Best Deals on Bulk Foods

When it comes to cooking frugal, ethnic foods, you can virtually rely on the bulk bins at any supermarket. My favorite store bulk bins are Winco stores, and local Hispanic grocers, but sometimes I'm looking for more variety, more quantity or an even lower price. In those cases, I turn to catalog shopping.

Personally, I'm a fan of Azure Standard. I am fortunate to live in a western state, on a delivery route (they deliver in 15 states), so I never have to pay for shipping, but there are other options too.

By way of comparison, I ran down a few of the biggest mail-order and online companies with the comparison item of dry organic (or natural) black turtle beans by the 25 pound bag. Shipping assumes ground shipping to UPS zone 4.

Aaoobfoods.com $45.15 Shipping is $13.56* (variable by UPS zone)

Amazon.com (don't underestimate Amazon!). $27.70 shipping, $22.45.

Azure Standard $21.85 Free shipping in 15 states, otherwise UPS rates apply.

Bulkfoods.com $30.81 shipping $5 on orders over $75

BulkWholeFoods.com $30.81 plus $22.63 shipping

Pleasant Hill Grain $67.70, shipping $45.30.

WaltonFeed $45.15 plus $15.28 shipping.

One thing that I can tell you is that across the board, the natural food web sites are very difficult to use. They are disorganized, or lumped (you might find beans under grains or vegetables, etc). They also often have "iffy" ordering systems that aren't user-intuitive. Often, the best solution is to buy a catalog (usually around $5) and then phone in an order.

My greatest surprise here was that Amazon.com carries so many natural foods, and often at affordable rates. If you aren't on a route for Azure or WaltonFeeds, Amazon might just be the best bet, and certainly, for convenience's sake, it's the easiest to use.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes appear in so many cultures, and are especially prevalent in the Mediterranean, Africa, South America and Central America.

They are packed with vitamins, especially vitamin C, and can be prepared in a multitude of ways.

Here are three summer favorites that can be prepared for pennies.

1. Fried Green Tomatoes.

This dish is perfect for the end of the garden--grab those green tomatoes off the vine before you risk loosing them all to frost. Greens are battered in a beer batter (Pennsylvania Dutch-style) or in a Cornmeal Crust (Cajun-style) and pan-fried in oil or bacon fat. Don't try to deep-fry these, tomatoes will sink and stick to the bottom of the pan.

2. Caprese broil. Perfect for all tomatoes. Red, green, heirloom and others. Slice tomatoes about 1/2 inch thick, and spread in one layer in a pan. Top with salt and pepper, basil leaves, and mozzarella fresca (very affordable, especially at Hispanic grocery stores) and drizzle with a little olive oil. Put the tomatoes under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown in places.

3. Bread salad. Perfect for a crusty loaf of leftover french bread. Toss chunks of french bread with chunky-chopped tomatoes, olives and celery, red onion cucumber and basil and toss with a vinegar-olive oil combo and serve immediately.