Smart shopping starts before you set foot inside the grocery store. A successful shopping plan will save you time, money and effort and help you buy what you need for preparing nutritious meals and snacks.

Use these tips to help you build a successful shopping list and to navigate through the grocery store.

1. Dig for deals: Before you go, read through store flyers, look for coupons and specials and plan meals around specially priced foods.

2. Make a shopping list: Check your menu and your kitchen inventory, and make a shopping list of items you need.

3. Schedule shopping: Head to the grocery store when you have time to concentrate on shopping.

4. Eat before you go: Hungry shoppers will be more tempted to buy items they don’t need.

5. Check Nutrition Facts: The Nutrition Facts panel on food packaging is a convenient source of nutrition information for shoppers.

6. Buy perishables in right amounts: Buy only what can be used while they keep their peak of freshness.

Some fresh vegetables, like spinach and green beans, lose up to 75 percent of their vitamin C within seven days of harvest, even when kept at the recommended refrigerator temperature.

– Mealtime.org

MAPLE SWEET POTATOES

(Allrecipes.com)

2 sweet potatoes (large)

2 tblsp. yogurt

1 tsp. maple syrup

1 tblsp. orange juice

Rinse and scrub potatoes with a vegetable brush. Prick potato skins with a fork and microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until soft.

Scoop potatoes out of the skin into a medium bowl. Mash and stir in rest of ingredients. Microwave 1-2 minutes to heat through.

– Information compiled by Carolee Kaylor, NDSU Extension Family Nutrition Program