Healthy Eating Tips From The Supermarket Diet
"One way to avoid gaining weight is knowing the right foods to buy when youre in the supermarket. But enticing packaging and nutrition labels with words you cant even pronounce make it hard to select healthy choices. Janis Jibrin, a registered dietician and the author of Good Housekeepings new book, The Supermarket Diet has a few good tips on how to buy the right foods." Posted at 8:04 AM Central Time

Score points with Michigan foods
"Made in Michigan. Those words might instantly make you think of a hot Ford truck or a Jeep Grand Cherokee. But Michigan is also home to food products aplenty. Say, 'made in Michigan,' and a home-grown foodie's mouth would water for Better Made Potato Chips, still made in Detroit, or a Sanders hot fudge sundae or its classic Bumpy Cake. Since Detroit is the host city for Super Bowl XL Feb. 5, why not show off the tasty side of our fair state by tossing a football party featuring dishes made with Michigan products." Posted at 7:35 AM Central Time

Shopping list is key to grocery savings
"One of the easiest ways to save money on groceries is to simply make a thorough shopping list and follow it. I mean really follow it, not throwing in extra items or letting your children throw in extra items. If you resolve to make a good grocery list before every shopping trip, you will save real money this year. You will also save time if you make good shopping lists." Posted at 7:58 AM Central Time

What makes certain kinds of food "kosher"?
"Kosher, otherwise known as 'Kashrut,' refers to the Jewish laws that dictate which foods can be eaten, and how those foods must be prepared. Most of these rules are laid out in the Torah, as well as the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Many came about for health and sanitary reasons." Posted at 7:49 AM Central Time

Folic acid is a B-list celebrity in waiting
"Unless you've been pregnant, you probably haven't heard of it. Yet research shows that folate, or folic acid (the synthetic form of folate found in fortified foods and supplements), is as important to general health as its more celebrated cousins, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and protein. Part of the B-vitamin family, today it's a routine part of prenatal care because of its role in the prevention of birth defects such as spina bifida." Posted at 8:29 AM Central Time

Grocery list voyeurism
"It's a common fact that the best way to remain organised is to make lists. From the detailed 'To do today' lists, to the totally mundane grocery lists. You know the ones, hastily jotted down on a decorative scrap of stationary 'must not forget the toilet paper' lists that are so quickly discarded or forgotten. But not by Bill Keaggy, the lister of grocery lists." Posted at 8:29 AM Central Time

Gadgets enhance grocery shopping
"IBM hopes consumers will compile a shopping list online, only to have it waiting for them on a cart-mounted display. The bonus here is that a scanner comes on the cart, so you don't have to wait in line when you’re ready to check out." Posted at 7:16 AM Central Time

The trouble with Whole Foods [in NYC]
"It dawned on me today as I tried to maneuver through the stalled crowds in the produce section, when I attempted to pass the woman just gazing at the row of Dungeness crabs at the fish counter. At Whole Foods, people turn into, well, something else, something like non New Yorkers! They move slowly!" Posted at 6:27 AM Central Time

A Supermarket War in Store
"Mounting a challenge to Wal-Mart Stores might look like a suicidal strategy for a company. But guess what? Grocery retailer Supervalu on Jan. 23 struck a deal to buy supermarket chain Albertsons, a combination that will give it a total of 2,656 stores, making it the second-largest supermarket company in the U.S. -- and providing the heft it needs to combat giant Wal-Mart's 3,700 stores." Posted at 8:25 AM Central Time

Coupons are 'like money found'
"Mention coupons to a regular grocery shopper and you're likely to get intense reaction. Some love coupons and will brag about the hundreds of dollars they save with them. Others sneer, saying their time is too valuable to be wasted on the meager savings. Both could be right. The key is to use coupons wisely and disregard the ones that aren't worth the effort." Posted at 8:13 AM Central Time

A tale of two taxes
"Fifty-five cents sounds like pocket change -- hardly worth worrying about. It was the difference in the sales tax charged in Tennessee and Virginia on recent shopping trips for identical grocery staples like bread and milk. Now consider $254. That's how much more, on average, Tennessee consumers pay for groceries each year than their counterparts in Virginia, thanks to Tennessee's 8.225 percent sales tax on food -- the highest in the country. Suddenly it seems like more than pocket change. Susan Pruitt hasn't done the calculations, but she almost always crosses the state line into Virginia to do her grocery shopping." Posted at 9:24 AM Central Time

Generation Pad Thai
"The same parents who micromanage every other aspect of their children's lives - puzzle tutoring for 4-year-olds, clarinet lessons, baby yoga - seem to stop the mini-me'ing at the lunch box. The evidence surrounds us. Syrupy shots of glucose masquerading as yogurt. Premade peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. (I long to have been in that marketing meeting: 'Working parents have no time to hoist a butter knife!') An abomination called string cheese." Posted at 6:18 AM Central Time

Killed by chips and toast
"A lad who only ate chips, toast and baked beans was killed by his junk diet -- aged just 20. After years of unhealthy eating, Scott Martin's liver began to fail, he developed hepatitis and his blood would not clot." Posted at 6:16 AM Central Time

'Desperation Dinners' duo show off their moves at grocery store
"If you go grocery shopping with Alicia Ross and Beverly Mills, study the circular first. The queens of frugal menu planning -- and authors of 'Desperation Dinners' as well as the new 'Cheap. Fast. Good!' -- recently let me tag along on their search for ingredients to make two of their recipes ... The friends were thrilled to find that two of the items we needed, apples and chicken, were on sale. That's crucial, because the goal of 'Cheap. Fast. Good!' is to cook within a budget of $2 per serving." Posted at 6:45 AM Central Time

7-Day Menu Planner
Here's a week's worth of recipes from the Charlotte Observer: "Make family day extra-special with ROASTED LAMB on the menu. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Crush or finely chop 1 tablespoon fennel seeds. Combine seeds with 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest..." Posted at 8:03 AM Central Time

AlterNet: The Ten Best Top-Ten Lists
We're profoundly proud to make AlterNet's "Ten Best Top-Ten Lists" list. Check it out, we're #7: "Top 10 lists are a staple of a culture obsessed with ranking things, yet in recent years the ubiquitous best-movie, -book and -music lists have become so baffling it seems as though their only goal is to eclipse the Top 10 lists of other critics. Still, lists can tell us much about ourselves -- our obsessions, anxieties and passions. Our Top 10 List of Lists hopes to capture the essence of 2005 by compiling the year's most superlative, truly notable, absolutely blue-ribbon cultural bric-a-brac." Posted at 11:32 AM Central Time

Wiser food shopping a way to fatten wallet
Chicago Tribune: "Which is more expensive: a new car or food for a year? Many people would say purchasing a car costs far more, but that's not necessarily true. Even a $25,000 car, with a five-year loan, costs less than $6,000 a year. Yet an average family of four in the United States spends more than $8,000 on food each year, according to the most recent government consumer expenditure figures ... The point is that many consumers put in hours of exhaustive research when buying a car, making sure they get a good deal. Yet those same consumers might not give a minute of thought to examining their food spending. Simply put, food is by far the best place to cut wasteful spending ... Here are tips for cutting food costs..." Posted at 8:41 AM Central Time

The little things
We're pretty light-hearted around here -- heck, we collect other peoples' discarded grocery lists. The most serious we get is when we link to a news story about organic farming or new food label guidelines.

Whenever I'm interviewed about this collection, I try to explain how I enjoy seeing small parts of peoples' lives, how I have a magnified appreciation for the little things in life -- the mundane, the forgotten, the rundown and the lost. It's difficult to explain and I usually don't do so great of a job. But people still get a kick out of the lists, then they move on to some other interesting time-waster site.

But yesterday we got an email from someone that truly touched on why it is we love these lists. Usually, our grocery lists are very ephemeral, very unimportant. Much like the one right here that Cindy Stewart from Boise, Idaho made, probably sometime in early March 1985. Anyway, this is the email I got, with permission to post it here:

Hi,

This is the last list my sister made before she was killed on March 15, 1985. Since her birthday is tomorrow (Jan 15, 1959) I thought I'd send it in. She was the victim of a jealous lover. She was a wonderful person, though -- a big partier, very social -- happy.

I think the list was in the ashtray of her car, which is why it was all wadded up.

I don't know why I saved it. I guess I just didn't want to let any of her go.

Teresa

Our hearts are with Teresa and her family today. And we hope you take a moment to think about and appreciate the people and all the little things that color your lives. Posted at 9:32 AM Central Time

Cooking Dinner on a Busy Schedule
"Too tired or unprepared to cook after 10 or 12 hours of perpetual busy-ness, we take the easy path to eating: a pizza, a restaurant, a store-bought frozen meal, the fried chicken counter at the local grocery store. Yet such noncooking options add up to a whole lot of unhealthiness ... prepared foods are filled with salt, sugar, and fat ... There is a better way. Here are simple, realistic, stealthy tips to get you eating healthily at dinner again, mostly at home, mostly with your own cooking. " Posted at 3:27 PM Central Time

Museum of Beverage Containers & Advertising
"The Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising had its grand opening on Friday, April 3, 1987 in Millersville, Tennessee. Many hours were spent prior to the opening of the Museum in putting together the world's largest collection of soda and beer cans along with an abundance of other memorabilia and advertising." (Thanks Coudal!) Posted at 7:37 AM Central Time

When buying organic pays (and doesn't)
Know when it pays to buy organic food products to reduce your exposure to pesticides and other additives, when it might sometimes pay, and when it's a waste of your money. Use this section the next time you're making a grocery list. Posted at 7:40 AM Central Time

Getting lost in 'FOUND' magazine
"Laura Kwerel, a radio producer who works in a suburban Washington coffee shop, fell hard for FOUND when she read the third issue of the magazine -- a hodgepodge of love-themed finds. The accumulated weight of the voices made her cry. 'I was overwhelmed ... ,' Ms. Kwerel e-mailed Rothbart last year. 'I realize now that there is more humanity in a discarded grocery list than in a thousand-page novel or a two-hour movie.' To her, FOUND is a diary of the human race put together with affection and love. FOUND seems genuine, she says, because much of today's media feels fake to her." Posted at 8:56 PM Central Time

Shave $150 a week off your grocery bill
"My daughter Julia and her friend Chelsea were eating pancakes at the kitchen counter one recent morning when the doorbell rang. It was the man from Peapod, an online grocery store, with my food for the week. 'That's a lot of groceries," Chelsea said. "My mom shops for dinner every night.' She's not the only one. Grocery shopping seems simple enough, but Americans are wasting more money, food and time than ever by not planning. We spend more on food each year (an average of $5,340 these days) than on anything else besides our house and car." Posted at 7:55 AM Central Time

Get fresh: Seasonal UK shopping list
"If buying seasonal foods from local producers, fewer food miles and lower food bills were among your new year resolutions, you will need to shop carefully. Much of the produce sold in the supermarkets is from abroad at this time of year. Keep an eye on labels to identify UK produce." Posted at 8:30 PM Central Time

Time to meet the ana-LIST
Fellow grocery list collector Scott Allsop got a nice little write-up in The Sun newspaper last month: Time to meet the ana-LIST." Cheers! Posted at 9:40 AM Central Time

GLC on CBC!
On Monday, January 9 be sure to listen CBC Radio One's afternoon show Freestyle with Kelly Ryan and Cameron Phillips. I'm going to be interviewed about the Grocery List Collection: "Weekdays at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. in Toronto & Winnipeg, 2:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio One. When lunch is over and the end of the workday is still a speck on the horizon, you need a little pick-me-up. Tune in to Freestyle for a healthy dose of the best contemporary music ever made, as well as ... the latest on pop culture, unusual events and fascinating people from around the world." Posted at 10:31 AM Central Time

10 Reasons to Eat Local Food
"Eating local means more for the local economy. According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy. When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction." Posted at 9:07 AM Central Time

"If you had the million dollars, would you still need aspirin?"
There's some discussion about one of our found lists over at The J-Walk Blog. Posted at 8:59 AM Central Time

How do I love lists? Let me list the ways
"My addiction to list-making began in college. When heading home for the weekend, I'd create an itinerary of what I wanted to do, from visiting family to dancing with friends. Over the years the addiction grew. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I relish the opportunity to make a list." Posted at 7:14 AM Central Time

IntelliScaner Kitchen Companion 100 keeps track of groceries
"IntelliScanner -- which developed the Wine Collector 150 we peeped a while ago -- now has a version of the Bluetooth barcode scanner for folks who would rather keep track of less intoxicating substances. The Kitchen Companion 100 is the same basic scanner, but adds a database of over 300,000 grocery items, along with nutrition data from the USDA. Scanned info can be downloaded to a PC, Mac, PDA or cellphone, letting you compile detailed grocery lists." Posted at 6:57 PM Central Time

January GLC Giveaway Alert: More free books!
UPDATE: The books are gone. Congrats to Marsha and Melissa. | We got our freaky hands on more food books. Who wants them? The first person to write in and request one of these two books gets it for free during our first Monthly GLC Giveaway of 2006. Limit one per person. First come, first served. You must include a snail mail address -- but we won't use your email or postal address for anything other than sending you the book.

And since it's winter here at GLC HQ in St. Louis, Missouri, we're sharing a couple nice, warm selections:

Gone! Claimed by Melissa of Weyers Cave, Virginia!
125 Best Toaster Oven Recipes | "With their ability to toast, bake, broil, top brown and keep food warm, toaster ovens do the job of a toaster and a full size oven in one countertop unit. Ideal in any home, these ovens save space and energy... '125 Best Toaster Oven Recipes' provides dozens of tantalizing recipes for such tempting dishes as: Shrimps with Pesto and Prosciutto for entertaining; Oven Beef Stew, a comfort food favorite; Stuffed Pork Loin Roast with Cran-Apple Sauce; Baked Spaghetti Pie, a favorite one-dish meal; Red Pepper Quiche for a satisfying lunch or brunch; Nachos, perfect for your next party. '125 Best Toaster Oven Recipes' also provides practical tips and techniques, menu suggestions and valuable information on the wide variety of styles and sizes of toaster ovens available today." —Amazon.com (List price: $18.95)

Gone! Claimed by Marsha of LaVergne, Tennessee!
125 Best Biscuit Mix Recipes | "Chances are that if you look in your kitchen cupboards, you will find a box of biscuit mix. The ultimate pantry staple, biscuit mix is a convenient and delicious shortcut to a host of delicious baked recipe ideas. In '125 Best Biscuit Mix Recipes' you will find a variety of outstanding recipes from old favorites like pancakes, waffles and biscuits, to new recipes that reflect current tastes and a variety of meals... With either a packaged or homemade mix, it's easy to make any of these delectable recipes: Cheese and Leek Scones, Three Cheese Lasagna Loaf, Almond Peach Pork Chops, Baked Buttermilk Chicken, All Star Chili, Blueberry Almond Pancakes, Pear Almond Nutmeg Waffles, and Creamy Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies." —GlobalGourmet.com (List price: $18.95)

Be sure to check back next month for more Monthly GLC giveaways. Posted at 8:13 PM Central Time

Wild sandwich love
Another blog of ours got mentioned in today's LA Times: Have we gone blog wild? They like our I Love Sandwiches slogan: "Wherein we blog all things sandwichy!" Posted at 7:25 AM Central Time

Savvy grocery buyers compare prices per unit
"Ellen and Edward Barbagallo are standing in the snack aisle of Target deliberating over which bag of pretzels to buy -- the 16-ounce or the 10-ounce. Flavor doesn't have anything to do with this decision. Neither does brand, since both options are Snyder's. It's a math question. Ellen Barbagallo digs through her purse and takes out her calculator." Posted at 8:18 AM Central Time

How ethanol mandate makes sense
"To feed me and my wife, groceries total between $75 and $80 a week. We like to cook, and we eat well. While in the checkout line at the store, I wondered, if I were a single mom with three children, just what we would eat?" Posted at 9:04 AM Central Time