Most vegetables stay good for about a week and a half. It depends on the vegetable. Tomatoes go bad a little sooner, small hot peppers stay good a little longer, but typically if you're buying fresh veggie produce from your local grocer, plan on eating it by the end of the week.

I'm finding out recently that meat doesn't last that long. When I hit the grocery store, I'll typically grab "manager's special" items before the regularly priced stuff. For those of you who don't know, the reason a product is a "manager's special" is because it's about to go rotten. Or already has.

And that's exactly what has happened to me several times. I buy a couple steaks, eat one, and leave the other in the fridge for a few days only to find out it's stale is a joke about airline food.

So I quit buying the "manager's specials." I bought the regular meat, assuming it would last much longer, like a vegetable. Turns out you only get a couple more days of freshness, if that on pretty much any meat. Chicken seems to hold out a bit longer than pork or cow, but not by much. Overall, the lesson here is to buy your meat on the same day you eat, or the day before at the latest. This takes a bit more planning on my part, but I guess that's just the way it has to be. On a different note, I went to the vitamin shop yesterday and got the best multivitamin, something called the Master Formula. It's brilliant!