Plan your trips to the grocery store with a list. Keep the size of your meal portions down.

Avoid buying food on an impulse just because it’s a good deal.

Those are just a few of the tips offered in a class Saturday at the East Bend Public Library.

Two dozen attended the class, called “Stretching Your Food Dollars,” and got some advice from Glenda Hyde, a home economist and instructor with Oregon State University Extension Services of Deschutes County. The class was one of a series of events offered this month by the Deschutes Public Library that focus on financial and monetary themes.

Hyde cautioned the attendees to start small instead of radically overhauling their food buying habits overnight.

“I want you to think of one thing to start this week,” Hyde said.

She encouraged the group to look for coupons and sales that match their needs.

“You really don’t need 52 jars of mustard,” she said.

The event wasn’t focused solely on saving money on groceries. The other goal was to encourage people to eat healthier while saving money. To accomplish that task, she recommends buying fruits and vegetables in season and freezing leftover food — fruits or otherwise — to eat another day.

“If you don’t use it, you lose it,” Hyde said.

That applies to home-cooked soups and stews. Hyde cooked up a vegetable stew, dicing an onion, chopping celery, cutting carrots and paring a potato.

She then tossed in zucchini slices, canned tomatoes and parsley.

She also put together a barley salad, pointing out that nutrition comes from colorful foods like mandarin oranges, green peas and red bell peppers.

Along the way, she gave tips on food preparation. With red bell peppers, for example, a cook doesn’t need to awkwardly dig out the inner white membranes with a knife piece by piece. Hint: Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper, making it easier clean out the inside parts.

The audience got packets with instructions about freezing fruits and vegetables and planning meals that save money.

For Sue Siefken of Bend, the class was a good learning experience. She feeds a family of four, including two teenagers, on a monthly budget of about $800.

She said the wide range of tips — freezing small bags of food for later use, for example — will help her stay within her budget.

For Nancy Bourquard of Bend, the class encouraged her to try buying dried beans instead of canned.

“I always try to save money whenever I go to the grocery store,” she said.

Find out more

For information about planning meal budgets with an eye toward nutrition and savings, visit:

www.choosemyplate.gov

www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings