Question of the week: “I buy lots of veggies fresh but struggle to eat them before they go off!”
Firstly this is a great problem to have because you’re aiming high and getting in all those really great veggies ready to eat for the week. Here are my top tips for actually getting through your veg:
1. Eat whats in your fridge BEFORE buying more food or eating out. Lots of people do a big food shop then in the next few days fancy a specific dish. They’ll go out and buy what they need for that one recipe (or order a delivery), and the food they have at home already goes un-eaten. Challenge yourself for one month to only order out or go back to the shops once you’ve gone through everything in your cupboard. Use apps like pinterest to find recipes for your left over ingredients.
2. Make use of frozen veggies – or freeze your own before they go off. Frozen veggies are just as healthy as fresh. They are usually frozen before transport so in some cases may be even fresher than the fresh isle in the supermarkets. Then if you have any spare veg that you know you wont get round to eating, freeze them! Here are some ideas:
- Cauliflower: cook and freeze to add to smoothies
- Leafy greens: freeze & once frozen crumble into stir fries, sauces, stews, curries or a green smoothie
- Courgette: Freeze raw in chunks for smoothies
- Celery: juice and freeze in cubes for a quick celery juice. Leave to defrost in the fridge overnight (mix and drink in the am).
- Onion/Garlic or any other veggies you can use for a stew/soup/curry base: mince & freeze in portioned out bags
- Other options: You can simply boil, blend and freeze into ice cube trays to add to soups or sauces in the future.
3. Make a plan. Meal planning is such common advice but that is because it works. It may take a little time but spending a few minutes to plan some recipes for the week and do your shop according to the list (and maybe plan a top up shop for half way through the week so veggies haven’t gone off by friday). Grab some magnets and stick it to the fridge so you can refer back and remember your plans!
4. Put your veggies somewhere you can see them. The crisp drawer is the worst for actually eating your fresh fruit and veg. It’s where broccoli goes to yellow, spinach goes to wilt and carrots go to wrinkle. Put your veggies on a big open shelf at eye level so they’re the first thing you see when you open the fridge. Put them in glass containers so you can see them if you meal prep them and instead put longer life things in the drawers, things you will go out of your way to look for (maybe like any sweet treats that don’t need to be eye-level).