Revive stale cereal and chips

My mom used to do this when I was little, and I've had loads of people think I'm nuts, but it seriously works! I hadn't had stale stuff in a while - until one day we left the windows open when it was like 100% humidity outside. And then a lot of the cereal got a little funky. Yes, things get stale because of moisture. In their bags, they are nice and safe, but then air and its moisture get to them and take the crunch right out. Do not despair, there is hope! Just do not walk away! CornPops, for example, can make some big flames for quite a long time.

Revive stale cereal, chips, or crackers
Serves as many as you like

- Take your stale food and put it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet or the tray of your toaster oven.
- In the toaster oven: set to toast. Watch carefully, and stir every 30 - 90 seconds. At the first sign of browning, remove from oven, let cool, and eat as usual.
- In the conventional oven: Put rack on second highest shelf. Turn on broiler. Watch carefully, and stir every 30-90 seconds. At the first sign of browning, remove from oven, let cool, and eat as usual.

I've never tried this with potato chips, but it definitely works for tortilla chips. If you serve chips or crackers warm, it gives them a bit of a restaurant feel. If you serve cereal warm, do it as a snack without milk. With milk it's just sort of funky, warms the milk, and gets soggy fast. Don't try it. Seriously.

Seafood and warehouse stores

Yes, those do go together. First, the seafood. You probably know that seafood is often naturally low in fat, while being high in protein and has other good things like the helpful fatty acids. The price at the fresh counter is what we don't like. If you buy your seafood frozen, you get a much better deal at $3-6 dollars a pound, depending on the exact type and whether there's a sale.

Growing up in a family of 8, we always went to warehouse stores to shop. While I was an undergrad in college, I occasionally went with family to get snacks and quick meals, but that was about it. This year for Christmas, I was given a membership and so I have re-discovered how great they can be. In our area, you can get just one gallon of milk, and basic staples (oil, milk, eggs, bread, baking mix) are a much better price. Even if it hadn't been a gift, the $40 a year membership is less than what you could save on milk and bread alone.

There are a few other items that are cheaper here, too, while still being small enough quantities for two people - nuts, dried fruit, frozen meats, and frozen seafood. Lately, I really like the pre-cooked frozen salad shrimp. They are so easy to throw into or on top of anything, and at a great price. The only drawback is that they take a while to thaw, but with a little planning that is not a deal-breaker for me. We also got tilapia for something like $3 a pound. It's a 3 pound bag, so it still fits in our normal fridge, and each filet is individually packaged so it's very easy to thaw just the amount you need.

To meat or not to meat?

If you haven't noticed already, one of the ways to make food cheaper and quicker is to skip the meat. I'm not advocating a vegan or vegetarian diet here - just pointing out a fact. I know that some people are really attached to eating meat with every meal, so I looked up the USDA dietary guidelines. They recommend that a 2,000-calorie diet should include 5 1/2 "units" of the meat/poultry/fish/eggs/beans/nuts group a day. How much is a unit? 1 oz of meat, poultry, or fish, 1 egg, 1/4 cup cooked dry beans or tofu, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, or 1/2 ounce of nuts or seeds.

How much is one ounce of meat? Well, a piece the size of a deck of cards is 3 ounces - so cut that in 3. How much is one half ounce of nuts or seeds? One small handful. You can find actual numbers of nuts and their fat content here, if you'd like. Just remember that it's a healthier fat than you find in most foods.

After gathering that info, I realize it's really easy to get as much as you need! So, go do it.

Spices

This is not a recipe, but it is essential to quality healthy cooking. Less fat in your cooking often means less flavor - unless you throw in some great spices. Theoretically, we are all supposed to change our spices every year or two because they lose their potency. As in throw out the old ones and buy all new. Since a jar of spices can easily be $3, for us poor starving students, this will just not do.

Enter bulk spices. Once I worked up the courage to try these, I have not gone back to pre-bottled spices. (Well, I buy it in a container once, just to get the container.) Bulk spices are great for college students, people who don't cook much, for trying something new, or things like pumpkin pie spice that you might only use a couple of times a year. I re-filled my chipotle chili powder and cumin jars for about 50 cents each, and they are good quality, too.

You can use bulk spices to re-fill an empty jar, buy a new jar for about $1, or just leave them in the baggie you bought them in. Whole Foods has a large selection and they have zip-top bags that you buy them in, so our curry powder stays in the little bag. You really can buy as much or little as you need, so get just that 15 cents of pumpkin pie spice and don't worry about whether it will taste as good next year.

Where can you get them? Since grocery stores are so regional, my general advice is to look in the bulk foods section. I have bought them at Whole Foods, Central Market, Fred Meyer (a Kroger store) and small independent natural foods stores.