I supposed this is just because I'm used to eating three big meals a day, but how much do you guys eat in one day? What do you eat? What sort of portions.

I don't have the money for a book right now to guide me, but when I do, which book do you recommend most?

I get my grocery money for the month in a week and the temptation to spend it is -now- lol. So I need to know what I'm going to buy, and how long my food will last in the fridge.

My list:

FRUIT
Grapes, Bananas, Apples, Pears, Peaches, Strawberries, Raspberries, Coconut
(I plan to freeze a bunch of these but don't know what yet. I like one banana each day at breakfast. Tell me what you think I should do for the other fruit, how should I freeze/store it?)

VEGETABLES
Green Beans, Celery, Cucumbers, Pickles, Greens (lettuce, spinache, other?) Tomatos, Mushrooms

NUTS AND OTHER
Almonds, Walnuts, Peanuts, Cashews, Hazlenut,

Tell me what you think, is my list too much? Should I consider organic frozen peas and vegetables pre-packaged or buy raw and freeze them myself? What else do I add to this list. I'll be buying a blender/juicer whicih may just end up being a simple hand blender, whatever I can afford, to make my smoothies with.

When should I buy what and how often? Thanks for the help in advance!

-=- Jay -=-

Nature is a wild and unpredictable master, yet certainly wiser than man by far.

is it possible for you to buy fresh every few days or do you need to (budgeting wise) purchase everything at once? it's hard to keep things fresh for a whole month, frozen is good in a pinch but fresh is best
smoothies and juice are great anytime especially if you have to use something up. and you can usually get a pretty decent blender at a second hand store, the older ones work better than the crap they make these days anyhow! betcha you can even find one with a glass jar.

salad is so terrific. you can add sprouts, sprouted lentils, soaked sunflower seeds or other nuts, avocado, marinated broccoli or cauliflower, etc etc to make it more of a filling meal.
i really love sprouts, they're super easy to make, filling, really inexpensive, the seeds keep for a long time before sprouting, and they're ALIVE! add a handful to a smoothy for lunch sometime, or make blender soup.
there are tons of free recipes online and the library will order books for you if they don't have them.
while you can make raw pickles the ones you buy in the store are cooked and usually full of all kinds of unpronouncable stuff. bubbies is an exception, and they're fermented instead of made with vinegar, etc. have you thought of making kraut or other fermented veg? recipes and instructions online for free for that too.

have fun!

Sure, I can buy fresh every day if I want, I live a couple blocks from a whole bunch of grocery stores; Food Basics, Sobeys, Zehrs (I'm in Canada). I go every week to get my bananas for my breakfast. So it won't be hard to up the times I visit. Maybe one or two of the items each on my list, and then if anything does go bad, which I expect might happen at first since I'm not used to eating lots of vegetables, then no worry, I can go out again and get fresh.

I haven't mentally gotten to the point where I want to grow and process my own food stuffs like sprouts and making my own kraut. Heck, I don't know if I'd like kraut, I don't even know if I've ever had it! I come from a very Italian background.

On the alternative pumpkin season is now, and the idea of raw pumpkin pies is looking better and better every day. *heartthrob* I love pumpkin.

*drools* great, I think about food and I'm hungry now. Blerh.

I like leaf lettuce like Romaine and red leaf (I didn't see them on your list). ;-)

If your fruit starts to get overripe, like bananas - just peel them and put them in a freezer baggie into the freezer. The berries are so expensive that if I don't eat them within one day I clean them and freeze them in a baggie as well.

I keep bananas out in a basket. I keep my coconut out. I keep all the other fruit in the frig. If you put them in a baggie, in the crisper, they will last the longest.

Don't buy too many nuts, they can be so tempting and you can overdo on them easily. Maybe buy some pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds.

I am starting slow too (raw for 2 1/2 months) and am not sprouting my own yet either. But you can buy some sprouts once a week for not too much.

Have fun!