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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What are your staple fruit / veg / salad items

116 replies

subsxribed · 11/05/2023 22:05

Every week I but the same lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and carrots.

I need to mix up my staples.

What are yours?

OP posts:
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 11/05/2023 23:33

Oh yes, and bell peppers.

minipie · 11/05/2023 23:42

Every week:

Red peppers
Cucumber
Cherry tomatoes
Carrots
Broccoli
Beans of some sort (Helda or green beans)
Salad leaves of some sort x 2 (little gem, romaine, mixed bag salad etc)
Greens of some sort x 2 (spinach, cavolo nero, spring greens, cabbage)

Then a few from this list:

Mushrooms
Choi sum/tatsoi/pak choi
Mange tout
Leeks
Courgettes
Corn on the cob
Parsnips (for roasts or soup)
Butternut squash (ditto)
Cauliflower (for curry or roasting)
Sweet potato
Red onion
Radishes
Celery

Frozen, always have in:

petits pois
sweetcorn
edamame
pre chopped onions (best thing ever!)

Kyse23 · 12/05/2023 00:24

Depends on what I need for cooking but usually

Bananas
Grapes or apples
Strawberries or raspberries
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Onions
Peppers
Carrots
Pickles Grin I'm counting them!
Steam bags of frozen veg

Batch cook and have frozen veg with meals
I love prepared mango but it's too expensive now

Howmanysleepsnow · 12/05/2023 00:27

Spinach
broccoli
peppers
onions
tomato
cucumber
asparagus
rocket
olives

apples
satsumas
bananas (not for me)
grapefruit
grapes
blueberries
raspberries

subsxribed · 12/05/2023 07:47

I'm definitely going to try to add a couple of additional one off items to my food shop.

What do people do with spinach? Fresh on a salad or cooked?

Is there anything that would be considered particularly good value for the l weight to price ratio? I love raspberries but they seem quite expensive per kilo.

OP posts:
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 12/05/2023 07:55

Spinach I either have raw as salad leaves, or I sauté it in butter or garlic /chilli oil till it wilts. You can also chuck a few handfuls into curry as it's cooking.

ODFOx · 12/05/2023 09:35

Baby spinach, iceberg or gem, large and small tomatoes, spring and Spanish onions, peppers, cucumber, carrots, microwave grain pouches, feta, mozzarella, herbs, lemon, courgettes, tinned sweetcorn, white and red cabbage, broccoli, avocado (occasionally).

MasterBeth · 12/05/2023 09:53

You don't need to mix up your staples, you need to mix up your choices and extras.

The staples, for me, are onions, carrots, celery, potatoes. These keep well, so you don't need to worry that you'll buy them and never use them. (I don't always have spring onions, red onions, shallots, but they add regular variety.)

I always have garlic, ginger, chillies to add flavour.

Then add more variety by choosing different kinds of peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms - not just the same old, same old every week.

And rotate different leafy vegetables (cabbage, kale, spinach), brassicas (caulis and broccoli), different types of mushroom, different salad leaves, sweetcorn, asparagus - and more, to me, exotic vegetables: plantain, bean shoots, okra etc.

I'm not sure the typical Britsh concept of of "salad" is really helpful here if it brings to mind what my granny used to serve: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, boiled egg.

But: "A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm." So that's basically any combination of vegetables.

Hugh Fearley Whittingstall's veg books are great. Lots of ideas to put vegetables more centrally in your diet.

minipie · 12/05/2023 12:53

What do people do with spinach? Fresh on a salad or cooked?

Fresh in a salad (spinach, beetroot, walnuts and feta is a good one), stirred into a casserole (especially anything chorizo or sausage based), made into soup, wilted with butter, stirred into a pasta sauce (cream, blue cheese and spinach - yum), use a handful or two in chunky soups like minestrone.

I find it’s only good for salads for the first few days but still good for cooking after that.

Fifthtimelucky · 12/05/2023 13:13

Broccoli, sugar snap peas, stringless runner beans, cabbage

Carrots, leeks, red onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes

Tomatoes, cucumber, red/orange/yellow pepper, salad leaves, spring onions, celery

Bananas, apples, pears, grapes, lemons, berries (usually raspberries and blueberries. Strawberries only when British and in season). Often kiwi fruit, mangoes and figs. In the summer I will usually have peaches/nectarines and cherries as well.

I don't buy all these every week, because many of them last longer, but I always have them in the fridge.

SnacksToTheMax · 12/05/2023 13:19

Our veg staples, weekly/ fortnightly for salads and cooking:

carrots
cucumber
baby leaf spinach
avocado
cherry tomatoes
spring onions
beetroot (cooked)
celery
sweet potatoes/butternut squash/baby potatoes
green beans
frozen peas
broccoli/kale
chestnut mushrooms
aubergine/courgette
onions (red and white)
garlic
fresh ginger
fresh chillis

We make a lot of curries, traybakes and pasta sauces from scratch, and eat vegetarian meals a few times a week.

Fruit wise…

a million apples
a billion grapes
berries
small oranges
bananas
lemon/lime
mango/watermelon/kiwis (more occasional)

Scarlettpixie · 12/05/2023 13:28

Mine are:

onions
mushrooms
peppers
potatoes
carrots
broccoli
kale
lettuce
tomatoes
cucumber
mixed leaves/rocket
garlic

We also buy cauliflower, courgette, aubergine, parsnips, red cabbage, spinach, stirfry mix, pok choi and sweet potatoes but not every week. The rest we either buy weekly or have left from previous weeks.

i keep frozen peas, sweetcorn, spinach in.

The fruit I buy varies weekly. I always have apples in. We may have a mix of bananas, satsumas, grapes, melon, strawberries and raspberries. Probably 3 types in any week

i keep frozen cherrie and blueberries and one other (mango, pineapple, mixed berries).

It sounds a lot but we are vegan!

YouNeverSeeTheRealMe · 12/05/2023 13:40

I buy -

a couple of different bags of mixed leaves, peppers, tomatoes, spring onions, grapes (to put in salads), cucumber, broccoli, avacado, as well as fruit - kiwis, 2 types of apple, pears, oranges, bananas, strawberries, plums,

MintJulia · 12/05/2023 13:43

I try to eat 30 different fruit & veg a week to boost my immune system. I have porridge and fruit for breakfast which helps. Most weeks are .....

Oats, apple, pear, banana, satsuma, pineapple, sultanas
Wheat (wholemeal bread),
Carrots, onions, potatoes, peas (fr), sweetcorn (fr), spinach (fr), celery, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, beetroot, spring onions, radishes, mushrooms, garlic, kidney beans, broccoli, lentils, split peas (in soup)

And then seasonal stuff like french beans, broad beans, rhubarb, asparagus, sorrel, blackberries, raspberries, figs, apricots.

It helps that I grow a lot of fruit & salads in the summer so I can usually find a few in the garden. Herbs count too.

MintJulia · 12/05/2023 13:44

I also bottle blackberries in syrup in the autumn and we have them with creme fraiche through the winter.

highfidelity · 12/05/2023 13:46

Due to digestive issues caused by FODMAPS, many of these groups are highly problematic for me. With regards to salad and vegetables, I usually to stick to ones that grow above ground.

I tend to eat a small salad most days before eating lunch and dinner. Salad staples are lettuce, often romaine, cos or butter, watercress, baby leaf spinach radicchio, alfalfa, dressed with olive oil, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard. I eat cooked spinach most days too. I love cucumber and have been known to eat that on its own. I also make my own pickled cucumber.

Rarely eat fruit, but when I do, I stick to berries, particularly raspberries and strawberries.

Dacadactyl · 12/05/2023 13:49

On a weekly basis I buy:

Sweet potatoes
Normal potatoes
Onions
Frozen peas
Frozen green beans
Courgettes
An aubergine
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Peppers
Strawberries (fresh in summer, Frozen in winter)
Blueberries (fresh in summer, Frozen in winter)
Avocados
Bananas
Satsumas
Apples
Spinach
Baby leaf salad (in summer only)

OneTC · 12/05/2023 13:49

Apples
Black grapes
Mineola when available, nordicots at any other time
Dates

Potatoes large
New potatoes
Onions red and white
Peppers
Spinach
Garlic
Carrots for grating or eating raw
Chillies

Also buy loads of broccoli, cauliflower and aubergine but tend to rotate through these.

Not really fussed about lettuce

OneTC · 12/05/2023 13:50

I'd like to buy more tomatoes but aside from cherry or requiring a mortgage to buy they are always so disappointing

Ktime · 12/05/2023 13:55

Cauliflower
Spinach
Okra
Spring onions
Aubergine
Peppers
Courgettes
Tomatoes
Baby sweetcorn
Green beans
Swoodles

Rockstars · 12/05/2023 14:33

Brocoli
Onions
Carrots
Sweet potato
Tomatoes (although I get these separately from the tomato stall and supermarket tomatoes can be quiet tasteless)
Peas
Spinach
Cucumber
Beetroot
Peppers
Raspberries
Blueberries
Grapes
Bananas
Apples

Climbingthelaundrymountain · 12/05/2023 14:36

Cucumber, carrots, broccoli, peas, courgettes, peppers.

Apples, bananas, strawberries, raspberries and grapes.

Those are the staples and then we have random add ins depending on recipes

MintJulia · 12/05/2023 14:41

OneTC · 12/05/2023 13:50

I'd like to buy more tomatoes but aside from cherry or requiring a mortgage to buy they are always so disappointing

You could grow your own. The flavour is incomparable.

A couple of pots on a balcony is all it takes. There is something very relaxing about watering tomatoes when you get in from work. 🙂

zingally · 12/05/2023 14:44

The "every week without fail" items are bananas, apples and cherry tomatoes. Everything else is "as we fancy it, we buy it."

GMsAWinner · 12/05/2023 14:50

Every week we use bananas, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, carrots and peas without fail. We also have other veg, but not weekly - broccoli, spinach, green beans, mangetout, sweetcorn and cucumber. Fruit lower priced items, usually on offer - mainly apples or kiwi. I'll sometimes buy grapes, strawberries and blueberries if a good price.

This week I've bought apples, bananas, tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, peas, spinach, mushrooms and baby sweetcorn. Always, have frozen broccoli and tinned sweetcorn as a back up.

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