For those of you who eat a lot of fruits/vegetables...
...which, of course, should be all of us.
I LOVE fruits and vegetables. I love all kinds, I'm not a picky eater. I love the different flavors, textures, colors, health benefits, fiber, low cal, etc etc. But, I don't eat nearly enough because produce is just hard to deal with.
So for those of you that eat a ton of fruits/vegetables...do you just go to the grocery store every few days? Buy frozen? Do you end up wasting a lot? I buy some and it always ends up going bad before I can use it all.
Kind of a vague question, but what's your fruits/vegetable buying/using strategy?
Switching to grocery shopping every few days was an essential part of my dieting strategy. I used to get so hung up on how it was more "efficient" to only shop once every 10 days or so that it somehow became an iron-clad rule not to go to the grocery store UNLESS it was a big trip because otherwise it was being inefficient, it was wasting time. I never really thought this through, it was just that somehow in my mind going to the grocery store became an epic event, a huge chore, and I forgot you can make small trips. Being wasteful with time was a criminal act in my household growing up.
This had three negative consequences:
1. I tended to go off plan because I would make a mistake, not get enough of something I needed and then feel like I couldn't go back, because it wasn't time for a big trip. So I'd "make do" with off plan food.
2. I tended to buy way more than I needed "just in case", which meant tons of hoarded food. This was a waste of money.
3. I tended to avoid fruits and veggies because I couldn't eat them all before I went back, and I am such a ritualistic eater that I tend to think in terms of eating something every day or not at all.
Anyway, now I just go to the store every couple of days. I just accept that part of life is running in and grabbing a few things. I never wanted to do that before because I thought of grocery store trips as these huge complicated exhausting events that had to be planned like the invasion of Normandy. But quick trips aren't like that. They really do take like 5 minutes.
I LOVE frozen fruit. #1 its always good. Its picked at the peak of the season. If you buy the no sugar added kinds...it is just as healthy. I love to pack frozen fruit in my lunch...it will slowly thaw in my lunch bag...then I heat it for 30 seconds or so and eat it! It is soooo good!
I also use a lot of frozen veggies, but am getting tired of them as all I can really do with them is steam them or put them in recipes.
Schmead - invasion of Normandy! It can be like that here too.
I go about once a week to the store. I buy fresh the things I know I will eat all of - peppers, onions, spinach. I then go to the wholesaler (maybe every 2-3 weeks) for bulk items and frozen - lettuce, broccoli, asparagus, apples, strawberries, and mixed veggies.
Living in NY, it can get very expensive. I try to make sure my family eats everything as best we can. We try to eat in season too, but sometimes that can be easier said than done.
2 months ago, I wouldn't have qualified to even open this thread, as I hardly ate ANY fruits and veggies! So thanks for the little boost
Fruits - I only eat fresh. I just buy as much as my daughter and I can eat in a week (for the most part). That said, fruits like oranges, lemons, etc. (citrus) can last alot longer than a week in the frig, so I may buy a little more of that variety.
Veggies - Whether my veggies start out fresh, or come straight from the freezer section, they all end up the same FROZEN and stored in my freezer! I pre-cook my meals, portion them and freeze enough for about 2 weeks worth of meals. I buy fresh some veggies, like asparagus, brocolli and raw spinach, baby carrots, but I also buy frozen veggies (that don't seem to last as long in my frig), such as whole string beans, corn, peas, and cut spinach...sometimes I get mixed veggies like "stir-fry" varieties!
It's funny but I used to waste soooo much food before I resumed a healthy lifestyle....now I WASTE NOTHING!!
Last edited by joyfulloser; 02-03-2011 at 02:46 PM.
Reason: spelling correction
I could never do it from my usual grocery stores. I've come to love Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to get me through the winter; both their stuff and their classes/educational materials. Mixing larger amounts of fruits/veggies into a meal with lean protein gets easier as you learn. I read food columns/blogs about eating light or "clean." Come spring, there's my small backyard garden and farmers markets. Sometimes I saute a big mess of something or I take small containers (ziplock screw tops) to work with raw things and munch all day. But the key is to have stockpiles and choices, so no excuses. I'm learning that vegetables are way more interesting than I knew.
On my list: eggplant stuffed with clams, green beans with figs and walnuts, swiss chard with dried cranberries and feta.
I go to the grocery store once a week, rarely more. Usually on Saturday.
I buy the amount of fruits and vegetables I expect to use over the course of the week - this takes a small amount of thinking/planning but after weeks and weeks of doing it I have a good sense for the amount I'll need.
I don't have any problem with things going bad. Vegetables I buy on Saturday are still fine by the time I use them on Thursday (I don't eat at home Friday evenings so I don't need a vegetable for that night). The last head of broccoli that I use might be starting to get a little floppy by Thursday, but it's still fine and once it's cooked up you can't tell the difference. If one veggie is starting to look tired I'll use it ahead of things that seem a little more robust.
As for fruits, the fruits I buy are also robust enough to keep for a week. Apples are my staple, and these can easily keep for two weeks. Oranges or clementines keep well too. I am not picky about bananas, I can eat them in many stages of ripeness - so if I buy them yellow and they have spots by the end of the week, that's fine.
Summer fruits like berries might be more delicate, but that's okay - when I buy them I just eat them first, and the other fruits keep.
So, once a week hasn't been any kind of problem for me. That said, Shmead's approach of making surgical strikes every few days is just fine! It's not that much of an inconvenience to duck into the grocery store on your way home from work (or whatever).
I have the same problem, except with salad (the lettuce) and sometimes softer fruits (peaches, strawberries, etc). I find apples literally last forever in my fridge. I had bought one back in November or early December that was a stow away in my fruit drawer and I just cut it up to eat today, still fresh and delicious. The best solution, as already pointed out by most users, is going a few times a week to the store. I've heard mixed success about the Debbie Meyers Green Bags, but that could be another option to try.
Grocery shopping is one of those things that takes longer if you do it all at once. Unless you have a crazy commute, it really doesn't save time to go only once a week.
I'm on dining hall plan right now, so I eat at least one serving of fruit and one veg with every meal (usually different hand fruits each time), plus two others as snacks. SO much fruit.
During the summer (granted, I wasn't dieting then, but was maintaining fairly well at 125), I ducked into a grocery store after work twice a week, Mondays and Fridays -- even if exhausted, I found if I just motivated myself to walk in that direction on my way home, I'd be happier afterwards. I used to grab about a dozen pieces of cheaper nonperishable fruit (apples, bananas) and one "splurge" item ($$, not calories, haha) like strawberries that I could eat on the way home.
I think about it this way: I am a lazy cook, and the more fruit / raw veg I eat, the less I have to cook. So my diet at home consisted primarily of salads, vegetables, and awesome artisanal bread. If I hadn't been going out to lunch with coworkers so often, I'd probably have been losing more weight than I am now, haha... occasional bread aside, I was pretty much a whole food raw vegan
I tend to shop roughly 1 -2 times a week. Once I gave myself permission to shop more often if I ran out of veggies, I stopped buying the store out just in case. I had a lot of food spoil because I was just buying way too much and never got around to eating.
I buy the greenest bananas, plus 1 or 2 ripe ones. Fruits tend to be those that store well-apples, oranges, pears. And only enough for a week for the 2 of us.
When I buy grapes or berries I just buy enough for a couple days or so-1 big bag.
I also always keep several bags of the stir fry mix veggies and maybe a bag of frozen fruit in the freezer.
If I'm eating say, steamed broccoli, I buy it fresh, don't use frozen.
If I'm making green mashed potatos (potato blended with broccoli), then frozen is fine Depends on the meal.
Stews, soups, purees, smoothies,pasta,lasagnas - less than best quality works just fine. But for steamed veggies or using veggies with say hummus dip, gotta do the fresh
I buy some frozen, like stir fry veggies and peas, and frozen strawberries/berries/cherries that I add to smoothies or whatever else.
I always like to have a few apples, bananas, and tangerines on hand because I eat those almost daily. But I never buy a ton at once. Usually 3 apples, 2-3 bananas, 1-2 grapefruit. Tangerines come in a big bag, but I can get other people to help me eat them so that's usually OK.
As for veggies, the three I KNOW I will eat is brussels sprouts, broccoli, and green beans. So I always have those on hand. I can buy a pound, cook them, and have a huge plate of them for like no calories, so I like having them on hand as a snack. I also usually buy like 2 tomatoes for sandwiches or salads.
And then if I'm making a recipe that I need something special for, I get that. I usually have left overs and I throw it into something like eggs or a casserole or whatever so I don't waste.
That's not to say I never waste food. I sometimes buy stuff and never eat it, but I buy in small quantities and almost everything I buy has a plan, or is something I know I will grab if I'm in a rush.
in the summer i have a farmers market around the block from me every saturday. other than that, i go to the store about 4 times a week. i can never plan out my meals, and i'd rather make a trip to the store than have food go bad at my house. :P
For those of you who eat a lot of fruits/vegetables...
invasion of Normandy! It can be like that here too.
I pre-cook my meals, portion them and freeze enough for about 2 weeks worth of meals. I buy fresh some veggies, like asparagus, brocolli and raw spinach, baby carrots, but I also buy frozen veggies (that don't seem to last as long in my frig), such as whole string beans, corn, peas, and cut spinach...sometimes I get mixed veggies like "stir-fry" varieties!
So my diet at home consisted primarily of salads, vegetables, and awesome artisanal bread. If I hadn't been going out to lunch with coworkers so often, I'd probably have been losing more weight than I am now, haha... occasional bread aside, I was pretty much a whole food raw vegan 
