Which fresh fruits & vegetables do you typically have on hand at all times, and are your fresh produce selections due mainly to the nutritional value or to monetary considerations, or both?
When splurging on fruits & veggies, what do you choose?
How do you make sure that your family members are getting enough FRESH fruits & FRESH vegetables, especially during the winter months?
We always have on hand the cheapest costing:
fresh potatoes
fresh carrots
fresh onions
fresh yams
fresh cabbage
fresh garlic
(also, a wide array of various frozen veggies)
(lots & lots of canned veggies, too)
bananas
apples
tangerines
(NON-fresh items on hand at all times include things stocked away in the pantry like applesauce, canned pears,
canned pineapple, canned mandarin oranges, generic frozen o.j.,
generic frozen grape juice, etc.)
Mainly, we try to save money by watching sales, choosing generics, shopping often at ALDI, and especially not ever having to throw away any fresh produce gone bad.
"Splurging" ???
Now, what is THAT?
Hmm, maybe that means the rare day where we don't have home made soup for one of the main meals. 
These are some fruits & veggies that I purchase only very infrequently,
Artichoke hearts
Harvard style pickled beets
Heirloom tomatoes
Organic peppers in red, yellow, purple
staples vs. splurges, anyone?
September 27th, 2006 at 02:14 pm
November 7th, 2006 at 03:04 pm 1162911859
I think the winter months are the hardest to provide a variety of fruits and vegetables at reasonable costs. My salvation is frozen vegetables which frequently go on good sales at many large and small chain stores. Armed with coupons I consider it vital to stockpile. Frozen fruits can be found,too. I keep these on hand to slip into homemade pancakes, muffins, sweet breads or just to add sugar and mash with cool whip for dessert. I use canned, also. Sugar free if it is on sale or at least the light versions packed in fruit juice. My mother taught me to buy seasonal and in this manner I can serve veggies and fruits that are fresh...I keep it interesting by using different recipes I find everywhere when they look like they are tiring. I usually have a vegetable garden and freeze and can. This is a big help. Here in Maine I stock up on fresh picked apples from the local orchards. No one tires of apples as you can do so much with them. I can't think of anything else, MountainMist. Do you have anything new to add??? I'd love to hear it.