One Person and Veggies

I don't know how many other people have this problem, but growing up with four siblings, two of whom are boys, I never encountered this problem until I had to buy food for just myself. My Mom bought two bags of apples, 18 tomatoes, a big 50 lb. bag of potatoes, and saved money for buying in bulk, never worrying that they wouldn't get eaten or go bad.

But I do have that problem. Even here in Germany, grocery stores don't really cater to single person households. They give big discounts in buying in bulk, produce is sold in numbers, and meat comes in big packages.

During the summer and harvest months, try shopping at your local farmers market - you will be able to buy in smaller quantities and, in most cases, get healthier, more organic produce than most supermarkets sell.

But for those other months, my best tool in my kitchen is my airtight containers. I found them at the German version of the American dollar store - four containers descending in size for three euros. I bought two sets of these, so I have eight containers all ready to store food. At first I tried just putting the veggies/fruit into the fridge - but they went bad so fast. So when I got home from Aldi on Saturday, I decided to try something new! I took out the veggies that I wanted to use this week, and pre-cut them the way I would want to eat them!


So I cut up the veggies - green, red, and yellow peppers; carrots; and cucumbers - and put them in the containers. It makes it so easy to grab a quick, healthy snack - and it keeps the veggies a bit fresher than just leaving them inside the fridge. I do add a little bit of water to the bottom of the containers to keep the veggies crisp and not dehydrated - but at night empty the water out and add more and keep the water from getting stale and gross!

So, not the most organized refrigerator in the world, but all ready to go for the week. 


I mentioned this in a previous blog post, but I thought I'd mention it again: the freezer is your best friend. Buy meat in bulk and save, but only take out what you need for that week and freeze the rest. Pick up a whole big loaf of bread and freeze all but what you need for that week. 

Please, if any of you have ideas or tips for singles grocery shopping/ keeping food fresher longer - I'd love to hear them - just leave them in the comment box below! 



1 comments:

  1. Glad to see you are eating your veggies. :) Love you, ~Mom

    ReplyDelete

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