Stretching My Food $$ - Fresh Produce

 

One of my struggles has long been buying more produce than what my family could eat before it spoiled.  As someone who really doesn’t like food waste I was determined to get a grip on the produce situation by the time I retired and my last child flew the coop.  It took some trial and error but I’ve made great strides in the last few years.  Of course it helps too that I have a bunny and a few chickens to help me out if I need help finishing some things up.

 

I try to make sure I use everything up before I buy more

Apples & oranges last a while so I try to buy longer lasting
fruits from time to time and store them in the refrigerator

Now that I have my extreme grocery budget challenge this year it has become even more important that I use up my produce without letting anything go to waste.  I’ve found that prepping it as soon as I get home from the store has been a huge help and a great habit to get into.  I wash everything up in cool water with a splash of vinegar so it is ready to go whenever I prepare meals.  This has been especially helpful with berries and salad greens to help them stay fresher longer.

 

I make salads based on what is in season and on sale

Extra onions, carrots and cabbage became a meal kit
that I put away in the freezer for a future dinner

I buy a lot of long lasting vegetables such as onions, carrots, potatoes, celery and cabbage.  Quite often I will chop up onions, carrots, celery and cabbage and freeze it.  I do the same with bell peppers.  When I had a few extra zucchini from the garden I grated them and put them in recipe size portions and froze those as well.

 

Recipe portions of onions & peppers to freeze

Grated zucchini for breads, muffins and quiches

The bonus of having all of this produce clean, chopped and frozen is that when I get ready to cook a meal most of the work has already been done for me.  It is like having access to convenience foods but I definitely didn’t have to pay the exorbitant prices the grocery stores charge for them.  Less food gets wasted and that saves a lot of money too.  The bunny and the chickens still get their fresh fruit and veggie treats as too.  They take care of pretty much all of the scraps as well as a little bit extra here and there.