Free or frugal: fresh fruit & veg

Do you have a farmers' market near you?

Because here in France, if you arrive right at the end, just as the stallholders are packing up, they often leave behind crates of produce that is very ripe and will be too ripe to sell the following day.

If no-one grabs it right away, the road sweepers move in within a few minutes and it all gets trashed, so you might as well take it and use it, rather than letting good food go to waste!

When I do this, I usually end up taking home a huge crate of fruit and veg - plenty to feed a family of 4 for a week :)

I generally cook and then freeze the ripest stuff for later in the week, eat some the same day and keep the rest in the fridge to eat within next 2-3 days.

My local supermarket has also started boxing up very ripe fruit, each lunch time and selling it for €3,50 a crate (roughly 5 US$). This is also a very economical way to feed the family on weeks I don't make it to the market!

You don't get to choose what you buy in either case, but this can be a good thing. I have learnt to use (and enjoy) foods I would never normally have bought. Our diet is much more varied this way and often much more seasonal.

Bon appétit!