I’m having a lot of success with menu planning at the moment. Our grocery spending is being kept in line with our budget and I’m not wasting any food. But I’m still buying too much processed food and still spending too much time in supermarkets.
Sandy mentioned here about weekly grocery shopping trips ‘sucking up hours’ and I agree with her. It’s not like I don’t have time to shop, I do, but I’d much rather be doing something else on the weekend……like experimenting in the kitchen. So starting next week I’m changing the way I shop.
My plan for February is to have a [mainly organic] fruit and vegetable box delivered and to only go to a supermarket once; one big shop and then use my stockpile. I talk about getting healthy and cooking from scratch, a lot, now it’s time to walk the walk! And as an added bonus I’d also like to stay within my grocery budget.
Please let me know your thoughts. Do you have you experience with a weekly vegetable box delivery? Do you have any issues with it?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m curious to know how it goes. I’ve run out and done some quick shopping during the week instead of the weekends and it does seem to make a huge difference in the amount of free time I seem to have. Good Luck and thanks for the mention.
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:30 am
@FirstGenAmerican: Thanks Sandy. At the moment I feel like the Saturday morning grocery shop is an event…and I really don’t want grocery shopping to be my Saturday morning ‘event’.
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I’d like to try having a box delivered and pursued it once but the website for the one I knew about was no longer active so will have to do some digging around. As for now we buy our veggies in bulk, once or twice a month and then Michael blanches and freezes them in small amounts. Then when we want some for an omlette or a stirfry they’re ready to go. So we buy huge bags of carrots, onion, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, celery, asparagus, green beans etc and then I buy a lettuce/tomatoes/cucumber twice a month. I shop a lot less than I used to . I used to go once a week out of habit, not because I really needed anything. Now I only go for something we need so my trips last a short time instead of meandering aimlessly through the store.
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:28 am
@Jane: It sounds like you have a good plan and it’s working for you. Having a plan definitely reduces shopping trips..and spending, so it’s all good
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Hi there!
Before we moved to Portugal, we used to have a weekly organic box from Abel and Cole. It was great for a while, and in the spring and summer there is plenty of variety, but we did used to find that in the winter it got very repetitive…”oh no, not more carrots etc.”
Once you get to Portugal you’ll be able to enjoy the bountiful supply of low cost goodies at the markets
Best wishes
B
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:08 am
@Ben: Thanks for the info…looks like I might have my timings right then as spring is just around the corner {hopefully}. And yay for Portuguese markets!
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Awesome! You will also save money on gas by having less trips to take. While it may not seem like much, I bet it adds up…
I’m going to try and eat more veggies too in February.
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:13 am
@Money Reasons: Good point, the less journeys the better. Good luck in February; I’ve not been too good on my diet in January and I’ve noticed that it has a knock on effect to my sleep patterns…unhealthy eating [for me] = insomnia!
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I love my organic veg box – it comes once a fortnight, and theres a handy email each week so you know what’s coming, so you can plan your meals around it. Also, they give you a lovely little recipe sheet with each delivery – so you can try something new with the seasonal veg that arrives. Each box always has potatoes and mostly always has carrots, but I find I can use them in yummy veg soups if they are nearing the end of their lives after a few weeks. I get mine from http://www.riverford.co.uk – have a look, I’d definitely recommend them. And they managed to deliver when we had the bad snow over just before Christmas – great service – better than Amazon did!!
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:15 am
@SP: Hi and thank you! It’s great to get feedback from people who have tried the different companies
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I do detest the weekly shopping trips. I wonder too if having a monthly meal plan would be any more difficult than a weekly one. It’s probably the same amount of time and brain power to map it all out. And even if you don’t have produce delivery as an option, it’s not too bad to just pop into the store and pick up produce quickly once a week. Hmmm. You may be on to something here.
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Laura Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 8:21 am
@Lindy: I sort of do a monthly menu plan now, I’mjust going to adjust it to take into account the veggies I get in my box. I found doing a monthly plan not too difficult because we tended to eat to a pattern, pizza Tuesday, curry Friday….now I’m going to change this a little….February should be fun!
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I have thought about, but never done a veg box. actually our issue is the amount of fruit we get through. my husband in particular scoffs the stuff. so we would need a fruit and veg box! But since we don’t have a car anymore, I do online shopping topped up with local and short trips to the supermarket. it might be a good idea to have a fruit n veg box and then a monthly online delivery for store cupboard goods
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Laura Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:24 pm
At the moment Mo we’re probaly eating more veg than fruit..this usually changes when Spring arrives….we’ll see how it goes.
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We’ve been members of a local organic CSA for >10 years now (it’s the start of our 11th year). I love it.
My grocery shopping habits change a lot from time to time, depending on what’s going on in my life. I’ve tried bi-weekly shops, which sometimes works. The tough thing for me is fruit (we don’t get much from the CSA) and dairy. Now I am shopping once/week.
But I’ve set a budget of $50 a week, for as long as I can maintain it. That means my shopping trips are short. 1-2 stops on weekend mornings, and that’s it. I’m forcing myself to use what’s in the pantry and freezer.
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Laura Reply:
January 31st, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Marcia: I keep changing my shopping habits too, once I get a system that works I seem to change it again…it’s all part of my plan to get healthier…I think!
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Hi…I just found your blog and hopefully I’m not commenting too late…We are going on our second year of a local CSA. We love it! 98% of the produce is organic, and the freshness and quality is unmatched. All of the products are produced within 30 miles of where we live, and our weekly box usually contains organic, free range eggs, raw milk cheese, honey, and /or fresh pasta in addition to the seasonal veggies and fruits. It feels like Christmas every Tuesday when the box gets delivered!
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Laura Reply:
February 2nd, 2011 at 8:14 am
Hi Brooke, not too late at all! Your local CSA sounds amazing. Thank you for saying hello
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