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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Wednesday mornings are the least crowded times to shop. Fewer people, more choices, less hassle. I can usually cut an hour off my shopping by going then. I also am not committed to one store. I go where the sales are and to who carries my favorite brands. I am becoming quite attached to Publix for their customer service, choices and coupon policy.
My grocery shopping checks for fresh food is to buy my meet one week and fresh festivals two times each week. That way I get freshness whenever I cook. I also utilize frozen vegetables as they are frozen at the peak of freshness 🙂
I grab what’s fast, easy and convenient, and sadly, that often times means skipping the fresh fruit. I hope to do better this summer, but time will tell.
Tips? How about what actually ends up happening to me at the grocery store:
1. Use a handbasket. While pushing a stroller. Try to do this gracefully and with purpose.
2. Stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables first, because they are important, and put the coconut milk, olive oil, and other heavy items on top of the beautiful, fresh, and fragile produce.
3. Always forget something so you have to walk across the store 2 or 3 times.
4. Buy bulk items. Consider buying cloth bags EVERY trip, but decide that $8 is over your budget.
5. Then buy a $7 cold pressed juice or $3 kombucha because, hey, you deserve it for surviving the grocery store with your 8 month old who hasn’t yet started to break down.
6. Stretch the limit of time the infant can tolerate the grocery store, so you have to take him out of the stroller while you check out to soothe his exhausted little self.
7. Smile graciously at all the other patrons who do not know the joys of shopping with a stroller.
8. Walk home with excessively heavy bags on your shoulders.
Oh Julie!! You deserve a spa day! 🙂
I buy a lot of my produce from our closest Costco store. I don’t really care about organic versus not because I have to pay the lowest price I can get for food. Surprisingly, Costco has a great selection (of the stuff my family eats), they often have organic stuff for prices only a few cents above the not organic stuff, and their produce consistently lasts longer in the fridge than stuff I buy from the grocery store. I also make sure to go to the regular grocery store 2-3 times a week (I can do this because I go to the gym every day and it’s next door to the store. :). This enables me to not have to buy too much of whatever I can’t get at Costco which means I tend not to need to throw food away before it’s eaten. Along the same lines, when I need a little bit of parsley for one meal, I try to plan several meals in a row that need parsley. Again so I don’t end up throwing away parsley gone bad.
My best shopping trick is to keep a list on your fridge (with a pen nearby) and write down things as you run out or remember you need to buy them. I like having it right there in the kitchen so it’s easy to get to, and other family members can contribute!
I go shopping EVERY Monday after reviewing the list, making a loose menu plan for the week, and doing a quick search for coupons.
As for finding fresh, quality food, I always go to WinCo. This store is great if you’re lucky enough to live close to one. Before I did, I would hit up Mexican markets for produce.
I shop for produce at a local farmer’s market. I’ve learned when to go to my area supermarkets for the freshest meats and bakery/deli items.
tweet
https://twitter.com/eswright18/status/332210174423101441
My best tip for grocery shopping is so simple and has really, really made it easier for me. I put a shopping list app on my phone. I have an Android phone and I use “Out of Milk”. It allows you to have different lists (Wal-Mart, Grocery Store, Drug Store, Craft Store, etc).
Then, whenever I run out of something, I, right THEN, add it to the correct shopping list. Or if I know I have an event coming up (birthday party, teacher gift, etc), I will add items to my list as soon as they pop into my brain. This has cut down my shopping trips, and money spent, considerably. Even if I just have a few minutes to run in Wal-Mart before I pick up the kids, I know immediately what I need, and what I *don’t* need. No more aimless wandering the aisles and overbuying!
We’ve tried to make the farmers market a regular outing for our family. It is the best way for us to get the freshest produce and my kids have a blast. When shopping at traditional grocery stores, I try to never bring the hubby… We end up with a bunch of unnecessary junk food :-/.