Tag: spending

#LezioniDiSpesa: every day live Instagram tips to optimize your spending – Italian Cuisine

Shopping is a topic. All we do is talk about it these days. When to go shopping? How often? What to buy? And then, how to cook everything we have stacked in the pantry?
Despite the great experience in the kitchen of all of us, there are many doubts, because in fact few of us were used to making stocks for so many days, to cook only with what we have at home, to optimize costs as much as possible. Usually we were more careful to optimize time, because of that before there was very little.

For this reason, every day, in addition to articles, tips and recipes here on our website, we have opened a new space to discuss and get some company, on Instagram: every day from 11 live the chefs of La Scuola de La Italian cuisine will answer all the doubts we have on the topic of spending.

How to participate in the direct Instagram?

Connect to Instagram and follow the profiles of La Cucina Italiana and La Scuola della Cucina Italiana: at 11.00, every day, just click on the profile icon and you can follow the live broadcast, the comments will be read by the editorial staff and you can speak directly with the chefs.

Program of the week

– Monday 23 March, 11 am – @LaCucinaItaliana: the chef Davide Negri talks about meat

– Tuesday 24 March, 11 am – @ScuolaLCI: the chef Giovanni Rota reveals the secrets of homemade pasta and quick sauces

– Wednesday 25 March, 11 am – @LaCucinaItaliana: the chef Marco Cassin faces the fried, classic, alternative, always irresistible!

– Thursday 26 March, 11 am – SCHOOL: the chef Davide Brovelli mission impossible … rice "without"!

– Friday 27 March, 11 am – ITALIAN CUISINE: the chef Emanuele Frigerio mission impossible part 2 … sweets "without"!

– Saturday 28 March, 11 am – ITALIAN CUISINE: the chef Maria Donati ends the week sweetly: fruit in dessert

Sustainable packaging: how spending changes – Italian Cuisine

To ensure greater sustainability, plastic is increasingly being replaced by other materials: cardboard, aluminum, but also special beeswax fabrics and new algae-based formulas. Here are all the news

According to Eurispes data, in the last fifty years, the production of plastic has increased by 20 times: in fact, thanks to its numerous advantages (it is light, versatile, resistant, economic), this material is widely used in numerous sectors. Too bad though that most of the plastic doesn't come properly disposed of or recycled, it strongly pollutes our seas. As the WWF tells us, every year 570 thousand tons of plastic end up in the Mediterranean, the equivalent of 33 thousand bottles per minute. And according to the European Commission, by 2050, the weight of plastics in the seas will be higher than that of fish.

The plastic emergency worries more than the economy

This creates one of the environmental emergencies largest of our time, with repercussions on the quality of the water, the state of the seabed, the survival of marine species and our health. Thanks to the campaigns carried out by environmental associations and the news we read every day from the media, in recent years we have become more aware of this problem. As emerged from a Nielsen research, in collaboration with Novamont, pollution and environmental degradation worry more about economic difficulties. Therefore, 85% of Italians say that they are shopping towards environmentally friendly brands and products, even if it means spending a little more. For 75% of the interviewees it is contemplable to pay more for a product just because it is environmentally sustainable, or because its packaging is (73%). Finally, 62% of consumers are convinced that the manufacturing companies are primarily responsible for the use of plastic as a component of packaging in the food sector. And this is not a wrong impression: every year 2.1 million tons of plastic are used for packaging and 76% of these are destined for the food & beverage sector.

Eco-friendly packaging

Consumer choices have pushed food companies to find greener solutions for your packaging, reducing the plastic, replacing it with paper or aluminum or using bioplastic, while researchers and start up they try every day to invent alternative materials to plastic, but with the same performances. And so the world of packaging is also slowly changing towards a more sustainable direction. Let's see how.

Browse the gallery to find out all the news at the supermarket (and not only!)

Weekly spending and saving ideas – Italian Cuisine

There are foods that must never be missing in a kitchen. They are the salvacena. Here are some suggestions for a "smart" weekly shopping, which can guarantee us an impromptu dinner

Back home after a long day of work, you have a hunger for wolves, but little desire to cook?
Here 5 life-saving ideas… as long as you have at least thought about spending!

The smart shopping

The secret to being able to prepare a quick dinnerlast minute is to have some ingredients in the pantry. That's why once a week you should do it a sly expense to the supermarket to bring home many things that are long-lasting and that can be useful when you don't have time to cook. Eggs, pasta, cereals and legumes, but also meat and fish and lots of vegetables and fruit should never be missed because they can turn into a delicious meal in just a few moves.
With the weekly shopping you fill the cart with everything that has a long expiry and then from time to time take a break from the grocer, the butcher and the fishmonger for the fresh.

Fresh expenditure

Obviously, if you can, take fresh products like meat, fish and seasonal fruits and vegetables home once or twice a week. Do not buy easily perishable products if you are not sure of consuming them in a short time. Or, when possible, freeze. If you have bought many slices of meat, freeze them separately; same thing for fish. When you want to cook them, take them out in the morning and keep them in the fridge until evening.

The weekly schedule

If you have the patience to plan your weekly menus, you will always know what to bring to the table during the day and you will also organize the kitchen based on your meals.
On Sundays, for example, you can cook vegetables all week. Simply simply wash, cut and steam them separately, boiled or grilled. Cabbage, sprouts, carrots, courgettes, peppers and aubergines can be consumed within your menu or as a side dish or as a condiment for a pasta or with a cereal salad, or to enrich an omelette.
Always having vegetables ready at hand makes everything much easier and faster.
Same thing you can do with cereals and legumes. Cook them all at once and then ration them for the week. A pack of rice can be divided into at least 6-7 portions and dried legumes can become the protein part of your meals for two days a week.
And then remember to always recycle: if in the evening you cook a little more meat or fish, you will already have the money for the next day. Just strive a little!

Once the shopping is done smart and the meals rationed, it will be easy and fun in the evening to decide what to bring to the table because it will be enough to put together what is already ready.
Here are some examples.

Cous cous

Excellent both cold and hot, it is prepared in an instant. Just pour over hot boiling water or broth and then let it absorb for a couple of minutes. Water must wet it, not cover it completely.
Then season it with extra virgin olive oil and the vegetables you prefer, both raw and cooked. Add a protein part such as feta cheese, chicken stew or fish fillets or legumes and flavored with aromatic herbs.

Scrambled eggs or omelette with raw vegetables

If you really don't even want to turn an omelette, then beat the eggs with a bit of Parmesan and milk and mix them with chopped zucchini and carrots. Cook in a non-stick pan with extra virgin olive oil. Do not let them coagulate, but mix them continuously with a silicone spatula. Season with salt and pepper, and then serve the eggs still a bit creamy accompanied by slices of toasted bread.

One pot pasta

If you can't give up pasta even for dinner, prepare this quick version in 12-13 minutes … just the cooking time.
Just put everything in a large pan: long pasta (ideal for this recipe), basil, cherry tomatoes, a clove of garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Add enough water to lightly cover the dough and then cook with a lid for five minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking, stirring continuously for another 8-9 minutes, depending on the cooking time of the pasta. Add some Parmesan and your first is ready.

Rich sandwich

Just don't feel like cooking? No problem, for once you can give yourself a sandwich even for dinner, as long as it is healthy and full of genuine ingredients.
We suggest that you always have black rye bread in the pantry because it is long-lasting and rich in nutrients. Take two slices and fill it with salmon and mashed avocado seasoned with oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Also add a slice of tomato and then pass the sandwich in the pan on both sides for a maximum of two minutes.

Vegetable crumble

If you have prepared the vegetables in advance or if they are advancing from another meal, put them all in an oven dish, season with oil and salt and cover them with a mix of breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley. Bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.
You can also add cheeses to vegetables to make the dish even more complete and delicious.