Written by our friends at Green Mountain Energy
Do you love summer farmers’ markets but wish you could use those flavors for a Thanksgiving cobbler? Wish you could reduce the waste from store-bought canned goods? Did your backyard garden give you way more produce than your household can possibly eat before it turns? It’s time to get canning!
Canning isn’t just for your grandparents anymore, but they were certainly onto something—it’s the greenest way to take your pantry to the next level. Home-canned food offers plenty of benefits, like:
– Seasonal produce year-round. Fresh fruits and vegetables found at the height of their season at your local farmers’ market in the summer can make a tasty appearance on your table any time of year.
-Knowing what’s in your food. Since the only thing in your canned food is what you put into it, it’s a good way to avoid artificial additives.
-Room for creativity. You can try out new recipes for jams, soups, salsas and more.
-Eco-friendliness. Canning cuts down on food waste, reduces emissions from transporting food, and minimizes single-use plastics.
-Saving time. Too rushed to make dinner from scratch? Reach for that yummy homemade soup or pasta sauce you canned in advance.
Before you get started, make sure you have the basics on hand:
This is just an overview of the canning process. Check out more detailed information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. We hope you have a great time getting creative and cutting down on food waste with this time-honored activity!
More ways to live sustainably:
Canning is an excellent (and tasty) way to cut back on food waste and plastic use, but your green efforts don’t have to stop there! Since you’re on a roll, see our other simple tips for cultivating an Earth-friendly lifestyle on our blog here.
Our favorite way to live greener is also one of the easiest: choosing to use clean electricity in your home. We’ve partnered with Market 32 to make going green even more rewarding, featuring 100% renewable energy plans that let you save at the checkout line. Learn more here.
Haleigh Eustis
Floral Intern
Happy August! Even though summer is slowly starting to wrap up, weddings are still going strong this month. Planning a wedding can be stressful, especially not knowing how to decorate in a “trendy” way. There’s such a push to have unique wedding decor, but inspiration to decorate and collect out of the box ideas can be difficult! What if I told you that creating wedding décor that is out of the ordinary is far easier than you may think?
Floating candles are a novel way to have add an elegant flare to your wedding; they are eye-catching but reserved. Though floating candles are beautiful, they can tend to feel boring depending on the theme and selection of decor you may have. That being said, there is a very simple way to fix this issue!
Let’s Make Floral Floating Candles!
What You Need:
- Flowers! Make sure the flowers you use won’t immediately brown when submerged into water (avoid African violets!)
- Flowers I recommend: Roses, Water Lilies, Orchids and Daises.
- Glass vase (The size is completely up to you, but make sure it is as tall as your flower and there’s extra room on the top for the candle.)
- Flower frog (Check out the link below for the Flower frog. These are used to keep bouquets upright in the vase!)
- Accent gems or rocks (See link below!)
- Floating candles (See link below!)
- Hot glue gun
Let’s Begin!
Step One: Take your flower frog and flowers. I recommend using a maximum of four flowers (all differing in height) for this or else the vase may be too crowded. Using the stems of the flower, place them in the flower frog until you find a look that you like! If you need help using a floral frog, click here for a great video to help you out.
Step Two: Once you have created your bouquet, place a dollop of hot glue on the bottom of your flower frog and place it into the bottom of the vase. Let this cool completely before you continue the rest of your DIY.
Step Three: Once your bouquet is in the vase, take your rocks or accent gems and very carefully place them on the bottom of the vase. You’ll want to completely cover up your flower frog when this is over!
Step Four: Once your flower frog has been covered you will want to take water (room temp or cold water is preferred) and submerge the entire flower. Make sure your vase is tall enough to submerge the entire flower while leaving room for your floating candle!
Step Five: Once you’ve filled your vase with water, take your candle and place it on top of the water. Make sure you have a few back up candles. If they get wet, they won’t light up again! Now, you can light your candle and admire your beautiful floral floating candle!
With unique decoration ideas wedding season doesn’t have to be a hassle! Buy all your floral needs at Price Chopper/ Market 32 Floral Department!
Mia Teal
Marketing Coordinator, Paid Media
It’s June – do you know what that means? It is National Dairy Month! We are celebrating all the creamy goodness of dairy this month, ranging from milk, cheese, ice cream, and everything in between! At Price Chopper and Market 32, we have a surplus of dairy products to offer, including our new PICS pint ice cream! Be sure to check them out at the end of this article.
National Dairy Month was originally just “National Milk Month” as a way to encourage people to drink more milk. However, this eventually became “National Dairy Month” by the National Dairy Council as a way to promote the benefits that dairy products provide to us. We have so many recipes on our website for all our dairy lovers! Let’s take a look at a few…
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches: Nothing beats an ice cream sandwich on a warm summer day! Be sure to check out our PICS ice cream for a wide variety of flavors.
Baked Buffalo Cheese Sticks: The best appetizer right at your fingertips!
Caramel Milkshake: This four-ingredient shake is sure to be a fan favorite!
Pepperoni & Mushroom Pizza: In a hurry? No need to worry! This pizza is easy to make and perfect for celebrating National Dairy Month!
Lucky Charms Frozen Yogurt Pie: Looking for something fun to make for your July 4th celebration? This frozen yogurt pie is flavorful and festive. Beware: This will go fast!
Philly Cheesesteak Dip: Take your homemade dip to the next level with this Philly Cheesesteak Dip!
Mia Teal
E-Commerce Marketing Department
Happy Pi Day from Price Chopper and Market 32! Pi Day is a celebration of the irrational number pi (π). This Greek letter is used to represent the ratio of the circumference of any given circle to its diameter. Why is this holiday specifically today? The first 3 numbers of pi are 3.14, hence the date of March 14th. Ironically, today also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday!
Pi Day was founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw and has been celebrated ever since. Many math classes will celebrate Pi Day with pie of course, but also with cake, cookies, and more. What a great way to make math fun!
What kind of pie will you buy today? At Price Chopper and Market 32, we have a variety of pies in our bakery section, including apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, and more! We also have all the best ingredients if you would like to make your own pie today. Check out some berry-good pie recipes below.
Bumbleberry Pie: What even is a “bumbleberry?” Bumbleberries are not actually a berry, rather, a variety of berries. For this pie we used a mix of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, making for a sweet & flavorful pie.
Skillet Pear Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream: Have you ever seen a recipe for pear pie? Well, now you have! Be sure to pear this pie with PICS vanilla ice cream & PICS whipped cream!
Caramel Apple Pie: Like a caramel apple, this caramel apple pie is a dream you will be sure to love!
Ellie Wilson
MS, RDN, CDN
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the largest organization of nutrition professionals in the world. March is National Nutrition Month®, a now 50-year-old education and awareness campaign highlighting the transformational power of food and nutrition, and March 8th is the annual celebration day for the Registered Dietitian-Nutritionists (RDNs) that make up most of its members. The theme this year is “Fuel for the Future,” which highlights that sustainability and nutrition are always connected.
Over 100,000 registered dietitian-nutritionists (RDNs) in the United States work to bring delicious, nutritious, top-quality science-based information to the table and improve wellbeing in their communities. RDNs work in our hospitals, schools, nursing homes, private practice, primary and specialty health care, public health agencies, hunger organizations, colleges and universities, institutional food service systems, food and water systems policy, college and professional sports programs, health insurance companies, telemedicine, food and nutrition data systems, app development, research, media, culinary medicine and chef training programs, medical and pharmaceutical colleges, grocery stores, non-profits, worksite wellness programs, restaurants, and farming, produce, and food product companies and more – the list is enormous, and their work benefits us all.
The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September 2022 was focused on nutrition security and policy as key opportunities to support homeland security, improve equity, enhance local food systems, and reduce healthcare costs for chronic illnesses impacted by nutrition. Individuals from all walks of life are looking more closely at the quality of food, reducing food waste, supporting farms by eating local, and assisting those with fewer resources access healthy food. In every setting, RDNs are contributing their passion and commitment to ensuring sound science and practical food strategies are positively impacting the food environment and nutritional health of adults and children across the country.
I am very proud to be part of this profession, and perpetually in awe of the work my peers and colleagues do. Congratulations and thank you to them all on our National Day of Recognition!
Pumpkin Carving, Spooky Snacks, & More!
Mia Teal
E-Commerce Marketing Department
Halloween night is always exciting for the little ones. They get to dress up as anything or anyone, load their bags with more candy than they can possibly consume, and enjoy many laughs with friends. Oftentimes, the days leading up to Halloween are even more fun. We have some ideas for pumpkin carving and snack recipes that we want you to try! Keep reading if you dare…
Pumpkin carving is a great way to spend time with your family, friends, or partner. Friendly pumpkin carving competitions are also very common this time of year. Have you ever wondered why we carve pumpkins? Well, we researched this exact same thing and are here to give you answers!
While many may think that pumpkin carving began in the United States, that is actually false. Turnip carving (yes, turnips!) originated in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Carving turnips was a symbol of death and was used to scare neighbors. It was not until the 1800s when people from England and Ireland began immigrating to America that pumpkin carving began in the United States. Since there is such an abundance of pumpkins here this time of year, these groups of people began to carve pumpkins instead. Now when you carve your pumpkin for Halloween this year, you will know how this tradition started! Want to learn more? Check out this website Halloween History: Why We Carve Pumpkins
This Halloween, we want to inspire you to try some new treats that the family will love. Whether you want to make a new dessert with the kids, or if you have a Halloween party to attend, we have you covered. Check out some of our fun, easy-to-make Halloween recipes from our Pinterest page!
Reese’s Bats : Reese’s and Oreos? Who can say no to that! With only a few simple ingredients, these are sure to be a fan favorite!
Mini Mummy Pizzas: Try these Mini Mummy Pizzas for an appetizer at your next party! But beware, these will go fast!
Rice Krispie Treat Monsters: These super easy Halloween Rice Krispie Treat Monsters are the perfect snack for the kids or addition to your Halloween get together!
Jack-O’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers: These cute Halloween peppers are perfect for lunch or dinner! Even better, you can season the meat with any kind of spice. There is no right or wrong way to create these peppers.
Check out our YouTube page for more Halloween inspiration!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Tools For Schools Launching Soon!
Mia Teal
E-Commerce Marketing Intern
Whether you are a parent, current student, or former student, it is no secret that school supplies can get very expensive. For families that have more than one child going back to school, the cost can be overwhelming and quite terrifying. At Price Chopper and Market 32, we have a simple way for customers to support their school of choice each time they swipe their AdvantEdge Card. We will soon be launching our Tools for Schools program which is an incredible way to help local schools earn their share of $350,000 in educational supplies. The kickoff for the program will take place on Sunday, August 21st. Who knew that by just buying groceries, you can support local schools and their students!
