Online weekly shop - what healthy food for days 5, 6 and 7??

[AdiVic]

Hello - I am fed up with going to the supermarket with my 8wk old, and 2yo. I begrudge the petrol, trying to park in a mother and child space which is always clogged up with young, single childless idiots (surely they are fit enough to walk 50yds??)

Tesco drives me nuts as recently I have found most of the veg goes off REALLY quickly and other stuff has such a short shelf life, we have no aldi/lidl around here, Asda is very small, so only left with sainsbury, which is 10 miles away.

I would LOVE to do a weekly online shop and get it delivered:) I prefer fresh fruit and veg, and am racking my brains trying to come up with evening meals for the final days........if my local supermarket veg is anything to go by, it won't last past day 4.

What healthy foods/menu's would still be fresh enough a week after delivery?

I hate tinned stuff, and have never had much luck with frozen veg.

Any ideas?? Thanks

Sweet potatoes would last that long. Delicious done as jacket potatoes with a bit of butter and cottage cheese.

Or could you make a big batch of something like ratattouille or bolognese and freeze some of that?

You could prepare some of the meals during the first few days and freeze to use on days 5, 6 and 7. Pasta sauces using tomatoes, peppers, courgettes etc. Soups, casseroles and curries will freeze well too.

I don't get on well with frozen veg either but find that frozen peas are usually good. A meal like sausages, peas and mashed potatoes would be good later in the week.

Butternut squash and sweet potatoes keep for a long time.

Baked potatoes - we like them topped with tuna and tinned sweetcorn.

An alternative could be to do an internet shop for the bulk of your weeks shopping and then do a small mid-week shop to top up your fresh veg and salad stuff but do this at a local farm shop where parking and queues tend to be minimal fuss.

Ashamed to say I never thought of freezing (total baby brain). Will try the sweet potato - not had them for ages! thank you:)

We always have eggs on Day 6 and pasta with tomato sauce and cheese on Day 7 with frozen peas or salady veg like tomatoes and carrots.

I also do as others and freeze meat or whatever if it runs out of date before I plan to use it. Just remember to give it enough time to defrost the night before/in the morning of the day you want it!

By day 5, carrots, onions, potatoes, leeks etc should still be okay - so you could do a vege soup with pearl barley, or a hotpot or somesuch with those. I quite often fry them all up on day 5 or 6 and use to make a sauce for a veggie lasagne, along with some puy lentils.

Frozen peas are fine and you can make a decent risotto with frozen peas and perhaps some jarred artichokes, plus some leeks.

Tinned chickpeas are great in curries - just rinse them to wash the 'taste of tin' off them. Or if you're the sort of person who can be bothered to soak and cook them, they will last forever - way past day 7!

Make a hearty vegetable/minestrone soup and freeze. Defrost when required.

Buy 'living' salad leaves or better still grow your own & just cut when required. Buy some halloumi cheese and have that with salad. Just slice, dust with seasoned flour, quickly fry and serve with a dressing of choice.

Homemade (but cheats) curry. Curry pasts of choice, personally like masala. cook with a sliced onion, tinned tomatoes, chicken, water and a bit of cream. Serve with rice and/or naan.

i think fast foods are not much good for health but burger king menu has qiute good nutritions in it

cabbage keeps for ages, so would be more than fine by the end of the week. Root veg also keeps well, so carrots, onions, parsnips, beetroot etc. You could make soup, jacket potatoes and coleslaw with cheese, root veg stew/bake. As above, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash all keep well.

I do a weekly shop with ocado and the veg does last 7 days. (So does the waitrose ones). Winter root veg always lasts a week or two. In the summer, I found I can keep fresh beans, lettuce (not loose ones in salad bags), aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, celeries and tomatoes easily over a week. I sometimes have left overs from the week before and they are still good. The only thing I found not to last are bean sprouts. They go a bit soggy after a couple of days.

Frozen mixed peppers from Tesco, £1 a bag are great in stir fries and pasta dishes, tinned tomatoes great for end of week meals. Onions, white cabbage, carrots, leaks, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut, turnip, all last well. I plan early meals in the week as salad items, including lunches, then move onto the mushrooms, brocilli, courgettes as they don't last as long at the above mentioned, which are end of week meals. Menu planning with these veg mean they will last a full week, or more in some cases. On your online shop in the note section leave a note saying to provide furthest date fruit & veg, I find Tesco have been very good with this.

I do a weekly online shop according to a meal plan and anything for later in the week likely to go off eg meat goes in the freezer till the required day. I get a veg box once a week and find that the veg last really well especially if kept in Lakeland Keep Fresh bags in the fridge - don't kow why these work but they really do! I also sometimes make 2 of things like pasta bakes, mince etc (especially if there are BOGOF deals) and freeze so every few weeks we live out of the freezer and I don't need to do such a big shop

Loving the suggestion that the OP should give up on cooking fresh food and go to Burger King instead!

You should definitely try this new company called Hello Fresh (www.hellofresh.co.uk), they deliver recipes and all the ingredients you need right to your door - so you don't have to food shop or recipe plan at all. saves me so much time and stress and the best bit is they are really healthy so great for everyone!

Frozen spinach is good for adding to bolognese, lasagne, shepherd's pie etc. I know you said no tins, but tinned sweetcorn with no sugar or salt is really good - it doesn't "taste of tin" and is easier to serve up than faffing with fresh corn on the cob. It's good cold as well in salads as an alternative.

Most veg will keep in the salad crisper for 1-2 Weeks. Helps if you line it with frequently changed kitchen roll.

Also use frozen peas, tinned tomatoes, sweetcorn etc. For meat I check dates and freeze what won't keep. Plus always have based frozen mince in the freezer: it can be poured straight into a pan for browning.

What does the kitchen roll do? Because my veg alreayd keeps for 1-2 week in the fridge. Would it help things like prepared salad bags or bean sprouts?

Is your fridge on a cold enough setting? I find veg will keep for longer than a few days in the fridge.

I found I was getting condensation which was making things go mouldy, so started putting a square of kitchen roll in (changed whenever wet) to keep the veg dry. Its a very cheap fridge though.

£86 for a family of 4 for 5 evening meals a week with www.hellofresh.co.uk!!!

We are well off but at nearly £5 per person per meal, M&S ready meals seem a bargain.

I struggle to do a weekly shop as we eat tonnes of fruit and veg and so have to top up. So tend to do shop twice a week and try and do no more top ups. I find I throw less stuff out that way.