If you do a weekly shop

[juneonthemoon]

Are you still managing or finding that use by dates have got shorter I can't work out how I used to be able to do a whole online shop which lasted a week. Could be that the Ds's eat more now (teenagers) but I think as well that use by dates have got much shorter. Shopping twice a week is too expensive. Any tips for making my shopping last a week rather than a few days?

Really haven’t found this to be an issue. I meal plan, do 1 weekly food order. Any meat/fish with shorter shelf life goes in freezer. Plan meals for start of the week that need the fresher ingredients or just swap a meal from end of the week to the start if, say, mince goes off by Tuesday. We cook from lots of cupboard staples anyway (rice, beans, lentils, pasta). Things like cheese, yogurt, etc can still be eaten after use by date. Only thing I intentionally don’t buy at the weekend if not planning to use it til end of week is fresh herbs. Otherwise everything lasts fine.

The meat I got yesterday at Asda...
Chicken 3rd Feb (7 days)
Mince 4th Feb (8 days)
Sausages 4th Feb (8 days)
Bacon 20th Feb (26 days)

Might need more milk and bread before next Friday. But everything else will be OK.

I've used Tesco for years and never had that problem

I don't doubt that dates have got shorter. But you should still be able to spend the same amount even if shopping twice.

Plus do you batch cook? I rarely make anything in single portions. Spag Bol, chilli, mince in 2 x 1kg packs. Meatballs I cook 72, 6 x packs of 12. Lasagne I make 2. Chicken curry I do 8 chicken breasts minimum.

I don't doubt that dates have got shorter. But you should still be able to spend the same amount even if shopping twice

I've thought this in theory but if I do 2 shops I do end up spending more.

I don't batch cook, I don't have loads of freezer space and am not very organised!

Sainsbury's is so so shit with this their packers are the worst. They send daft substitutes and give me all the wonky busted in tins, manky bananas and cracked eggs.
I had no problems with being sent adequate use by dates from Asda or Ocado so I order from them instead.

Like others have said, what I used to do is make cupboard and freezer meals in the last 2 days before the next weekly delivery.

One think the pandemic did was to teach me to shop less frequently. I eat a huge amount of veg and eat a salad for lunch most days.
There's a few things I learnt along the way. Previously I had been very guilty of buying bagged chopped salad leaves, very convenient but as soon as you open the bag the clock is ticking. Buying whole lettuces and pulling off a few leaves as you is so much better. Obviously root veg lasts longest so I use more of that. Again buying those handy bags of prepared veg may save a couple of minutes chopping but again they don't last. I keep as much of my veg in the fridge too. Salads can be kept interesting longer lasting by including thinks like carrots, onions, tinned or frozen sweetcorn, chopped apples, pickled veg.
Instead of packs of stir fry veg I now use carrots, leeks, onion that I shred in the food processor, adding in tinned water chestnuts, pineapple, sweetcorn and bamboo shoots.
Towards the end of the week I'll use any veg looking a bit tired or needing up for soups, pasta sauces or roast them, either as a side or to add to other dishes.

Why would shopping twice week be more expensive? Apart from petrol/delivery charges?

We only get a supermarket shop every other week now that there are only two of us at home most of the time. We also get a weekly veg box and have milk delivered. It works fine. Use fresh fish etc very quickly. Rely on store cupboard more and freeze some meals for the second week. I certainly never had a problem when we shopped every week (only a few months ago). But always ate things roughly in order of their dates. Shop is delivered Thursday evening so we have the nice fresh food for more special cooking at the weekend. We also eat a lot of vegetarian food which I think helps - dates obviously more important for fish and meat.

We keep bread in the freezer if it's not being eaten quickly. Bake almost all our own bread and it doesn't keep fresh long as doesn't have the preservatives of commercial bread. Also have a small back-up supply of frozen milk. Ocado dates are pretty good I think.

No. But I always shop in person.
Fruit & veg are either loose or have sell by dates of 6-8 days.

Meat is mostly a week, and anyway, I freeze anything that I won't use in the next two days . So I've kept chicken (for chicken & leek pie tonight) and lamb shanks for tomorrow in the fridge. Apart from a packet of bacon, salad and some cheese, everything else is in the freezer so use by dates don't matter.

I buy two large loaves a week, cut them both in half and freeze three halves. Milk for the second half of the week is frozen too. Then each morning I take whatever I need that evening out of the freezer.

Most weeks I might throw away maybe one satsuma that's gone off, no more.

I have definitely noticed this so now do two online shops each week instead of just one big one. Delivery pass means this does not cost me in delivery charges and ensures that less food is wasted for being out if date.