I do the bulk of my shopping- every two weeks. This of course does not include the stops that Martin and/or I might make to pick up something we've forgotten, or wine or beer runs, or the occasional week when my kids crank through two gallons of milk, or gobble up my produce in two seconds flat.
Prepping this way is so healthy, because fresh, clean fruits and vegetables are ready to go at a moments notice, and can be easily added to a dish, served in a lunch box, or as a snack that my kids can help themselves too. Plus, we tend to actually run out of produce on the weeks when I take time to prep it. This is great and the argument I would make to those worried about costs. How much money are you wasting on produce you buy and never use? These particular weeks, I spent $225 on two and half weeks of food, and that included chicken, beef, produce, dairy (I do my dairy runs at Costco- milk, block cheese, organic free range eggs, feta cheese and sour cream as well as bread- this stuff usually stretches more than 2 weeks with the exception of the milk and eggs); plus whatever household toiletry needs we had. For those that don't know- we have a family of four that includes two growing boys at nearly 7 and 11. The way I figure it- that breaks down to feeding my family at $5.35 per meal- even less if you include snacks; and most of the meals double for another use, and again that included ALL of our groceries and toiletries. I say, not bad at all.
The first thing I did wash rinse my berries, and grapes and soak them in a vinegar solution of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water.
According to pinterest, this helps remove some of the insecticides- if you can't buy organic; and also prevents berries and fruits from molding. I must say this was the first time I had tried the vinegar idea. I will say that I was VERY impressed. You cannot taste the vinegar on the fruits at all (I did re-rinse mine after) and while the strawberries and blueberries were all gone well before two weeks were up, the grapes lasted a solid 2-1/2 weeks. So I give this a thumbs up. The strawberries I did not prep this way last week ended up costing me 1 and half containers of berries within 3 days. I'm not kidding. It nearly made me weep to compost them. So, worth doing the rinsing in vinegar.
For containers, any storage container will do, but I used my handy dandy fridge smart containers I have from my 2 minute-early-married-days stint as a Tupperware lady. I have to say, between these and the Modular Mates- money well spent 13-1/2 years ago. If you want some, go to the Tupperware website. Sadly, I don't know a rep currently (chime in, if you're one). Sorry, I got on a tangent. Anyway, any storage container will do, really- you'll see I used several. However, I do recommend putting a paper towel in the bottom of any container- it absorbs the excess water. Last week, when we did the Waste portion of Seven, I banned paper towels and all paper products for a week, and hence the 1-1/2 containers of wasted strawberries. One of them I did wash, but it still molded without my Viva paper towel. :( The berries and grapes will obviously end up in our tummies by way of adding to cereal, oatmeal, lunch boxes, snack cups, and vanilla greek yogurt with granola. YUM.
Next up, kale.
I decided what was good for the berries is probably good for the kale, and I washed that and soaked it in vinegar too. I should mention- kale is a tough little cookie to clean. Even soaking (yucky water afterwards) did not remove all the grit and stuff in the leaves- so this took the longest time to clean. When it was clean, I removed the tough stems, tore it into bite sized pieces and stuck it all in a gallons sized ziplock with a paper towel. 
It lasted well over 2 weeks, although occasionally I did have to pull a yellowed piece or two. I used up the kale by adding it to my juicing in the mornings, and at the very end, we gobbled it up by way of kale chips. My kids seriously love them and get mad if I eat too many. That recipe is in my cookbook, "The Care Giver's Cookbook", which you can find the link here.
Another staple I keep in our house is red and green peppers and onions. So next up, I washed the peppers (in vinegar solution), and rinsed the green onions. I diced a whole onion, as well as about 1/2 of the red and green pepper. I reserved some onion in a container by itself (to be used for hot dogs or taco toppings) and also mixed a little with the diced red and green onion in a separate container (this will be added as desired to omelets, taco meat, spaghetti sauce- where ever I think it fits- it's a great ground meat stretcher- so I can use 1/2 pound instead of a full when I also add grated carrots). I also reserved 2 chopped green onions and 1/4 diced red pepper for Cowboy Caviar I made at the end.
I washed and chopped cauliflower and stored it in a ziplock bag. Later that week, I mixed it with carrots and potatoes and roasted it- an easy side dish and 1/2 for us, 1/2 for a friend who needed a meal. I washed and chopped 1 bunch of celery- 3/4 of it into celery sticks for lunch boxes and juicing, and the rest diced- to add to dishes.
Carrots- I do a little differently because there's so many uses for them. I wash a whole bag- I think this was a 1 pound bag. After cutting ends and peeling, I cut the slimmer ones into carrot sticks for lunchboxes and juicing, and then I cut about 4-5 into bigger chunks because I was planning a stew that week. I also grate (I miss my food processor which is broken) probably 5-6 carrots. I use the grated carrots in taco meat, spaghetti sauce (again, ground meat stretcher) and salads.
Also, I cut up in cubes- one whole pineapple, and one cantaloupe. My fridge was one happy fridge. And not one single stitch of this produce was thrown away.
This same day, I made home-made ranch dressing for the kids to eat with their carrot and celery sticks, and a batch of Cowboy Caviar for snacking and lunch box.
So, now, you're probably thinking, "Oh my Lord, she was in the kitchen ALL DAY!". No. It was less than 2 hours- I think about an hour and a half- give or take. So one day- less than 2 hours, and my family had fresh produce at their finger tips for 2 weeks. Here's my receipt which includes the produce I just mentioned, plus some meats and other items and I think pears and apples. I have not pictured my Costco and Target receipts. You'll just have to trust me there.
Do you have time saver tips for healthy eating? What are they?
