Going organic and a pepper question:)

JAMIEDODGER

hi all

having had a huge slip off the dfw wagon in january and february, i am now back trying to claw my way out of the mess!!!

Ive had a look in my cupboards, freezer and fridge and put together a loose plan of what to eat for the next few days using up everything before it turns.

I will be considering a veg box when i have sorted myself out as would much prefer to eat organic, ive really had enough of mr T, i find the fruit and veg unappealing and tasteless, the meat is quite honestly rubbish too, so want to be switching to a local butcher, even if not organic.

have had a look at box schemes and they all seem so expensive...do those who use them think they are value for money? btw i am feeding myself and 4 kids.

do you all find it hugely expensive to eat organic or mostly organic? does the average weekly shopping bill swell with all the costs?

i have found that over the last six months i have stopped cooking from scratch etc and my shopping bill has rocketed! i really cant afford for it to go up anymore! how do you combat this?

oh and one last question........i bought my first ever pack of three peppers last week! one red, green and yellow.........i have no idea why i bought them! can someone tell me what i can do with them as i have never cooked one before lol

thanks:)
jamie

nic_santorini

Depends what area you live in. I use this website and the food is just great. https://www.harvest4u.com - just have a look around the web and you will find a supplier in your local area I am sure.

TKP_3

Peppers are great in a stir-fry (sliced into strips and deseeded), or roasted (as any other veg) - chopped into chunks and deseeded.
Also good raw in a salad.

*zippy*

I try to buy organic as much as I can. Both aldi and lidl are increasing their range of organic products. There are no farm shops near us so I do sometimes get a veg box off https://www.riverford.co.uk and during the summer we mainly eat salad stuff which we grow. Another place which is worth a look is farmers markets, I found a local list by searching on the internet.

seraphina

I never got on with a veggie box - in particular my one from Abel and Cole was useless. The quality wasn't great and there was never enough of one veg to make a meal of it, so we'd either have to go and buy more veg to top it up (defeating the purpose, we thought!) or we ate loads of rather boring vegetable curry, vegetable soup etc.

We now predominantely get our fruit and veg from the local market or our local farm shop. Cheaper than Tescos and usually good quality.

Check out https://www.bigbarn.co.uk for a list of veggie box suppliers/farm shops near you.

As for peppers, I put them in pretty much anything - I also like eating them raw with dips or in sandwiches.

smallblueplanet

How much garden do you have? We dug up the back lawn and we grow our own organic veggies & salad, and soon some fruit. Saves loads in summer, more difficult in winter.

Luna69

I've wondered this about the box schemes. A friend of mine had one and only lasted a few weeks and she gave it up, she too was having to top up, so was a waste of time. Another friend has recently started one, but yet to find out how it's going. I'd love to eat more organic/local produce but it does bump up the cost. I was buying organic fresh milk from Asda, when it wasn't selling so well it was actually 1p cheaper than normal fresh milk for 4 pints. But once it started becoming more popular, they bumped the price up by 41p!!!... now it's just gone up again by 6p for a 4 pint bottle... so I'm going back to normal which is 45p cheaper.

I don't drive, so getting to any local farm shops or anything, isn't possible unless my partner can take me, but he doesn't share my enthusiasm.
Not sure yet if any deliver, have yet to find out.

Yvonne

Justie

we do a veg box fortnightly in winter and weekly in summer and while it's probably more expensive than if I just bought the basics I'd buy at the supermarket it's not by much and I get a good variety and having it means we eat it. I find organic meat much more of a price difference than the veg but as we don't eat much meat it's not really worth us buying meat boxes which are the cheapest way of buying it. The only way to know for sure if a veg box is for you is to add up how much you spend on fruit and veg every week in the supermarket (you'll probably be surprised) and maybe try a box for a couple of weeks - or do a box once a month and then go to supermarket inbetween. The big boxes tend to be better value but as with all things if you don't use it all then it's expensive compost!

mikeywills

Farmers markets are definately worth a look big barn as said before should give you so info for local suppliers. We found he veg lasted a lot longer as there was still a little mud on the root veg, our market is every 4 weeks and the veg lasts almost all of that. We also found local supplier for organic milk which sells from the farm at £1 for 2litres, can't fault it!!

I also like the WI stalls, and farm meats they are much better value than supermarkets when you look at what you get.

As far as the peppers go How about stuffing them, cut them in half, de seed them, and roast them. all sorts of fillings, I like either couscous, soft cheese and basil. There are loads of options, roasting them make them very sweet and juicy.