In the last few days I have heard murmurs of a great idea. Essentially, it’s helping to feed others in honor of the woman who fed you. This Mother’s Day, fill a grocery bag with non-perishable foods and donate it to a local food bank.

This isn’t a formal, advertised event, like the Stamp Out Hunger! campaign. It’s just something I heard about. Individuals on their own, making a decision to help, and sharing that idea.

We are living in some challenging economic times right now. Going to the grocery store can be a distressing experience with the increase in food costs. Just last week, my bill was up almost 20 percent. It was unpleasant and discouraging, but I did feel thankful that I’m able to make some meal adjustments and absorb the increased costs so far. Others are not so lucky.

Food banks need your help now more than ever

News reports tell us that food banks are hard hit. Just when more people need food banks to make it through, donations are down. It’s a vicious circle. The people who used to donate to food banks are now in need of food from the food banks. Food banks – and maybe even your neighbors – need help more than ever.

Now, think about how hard your mom worked to feed you. What was your favorite dish your mom made? My mom made these cookies called Chocolate Crinkles that I still love. What about your grandmother? My grandmother made this awesome ham loaf, and her leg of lamb remains unequaled. It’s a repeating cycle of feeding others, and it’s a cycle that should not be broken.

Of course moms need to be thanked directly, too, but if you have some peanut butter or tuna or canned vegetables in the pantry that you can spare, donate them so that other mothers and kids can eat. This is a wonderful way to show the generosity you learned at your mother’s table.

To locate a food bank in your area, check America’s Second Harvest or look up food banks in your state. There are many other ways you can help the hungry, and these links can also lead you in that direction.

I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day.

I’ve been trying to get the family on whole wheat pasta for some time now. The effort has been met with much resistance.

Pleasing the kids

About every other week, I try a new whole wheat or multi-grain pasta. Usually we have pasta twice a week, so this effort has been about a quarter of the kids’ pasta consumption. While I found a brand I liked, apparently I was the only one because the manufacturer stopped making it (Mueller’s Multi-Grain). When I serve any brand of whole wheat pasta, the kids get that dejected note in the voices, “Oh. It’s whole wheat pasta.” They complain that it is too gritty, and some really are.

Additionally, I find it incredibly annoying that the whole wheat/whole grain pastas not only cost more per box, but there is less in the box. And fewer shape choices. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

It was enough to make a mom (almost) give up.

Whole wheat pasta for health

My husband recently had a cholesterol test that didn’t come back quite as good as we had hoped. Oh, it wasn’t bad bad, but it wasn’t great either. Just enough that some small adjustments are in order to get a number down ten points or so. Among those adjustments is a greater commitment to whole grains, and that includes whole grain pasta. We will find a whole wheat pasta for the family, I decided.

At the market on Sunday, I scoured the pasta section for a brand I hadn’t yet tried. Nothing new there. I was about to reach for a marginally acceptable brand when I noted that lower quantity on the box. Annoyed, I went back to the natural foods section at the market and looked there.

After some hemming and hawing, I picked a bag of organic whole grain pasta that had a full pound in it. Yes, it was more expensive than regular pasta, but when I did a little calculation, I realized that it actually cost less per ounce than the whole wheat pastas made by the major brands – and I was getting that full pound (12 ounces just doesn’t cut it to feed my boys). I often think of this section of the market as the most expensive, but that is not always the case.

The best brand of whole wheat pasta

When I made dinner last night, I used this new pasta. It didn’t look as rough as the other whole wheat pastas I’ve tried. When I put it out on the table, the kids didn’t even realize it was whole wheat. When they tasted it, they could tell there was something different about the pasta, but they couldn’t quite identify what. When I told them it was whole wheat pasta, they were surprised – and kept eating. The kids said they liked it. I’ll be buying it again.

The cost of organic and/or whole wheat pasta can be a barrier to eating whole wheat pasta, especially with grocery costs rising so much, but I suspect this is one thing I’ll be willing to pay more for — at least some of the time. The brand? Bionaturae organic whole wheat fusilli.

Prices for whole wheat pastas will vary according to your area and the grocery store, of course, but I hope you will try substituting a whole grain pasta into your favorite pasta dish. It’s a healthy – and yummy – change.

Although Sunday is meal planning and grocery shopping day, I start thinking a little about meals for the following week on Thursday. Thursday is when the market circulars are delivered to my mail box.

Where to shop
There are five grocery stores within about a four mile radius from me. That may not seem like a lot, but I’m in some outer suburbs, and it’s pretty good for around here. It means competition, and that’s a good thing.

Two of the stores are part of large multi-state chains, two are part of smaller regional chains, and one is part of a two-store chain, so it’s almost an independent.

The large chain stores have the best selection on grocery items, and claim they have the best prices on everything. They certainly have the highest ad budgets. Of the two smaller chain stores, one actually does have the best prices, and one has the best meats, though neither has the selection of the larger stores. The almost independent store is more a cross between a gourmet store and a regular store. The prices are okay, but it’s not an everyday place. Because it’s the only market within my town’s boundaries, I do make a point to make at least one smaller purchase there once a week. Trying to support the local business owners and all.

How to shop: Step-by-step

1. When I open up the circulars on Thursday evening, I generally look for two things first: who has boneless skinless chicken breasts on special and what produce is on special.
2. Then I look for specials on other basics: orange juice, pasta sauces, cereals and yogurt.
3. Then I decide where I am going to shop that week. It usually reaches critical mass for one store on these items – items the store discounts heavily in an effort to draw shoppers in, sometimes even negating profit on a particular item.

Efficient shopping that’s cost effective
I do not separate my grocery list into different stores. The driving and time spent going to all of them would probably negate any savings. Instead, I choose the place that has most of our basics on special, and maybe make a side trip for meats. The marketing department at the store that has good meats probably cringes when my shopper card gets scanned. More often than not, I come in for the meat and the meat only, buying a couple weeks worth to stash in the freezer. The “amount saved” listed at the bottom of my receipt typically exceeds the total bill.

If no store reaches that critical mass, I shop at the regional store with the best overall prices and adjust the menu plan so I don’t need some specialty item they may not have.

It seems like so much work to do this, but it’s become a habit. Now that I am in the habit, I can scan the circulars in less than five minutes, and usually while there is a lull in the dinner preparation. The circulars from the stores deemed “not this week” go straight to the recycling and the remaining circular is placed with the cookbooks and menu pad until brought out again on Sunday before shopping. I’m definitely using market competition to our advantage.