THU 1/6 QUESTION ~ HOW DO YOU SAVE $ ON VEGGIES?

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We're told to get a minimum of 5 servings of veggies a day (well, 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies, actually) ... but sometimes these can get expensive, pricey, out-of-season .... or we have picky family members.

Do you buy canned?
Do you buy frozen?
Do you buy fresh?
Do you grow your own?
Do you shop farmer's markets?

How do you save $ and shop for veggies?

Attachments:

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

NOTE: Anyone can start a new Question of the Day Thread, you don't need to wait for late-rising West-Coaster ME to start one! (grin)

[NancysSummerSip]

I am a food writer, and I did a column recently on the subject; Molly, I can email the link to you, and you can tell me if this is outside the CoC to post it. I wrote it with an eye towards the recent bad weather doing a number on fresh peoduce.

[Deleted]

This isn't MSN so I think links to personal blogs are permitted. Actually if you have a blog and could cross link back here that would help us with the new blood thing.

Anyway, once I realised fried onions counted as a veggie, and tomatoes like in sauce etc I realised I was getting way more veggies than I had realised. Otherwise I go with the veggies in season or the loss leader that week. And the biggest cost saver for me was to not let them go bad. Only get as much as I needed.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

As stated in my private message and above by another poster, links to personal blogs are perfectly fine here in Smart Spending Land. Be sure and list your blog in the Resources Thread, as well.

[donnafreedman]

I prefer fresh, frozen is next and canned is "when all else fails." I stock up when I see screamin' deals. Two recent examples:
One-pound bags of plain frozen veggies were 50 cents (limit six) in late November, so I bought six and my sister bought me six. That will hold me for a while, especially since I've been home only three days since Nov. 27 (house-sitting, visiting friends/relatives).
Close to Thanksgiving canned vegetables were 50 cents each plus I had some coupons. I wound up with 20 cans for a quarter apiece.
I live two blocks from an Asian market so I can walk over regularly for bananas, oranges, apples, carrots, squash, green beans or whatever looks good and is reasonably priced. In October and November I baked a lot of squash in the slow cooker and had it plus a side vegetable for lunch. These were usually "Sugar Dumpling" squash, which weren't as sweet as they sound; they taste a little like pumpkin. A nice light lunch and a good dose of beta-carotene, among other things, for 59 to 79 cents per pound.

[Anne_in_VA]

I prefer fresh that I get from the grocery store or from the Farmer's Market that is open spring through fall, however I do supplement that with frozen veggies since those are often cheaper than the fresh ones.

I also go to u-pick places and pick fruit to freeze, can and for making jellies/jams. Right now I've got about 5 or so lbs of blueberries in the freezer that I got really cheap this summer. I'll use them in pancakes, muffins, etc. I've also used them to make blueberry maple syrup for waffles, pancakes, etc. I also have some frozen strawberries and raspberries in the freezer.

I almost never use canned veggies since I don't like the texture and taste, but that's just me.

[Apple]

One big money saver is never buy the "packaged" fresh fruits/veggies. Cut up your own carrot sticks, cube your own melons, tear up your own lettuce, etc.
During the summer I steal from my parents My mom has had over 40 tomato plants at a time, several varieties. Same thing with carrots, potatoes, everything (I had never seen a purple carrot before, but mom grows them). My parents can coax life out of everything, except zucchini. Dad tried and they all died, not a single plant made it.
I've often said that plants come to my house to serve their death sentence. I tried to plant a bulb this last spring, determined to break that streak. I got the soil all ready, planted the bulb and went in the house to get some water. I came right back out, but the dried out tip that had once been attached to the bulb was laying on the sidewalk. My dog, not wanting to see another plant suffer a slow death or see me get frustrated from killing another plant, decided it was her duty to eat it. I my dog
When I can't get fresh, I'll use frozen.

[naturallyfrugal]

I definitely prefer fresh, then frozen, and rarely canned. I normally try to buy what's in season and on sale for the week, but there are some veggies/fruit I buy, regardless of the season (but I always check to see which store has the best price) - organic baby carrots, bananas, green leaf lettuce, red and white onions, and tomatoes (cherry/grape and regular size). I love red and yellow peppers, but my gosh, are they expensive!

I shop at Target (a lot!) and I often get Catalina coupons for $1 off $2 produce purchase and that helps. And I have used the Cuties (clementines) coupons and paired them with sale prices, so I've gotten the 5lb box for around $2 each or less. My son and I both love them, so none of them have gone bad.

[Martivir]

We get frozen and the no salt added canned. During the summer I grow my own. We rarely get fresh unless it something that lasts a few weeks like carrots or onions. With the way I cook( tried meal plans several times and they rarely last longer than a couple of weeks before I'm back to cooking what looks good) they tend to go bad. I do hit up the farmer's market as well in the summer for things that I have a craving for and know I'm going to eat in the next couple of days.

[rubyslippers]

I price match when I see fresh vegetables on sale. There's a store that usually has a small ad in our paper and has pretty good deals. I got a huge head of cauliflower for $1.49 and a huge broccoli for $.99. If I don't get fresh, I try to buy the frozen on sale. In the summer we eat from our garden or shop at the farmers market.

[dancinmama]

We buy fresh fruits and veggies at a produce stand, buying mostly what is in season. The prices are a lot cheaper than the grocery store and the produce is much better. I have broccoli and peas in my freezer, and canned green beans and corn in the pantry.

[Tiny]

As has been posted by others: Fresh, on dale, first, frozen second, and then canned. I use alot of canned tomato products and canned beans (for convenience). I also don't mind canned green beans and canned little beets.
I've found my ALDI to have consistant fresh produce at reasonable prices so I often buy 'staple' type veggies there: onions, potatos, carrots, celery, tomatos out of season, brocolli, zukes. I also like Aldi's bagged romaine lettuce and even their "gourmet" lettuce mixes are OK. There's only one of me and sometimes I don't eat the lettuce as soon as I ought so a 2.5 or 3 serving bag o' fancy lettuce from Aldi's usually gets eaten with no waste versus a bigger bag from the name brand grocery. I don't think Aldi's is much 'cheaper' per serving - but it keeps me from feeding 'expensive' lettuce to the compost pile.

[rumples]

I much prefer to buy fresh, but I do keep frozen around for those "eh... i really don't feel like going to the store yet" weeks or the weeks where I'm craving something out of season since frozen prices aren't as seasonal. For fresh produce, I generally buy what's on sale that week. I do grow some of my own - mainly tomatoes and peppers so far, but I do plan to branch out a bit this coming year. We also have a seasonal (spring-fall) farmer's market that I hit up every so often. This year it wasn't as good as past years, though, so we'll see how long that continues.

[lynda in iowa]

I second Aldis for fresh; never been disappointed in price/quality. In the summer I eat green beans, colored peppers, tomatoes and jalapenos from my garden, and freeze as much of it as I can for rest of the year. I liked the comment about making sure you eat whatever you buy...that saves lots of money, too.

[bobbysgirl]

Jan 6, 2011 13:35:08 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

As stated in my private message and above by another poster, links to personal blogs are perfectly fine here in Smart Spending Land. Be sure and list your blog in the Resources Thread, as well.

Molly, I looked for this thread and couldn't find it. Could you direct me to it. I will also put a link on my blog to here. Anything to help young families learn to live frugal.. I am on a mission! ;D

[bobbysgirl]

Veggies: I grew some this past summer. YUM I use canned and frozen at the right price and I use lost leaders and in season veggies. Besides have you ever had a peach in the middle of January? Yukky!

[Becks]

I have to agree with Lynda in using all of what you buy, we waste so much food in this country that it's almost criminal. I stock up on veggies when they are on special and blanch and freeze for the winter months. Many vegetables freeze fairly well and it's also a great way to reduce waste. Even if I only need 1/2 a green pepper, I will dice up the remainder and freeze it for later use on pizza, omelette's, or casseroles. I will use canned veggies if I have to but really prefer what I have overall.

I find this almost hysterical some days because as a kid I would only eat corn and potatoes! Now I find myself seeking out things like Brussels sprouts, beets, and eggplant. My mother is a bit perplexed, but proud!

[marvholly]

I, too, am of the fresh, then frozen and finally canned in deparation only group except for tomato products for cooking, beans and ?

I generally shop for them at ethnic and/or independent markets. I have a BUNCH in my area. The chain grocers here are about 2-3x the price of these markets.

[upstatemom]

I love the renewed trend of eating local, I read recently that Farmers markets are now staying open year round in many areas. One of my New Year resolutions is to check the local inside market and see what I can get in the winter. If the trend continues maybe local farmers can use green houses to provide more off season veggies and fruits, that would be a win win for all.

I do shop at a local farm stand when in season when I do not have a garden. This spring we are doing a garden and I am going to learn to can, I have in the past froze what I could.
I try to stay away from canned veggies but do use frozen often.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Another who prefers fresh.

What I do is look for whatever is going out of date quickly and use it to make something. For instance, earlier I was able to get a head of cauliflower for 0.75 (regularly nearly $3), that had a few black spots on it. Cut those off and made cauliflower soup.

I also buy celery and carrots regularly and each week cut them up into sticks. I throw a baggieful into my lunch that I take to work and leave the big bag at home to munch on while I'm preparing dinner. I have found that if I munch on a few of them (and since it's easy to grab, I'm not going after chips and other things) and it blunts my appetite a bit when dinner's finally done.

My grocery trip this week included the cauliflower, a bag of nearly gone snow peas (already used in stir fry), celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, shallots, mushrooms, green beans, tangerines, pears and bananas. I was looking at a bunch of leeks, but a small bunch looked kind of pathetic, so I passed on those.

[hawkeyes2001]

We prefer fresh. In the summer we have a vegetable garden and go the the Farmer's Market every Saturday. Otherwise we depend on the produce department at the super market. Some things I only buy when on sale/in season.
I don't think I buy any canned vegetables other than tomatoes.
I do keep a couple of bags of frozen on hand to use in a casserole I make.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...I buy on veggies on sale, or in bulk, and in all formats... and as to the health impact of canned foods, I liked what Covert Bailey (of "Fit or Fat" fame) said:
"don't knock canned foods, baby... there's nothing wrong with canned foods... the problem is that YOU are buying canned twinkies."

[sccdf]

Count me in the I love Aldi camp. I stay stocked with fresh citrus in the winter and grapes in the supper. I buy their potatos year round.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

<<< I love Aldi >>>



...and I really miss those 3/$1 days...

[upstatemom]

Jan 7, 2011 18:19:29 GMT -5 sccdf said:

Count me in the I love Aldi camp. I stay stocked with fresh citrus in the winter and grapes in the supper. I buy their potatos year round.

I love Aldi's, I could not imagine what my grocery bill would be without it.

[Artemis Windsong]

I buy canned grren beans and corn when reduced below 50 cents a can. Various pickles and pepperocini, various tomato sauces.
I buy frozen mixed veg. varieties usually on reduced price, hashbrowns, french fries, tator tots breaded onion rings spinach.
The fresh vegs are onions, all colored peppers, cabbage, lettuce, parsnips, rutabegas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and a couple I can't think of right now.
I seldom buy from the farmers market.