Need help with veg

EstherH

I sometimes stock up on veg at Farmfoods using a voucher that they send through the door. However, they seem to have gone from buy two bags get one free, to buy three bags get one free. Also, the frozen fruit which used to be 450g is now only 400g. The veg are in smaller packs than the other supermarkets too and I am having difficulty working out whether they are actually better value than just buying at the normal supermarkets. I can get 1kg of frozen broccoli at Morries for £1 I think. What does everyone else think. Is Farmfoods actually better value? Esther xx

melanzana

I also use the Aldi super six a lot together with any YS veg I can find!

However, as this is a very small household compared to many I blanch and freeze what I don't use immediately, pack it into ziplock bags and take out and steam it as required. No waste. And while I know OP said s/he doesn't like frozen much, it is a great standby.

Steaming frozen veg is the key I think, as there is a lot of water in there!

kerri_gt

Melanzana beat me to it, I often freeze fresh veg bought on offer (either lidl / aldi weekly offers or reduced) myself (although I'm a tad lazy and don't often blanch veg).

I did convert to Iceland sliced peppers for things like fajitas - they can have some tough stalky bits in but apart from that, you're cooking them til soft anyway so no difference to cooking down fresh.

Apart from that, some good suggestions already, perhaps it would help if you could list at what you do, or would like to buy and we might be able to suggest alternatives.

In addition, what does your weekly shopping list currently look like? Perhaps there's areas you could reduce on to free up spends for fruit / veg?

jackyann

Veggies (like other stuff) cycle in and out of fashion, and cost follows.

I think that veg & fruit shopping is the hardest. Experience is the only thing that makes you able to look at a pound bowl and think -those apricots will be lovely - or - those apricots will be mushy & tasteless.
IMHO:
Root veg is both cheap and keeps better than most.
Peas & beans are best bought frozen, sweet corn best tinned (apart from cobs at the moment, and even then, it's not great value, just fun to have)
One of my favourites is roast veg: relatively indifferent, or slightly over-the-hill onions, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, aubergine, leeks and similar, roasted with garlic & herbs. Lovely & tasty, do plenty as it eats well cold, mixed with pasta or cous-cous in a salad; substantial enough to eat without meat, or can cheer up a bit of left over meat.

Spendless

What veg have you been buying that you are finding expensive especially since you shop at Aldi? Most of the time I shop there too. The veg on that weeks offer is by the door when I walk in. I don't know if all stores do the same layout?

I always have in carrots and white cabbage, these are cheap. I buy the best bag I can see of potatoes of varying size. I don't buy 'baking potatoes'. Onions I try to buy a pack with plenty of small ones in rather than the 3 large ones in a stocking net. If I need more onion I just use another and my onions aren't all gone within days. I store my spuds in a sack and onions in a container. Other veg goes in to the salad drawer of my fridge which is lined with a layer of kitchen roll. When it comes to next time I shop I check if the kitchen roll needs replacing. I take my veg out of the bags and wipe if its moist before putting in the fridge.

I try to think of all the vegetables I buy as 'double duty' ie suitable of doing in a different way with a different dish. Eg white cabbage and carrots can be the veg with a roast dinner, but can also with onion and mayo become HM coleslaw.

t14cy_t

i always get fresh fruit and veg at the end of the day...cant beat a yellow sticker moment! i prep and freeze then use up in rotation. saves a fortune! xx

maman

tessie_bear wrote: »

hi...im quite surprised by your post as i have always thought veg was cheap

knitandsew wrote: »

I used to buy LOADS of fresh veg (I was on SW and love fresh veg anyway) and pretty much use them all up but our new budget can't cope with the cost of all the veg.

I'm puzzled too.


I do SW and buy loads of veg too. I shop in Aldi and every week my trolley looks like a Harvest Festival.:D


I'd have thought fruit and veg is the cheapest way to get healthy food plus some pulses like baked beans and red beans. IMO, the best way to save is to use small portions of meat and try to buy the meat on offer or YS if at all possible. Most of my meat comes YS from Sainsbury's and I freeze it in meal size portions. Aldi meat is good too and I buy it if there's not much YS around.


Unless you're buying veg and it's getting wasted then I wouldn't recommend you cut back on it.


Perhaps if you posted a typical shopping list we could suggest ways to save?

greenbee

Like others, I agree that veg should be the cheapest part of what you buy. Maybe you should look at your list and see what percentage of your shopping bill is veg? It's an important part of your diet so I'd look at cutting back on other things (eat less meat and more veg?) before reducing veg spending.

jackyann

I think it is very difficult. I don't know Aldi (we don't have one nearby). I don't often get to Lidl - their potatoes & root veg seem decent.
Other supermarkets are, I think, expensive.
We have 3 very good markets nearby, but I know a lot of people comp-lain that market veg is either poor quality or expensive.

I have found a fruit & veg wholesaler locally, who has a small "shop front" for ordinary customers. His prices are good and his turnover quick so excellent quality, and as he supplies restaurants, we sometimes get unusual stuff. I found him by word of mouth.

mrsscattercushion

Lots of good advice on here already. I have a quite tight budget for food and love my veggies, so deals such as Aldi/Lidl super 6 are always useful as a place to start. Can I ask, do you fit your shopping around your meal plan, or look at what's on offer and think of meals that way round (if it makes sense?). For example, I love butternut squash, but would only do a meal with it when it's on offer, than than buying it regardless of price. Definitely look at seasonal and YS offers, depending on the time you shop.

I try and focus on key veggies that will do a multitude of meals, plus give a lot for their price, such as onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage etc. I'm v fortunate in having a half plot allotment and time to look after it, so at the moment the only veg I seem to be buying is carrots (hard to grow here), peppers and mushrooms if using. I'm tending to make my meals around what I have a lot of beans, courgettes and spinach anyone....and more courgettes). I have a few trough planters at home and have grown rocket, cut and come again salad leaves, radishes etc ~ if you've room, definitely worth the small investment for what you can save from buying packet salads etc.

I blanch and freeze a lot of veg, so none goes to waste. Frozen veg I buy are peas, sweetcorn, cobs and frozen spinach for the gap between planting and harvesting my own. And I also bulk meals out with tinned chickpeas/beans/lentils etc which can be v cheap as well.