Putting together a fruit platter looks impressive to friends and family, but is truly one of the easiest ways to enjoy fruit! A couple of other options are my Fruit Pizza and Blueberry Galette!
One of my biggest struggles of late has been grocery shopping. It may sound harmless and mundane to most; the simplistic task of making a list, finding a store that sells those items, and then going to purchase them.
List, store, buy, go home. Easy peasy.
Only… not so much.
Fresh Fruit Platter and How I Shop (kinda)
This is usually how grocery store shopping goes in my house:
Monday-Decide that I must go grocery shopping, start thinking about what I need to get. Day gets busy and by the time hubby gets home and we finish dinner I am exhausted. No grocery store today.
Tuesday-Running low on supplies… need to ransack the freezer for dinner. Plan on going to the store in the afternoon, smallest child ends up taking nap at a weird time and can’t make it. Too exhausted by the time dinner is over. Must go tomorrow.
Wednesday– Kids have activities at night, must go to store this afternoon! Schooling takes longer than expected, one child seems to have a runny nose and sniffles. Yuck, germs. Skip store. Have hubby pick up dinner on his way home.
Thursday-Completely out of milk and bread. Consider watering down some heavy cream for cereal. Make bread from scratch and pretend it was my plan all along. Dinner is left overs, and I declare it “clean out the fridge day”, only don’t actually clean the fridge. Hubby is out of town, so at 8:00om at night I put all kids into the car in their jammies and run to the convenience store for tiny sized totally overpriced milk so we can have breakfast in the morning.
Friday-I will make it to the store today! Absolutely must do anything in my power to avoid grocery shopping on a Saturday. Kids are starting to get tired and run-down (not to mention cranky!) … must get them some fresh and healthy food! Desperate for good food we venture out to the nearest Super Store. The selection is sub-par. Fruits and veggies are wilted and picked over. The meat selection is near expiration. My feet start hurting and I get distracted in the cookie aisle. We go home with 1-gallon milk, four packages of Oreo’s, and some diapers.
Saturday– Family is planning a revolt. They want good food! I finally make up a list and head to the store. The parking lot is full and I walk 100 yards in the rain. The store is a mad house. Everything is picked over and I trip on the stock boy trying to replenish the bananas. They are out of coupon books so I have to pay full price for everything. Checkout lines are three deep and the baby is kicking me in the bladder.
Sunday– We are out of milk as I forgot to buy more yesterday.
If you want more amazing Appetizers, I have a fantastic list!
Fresh Fruit Platter
Ingredients
- watermelon
- green grapes
- blueberries
- kiwi
- cantaloupe
- apple
- orange
- raspberries
- strawberries
Instructions
- Cut up orange, apple, and watermelon.
- Peel cantaloupe and kiwi and slice.
- Arrange rest of fruit on platter.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
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The link for the official rules isn’t working for me.
I will keep a running list all week and when the sale ads come out on Tuesday I plan my trip. Also I keep my list complied by sections in the store…. toiletries/produce/pantry.
I tweeted:
https://twitter.com/deniselao/status/331867921242521601
I have a Safeway club card. Each Wednesday when their new sale ad comes out, they send me an email with a link to what’s on sale. I go to their website and “add to bag” all the coupons I choose, then I type a grocery list putting items in order found in the store. They also have an option on their website to make and print a list using their data. Safeway also delivers in some cities (not mine — I live in a semi-rural/suburban area).
It’s hard to shop for local produce when the growing season is so short up north. Definitely the Farmer’s Market during the summer months, and as much organic as I can afford other times. Making a list is key and basing it on what is on sale helps with the budget. Even though it seems like another full time job, I know the more time I spend planning on shopping smarter, the easier my food prep for the week is. Good luck!
I always grab food closer to the back, as I’ve noticed they put what is going bad in the front to try and get it sold. I always check dates! And, I try to go grocery shopping at the beginning of the week when they are restocking from the mad weekend rush. This way, I have a better selection!
I’ve started doing a big trip every 2 weeks and use Kwik Trip for milk, butter, eggs, bread and bananas the opposite. Only having to do it half the time seems to make it better. I also started doing freezer meals with a friend so on those days I haven’t made it to the store I have meals in the freezers all ready to go that I can just pop in the oven or crock pot and they usually include veggies, meat and a carb. 🙂
I don’t know how good my tips are but the number one thing I must do is plan my menu for the week and write a list before I go to the store. Otherwise I wonder around the aisle throwing things in my cart that I think look good and end up with nothing that is worth anything in the end.
My Sundays are usually spent prepping for the week. I cut up lettuce, fruit etc into bite size pieces so they are easy to eat and put in lunches. If I am really good I will make up a few dinners in advance and have them in the fridge. I love those weeks. They don’t happen often.
Also, we buy a 1/4 cow once a year. The meat lasts us almost a year and is always in the freezer. So there’s always something on hand in a pinch. That helps a ton. We are looking into chicken and pork to buy from a local farmer too. What a difference in quality!!!
I actually cheat and have my teenager run to the store for me. We are lucky and live close so she goes often. She likes it since she has friends working there. I also bring the kids to the farmer’s market and let them pick out a vegetable.
Cheating? No. I call that smart! 🙂
On Sundays (my “down”-ish day), I go through my cookbooks (and/or my husband does) and mark with a post-it or dog-ear what things look good. We then compile the shopping list and I write it on a post-it.
First, I put the things that we need every week (like milk, bananas, etc.)
Post-it goes ON my cart, and I have the “NO EXTRAS” rule to avoid buying things out of hunger or impulse. BUT, if I still want it the next week when I go to make the Post-it, then I get to try it.
This plan helps with three things: trying new things (cookbook perusal), watching what I eat (I’m a WW member), and watching our budget (not buying things not on the list).
The Post-It on the cart really helps. No, Post-It did not pay me to say this. ;]
Thanks for sharing . . . Honestly, it’s nice to know that you’re human, too. :]
LOVE this!!