Shopping for healthier food. Need Help.
- Thread starter Kenbushway
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Don't bother with the organic stuff, Ken, the only difference is politics and price.
My father has one. It has a steaming part that I can use with it.
Right. I knew that but sometimes you can find special ingredients asked for in recipes in the organic section that you couldn't find elsewhere. Like Mint Leaves, whole mint leaves. Before all you got was just dried diced mint leaves, but now the organic section has the full leaves, not chopped, and not dried out.
^Better yet, buy a mint plant. They're easy to grow!
Get basil too! You can get a lot of easy-to-grow herbs!
^Definitely! They taste great, are cost-effective, and make your home smell fabulous! My mom used to grow a ton of herbs in our kitchen when I was a kid. She grew a chocolate mint plant that was so delicious we would just pluck the leaves off and suck on them.
I love the basil plant I got for this summer, plus the tomato plants. As soon as the tomatoes are ready to go, there's a dish I'm going to make. 
^Oh, nothing beats fresh tomatoes. With some produce there's not really a difference between grocery store and fresh, but tomatoes taste like a whole different fruit. They're the one thing I will never buy at the grocery store, only the farmer's market. Unfortunately, I don't get enough sun to grow them myself. My mom used to grow them, and one of my favorite things was a tomato right off the vine cut in half and sprinkled with sugar.
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I've had woks over the years but I'm not crazy about their utility; as Alton Brown would say, they're uni-taskers. A large non-stick skillet works fine and is more versatile. Now I do all my stir-frying in a enamel/cast iron braiser, it works great and can do a lot more besides.
Agreed 100%. I will not buy a tomato in the winter, no matter what, and in the summer we grow our own. I have eight plants growing now, they will go in the ground this weekend.
We buy canned tomatoes by the case, though; they are useful in all kinds of recipes and are harvested when ripe, unlike supermarket produce tomatoes which are harvested green and hard.
^Oh god, you quoted me having typed there instead of they're. I hang my head in shame.
I feel for you, I was quoted once using "it's" for "its". But we know you didn't mean it.
You too? My mom talked about summers spent with her grandparents, having the same!
And while we've had good luck with Costco Romas, there is nothing like a cherry tomato coming right off the vine. I bought my dad three Super Sweet 100 plants and they're growing like wildfire right now!
I am not looking to go that far. I do have recipes that call for mint, but not enough to where I need to buy a mint plant. A few leaves is all I need.
When I was a kid I'd spend summers with my grandparents, too, where we'd come in from the farm to have "dinner" around one in the afternoon, and then in the evening have "supper" which was generally bread (baked that morning) and butter, maybe some leftover meat, and fresh from the garden tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and radishes. Heavenly. Their vegetable garden was about the size of my whole backyard.
For what you spend on a few recipes' worth in the produce section you can buy a plant and a pot and have mint whenever you need it all summer long. If you're partial to combining mint with rum and lime the way I am on a summer night, I can't recommend it highly enough.
I hate the taste of mint. At the house before my current home we had mint growing wild in the yard and two of my neighbours would pick some whenever they needed it.
I usually grow tomatoes and cucumbers each year but this year both crops failed. Talking to a neighbour (5 houses away) I found out his tomatoes also failed. He said it happen to others in the neighbourhood as well. No sign of pests. The neighbour thought it might be as a result of toxins released by the big bushfires we had but I am far from convinced of that.
I usually grow tomatoes and cucumbers each year but this year both crops failed. Talking to a neighbour (5 houses away) I found out his tomatoes also failed. He said it happen to others in the neighbourhood as well. No sign of pests. The neighbour thought it might be as a result of toxins released by the big bushfires we had but I am far from convinced of that.
You live too far away from civilization. I live in rural NC and we have just opened a second Aldi.
Woks have many uses, if one cares to discover them.
I'm sensing a pattern here. Every time someone suggests an answer to your questions, the response is that it is too much work, too far away, etc. My grandma called this Southern Laziness. Please tell me that does not apply to you.
Kenbushway, if you have a mint plant, it's actually cheaper than buying a few mint leaves every time you need it. You can grow it in a planter box or a pot and keep it inside if you need to. Same with other herbs. If you can grow a houseplant, you can have an inside herb garden. 
Funny thing my mother actually mentioned Aldis to me a couple days ago. I told her I couldn't find one around but she's confident she passed one on her travels. I've looked at my area and how far I am able to go (15-20 mins away tops.) Its still not showing one for my area. But I will look again, she said its like Costco, if so then they should hold a good amount of food products I would hope.
As far as the mint plant, I understand all of your comments, I really do. I agree with them. However it will be on just me to care for the plants and with cooking these meals, thinking about changing my major, a new job I am about to take over. I just don't want to bother with it until I know I am able. I would love to have a garden of my own, but currently not able. You can always assume that if I have the time and resources, I will have a big one.
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