We’re back with Dana’s Bakery CEO and Founder Dana Pollack. This week, she has great advice on how to save money at the grocery store– or at least, stretch the lifespan of your food when you get home. 

ASK AN EXPERT: A professional baker’s snack drawer

We sat down with Dana Pollack, CEO & Founder of Dana’s Bakery, and author of Dana’s Bakery cookbook. 

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[This interview has been edited for time and clarity.]

Food, like everything else, has gotten so expensive. Any tips for saving a little money at the supermarket? 

Buy things that can last. When it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables, just get what you need. And if need be, you can go back mid-week to get more. Eggs will last longer if you hard boil them. (BTW my trick for the PERFECT hard-boiled egg: Steam them for 13 minutes. It’s the perfect egg every time and so easy to peel.)

I know you’re a big fan of freezing food. Anything you put in the freezer that we wouldn’t expect? 

Bread! So many loaves of bread go bad because it takes a long time to eat the whole loaf. So you can freeze it. For all my bread, I take out half a loaf, and then I wrap it up and freeze the rest. And then when I’m ready, I take them out, let them defrost, or toast them, and they never go bad. 

I’ve noticed on your Instagram account that you wash and prep all your food as soon as you go food shopping. What’s behind that strategy? 

How many times do you go to the store, buy all this stuff that you have every intention of eating, and then forget about it? So you wind up throwing it out. To avoid that, I dedicate a couple hours on Sunday– and it’s kind of therapeutic– to wash everything (to get off pesticides) and cut everything up. I have baskets and containers to store them in. When you have children you need to have stuff accessible. If I don’t do that, I’m not going to eat it. 

Ok, you’re known for your desserts of course. What are your go-to desserts for your kids? 

No matter if it’s dessert or savory, just make it fun and they’ll eat it. For dessert, fresh berries are so great. You can put whipped cream on them, which really isn’t bad for them. And they think it’s the greatest thing. I’ll spray it right into their mouths. 

You can bake an apple and put cinnamon on it. I have a great recipe for healthy banana muffins, and just put a few chocolate chips in them and they love it. I give them unflavored greek yogurt, and I sneak in flax seed and put a little honey on top and chocolate chips, and they devour it. It’s so good for them, so much protein.

And what do you keep in your snack drawer? 

I made a point to have a massive snack cabinet and now it’s so much pressure to keep it filled. Annie’s cheddar bunnies instead of Goldfish. Healthier versions of cookies. Pretzels. Granola bars. Fruit snacks. I don’t want to be the mom that doesn’t have any good snacks when friends come over.