“Shop Smart, Save Big, Live Well”

Why Eat at Home?

• Lead a Healthier Lifestyle – Research has shown that cooking at home is much healthier than dining out. While some restaurants now offer healthy entrees, the options are limited. Food consumed at restaurants is typically higher in calories and fat than food prepared at home.
• Spend Quality Family Time – Spending dinner time together with your children may be more important than you ever thought! Eating family dinners together at least five times per week drastically lowers a teen’s chance of smoking, drinking or using drugs, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Sharing family meals also results in better report cards!
• Control Your Portions – A plate of spaghetti at a restaurant is not what you would serve at home! Eating at home allows you to control your portions, which means less calories in a meal.
• Know What You Eat – Being aware of food ingredients is essential to anyone with food allergies. By preparing meals at home, you are in control of your family meals.
• Educate Children on Good Habits – Eating at home is a great opportunity to educate your children about saving money, eating healthy and learning to cook. Get the whole family involved in menu planning and trying new recipes. Set the example for your children to pass along your nightly tradition.
• Save Money! – Personal finance experts know that eating at home is a great way to save money. Challenge yourself to eat more meals at home and watch your checkbook balance grow!

What is Eat at Home Georgia?

Eat at Home Georgia is a web based initiative that was created to encourage and educate consumers on how to:

• Save Money
• Enrich their Lives
• Lead a Healthy Life Style

Eat at Home Georgia is a program that benefits the entire food industry while stimulating the local economy. This program encourages consumers to shop at local grocery stores. This website also gives the supplier community a reasonable outlet to advertise and gain recognition for new products.

Eat at Home Georgia Features

• Tips on Coupons
• Food Safety Information
• Georgia Products
• New Product Information

Wash Hands and Surfaces Often Bacteria can be spread throughout the kitchen and get onto hands, cutting boards, utensils, counter tops and food. Remember to always:

• Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers and handling pets.
• Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to the next food.
• Consider using paper towels to clean up kitchen surfaces. If you use cloth towels wash them often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water, including those with skins and rinds that are not eaten.
• Rub firm-skin fruits and vegetables under running tap water or scrub with a clean vegetable brush while rinsing wtih running tap water.

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Cook

Cook to Proper Temperatures Food is safely cooked when it reaches a high enough internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause food-borne illness. Use a food thermometer to to measure the internal temperature of cooked foods. Refer to the Heat It Up chart for the safe internal temperatures. Remember to always:

• Use a food thermometer which measures the internal temperature of cooked meat, poultry and egg dishes, to make sure that the food is cooked to a safe internal temperature. Cook roasts and steaks to a minimum of 145°F. All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F as measured with a food thermometer. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast with a food thermometer.
• Cook ground meat, where bacteria can spread during grinding, to at least 160°F. Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links eating undercooked ground beef with a higher risk of illness. Remember, color is not a reliable indicator of doneness Use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of your burgers.
• Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, not runny. Don’t use recipes in which eggs remain raw or only partially cooked.
• Cook fish to 145°F or until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.
• Make sure there are no cold spots in food (where bacteria can survive) when cooking in a microwave oven. For best results, cover food, stir and rotate for even cooking. If there is no turntable, rotate the dish by hand once or twice during cooking.
• Bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil when reheating. Heat other leftovers thoroughly to 165°F.

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Separate

Don’t Cross-Contaminate! Cross-contamination is how bacteria can be spread. When handling raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs, keep these foods and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods. Always start with a clean scene — wash hands with warm water and soap. Wash cutting boards, dishes, counter-tops and utensils with hot soapy water.

• Separate raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs from other foods in your grocery shopping cart, grocery bags and in your refrigerator.
• Use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood.
• Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.

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Chill

Refrigerate Promptly!Refrigerate foods quickly because cold temperatures slow the growth of harmful bacteria. Do not over-stuff the refrigerator. Cold air must circulate to help keep food safe. Keeping a constant refrigerator temperature of 40°F or below is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of food-borne illness. Use an appliance thermometer to be sure the temperature is consistently 40°F or below. The freezer temperature should be 0°F or below.

• Refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs and other perishables as soon as you get them home from the store.
• Never let raw meat, poultry, eggs, cooked food or cut fresh fruits or vegetables sit at room temperature more than two hours before putting them in the refrigerator or freezer (one hour when the temperature is above 90°F).
• Never defrost food at room temperature. Food must be kept at a safe temperature during thawing. There are three safe ways to defrost food: in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
• Always marinate food in the refrigerator.
• Divide large amounts of leftovers into shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator.
• Use or discard refrigerated food on a regular basis. Check the Cold Storage Chart for optimum storage times.

In today’s economy, saving money and cutting costs is a priority for every consumer. Eat at Home Georgia is here to help with these Savvy Saving tips!
Ways to Save at your favorite Local store:

• Buy in Bulk
• Make a shopping list and stick to it
• Take advantage of local in store promotions
• Utilize store rewards cards
• Check out weekly ad fliers and build your menu around the weekly sales
• “Leftovers” is not a dirty word
• Save on seasonal merchandise in your produce department
• Try in store sampling promotions
• Look for new products with introductory pricing
• Check grocers’ website for promotions / coupons
• Try store brand products
• Take advantage of introductory offers on new products
• Don’t go to the store- hurried, tired or hungry

Information on Crazy Coupon Savings

Check out the links below for information on Crazy Coupon Savings!

• www.coupons.com
• www.smartsource.com
• www.shopathome.com
• www.coupondad.net

• Shop Smart
• Save Big
• Live Well

Eat at Home Georgia is a program that benefits the entire food industry by stimulating the local economy, encouraging consumers to shop at local grocery stores and to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Eat at Home Georgia Features

• Food Safety Information
• Product Recalls
• Savvy Saving Tips
• Healthy / Budget Friendly Recipes

” Shop Smart, Save Big, Live Well “

• Lead a Healthier Lifestyle – Research has shown that cooking at home is much healthier than dining out. While some restaurants now offer healthy entrees, the options are limited. Food consumed at restaurants is typically higher in calories and fat than food prepared at home.
• Spend Quality Family Time – Spending dinner time together with your children may be more important than you ever thought! Eating family dinners together at least five times per week drastically lowers a teen’s chance of smoking, drinking or using drugs, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Sharing family meals also results in better report cards!
• Control Your Portions – A plate of spaghetti at a restaurant is not what you would serve at home! Eating at home allows you to control your portions, which means less calories in a meal.
• Know What You Eat – Being aware of food ingredients is essential to anyone with food allergies. By preparing meals at home, you are in control of your family meals.
• Educate Children on Good Habits – Eating at home is a great opportunity to educate your children about saving money, eating healthy and learning to cook. Get the whole family involved in menu planning and trying new recipes. Set the example for your children to pass along your nightly tradition.
• Save Money! – Personal finance experts know that eating at home is a great way to save money. Challenge yourself to eat more meals at home and watch your checkbook balance grow!

Research shows that children who have regular meals with their parents do better in every way, from better grades, to healthier relationships, to staying out of… [finish reading at DrHyman.com]

A healthy, balanced lifestyle shouldn’t be so difficult, right? While learning to “balance” a new baby, a new house and a career, I have decided to add “healthy” to my list. This will NOT be easy!

I have volunteered to be a test case for Eat at Home Georgia. I am embarrassed to admit that up until a few months ago, my husband and I would eat out almost every meal. Why?? Let’s face it, after a long day at the office, the last thing I want to do is go home, attempt to make dinner (I am not known for my culinary genius), clean up the kitchen, continue on with my normal house hold duties and then start all over again the next day. Eating at restaurants, with their huge portions and gazillion calories, became our way of life. Then in one swoop, May 16th, to be exact, EVERYTHING changed. Our first baby was born and my world turned upside down, to say the least. We quickly learned how miserable it is to eat dinner in a public place with an unhappy newborn next to you! So, my first “mission” is to save money and be healthier by eating at home.

I know that I should learn to cook and eat at home. I know that with a new baby and new house, I should clip coupons and save. (I am already thinking about college costs!) I also know that I still have 35 pounds to lose from my pregnancy and exercise should be a top priority. However, I don’t eat at home (as much as I should), I don’t take the time clip coupons and I have not walked the 1st mile to get this weight off!! I have pretty much hit a wall- a really big wall.

Can I figure out a way to slowly introduce changes to my lifestyle that will help me achieve my goals? It took a lifetime of learning these bad habits, so I know I can’t fix things over night! Also, with all the attention on childhood obesity, I would like to teach my son healthy eating habits. This blog is dedicated to every mom who wants to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Let’s learn together!

~ Jacqueline Newman, aka… MOM ON A MISSION!