Brisbane QLD mum's cheap fruit and veg shops with quality food not bruised?

Question

cheap fruit and veg in brisbane more so the gap area. : )?

Hi im a mum without a car who lives in the gap in brisbane australia. With the expensive food and living costs i need to find a cheap fruit and veg shop so i can try to make our money last. We have a coles just down the road but I haven't used a trolly in years and still end up paying $100.00 on nappy's and 'staples'.

Please help as some nights i don't have food for my hubby and i and it doesn't bother me much except usually i won't eat anything but tea during the day to keep $ down. I'm almost desperate enough to become freegan and not tell my hubby lol. My partner is trying so hard to keep it all going but we need help.

Cheap fruit and veg shops would be so helpful.

Any ideas or cheap vego recipe's that stretch a couple nights?

Thank you for your time and help. : ) T

Answer 1

bruised fruit and veg is OK if you are going to use that day. Try making soup. use veg and rice to stretch out the broth.  beans and peas are great to save on meat costs. Try planting a garden to grow your own seeds can be had rather cheap and saved from most fresh veg like cukes, peppers and tomato's, a watermelon has enough seeds for a whole garden.

Hope things get better

don't give up.

Answer 2

Even the fruitshop on Waterworks near Coles shoppiing centre has better fruit and veg cheaper than Coles. If you can find a sunday market nearby and get hubby to take you. Good if you can get there early - most start at 6am and end at midday - some good stuff and some bad.

Answer 3

I'm from Newman WA so I don't know much about QLD but I do know that Woolworths sells THE crappiest fruit and veg I have ever seen lately with bruises and holes all over it. I heard that green grocers sell better stuff and for cheaper, at least they do in Perth. The person above me has a good answer, soup is great, add lentils to it as they are cheap and full of protein and iron, if you put 1tsp cumin, 2 tsp chilli powder and 2 tsp cayenne pepper in it it tastes really good, kinda like a stewy curry or something. I am so sorry to hear about your difficulties, I hate to hear that you cant eat : (  Australia is just getting ridiculous isnt it, especially with the cost of rent or mortgages. We had to move to the outback to get a high enough salary and even we cannot afford an average priced house. I will give you my lentil soup recipe:

4L Water

1or 2 carrot

1/2 celery

1 onion

half a cabbage (optional)

500g Lentils (dry)

1tsp cumin

1 or 2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper  (If you arent into hot stuff maybe try it first with 1 tsp of each)

Just chop up the vegies, chuck them in a stockpot with the water and the dry lentils and leave to boil for 45 minutes or so. Dont forget to stir every now and then because the lentils bulk up and it becomes quite thick.

Every time I make this soup it lasts me for about a week so it should go a few days for you and hubby. Try using cheap staples like rice etc to bulk up meals and add carbs, brown rice is especially good. I hope things start looking up for you soon. You could always move to Newman, my husband gets $85,000 this year and we are the low income earners in this town lol

Answer 4

Hi fellow Aussie from Brissy,  I agree with the others Soup is great also Pasta fills u up and lasts for days... 2 minute noodles mixed with some vegies as a stirfry works well to and you can use the cheap frozen kind.. The fruit and vege is really expensive and gross here right now so I reckon sometimes the frozen is better. My local Foodworks (Loganholme area) has better fruit and veg than woolies or coles and its cheaper.  Keep smilin' it can only get better