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Or enjoy these specials Hot Off the Grill! M I L T O N Includes a chicken or pork Original Souvlaki and movie ticket. Reservations recommended. Cannot be combined with any other special meal offer. Cineplex Entertainment LP or used under license. Sunday FREE dessert with purchase of any 2 entr Monday Two can dine for $19.99 (2 Original Souvlaki dinners) Tuesday FREE kids meal with the purchase of any entr Wednesday Free Saganaki with purchase of any 2 Classic Souvlaki entr Thursday FREE Dip with the purchase of any 2 entr 1149 Maple Ave 905-864-3322 mrgreek.com Hot of Grill offers expire March 15, 2008. Offers only valid at Mr. Greek Milton. The above specials are for dine-in only. Applicable taxes extra. Get a dinner & movie deal for only $17.99 per person Lunch . Dinner . Take-out . Delivery . Parties . Catering Delivery now available in Acton, Georgetown and Halton Hills. Minimum order $25.00 before tax. 34 Acton/Georgetown, Friday, January 25, 2008 Gerry is writing today. What New Years resolution you say? Well, maybe we all havent said it out loud to anyone, but havent we all decided to TRY and eat better, healthier and more economically, especially as we are recovering from the huge grocery bills of the holiday season and the over indulgences of December? Lets help stretch your shopping dollar. How can you do this without huge sacrifices and effort in our busy lives? Here are some simple suggestions for you to consider and even, if you learn and change one thing, it is a positive step in the right direction. Tip 1: Think about the layout of most gro- cery stores. All of the fresh stuff is around the perimeter of the store! Correct? Fresh bakery, produce, meats, dairy, seafood, flowers are all on the edges. Now this is where you should be focusing the majority of your shopping. All of the interior aisles, including the freezer aisle have pre-packaged, prepared, processed, over- packaged, high sugar, high fat foods. You should be avoiding the candy, cookie, pop, snack and junk food aisles. Tip 2: When purchasing any product, check the date codes for the best before date and expiry date. Pick up the item with the date far- thest from the day youre shopping. This way, you have a better chance of using up the prod- uct before it is not at its optimum freshness. You may throw out less this way and save your- self a bit of money. Tip 3: When purchasing meats, particularly take advantage of bulk packaging. For example ground meats will cost appreciably less per pound when you buy the larger quantity pack- aging. Divide it up at home and freeze the extra for another meal or prepare two days meals at once and refrigerate for an easy supper later. Tip 4: Take advantage of in-store sales and promotions. Read your sales flyers and plan you meals around whats on special especially meats and produce. Tip 5: By purchasing whole meats, such as whole roasts, chickens, pieces of bacon, hams, turkeys, etc, you save money over buying the product cut and prepared by the butcher. You also may get leftovers with which you can make the next day meal or lunches. Leftover meats can be prepared for a different meal by adding vegetables, a sauce, rice or pasta to stretch them. Tip 6: Convenience foods are costly, thats why they are convenient. Our time is worth money and you need to weight this when pur- chasing prepared ingredients and foods. Pre- shredded cheese is twice the cost of bulk cheese, but it is awfully handy to have on hand. So are salad fixings. Just think about what you are putting in your cart and why. Do you always need the most convenient item? Tip 7: Try not to plan every meal with the meat choice being the first decision. Choose sides that are filling and nutritious. Serve more vegetables and salads. When you serve an expensive meat or meal, follow up with a cou- ple of meatless meals or one-pot suppers. Tip 8: Buy less expensive cuts of meat and use your crockpot more often. Cheaper, less tender cuts of meat are deliciously tenderized with the all-day cooking process. Tip 9: Eat more fish. But it doesnt always have to be expensive fresh fish sometimes, yes, but not always. How about a tuna melt for dinner? Or canned salmon sandwiches with homemade tomato soup? Smoked oysters make a yummy treat for a simple lunch. Tip 10: Buy the veggies at the back of the produce section. Cabbage, red, green and Napa, are at the back, and so are leeks, kale, rapini all inexpensive and delicious! Tip 11: Eat a rainbow of foods. I recently watched a program during which they showed a picture of what several severely obese people ate in one day all of their food was brown and not brown rice! There were hamburgers, French fries, fish and chips, cookies, donuts, chocolate and more. The more coloured food you eat, the better they are for you and your plate looks more appetizing too! We eat first with our eyes, then our nose, then our mouth. Anyway, the idea is that there are lots of sim- ple things anyone can do to help us work on our non-resolution. Hope youve picked up some tips here and I sure hope I dont run into you in the chip and candy aisle! Have fun and keep cooking. (Lori and Gerry can be reached at whatscookin@independentfreepress.com) Pastry ingredients 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 6 oz chilled unsalted butter 1 1/2 to 2 tsp vinegar Pastry method 1. Place flour and sugar in a food processor. Pulse to aerate. 2. Cut the butter into small pieces and distribute over the flour. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine meal. 3. With machine running, pour the vinegar through the feed tube and pulse five seconds. Do not over process. Dough should not come together into a ball. 4. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. 5. Press dough into bottom and up sides of an 8 round or oblong flan pan. Tart ingredients 4 cups sliced purple plums 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup slivered blanched almonds zest of 1 lemon juice of half a lemon 2 tbsp flour Streusel topping ingredients: 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup butter Tart assembly method 1. Gently mix plums with sugar, almonds, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour. 2. Arrange over pastry crust. Top with streusel topping. 3. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Tips to help stretch your shopping dollar Lori Gysel & Gerry Kentner Plum and Almond Tart