use discount gift cards for food, but you can actually purchase gift cards for grocery stores for dollars off the card's face value from sites like Gift Card Granny. These cards will cut the price of buying health foods and allow you to shop your favorite stores.

4. Coupon It Up
Thanks to the health food craze, natural and organic coupons have gone big time. Organic Valley, Silk Milks and Earth's Best are just three major manufacturers offering both print and online coupons. Supermarkets also frequently publish coupons for dairy, bakery and fresh-produce products.

5. Try Organic Store Brands
Think generic and you likely think multi-syllabic ingredients, but many major food chains now offer store brands that are both healthy and up to 30-percent less than name brands.

Andrea Woroch is a consumer and money-saving expert for Kinoli Inc. She is available for in-studio, satellite or skype interviews and to write guest posts or articles.