Do you keep fresh fruit around?

[Peela]

Yes, we are big fruit eaters, and we dont eat sweets or cakes. We eat fruit.

This week, going into winter season here, I have bought 2 papaya; about 4 kgs apples (green and red); I bought 4kgs oranges and was given another 5kgs (orange juice season-also ds will sit and eat 6 at a time); about a kg bananas; 4 persimmon; 2 young thai coconuts; about a kg plums, plus some limes and lemons. There are 2.2 lbs in a kg.

If we pass a bargain we will stop- a tray of mangoes or other summer fruit; we picked up guavas recently; we love nectarines and fresh figs are a treat we all fight over.

I try and buy organic but will often pick up local fruit as well, and just wash it well. I buy frozen berries- we love berries.

Tinned fruit is dead and cooked- very little nutritonal value. We have some dried fruit but it's too concentrated and bad for the teeth to snack on. We eat fresh fruit for snacks and often for breakfast. I buy fruit as treats for my kids- always have done. When they used to get only $2 a weekpocket money, they were often known to spend it on something like a custard apple or a dragon fruit.

I think fruit is nature's natural body cleanser.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Do you serve it or just let people help themselves? Do you make a point of buying locally-grown, seasonal fruit, or does that not matter at all to you? Is fresh fruit a significant part of the budget, or not at all? Do you think fresh fruit is important to maintaining health, or an extra?

 

Fruit on the brain here, I guess!:)

 

Yes. I try to buy what is in season. If local is available, we take full advantage of that.

[Jane in NC]

Where is the Carmen Miranda emoticon when you need it?

 

Another fruit fan here. We buy fruit year round, local when the season allows it, but I'll admit that all of us love citrus--not a local option for us.

 

I have picked strawberries three times this year. The first batch was shared with friends (that is, those that we did not devour). From the second batch, I made jam (except for those that we devoured). I still have berries from the third which I think I'll dehydrate to add to oatmeal in the cooler months.

 

We also freeze blueberries which my husband picks from a friend's property. We supply several people with blueberries from this abundance.

 

By freezing we are able to extend our "local" fruit window.

 

Our CSA supplies mostly veggies. Not that I am complaining, but we do not have the fruit option that others seem to have.

[Jane in NC]

Hey jld--

 

Maybe you need an avatar like this?

 

[jld]

LOL!

[BridgeTea]

The fruit is served as part of meals, but is also available for snacks.

 

Fresh fruit is kept on hand and is a decent-sized chunk of the grocery bill here. Apples, oranges, and bananas are staples for us. Next priority is frozen berries and additional citrus, but I'll admit those weren't bought as often when all the kids were home and money was tighter.

[coop]

I have fresh fruit available at all times for the kids to help themselves to for snacks. Mostly bananas, oranges and apples. I have blueberries in the freezer for smoothies.

 

The fruits that I will only buy organic are: apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, and strawberries. They are supposed to be the most polluted fruits on the market so I buy those organic and everything else regular and I think it balances out in the end...cost wise.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We always have fresh fruit and veggies in the house- We buy a ton in hopes it lasts 2 weeks because we have to drive an hour and a half to do our grocery shopping (the tiny grocery store in town is rediculously expensive a 5 lb bag of apples over $10, banana's 80cents a lb, a bag of celery $3:glare:- and they do not have choices because we are in such a small area) So we go out of town every two weeks for grocery's.

 

We went this past saturday and bought 2 5lb bags of carrots, 6 bags of celery, 4 brocoli heads, 4 cauliflowr heads, 2 5lb bags of apples, 2 10 bags of grapefruit, 2 bags of grapes that are gone:glare:, then we buy frozen for when we run out of fresh, 6 bags of brocoli stir fry, 6 bags of green bean stir fry, 6 bags of brocoli and cauliflower mix, 6 bags of beans, 6 bags of peas, 3 bags of asparagus (thats all they had left) 5 bags of brussel sprouts (thats all they had left) and 6 bags of california mix. We go through 2 bags for both lunch and dinner a day of the frozen. So that will last us 2 weeks. :D

[Mekanamom]

Yep- I buy fruit instead of candy. Also fresh veggies, and frozen berries & mixed veggies as well.

 

I get whatever looks good at Trader Joe's, Costco, and/or local farmers. We also grow our own strawberries (in Earth Boxes), blackberries (on a trellis), and dwarf citrus (in containers with an automatic drip watering system). So far, so good!!

 

Sadly, I can't seem to get blueberries to grow very well here... :glare:

 

We leave some of it out; some stays in the fridge... It's always help yourself around here, as well as served at meals.

 

The chickens get any fruit/veggies that start to go off before we get around to eating it. As long as I catch it quickly enough, none of it goes to waste. :) (I don't give the chickens very spoiled food.)

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Oh yeah, and 6 bags frozen mixed veggies-- Thats what we are having today for lunch:D

Edited May 20, 2010 by wy_kid_wrangler04