Tag: save

Christmas shopping: how to save without giving up anything – Italian Cuisine

Goal of the upcoming holidays: spend less, eat better, don't waste anything, make everyone happy, pamper yourself at the table

During the Christmas holidays inevitably a lot of money is spent, often uselessly and often on the kitchen.
You buy too much and badly, you don't consume everything and a lot of things go to waste.
Our advice? Take your measurements for this Christmas.

The essentials on the Christmas table

Let's start with what we believe should not be missing at Christmas at the table.
For the Vigil fish of excellent quality, no doubt, but don't overdo the quantities.
Better to cook less, but better. So a good appetizer, perhaps with several appetizers, a first and a second. Stop!
For the Christmas lunch follow the tradition because in general the dishes of the classic Italian cuisine of Christmas are not always super expensive.
Also in this case we recommend rich appetizers, a first course, a second course and a side dish.
Obviously, the dessert cannot be missing and in addition to the traditional sweets that from north to south make the end of every holiday meal special, it cannot be missed. panettone, or the pandoro if you love the genre more.
In this case, you can spend a little more for a quality handmade product because it is always worth it.
Same thing goes for wines. Few but good.

It is not necessary but it does party

There dried fruit and the dried one have a fairly high cost, but often during the holidays it is possible to take advantage of the offers. Are these ingredients necessary for our table? No, but if not at Christmas when?
In this case, then make a good supply to put at the center of the table together with coffee and bitters after the party lunches and dinners and also during the bingo because munching on almonds, walnuts, dried figs and dates puts you in a good mood.
And then some delicious sweets also for breakfast or for a snack with friends, a special tea or herbal tea, some cuddles that can make the holidays even more special for us and for our guests.
Ponder these expenses well, but treat yourself to one comfort food that warms the heart this Christmas.

The one you can save on

Do you want your table to be unique, beautiful and elegant?
Well, this is how the Christmas table should be, but it is not necessary to buy something new for the table every year, a new set of plates, glasses and tablecloths.
If you have any household items to which you are emotionally very attached, use them and everything will be more intimate and beautiful.
Then you play a lot with the decorations that don't necessarily have to be bought, but you can make them yourself with pine cones, dried leaves and flowers, candles and fruit, Christmas balls and garlands to eat.

Some advice for a careful expense

Go at the supermarket a few days earlier of the holidays, at least for everything that is not fresh.
For fruit and vegetables, however, it is always better to buy them at the market.
Buy locally when possible, and we're not just talking about fruit and vegetables, but also products such as meat, bread, pasta, cheeses and cold cuts. Choose the quality closest to you.

At the supermarket, on the other hand, take advantage of the offers if there are any and go shopping following one exact list that you have prepared with great care at home, trying not to let yourself be tempted by everything you don't need.
Establish menus of the holidays and go on your way, without second thoughts otherwise you will spend days shopping without ever having at home everything you really need to cook what you have in mind.
What you absolutely must get, if you don't already have them, are box for storing leftovers or to prepare small gifts for your guests when there is too much food at the table, even if after all that we have just said it shouldn't happen. Obviously, freeze and do not throw away, when possible!

Greedy gifts

If you love to cook, do it for Christmas gifts too.
Instead of spending money on useless gifts that may not even be appreciated, why not prepare some delicious packages? Here are some ideas:

Pistachio cookie
Christmas liqueurs
Christmas cookies
Homemade panettone
Homemade Pandoro

Scroll through the gallery above to get some other savings ideas

Let's save biodiversity – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

Carlo Cracco with IFAD to discover microcultures threatened by climate change to support rural communities in the most remote places in the world

The kitchen has given him notoriety, and Carlo Cracco has decided to put it to good use to help others and the environment: there are several projects in which the starred chef is committed to building a more equitable, sustainable, supportive future, without poverty and without waste. Among the most important, for five years, there is Recipes for Change with IFAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, which aims to support rural communities around the world, helping smallholder farmers to adapt to the impact that climate change has on their lives.

The places that the chef visited with IFAD, he says, «are far from inhabited centers, often in the middle of the mountains or in the desert. It is not easy to get there and it is not easy to live there . Morocco, Cambodia and Bhutan these are the destinations discovered so far: Cracco, like the other chefs involved in IFAD, has created recipes with local products, to give visibility and support to the inhabitants. "I hope I have connected the public with the daily reality of these small producers, and with their difficulties".

Another Cracco initiative is instead in favor of 6 SOS Villages in Italy: a starred delivery service dedicated to companies, which can give employees, customers or suppliers an exceptional lunch; the funds raised offer individualized school support to children in need. Finally, for a sustainable cuisine, he responded to the initiative of Too Good To Go, an anti-waste app which, on the occasion of the first International Day of Awareness on Food Waste and Losses established by FAO (29 September), involved several chefs with a "Chef Box", complete with an anti-waste recipe, to be collected at their restaurants.

How to save € 1,700 per year on shopping – Italian Cuisine

Altroconsumo shopped in 2000 stores throughout Italy and published the ranking of the most convenient supermarkets. And, surprisingly, the survey revealed that Milan is the city where you can save the most

According to Istat data, Italian families spend on average 6,570 euros per year for shopping, but by changing their habits and following a few simple tips, every family could get to save even more than 1700 euros every year. To say it is Other consumption which published its annual investigation on supermarkets that identifies the most convenient signs to go shopping, this year's survey also enriched the ranking dedicated to products bio.

The method of investigation

Other consumption monitored prices throughout the year, considering the entire assortment of each chain in the 1813 categories included in the survey: food, household and personal care products and pet food. The investigation involved 1869 hypermarkets and supermarkets is 194 discount stores throughout the country.

The most affordable brands: Famila and Aldi

Considering a basket consisting of all products in the assortment, between supermarkets and hypermarkets wins first place Familiarize it, while between discount he ranks in the first position Aldi, followed by Eurospin ed MD.

Branded, cheap and organic products: where to buy them

Altroconsumo then imagined a typical expense of an average family. Considering an expense consisting of branded products, the cheapest supermarket turns out to be Ipercoop, on a par with Esselunga Superstore. As for the expense of commercial brand products, we find it in the first place for convenience Dok, widespread especially in Southern Italy, and in second place the various branded stores Conad. Turning to the expense of cheap products, 4 ex aequo chains are classified in first position: Aldi, Eurospin, MD and Penny Market. The cheapest expense of organic products instead it is done by Dok, followed by the group Familiarize it with Todis.

Strawberry Yomo yogurt, the product with the most variable price

The survey showed that the prices of the same product can fluctuate a lot from one brand to another, up to 340 percent. The product with the largest price fluctuations is Yomo fruit yogurt, strawberry flavor (results very similar to that of Sicilian citrus). The minimum price recorded is equal to 2.28 euros per kilo at Ipercoop in Venice, while the higher one results 10 euros per kilo at Carrefour in Bologna, very similar from Iper in Milan at 9.96 euros per kilo.

Nutella, the product with the most stable price

In reverse, the product whose price was particularly stable with a greater concentration around a certain value, like last year, is the 600g and 630g Nutella package: although there are exceptions with particularly advantageous or high prices, 86% of the prices recorded are among the 7.50 euros and 8.50 euros per kilo.

The prices of large retailers have undergone particular variations during the lockdown period, equal to almost 4-5% with peaks of 9% for detergents, but Altroconsumo, which has undertaken to constantly monitor and report price increases during this phase criticism, claimed that product price increases have almost completely recovered, except those of fruit and vegetables.

The cheapest cities (the first is Milan)

Thanks to a specific survey on branded products in 693 hyper and super, carried out between June and July 2020, Altroconsumo analyzed the levels of savings on spending based on geographical area. The city where the greatest convenience is found is Milan, where citizens can save up to 1769 euros. Speaking of points of sale, however, the cheapest store is Conad City Spesa Facile in Pordenone, city where savings of about a can be achieved 1100 euros.

More competition, more savings

By focusing on the areas where the most convenient supermarkets are located, it emerges that the level of savings is determined by greater degree of competition. For this reason, it appears that in southern cities, where the concentration of brands is lower, the possibilities of saving drastically decrease: in fact, it is necessary to reach the 18th position of the ranking before finding a city in the South, Naples. As highlighted by the analysis, in cities where there is less competition, such as Lecce or Taranto, annual savings of up to 300 euros can be achieved.