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<p>I am proud to say my kids never had a fish stick :). I was not so great in other food divisions, but a stick made out of fish - I could not go that route.</p>
<p>My daughter has a friend that won’t it anything on a stick. Be it a corn dog or an ice cream - she has some kind of a problem with sticks. I bet fish sticks don’t fall in that cathegory 
Many years ago I had a nice recipe for a greek fish salad that I was actually making from fish sticks !!!</p>
<p>My kids still consider fish sticks a treat. Anything you eat rarely is a treat.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten smarter through the years about shopping at BJs. I used to overbuy because the things were so cheap, but when you put them in your cart, they wind up costing $15 or $20 – and that sure shows up big time when you check out. Now I only buy at BJs things I have coupons for, or things I can only get at BJs. (They have jumbo bags of Stacey’s Pita Chips, for example.) With the coupons, I find that when I get to the checkout, Yes, I am spending maybe $200 – but then, with my coupons, I get $20 or so off. And by spending all that at BJs, I’m not spending it at my local grocery store. Why not buy canned tuna, tomato sauce, and peanut butter in bulk? It costs half of what it costs at the grocery.</p>
<p>As for meat: What has guided me in the last year is that one serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. (Or, as I told my son, the original iPod.) It works for me – I’ll stop eating after only half a chicken breast – although DH still believes that a serving of meat is about the size of a compact car. We’re working on that! ;)</p>
<p>“although DH still believes that a serving of meat is about the size of a compact car. We’re working on that!”</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I’m having the same battle with my DH over portion size. He’s trying to lose weight, and is being very successful at it, but honestly, his idea of a serving is just plain delusional. And he wonders how he got to be overweight!</p>
<p>Same H here, VeryHappy (albeit skinny and a runner).
I served two pounds of fish for dinner yesterday and kept reminding DH that THIS IS TWO POUNDS! Does not have to be eaten all in one sitting :)</p>
<p>The starting point is, of course, to CLEAN OUT YOUR PANTRY! I have a very small, but deep two-door pantry. Things can really get lost in there. I’m not good at keeping a list–other than mental–of what I have, but actually found have LESS food in the pantry (so I can actually see it) is the key. I am always on the lookout for the perfect pantry list, and have found some good ones online. I also cleaned my one, deep cupboard (the location of oils, vinegars, salts, peppers etc.) where I found duplicates, even triplicates of kinds of oils etc. And really yucky old stuff.</p>
<p>If you have a couple of hours, clean and organize your food storage (including freezers) and really SEE what you have and where you have holes. </p>
<p>I apparently need macaroni and brown rice…</p>
<p>Is anyone interested in the locavore movement–eating only what’s produced locally? I would love to eat like this if I didn’t spend most of the year in NYC! My sister in her coastal CA town eats local fish, gets dairy and chicken from nearby farms and is able to grow most of her produce outdoors and in a greenhouse most of the year. They have over 30 fruit trees. They are healthy and fit and her kids glow with vigor!</p>
<p>^^ my big problem here are spices. I have duplicates upon dulicates:)</p>
<p>Here is nice pantry list I found in Eating Well:
[The</a> Healthy Pantry - Eating Well](<a href=“http://www.eatingwell.com/health/healthy_cooking/healthy_pantry.html?utm_source=ewmag]The”>http://www.eatingwell.com/health/healthy_cooking/healthy_pantry.html?utm_source=ewmag)</p>
<p>hmom - I have been making an effort since coming back from Europe this summer to eat locally. My backyard is a rock, so I can’t really have a garden but am planning on herbs in pots next year. We usually have tomatoes in pots but it is a big problem when away .
We have always bought local fruits and veggies - I either shop at the local fruitstand or a small local grocer for my produce. I would say that 80% of what I buy there is local. Honey comes from a friend’s neighbor, milk and cream from a local dairy. I am in the process of investigating eggs - the ones I can get at Costco come from about 60 miles away. I can’t eat Omega 3 eggs - fishy taste. So like I have said - I am investigating, looking for a local producer of cage free eggs. Getting a chicken like that would be great too :)</p>
<p>I spend a lot on food (way too much) and I’ve been trying to think of ways to be more careful while still getting the things we like (organic produce, interesting cheeses, etc.)</p>
<p>Someone on the parent mailing list of my kids’ old elementary school just posted a query to see if anyone wanted to join a food co-op. I’ve never been in one before, but I’m going to try it out. The person who’s handling the logistics has done it before and she seems to know what to do. She is going through UNFIW (United Natural Foods Inc. Western division), which is apparently a big supplier to Whole Foods. There will be monthly deliveries, and we will order online. A big truck will come to drop off the boxes at a local retail business owned by one of the co-op members. We’ll see how it goes; I’m hoping it will help us save a lot of money.</p>
<p>We also have a number of community-supported agriculture farms around here and I’m going to sign up for one of them, but I haven’t decided which. Some are very small operations, and you have to pay for a membership share in a whole season’s worth of produce (which costs about $750). There are weekly deliveries to a central location and you can also visit the farm if you want to check out where the food is grown. There’s also a very big farm that is further away, which allows for you to sign up on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. It’s cheaper (about $18/week) but it also means the produce is trucked over a hundred miles to get here. So I’m still figuring this out.</p>
<p>Localvore is possible even in Maine. Check out this book.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long: Eliot Coleman, Barbara Damrosch, Kathy Bray: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Garden/dp/1890132276]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables-Garden/dp/1890132276)</p>
<p>I have raised bed for gardenning. I bought concrete blocks from home depot and dirt. In less than 15 minutes I can create a small vegetable garden. No digging.</p>
<p>There is an expensive way to build raise bed here.</p>
<p>[The</a> perfect raised bed](<a href=“http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,1152183,00.html]The”>http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,1152183,00.html)</p>
<p>My brother is in such a co-op and loves it. Not something I have sought as I have such an erratic schedule.</p>
<p>I came across an interesting article that looked at recipes in The Joy of Cooking which said that the older recipes for the same dishes (Gulash, apple pie, nothing too weird) had on average 100 calories fewer per serving in the older versions than the new ones. Some of the change due to more sugar or fat in newer versions, some due to serving size.</p>
<p>Calreader - sounds very interesting. Are you in Cal?</p>