Shopping Fail

[Meckity1]

We all had symptoms at the end of March and were self isolating. We couldn't get slots for love nor money, all the local places were swamped and I really scrabbled around for stuff like bread, fruit and veg. I ended up placing an order for a veg box for the end of April and forgetting about it.

I now have a very large fruit and veg box that I hadn't planned for. A lot of it will become soup and frozen (random root veg, lentils, garlic and lots of spices - food of the gods and the household loves it). But I am overwhelmed. There's an aubergine. I loathe aubergine with the power of a thousand suns. I have unexpected mushrooms. And while most of it looks lovely, the peaches are so hard you could use them to knock nails in.

Anyone else had fails shopping in these uncertain times. Would be great to know I'm not the only one. Everyone else seems to be doing wonders.

Baba ghanouche!

Chop up the aubergine small and chuck it in stuff. It’s good for bulking out a lasagne.

I bought £4 hand wash.
I always always always have a back up of everything that is on the go. So there is always a spare shampoo/soap/conditioner etc in the cupboard, so I wasn’t worried about running out of soap. But as the one on the go got to the bottom I couldn’t find the new one.
I panicked and DH ordered one on Prime for £4.
As it was I found it and then ended up using a lovely L’occitane gift soap from a set I was given anyway.
The gift soap is still going! I’ve never known a bar of soap last as long.

OP- could you swap the veg with a neighbour?

Not a fail as such, but yesterday I ended up with 6kg white potatoes. 2kg was a substitute for sweet potatoes, 1 I'd ordered and 1 was just a random extra bag I found. Only 2 of us, and I'm sure I'll use them eventually, but they seem to sprout so quickly at the moment!

Grapes are delicious frozen

i roast aubergines whole, bung some olive oil on. the when all collapsed in on themselves peel, chop and bung in any bolognese / veggie lasagna / any kind of meaty / vegetable sauce thing. they disappear but i feel wholesome
disclaimer - i am not a cook

To ripen the peaches - put them in a brown paper bag with a banana (not got a banana?an apple will do, not so good but it'll do). Releases ethanol or whatever it's called..

Excess grapes are always a tricky one. I believe you can freeze them and eat from frozen?

Ahh, frozen grapes! My go-to evening food when I was suffering pangs of nicotine withdrawal.Ace, they were.

@Katinski Thank you, I'll try that. I have many, many bananas and the plums and apples came in paper bags.

I don't usually swear, but this fruit and veg box is fucking huge. I've got leeks, parsnips, carrots, greens, potatoes, mushrooms, fucking aubergine, peaches, plums, pears, bananas, two types of apple, a mango, a melon, mandarins and lots and lots of grapes - and that's just the easily seen stuff. I have the end of a fruit and veg box downstairs from a lunch place that has started doing veg boxes as well and the extras I picked up yesterday. There is also a lemon, I think, and there may be onions.

It's more unexpected than the Spanish Inquisition.

I ordered a huge box from an online butcher when meat was scarce in the shops. Then forgot all about it as it was a long wait to delivery. Filled the freezer with newly stocked supermarket meat and had to do a Jenga job to fit it in! You could make some veggie pasta sauces including the aubergine, which would be lovely if slow roasted first to make it sweeter, then use a hand blender for a smooth sauce.

*Pinkarsedfly

‘I have unexpected mushrooms.’

Canesten?*

@Elouera the most recent violent neighbours have moved out, but the ones next door but two have started twitching the curtains at me and not speaking. Next door but one is empty. Next door is very, very quiet. I knocked on their door the other night to ask if they wanted their bins taken out, and I saw the kitchen light go on and the blind lower very, very slowly. They never answered the door. I don't have anyone close that I'm on fruit donating terms with.

I've found strawberries, a cauliflower and a lettuce. I've just given son a melon from the last veg box - an entire melon! It's a smallish honeydew and I just cut it into chunks and put it next to him. If I don't hand him fruit, it rots, but if I put it next to him, it evaporates. He's young teen, so it won't hurt him to top up some fruit.

Have you got a 'waste not want not' type project near you?

Food banks usually won't take fresh stuff, but other projects might do. And then just give them the whole box and count you shopping 'fail' as a donation success

@meditrina That's a good idea. I'll have a look on Facebook as I don't know any off the top of my head.

@Meckity1 how much did that fruit and veg box cost you? That’s a huge haul.

My primary shopping fail has been stupidly and aspirationally buying bagged salads then letting them rot. I’ve done it three times now and I’m finally admitting to myself that I’m just not in the mood for salads just yet. I’m liking frozen vegetables like green beans, chopped kale and spinach more. Also liking roasting sweet potatoes and eggplants.

@Pinkarsedfly wins Mumsnet today

@JingsMahBucket It was £34.20 and the stuff is the good stuff, apart from possibly the peaches. It looks a lot better than supermarket veg.

I don't think I want to switch to veg boxes as I always struggle to use it all up, but when this has all settled down, I think I will switch to farm shops.