Blog

red and brown potatoes

Cut your Fresh Produce Bill in Half

Raise your hand if you enjoy spending more money on food than you need to. Anyone? If I could see through your screen, my guess is your hand would be down. Most people like the idea of eating well while also keeping an eye on their grocery budget. With increasing food prices, that feels more difficult to do and can feel out of our control. However, there are steps you can take to put you on the path toward saving money on food.

man cooking at stove

Which Recipes are Diabetes-Friendly?

Our Spend Smart. Eat Smart. team often gets the request to mark which of our recipes are ‘diabetes-friendly’. We want to share why this is not something we do.

clean fridge

A Fresh and Clean Refrigerator

We have reached the last task of our January kitchen refresh! Cleaning out the fridge likely doesn’t fall high on anyone’s priority list; however, it always feels good to get it done.

oven cleaning

Smelly Drains and Grimy Oven?

As we continue our January refresh of our kitchens, we have two more tasks to complete.  These are cleaning our sinks and oven. Neither of these are tasks that we look forward to doing, but after they are done our kitchen will be ready to tackle anything that the winter months bring us!

kids jumping on a couch

Baby, It’s Cold Outside! Staying Active During Iowa Winters

I am not the biggest fan of Iowa winters. I grew up on the coast with mild winters. My first experience in Iowa, where the temperatures reached single digits and schools were still open, was an adjustment! One thing that has stuck with me since relocating to a colder state is ‘there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing’. Now that I have two young kids at home, it’s important to keep my family as active as I can during the winter to burn off their energy while increasing mine.

doodles of various fruits and vegetables

Food Group Frenzy

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Do eggs belong in the dairy or protein food group? Food Group Frenzy is a fun new game on the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website that tests your knowledge of the food groups. The goal of the game is to place different food items in the correct section of MyPlate as quickly as possible. Using the game along with the MyPlate educational content under the Kids tab is a great way for kids to learn about the different food groups and why each of them is important for a healthy body.