How I Buy Fruit and Vegetables Once a Month (and they last)
September 2016
Everyone knows that I have been shopping monthly for the last 22 years, and loving it. I do a fortnightly top-up of dairy and, if necessary, fruit and vegetables (and the money for these top-ups is included in my monthly grocery budget).
But most of the time I buy the bulk of our fruit and veg when I do my big monthly shop and make it last. I make that produce last until the next time I do a big shop -remember I consider shopping a chore, not a recreational activity, so I don't want to do it unless it is absolutely necessary
So how do I make the fruit and veg last? Well there are a few steps to keeping produce fresh, but I only do them once a month and then that's it for another four weeks - a huge time and energy saver.
Here’s what I do.
I start by buying the freshest, in-season fruit and vegetables I can get. I rarely buy supermarket fruit and veg. And when I get it home I process it immediately, storing it properly so it lasts.
When I'm at the greengrocer I look for the best prices on the in-season produce. Yes, no tomatoes in July for us - they're not in season where we live and so not only expensive but it's travelled a long, long way to get here. For example, last week broccoli was 79 cents a kilo. Now I normally grow our broccoli, but this year the crop was a dismal failure. So I bought 16 kilos (that's a lot of broccoli). We can't possibly eat that much broccoli before it starts to go off, so I do what I always do and I prep it and then freeze it. I do this with most of the fruit and vegetables I buy.
When I get home from shopping I wash all the fruit and vegetables except for berries - I wash them just before I use them.
Then I chop any stalks off, cut them into portions and either store them in a Tupperware container or gel bag, or vacuum seal them and freeze them. As I'm bagging them for the freezer I put them into meal lots. For example I make up soup bags with potato, carrot, onion, celery in them. I make up casserole bags with carrots, onions and parsnip or turnip in them. I make up meal sized bags of carrots, beans, broccoli and cauliflower.
With fruit I make up bags for crumble or cobbler, or for making jam later on.
I freeze whole bananas too! This week they were cheap - $1.29 a kilo. I bought two kilos and put them in the freezer. They can be used straight from the freezer for milkshakes and smoothies, making banana bread or muffins or even banana ice-cream. Oh, the skins will turn black - don't be alarmed, the fruit inside is just perfect.
For the berries, if we're not eating them straight away, I lay them out on a biscuit sheet and flash freeze them for about two hours. Once they're almost frozen, I bag them in two cup lots, vacuum seal them and put them into the big freezer. They can be used for baking, making jams, making puddings, smoothies and flavouring yoghurts and making ice blocks in summer.
I also freeze beans, peas, carrots, celery, capsicum, spring onion, brown onion, whole tomatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato in meal sized portions. I buy brown onions in 10 kilo bags and process them by dicing half
I don't freeze lettuce, silverbeet, cucumber or cabbage. They are "water" vegetables and tend to go soggy when they thaw - they're still fine to eat, just not at all appetising.
I use Tupperware veggie containers and Fresh and Crisp gel bags to store produce in the fridge. Veggies are prepped before they go into the containers.
Pumpkin is cut up, seeds scraped out, peeled and dusted with corn flour and goes into a gel bag on its own and will keep like this for up to four weeks.
Sweet potato is peeled, cut and into a gel bag and treated the same as pumpkin.
Broccoli and cauliflower are cut up and frozen.
Celery is cut into stalks and put into a Tupperware container to use straight away. The rest is sliced and frozen in 1/2 cup lots.
Lettuce - gel bag (but I don't buy lettuce, we grow it).
Carrots - top and tailed and into a gel bag for immediate use. If I buy a 10 kilo bag, the excess is sliced or cut into chunks and frozen or canned in meal sized portions or added to soup/casserole bags.
Onions and potatoes are stored in a box in the bottom of the pantry.
Zucchini - stored in the bottom of the fridge in a gel bag for up to three weeks. Grated and bagged in 1 cup portions for the freezer.
Silverbeet, cabbages and cucumbers stay fresh for up to three weeks in a gel bag in the fridge. I don't freeze these vegetables.
Tomatoes - I very rarely buy fresh tomatoes out of our season, they are too expensive and rather flavourless. We grow tomatoes during the summer and they stay fresh in a gel bag in the fridge for around 10 days. I freeze them whole to use in soups and casseroles in winter. Any excess I use to make sauces.
Turnips, swedes, beetroot, corn are peeled, chopped and stored in a gel bag in the fridge for up to four weeks.
I mentioned how I store berries above. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, limes and apples are all put into gel bags and stored in the fridge. I take enough out every couple of days to last in the fruit bowl. Stored like this these fruits will last for months and months - I've had oranges stored in the fridge for six months and they've still be juicy and delicious. Bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines and so on we tend to eat immediately as they don't keep very long at all.
Now I've shared how I store produce, I want to share how we eat it.
We tend to eat the soft fruits and vegetables during the first two weeks of the month. These are the things like peachesand grapes, lettuce and silverbeet that don't last very long even stored in gel bags.
Then we move onto cucumbers and capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, pears and bananas.
And towards the end of the month we eat the pumpkin and carrots, oranges and apples.
Of course all these fruits and vegetables are rounded out with the produce from the freezer.
And to make sure nothing is forgotten or left to go bad, I check the fridge weekly and make sure anything that is starting to look sad is either used or prepped and frozen for later.
Fruit and vegetables are expensive. Storing and using them properly ensures you not only get the best value for your money but that you aren't putting your money into the compost bin either.
But most of the time I buy the bulk of our fruit and veg when I do my big monthly shop and make it last. I make that produce last until the next time I do a big shop -remember I consider shopping a chore, not a recreational activity, so I don't want to do it unless it is absolutely necessary
So how do I make the fruit and veg last? Well there are a few steps to keeping produce fresh, but I only do them once a month and then that's it for another four weeks - a huge time and energy saver.
Here’s what I do.
I start by buying the freshest, in-season fruit and vegetables I can get. I rarely buy supermarket fruit and veg. And when I get it home I process it immediately, storing it properly so it lasts.
When I'm at the greengrocer I look for the best prices on the in-season produce. Yes, no tomatoes in July for us - they're not in season where we live and so not only expensive but it's travelled a long, long way to get here. For example, last week broccoli was 79 cents a kilo. Now I normally grow our broccoli, but this year the crop was a dismal failure. So I bought 16 kilos (that's a lot of broccoli). We can't possibly eat that much broccoli before it starts to go off, so I do what I always do and I prep it and then freeze it. I do this with most of the fruit and vegetables I buy.
When I get home from shopping I wash all the fruit and vegetables except for berries - I wash them just before I use them.
Then I chop any stalks off, cut them into portions and either store them in a Tupperware container or gel bag, or vacuum seal them and freeze them. As I'm bagging them for the freezer I put them into meal lots. For example I make up soup bags with potato, carrot, onion, celery in them. I make up casserole bags with carrots, onions and parsnip or turnip in them. I make up meal sized bags of carrots, beans, broccoli and cauliflower.
With fruit I make up bags for crumble or cobbler, or for making jam later on.
I freeze whole bananas too! This week they were cheap - $1.29 a kilo. I bought two kilos and put them in the freezer. They can be used straight from the freezer for milkshakes and smoothies, making banana bread or muffins or even banana ice-cream. Oh, the skins will turn black - don't be alarmed, the fruit inside is just perfect.
For the berries, if we're not eating them straight away, I lay them out on a biscuit sheet and flash freeze them for about two hours. Once they're almost frozen, I bag them in two cup lots, vacuum seal them and put them into the big freezer. They can be used for baking, making jams, making puddings, smoothies and flavouring yoghurts and making ice blocks in summer.
I also freeze beans, peas, carrots, celery, capsicum, spring onion, brown onion, whole tomatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato in meal sized portions. I buy brown onions in 10 kilo bags and process them by dicing half
I don't freeze lettuce, silverbeet, cucumber or cabbage. They are "water" vegetables and tend to go soggy when they thaw - they're still fine to eat, just not at all appetising.
I use Tupperware veggie containers and Fresh and Crisp gel bags to store produce in the fridge. Veggies are prepped before they go into the containers.
Pumpkin is cut up, seeds scraped out, peeled and dusted with corn flour and goes into a gel bag on its own and will keep like this for up to four weeks.
Sweet potato is peeled, cut and into a gel bag and treated the same as pumpkin.
Broccoli and cauliflower are cut up and frozen.
Celery is cut into stalks and put into a Tupperware container to use straight away. The rest is sliced and frozen in 1/2 cup lots.
Lettuce - gel bag (but I don't buy lettuce, we grow it).
Carrots - top and tailed and into a gel bag for immediate use. If I buy a 10 kilo bag, the excess is sliced or cut into chunks and frozen or canned in meal sized portions or added to soup/casserole bags.
Onions and potatoes are stored in a box in the bottom of the pantry.
Zucchini - stored in the bottom of the fridge in a gel bag for up to three weeks. Grated and bagged in 1 cup portions for the freezer.
Silverbeet, cabbages and cucumbers stay fresh for up to three weeks in a gel bag in the fridge. I don't freeze these vegetables.
Tomatoes - I very rarely buy fresh tomatoes out of our season, they are too expensive and rather flavourless. We grow tomatoes during the summer and they stay fresh in a gel bag in the fridge for around 10 days. I freeze them whole to use in soups and casseroles in winter. Any excess I use to make sauces.
Turnips, swedes, beetroot, corn are peeled, chopped and stored in a gel bag in the fridge for up to four weeks.
I mentioned how I store berries above. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, limes and apples are all put into gel bags and stored in the fridge. I take enough out every couple of days to last in the fruit bowl. Stored like this these fruits will last for months and months - I've had oranges stored in the fridge for six months and they've still be juicy and delicious. Bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines and so on we tend to eat immediately as they don't keep very long at all.
Now I've shared how I store produce, I want to share how we eat it.
We tend to eat the soft fruits and vegetables during the first two weeks of the month. These are the things like peachesand grapes, lettuce and silverbeet that don't last very long even stored in gel bags.
Then we move onto cucumbers and capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, pears and bananas.
And towards the end of the month we eat the pumpkin and carrots, oranges and apples.
Of course all these fruits and vegetables are rounded out with the produce from the freezer.
And to make sure nothing is forgotten or left to go bad, I check the fridge weekly and make sure anything that is starting to look sad is either used or prepped and frozen for later.
Fruit and vegetables are expensive. Storing and using them properly ensures you not only get the best value for your money but that you aren't putting your money into the compost bin either.