Help needed please ??

[nutcracker]

Right I am trying to improve what we eat over the hols, because we eat crap.

I am going to try some stuff from the dinner lady book because most of it seems pretty easy to do for someone that doesn't cook.

One thing I am a bit stuck on though is, those of you who use fresh stuff to cook with, how do you do a weeks shop ?? Won't some of the stuff gone off by the end of the week ?? I mean like veg and salad stuff ??

I am usually ok with keeping the veg in the bottom drawer of the fridge. I only do shopping once a week and maybe cook about 4-5times a week with fresh ingredients.

Right ok, thanks.

Can't believe I am so nervous about cooking properly. Am just convinced it will be a big cock up.

My fresh fruit doesn't always last a whole week but most veg does - onions, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, string beans, corn on the cob, lettuce. I rarely stock up more than once a week. Plus things like peas and sweetcorn aren't bad from frozen (not tinned - yuck!).

invest in a juicer machine - its the only we would and do eat fruit . delicious. mix any fruits together. very healthy. can highly recommend the very expensive one from sky shopping channels !!

P.S. Don't be so nervous - I'm sure you'll do great! Maybe start with just one or two dishes and when you think you've got the hang of those then try something new. Trust me, it's not that hard. I am far from the world's greatest cook but almost never resort to ready-meals. We have take-aways or meals out probably twice a week but I cook the rest of the time. Sometimes it can be really easy to turn something you're used to eating into a reasonably healthy meal. Take a burger and chips for example. Cook the burger under the grill and serve with a baked potato and salad instead of chips and you're not doing too badly. good luck.

Veg tends to be fine all week though I meal plan and tend to plan to make things with the freshest stuff earlier in the week iyswim. If I'm making lasagne for example, i can leave that till the end of the week as I use passatta (ie not fresh toms) so none of the ingredients for that go off. If doing salad then I make it near start of week but sometimes have to pop out for one or two things later. Cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, brocolli etc will be fine in the fridge for a week.

Don't forget you can always use frozen veg too - it's just as good as fresh - the kids eat loads of peas cos they are always handy in the freezer!

Fruit I have to restock on because the kids go through it like it's going out of fashion. Plus, strawberries don't last for more than a couple of days really.