To ditch fresh veg

[chitterdidntchatter]

As the title says really. Just thrown out loads of it. I obviously over estimate how much we will use but it feels wrong not to buy it. I menu plan but quite often deviate from That (ie I forget to get things out of the freezer etc etc)
I'm thinking I'll just get a load of frozen veg and just go with that
Never really used it before (apart from peas obvs)
Boring topic I know but tell me your take on this. Is frozen veg horrid and soggy like I imagine?

I use frozen things loads especially now we only shop twice a month. Spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, broad beans, peas and onions are all absolutely fine and herbs are even better I think as you can crunch them up frozen instead of chopping. The chopped mushrooms give off more water and take longer to brown, but other than that, I use frozen. Root veg like turnip, swede, parsnip and squash should last several weeks so we used fresh, but I will chop into cubes and freeze if I think they are going off.

@HarebrightCedarmoon

Loads of different veg are available frozen. It's not limiting

It is if you are limiting yourselves to the ones which are not minging and inedible when frozen.

In your opinion - there is a lot of variety available which is delicious and edible.

Some frozen veg is great, but I find the below soggy/tough when frozen

Brussels
Brocolli
Carrots
Cabbage
Okra
Peppers

I live ten miles from the nearest supermarket or greengrocer, so I make a proper shopping list and get a Sainsbury’s delivery once a week, with exactly a week’s worth of fresh vegetables for my planned meals. The veg have never gone off before being used - they keep perfectly in the fridge. I make my own veg soups, and cook all meals from scratch.
There is virtually no waste apart from peelings, stalks etc.
I find many frozen veg have a nasty slimy texture when cooked - green beans and frozen sprouts are particularly revolting. I will use frozen peas to make pea, mint and lettuce soup though, as it’s getting liquidised anyway.

What temp should my fridge be at
I shop every weekend and my broccoli is always yellow and my carrots are always bendy...
Should I be keeping some stuff out of the fridge. Bloody hell I feel like I've been leading some sort of double veg life.

I also think I buy FAR too much. I possibly buy more that we could use

I think that you are alright continuing to buy the fresh as long as you are putting any waste into the food waste rather than landfill.

Also tescos recycle soft plastics - carrier bags, the plastic wrapping around things like a punnet of tomatoes, I would think also the bags that frozen veg come in fall into this category.

I can't stand the texture of frozen carrots, and it has to be tinned sweetcorn (or fresh on cob) because I found the frozen to have less taste than water!

I hate food waste so I'd definitely buy more frozen veg if I was you, I like the suggestion of reducing rather than removing the fresh so you have that at the start of the week

Despite hating food waste, I had to throw the frozen corn away, I couldn't even bring myself to use it in stew type dishes, and I never throw food out! Give me some sad looking veg and I'll turn it into a soup or stew or chilli etc, but never again would I try frozen sweetcorn

I'm almost scared to ask, but how long are we all keeping our fruit????

Our fridge is set to 3°C. Where are you buying from? Sounds as though the broccoli is old when you're buying it.

Up to 5c. You can buy cheap and cheerful thermometers in many shops. It's also good to ensure the air can circulate well around the fridge. Old ones in my rentals were sometimes horrible with this and would keep warmer than that so stuff would go off quickly.

I have to say that I have not had bendy carrots in a week. They start bending on a 2 week mark so i always make sure to use the ones which are starting first. Tenderstem broccoli also lasts me longer than a week but it does go soft ish after. I honestly think it's the fridge in my case.

Sometimes how good frozen veg is depends on the brand. I've found that all types of Birds Eye peas are preferable to supermarket own which tend to have chewy skins and lack flavour. Similarly the supermarket steam bags are crap in comparison to Birds Eye. The veg in the supermarket ones is in a puddle of water when you open them. There's a French brand Ocado stock call Picard and their stuff is a bit different and I've never had a dud one from them.

@IdrisElbow

There just seems to be so much plastic involved with all the frozen veg, which really puts me off. I suppose its a toss up between buying lots more frozen and hence all the plastic, or throwing away fresh which is ultimately compostable though admittedly wasteful.

It's not just the plastic - running a frozen goods supply chain uses up a huge amount more energy to run frozen storage and transport.

@chitterdidntchatter

I'm almost scared to ask, but how long are we all keeping our fruit????

Until it's eaten or goes off. Depends what fruit. I have 12 days old apples in a fruit bowl. Apricots would be only few days. Mainly because I can't just walk around them. Berries usually 2 days.

Some frozen veg is great, and tons more economical than fresh - green beans and peas particularly.
Other things I prefer fresh - spinach, broccoli and cauliflower mostly - also I only have a tiny freezer.
I also like frozen mixed veg bag - if only they didn't stuff them to the gills with sweetcorn.
Root veg also keeps fresh for quite a while.

There’s definitely some veg which are fine frozen - peppers (in something), corn, peas, cauliflower and carrots for example. But I think frozen broccoli is too mushy and frozen BNS has a tendency to dissolve as well. Not a big fan of frozen mushrooms either - I always had the punnets going off but I just buy 3 or 4 loose mushrooms at a time now.

We use frozen veg everyday.
I have fresh mushrooms and courgette for cooking

Lakeland sell Stayfresh bags for veg. They look like green plastic. You can wash them after use and they last forever. Put dry veg in the bag, pop it in the fridge. The bags don't work well for mushrooms, tomatoes, courgettes or peppers but all root veg, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, cabbage, Brussels sprouts even herbs like parsley are fine for weeks. Throwing away stuff, even if it goes to compost, is still a massive waste of growing and transport costs.

Frozen veg often has more vitamins than fresh that has been kept for a week.

Yellow broccoli is fine to eat. It's just the flowers opening. Bendy carrots are also fine if they aren't mouldy and don't have soft black spots. Just put them in a bowl of water in the fridge and they will revive. That works for any wilted veg - lettuce, peppers, cucumber etc

It's best to save veg that lasts well for meals at the end of the week eg cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, unripe avocados. The same with fruit eg apples, pears, citrus, whole pineapple, green bananas, refridgerated grapes. Eat the salad and soft fruit first.

Mushrooms keep best in a paper bag. Soft fruit and things like tomatoes will last longer in stay fresh boxes eg Sistema

I also keep things with stems/roots in jars or bowls with a few cm of water, like flowers in a vase eg spring onions, asparagus, globe artichokes, whole lettuce, whole heads of broccoli. The spring onions actually keep growing!

Frozen veg is often much fresher as it's frozen shortly after being picked, whereas 'fresh' veg often takes days before it gets to the supermarkets.

I love you all! I feel like I'm reinventing my whole fridge life here

Sorry if this has already been said.....
I do buy fresh veg, but every Wednesday (insert your own day), i clear out the veg box and make soup.
Veg soup, ham and veg soup, lentil and veg,..... you get the idea.
Nutritionally it may not be at its peak, but it tastes delicious and saves chucking it away 😁

I think frozen veg is great these days, such a huge selection and saves so much time!

This is my issue too.

I used to shop for 2-3 days at a time to make use of stickered items end of day and not ram my fridge full of food but cause of covid I’ve had to dramatically change my shopping habits and hate that I throw things away.

I’m not great with frozen stuff though. I hate the sound of the freezer. Really hate it so I’m avoidant if it. I know that sounds pathetic but I can’t stand that noise.