How often do you shop for food?

[workwoes123]

It feels like I never have enough fruit and vegetables / salad in stock. I'm wondering if it's my expectations that are off kilter...

I tend to do 1-2 big (car) shops in a month, max. This usually includes some fruit and veg but as it's Lidl the quality isn't great. I go to the local supermarket (on foot with a trolley, better quality) maybe once a week, less if I can get away with it. I stock up on fruit / veg / salad then. We also have great local markets, but I'm struggling to get to them TBH. I confess I'm really resenting the time and effort it takes to keep fresh produce in the house.

My mum used to do one shop a week and as we lived rurally that was it. TBH we didn't eat much fruit / veg as my mum didn't like them - bananas, carrots, potatoes were about the sum total. I love veg and salad but I'm finding it harder and harder to motivate myself to shop, prepare and cook them.

I'm being really lazy aren't I? It's normal to shop at least 2-3 times a week for fresh produce isn't it? I've recently increased my hours at work and as I'm cycling I no longer pass the grocers that I used to drop into every few days, so I have to make an extra effort.

One big in store shop a week, a delivery most weeks (don't get much veg delivered because it's too much of a lottery and one or two basket shops. Even if I could source fresh veg and salad that kept for a whole week, I couldn't fit it all in my fridge. Played fridge Tetris with a delivery on Thursday and it's already looking like it's been ransacked.

I eat 7 to 10 fruit and veg a day and we eat very little ultra processed food. Weekly still isn't a problem for fruit and veg. Forgot to add, bread is from the bakery, a 'too good to go' bag every two to three weeks (slice and freeze most of it).

One big weekly shop, 1-2 extra veg and fruit shops.

I couldn’t do a week of 7-10 portions of fresh fruit and veg a day, it goes bad too quickly (where I live at least). If half of that is frozen then yes, doable.

Our house is very cool (hardly any natural light in the kitchen) and we have a pantry so maybe that helps but apples easily last over a week, and I usually buy one bunch of ripe bananas and a bunch of green ones for the following week. All other fruit and veg lasts pretty well in the fridge and we’re not averse to eating slightly drab veg if necessary. Also use lots of frozen veg which is fine. Family of four - weekly shop in Aldi around £80 and then maybe top up another 20-40 in other shops (veggie so some meat substitutes we have to pick up elsewhere). Kids have school dinners though so don’t have to buy stuff for those - all change in September as it’s so expensive!

I choose to shop 3 times weekly - One delivery, two top ups

I live in an urban area and have supermarkets both within walking distance from the house, and next door to work, so it's no biggie to call in. We eat lots of fruit and salad. If I get everything on Saturday by midweek lots of fruit and veg is well past its best. Plus our house is small, and we don't have a big-ass American-style fridge, so easier to top up rather than have the fridge stuffed to the gills, and not be able to find stuff. 16 pints of milk alone (our weekly consumption) would take up about a third of the space.

And anything I bulk buy the kids seem to suddenly go off, even if they wolfed it down the previous week. I'm then stuck trying to eat eight peaches before they're past their best. So I now get small packs and replace when they're finished.

@EileenGC

One big weekly shop, 1-2 extra veg and fruit shops.

I couldn’t do a week of 7-10 portions of fresh fruit and veg a day, it goes bad too quickly (where I live at least). If half of that is frozen then yes, doable.

Most of what I buy lasts a week easy. Things like mushrooms, spinach, strawberries are eaten in the first half of the week. I buy other berries frozen, but that is because of the cost fresh. Some things like raspberries, blueberries, salad greens in the garden (new build so not a lot).

1 big shop every month for pantry stuff
1 shop per week for general fresh stuff

2 extra trips for milk and fresh bread and fruits. We don’t have much fridge space so can’t buy more than 2 litres milk at a time. I would get a milkman but no delivery here. Bread we get from bakery

Once every two weeks.

I started this at the start of the first lockdown and found that I prefer it, we eat more healthily and more economically.

I plan fresh fruit and veg of the longer-lasting variety for the second week. Salads made from finely diced peppers, red onion and tinned cannelloni beans, for e.g. Or slaw made from grated carrot and red or white cabbage (those cabbages keep forever).
We used white and red cabbages a lot last year; finely shredded white for crunch in a burger, or in home made coleslaw. Red grated with carrot with a ginger and lime dressing.

Buy a celeriac and make remoulade.

Celery keeps well wrapped in the fridge, as does cucumber

Or roasted slices of courgette in lemon and oil.

Sliced baby corn, mange tout and pepper (all keep well) in a noodle salad.

Plant some of those windowsill cut and come again salad leaves.

Homemade hummus is a doddle.

Frozen fine green beans and petit pois are great.

A whole fresh pineapple keeps. Aldi Frozen blueberries with Greek yogurt. Frozen cherries ditto. V good value, and delicious.

Twice a week, but we are a family of 10 and can't fit a whole weeks worth of fresh food in the fridge. Managed just once a week until we had 6 kids (so 8 people)

[quote QueenLagertha]@Bagelsandbrie you need a bread maker. Have had mine a couple of months now. Bread is amazing and I haven't bought shop bought bread since [/quote]
Good idea… I’ll have a google!

Once every 7-10 days
Start of the week I eat soft fruits/salad, then I make my way through other stuff meal prepping. End of the week is apples, frozen berries, frozen veg and whatever I have meal prepped

I shop every other day, sometimes daily. It means I can buy fresh and less waste. I am 5 mins walk from lidl. During lockdown 1 I managed to go 3 days occasionally but I simply don't want to eat rotting food

I shop once a week. We eat lots of fruit and veg and cook from scratch. Never have an issue with fruit and veg not lasting.

Love mumsnet people can't resist a humble brag about how much fruit and veg they eat.

Just 2 adults in my household. I do love fruit and veg, particularly berries and salad. I find if I do a weekly shop it doesn't last the week so top up most weeks. But if we don't do a top up we can manage on frozen veg or longer lasting stuff.

We do get a small veg box delivered most weeks. This definitely helps with having more fresh stuff in if I time the shop right.

@Neondisco

The fresh I buy isn't necessarily fruit and veg . Lidl has excellent pastries and decent sourdough, then there's milk I need to replenish every 2 days (young adult DD's very into chai lattes) and butter as they like baking!

Once a week, delivered. I plan to eat stuff that needs using quickly at the beginning of the week (fresh fish, salad leaves, some green veg) and have more store cupboard type meals at the end. Never found it a problem.

We also have milk delivered 2 or 3 times a week.

Do you have veg boxes where you are? In some parts of the UK you can get Oddbox - which isn't too expensive if you eat a lot of fruit and veg.- you can't be picky though as the selection is pretty random (it's made up of excess supply which makes it much cheaper than the organic boxes and the like).

@Neondisco

Love mumsnet people can't resist a humble brag about how much fruit and veg they eat.

Just 2 adults in my household. I do love fruit and veg, particularly berries and salad. I find if I do a weekly shop it doesn't last the week so top up most weeks. But if we don't do a top up we can manage on frozen veg or longer lasting stuff.

We do get a small veg box delivered most weeks. This definitely helps with having more fresh stuff in if I time the shop right.

You interpret people talking about their fruit and veg intake as a humble brag. Perhaps because much more than you? Whatever. Many do eat a lot. And stating this fact is stating it. Not a humble brag.

My children and I eat a heck of a lot of fruit an veg. I wish we didn’t eat quite so much and have such a taste for it - as I’d save quite a bit of money!!

Once a week (it's a regular delivery slot) however frozen is the way to go. I buy frozen sliced peppers, spinach, mushrooms, stir fry mix, Mediterranean veg, etc... it's far quicker and much cheaper.

Grow my own.
Frozen veg and often fruit is perfectly nutricious. Some works better than others.
Delivery once a week and often a quick Aldi or farm shop top up in between.

Is it because of the kind of stuff you buy that has a short shelf life? Are you trying to permanently have choice and variety 7 days a week?
Could you make do with apples and citrus for part of the week which have a long cupboard life?

I live alone – I do one supermarket shop a month, and then go to the local market every weekend for fruit, veggies and fish. That's just as much for the social aspect as the food

I'm on a restricted diet due to an autoimmune condition, though, so I'm not a fan of supermarkets anymore (too much off-limits stuff and it makes me sad).

Big shop at weekend and top up shop (milk, bread, fruit, veg, salad, treats for weekend) mid week.

@Neondisco

Love mumsnet people can't resist a humble brag about how much fruit and veg they eat.

Just 2 adults in my household. I do love fruit and veg, particularly berries and salad. I find if I do a weekly shop it doesn't last the week so top up most weeks. But if we don't do a top up we can manage on frozen veg or longer lasting stuff.

We do get a small veg box delivered most weeks. This definitely helps with having more fresh stuff in if I time the shop right.

I only mentioned it as someone upthread said it depends what you eat. I think you are misinterpreting why people are saying how much they eat, it's in context of the thread.

Our main shop is delivered on Sunday late afternoon. I top up fruit on Thursdays.