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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 10:23am | IP Logged
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Silly question, I know  . I really am happy that my children love fruit and vegetables, but they go through it like crazy. Saturday, I bought a dozen nectarines because they were on sale at our grocery store. They were still a bit hard  but I thought I would let them sit on the counter a few days and ripen. But, I went to try one on Sunday and they were all gone! Eaten! Every last hard nectarine! I buy a bunch of grapes and they don't last past that night's dinner. My DH says I should just stop buying it but I really don't want to penalize my kids because they would rather eat an apple than some chips. Am I being unrealistic when I expect a dozen nectarines to last a week (or at least a few days!)?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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we're supposed to have what.. 4 or 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day.. so just as a simple number.. I would say at least 1 fruite per person per day.
In other words.. way more than I can get unless something is on sale.. so with 5 kids.. yeah expecting a dozen nectarines to last past about 2 days would be unrealistic.
And because we're limited when nothing is very cheap.. when things are cheap.. everyone eats alot.. so I try to just buy it when its cheap and not expect it to last long. First day of buying it.. pretty much expect it gone the next day actually. So I try and get to the store 2-3 times when something is on sale.
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mathmama
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 10:59am | IP Logged
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Unfortunately, I think Jodie is right. I buy a ton of fruit. I just got back from the grocery store. I bought a bag of cherries, 5 nectarines, 5 apricots, a bunch of bananas, a huge thing of blueberries, and a big thing of strawberries (2# I think). This fruit will not last us the week and there are only 4 of us eating it.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 11:19am | IP Logged
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Okay, I feel better now ... I think !
We have strawberries in our garden but they are coming very slowly and they're looking a bit shabby this year. I need to get in there and clean it up a bit I guess. We also have apple and pear trees but I still spend a fortune on produce.
I guess we need to get used to eating more frozen and preserved fruit!
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 12:00pm | IP Logged
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We go through fruit like crazy, too. It seems like it lasts longer if instead of giving them individual pieces of fruit I make a fruit salad, or put it in smoothies.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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I found some "older" bananas on clearance for .29/lb today.. I didn't get tons of them.. because you know when you want them to eat it fast.. they won't
But I'm going to make us a nice cool afternoon snack of banana pudding with sliced bananas in it. 
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 1:29pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
I found some "older" bananas on clearance for .29/lb today.. I didn't get tons of them.. because you know when you want them to eat it fast.. they won't
But I'm going to make us a nice cool afternoon snack of banana pudding with sliced bananas in it. |
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You can freeze them in the peels! I use this for smoothies all of the time for the in-between times where I can't go to the store and buy more fruit! If you use them in cooking, include the liquid that comes out of them (when they defrost) in the recipe...
other than that, I just place under running water and peel the banana with a knife and throw the innards into the blender when smoothie cravings hit!
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Angi
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 1:44pm | IP Logged
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For my 4 children - weekly I buy at least 2 bags of apples, 4 bags of bananas (I buy overripe, the girls never even leave the bananas alone long enough for bread to be made  ), and 1-2 bags grapes plus whatever fruit is on sale (8-10 peaches, or 1 box of clementines, or 8-10 plus strawberries, applesauce) - you get the picture. LOL My girls LOVE fruit! Also, almost ever Sunday we get a large veggie tray as an after Mass treat.
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Lisbet
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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C-R-A-Z-Y amounts of fruit. I bought a dozen apples this morning - they are gone. The nectarines will be gone tomorrow I'm sure. Banana's won't last past breakfast. It's insane.
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Angel
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| Posted: June 28 2010 at 4:29pm | IP Logged
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This thread is making me feel a little more normal.
We go through large amounts of fruit, too. I wish I could say the same about veggies, but... no. The kids have made certain rules about bananas (one per person per day), which -- woe to him who eats more!
Apples kind of fill in the blanks around here. If I cut them up instead of handing everyone a whole apple, they last longer. Same with pears and oranges.
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Erin
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Whatever the fruit on sale of the week is I buy by the box full. so last week Granny Smith apples were down to $1.50 kg so I bought a box which was around $30. I'll also grab a few kilos of other fruit each week too.
A couple of weeks back our mandarin tree was ripe and they ate the entire tree load in less than a fortnight. Dh and I are talking about pulling out our stone fruit trees as they are not thriving and planting more mandarin trees and another lemon tree.
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Belle
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| Posted: June 29 2010 at 12:55am | IP Logged
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We're big fruit eaters too. I was beginning to think we were weird also but this thread makes me feel much better. 
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 29 2010 at 5:36am | IP Logged
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Okay. I guess we're normal! I guess we'll just have to plant more fruit trees! I wonder if nectarines grow in Michigan?
My kids do eat a lot of veggies too. I love the idea of a veggie tray for a treat after Mass on Sunday! My kids would really like that. Why do I think we have to have doughnuts?! I'm sure the price would be about the same. Which really, is what makes buying all this produce hard. It's so expensive! I do try to buy things in season and on sale but it still adds up.
I sure feel better when they're munching on a bowl of blueberries instead of a bowl of chips though!
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Angel
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| Posted: June 29 2010 at 8:02am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
Okay. I guess we're normal! I guess we'll just have to plant more fruit trees! I wonder if nectarines grow in Michigan?
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Well... they SAY we're in zone 5 here where I am in upstate NY, but really, I think I have a zone 4 yard. When we first moved here, we planted nectarines rated for our zone, but there is one tree left and it has really not done a thing. On the other hand... we planted subzero peaches and they have done pretty well! So maybe you could trade nectarines for peaches. 
Personally, in a cold climate, I think you get more bang for your buck with berries -- especially blackberries, which are horribly expensive at the store or farm stand. The one bush we bought which has done so well cost as much as a pint of berries. It started bearing in its second year of planting and has now propagated at least 3 bushes of its own. So I would say it was a good investment.
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stacykay
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Becky Parker wrote:
Okay. I guess we're normal! I guess we'll just have to plant more fruit trees! I wonder if nectarines grow in Michigan?...
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Thinking along Angela's line...I don't know about nectarine trees, but our neighbor has a peach tree that grows the yummiest peaches. I think our weather on the east side might be a slight bit more moderate than your side of the state, though.
As far as how much fruit we eat,...
In two days we go through:
a bunch of bananas (usually 7 or so)
a container or two of blueberries (pints)
a quart of strawberries
8 apples
at least one large bunch of grapes
a large bowl of cherries
and four or so peaches.
That's summertime.
In fall, when apples are better, we go through too many to count. In winter, when oranges are in season, we can eat a bag of oranges in a day. 
Now, if I can only get them more interested in veggies!!!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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There is never ever enough fruit in this house to satisfy my fruit lovers. As I type, my dd is cutting up the last mango. Thankfully, we have other fruits to keep them happy until I can get to the store.
Stacy's list looks like something my kids could finish in two days....don't even talk about the amount of watermelon in the summer. Even with sales the cost adds up to a big big part of our grocery bill.
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Belle
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| Posted: June 30 2010 at 8:02am | IP Logged
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Oh yum. Now I have a craving for mangoes.....
Specifically Mango and Avocado salad. YUM!
(For my fellow Aussie Mums, Matthew Hayden's cook book. Mango and avo salad....very very delicious. I love his new show on the Lifestyle channel. He seems like such a genuine and lovely family man....it's so nice to see)
Okay back to the topic at hand.
I think my kids have had their banana fix....judging by the four very very ripe bananas left in the fruit bowel, time to bake banana cake. Mind you, they have gone through 12 apples, eaten the other four bananas, three oranges and six mandarins in the past three days. Oh and a punnet of strawberries.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 30 2010 at 8:38am | IP Logged
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In the past, I've bought frozen cherries and such for dessert, especially in the summer. I find that you can't eat as much in the same amount of time when it is frozen.
We buy fresh fruit when you can get it for a good price in season. We'll buy apples a bushel at a time and buy seconds for making pies and sauce. But then, the rest of the year, an apple is a treat, not a staple. In the winter, we'll buy oranges a half bushel at a time, and during Advent and Christmas, eat them a lot. The rest of the year, I'll buy an orange here or there just to have the zest and juice for other recipes.
In the late summer, we'll have lots of peaches and/or melon for those few weeks it is in season.
But there are also weeks where the only fruit we have is frozen blueberries in our yogurt or pancakes. And I think that is okay, too. People have always eaten seasonally. I don't think you should feel you are depriving your children of something by not having fruit available all the time. If they eat it, its gone.
I WILL add that if I want fruit to last beyond a few days, I do not make it a visible temptation within arms reach. If you want to control nectarine consumption, find a tall shelf to put them in the bowl. Even the drawer in the refrigerator means they don't just "see" it and eat it. I LOVE having fruit out on the counter. Its so pretty and homey to me. But, I have come to expect casualties if little ones can reach them. What is that prayer? Lead us not into temptation... 
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Becky Parker
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I laugh because I see that happening here!!!
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| Posted: June 30 2010 at 1:39pm | IP Logged
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We try very hard to "shop the perimeter" of grocery stores and to buy produce from the farmer's market (waaaaay cheaper).
I only have two littles...BUT...we still go through about $70 worth of produce every week. This week blueberries and peaches are in season...for the past 2 weeks we have bought 5pints of blueberries, which are all consumer...about 12-15 peaches, a couple cantelopes/watermelon, cherries, grapes...carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.
All of that is for me, my dh, and my 5yo and 3yo. That's just the 4 of us.
Basically, I cut up a bunch of things and wash them...and produce ends up being our "snacks" more than anything else.
But don't feel bad about it. I would just buy more...and not buy the other stuff as a way of compensating.
A great idea a friend gave me was to serve raw veggies while dinner is being prepared...you know the, "Mom, I'm hungry!" just before dinner. I will only offer these...if they fill up on bell peppers and carrots...ok, then...I'd rather that then pretzels, etc.
We're just trying to instill good habits in our children because my dh and I were not raised with good habits...and old habits die hard!
Serve the fruit.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: How much fruit do you buy?
