Do you have limits for how much you will spend per kilo on a specific fruit or vegetable?
I do. Mostly I limit vegetables to 3 NIS/kg (although I am always thrilled to get them for less, and there are a few that I will pay a bit more for - like summer squash/kishuim). And I try to limit fruit to 5 NIS/kg but there are the occasions I will splurge for something really wonderful (remember those cherries?) and pay 8 or even 10.
Of course, I try to minimize waste. I don't let my kids eat apples if I haven't cored them for them. They will leave behind too much edible fruit if they just take bites out of an uncored apple! I love to eat a good navel orange or pomelo, but of course I hesitate to buy them because so much of it goes in the garbage...
In comes my blogger friend, Penny. She made these awesome charts so you can see how much of that fruit or vegetable you are buying will end up as usable, edible food.
It will help you figure out what you are REALLY paying for the edible portion of your food. Check it out! My guess is you will be surprised by the scope of her research as well as by her conclusions.
Have you ever wondered how much of that produce you buy actually just ends up as waste? Now you probably understand why I refuse to throw out all the "waste" bits of soup vegetables, and instead, make vegetable stock! Do you make anything out of the normally wasted part of a fruit or vegetable? I'd especially love to hear ideas for fruit scrap uses, besides the compost pile...
Let me know what you do!
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My kids desperately want sweet potato / batata - but right now it costs between 15-20 NIS depending where you look - No way will I buy it. The highest I am prepared to go is 8 NIS - and that is more than I normally would. I am a great believer in buying vegetables according to their season.... maybe because the fruit and veg shop my mum shopped in, would just not bring certain things if they were higher than a certain price - so sometimes no tomatoes or cucumber - and you know what - we survived.
ReplyDeleteI hear you about the sweet potato prices. They are completely out of control. Last night I saw them for 18 at Osher Ad (remind me not to go to Osher Ad. Their produce prices were absolutely ridiculous!)...
DeleteOf course you'll be fine only eating in season or affordable vegetables!
But still, let me know if you spot cheaper sweet potatoes!! :-)
I also insist that the apples get cored and cut into segments. This also means that we can share an apple if DD doesn't want it all.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I buy a lot of frozen vegetables so that there is no waste. For things like courgettes and the tops and tails of carrots, I also make vegetable stock and I mix it with the water from boiloing pasta for thick base for tomato soup.
Where do you find all that produce for cheap? I live in Modiin. . Yesterday, cucs and tomatoes were 3.90 at Rami Levi. Those are basics in our house so I bought them. And I agree about the sweet potatoe, we love them here as well, but at these prices???
ReplyDeleteBaila, osher ad had cucumbers and tomatoes for 3. And kimat chinam has them for around that also, usually. sometimes yesh will have them for even less... it's a matter of shopping around and comparing prices, to figure out where it makes sense to shop. or finding a shuk to go to near the end of the day! right now, mega has lots of fruits for 5 NIS/kg - pears, apples, peaches, plums...
DeleteI live up north, so some prices may vary. I find I get much better deals when I am willing to shlep to the shuk...
Where do you find all that produce for cheap? I live in Modiin. . Yesterday, cucs and tomatoes were 3.90 at Rami Levi. Those are basics in our house so I bought them. And I agree about the sweet potatoe, we love them here as well, but at these prices???
ReplyDeleteI try to make it to the shuk to buy fruits and vegetables and I try not to buy the items whose price is outrageous. We are big salad eaters and love having red, orange, and yellow peppers but the prices have been so high lately. So I buy lettuce to make the salad go further and a few peppers and use them sparingly. The more expensive summer fruits - if the price is lower than it's been for a while then I may splurge. This week I bought purple muskat grapes (which I love) for 8 shekels a kilo.
ReplyDeleteWhat prices are you seeing for red/orange/yellow peppers? When we were in J-m and I shopped in the shuk (yes, on vacation I still try to get good deals) I was able to get red peppers for 3. Most vendors charged more than that, but I found some for less - they were smaller than average, but they tasted great! Here - I can't find red/orange/yellow peppers for less than 9, sometimes 10. so we're just skipping them for now!
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