Continuing to itemise my grocery shopping

 During January, I uploaded photos of most of my grocery shopping, and summarised at the end. I wanted to know how long I could go without buying anything other than fresh fruit and vegetables, and whether I could avoid anything ultra-processed.  The reason was that there's increased awareness of the dangers of eating too many ultra-processed foods. And while there doesn't seem to be any absolute definition of what constitutes an ultra-processed food, the working definition is anything that contains ingredients that one would not normally find in a regular home kitchen. 

I've never bought a lot of ultra-processed products, in part because many added ingredients are migraine triggers for me. What used to be a nuisance turns out to be a blessing, if it's true that artificial nitrites are carcinogenic, and that everyone should avoid additives such as MSG and artificial sweeteners.  Of course there are other problems with the western diet - too much sugar, for instance, and too much red meat. But very often they go together: for instance, deli meats are often from pork, and contain ultra-processed additives. Some sweets have no valuable nutrition, containing nothing other than sugar and additives. 

I continued taking photos of shopping this month, for my own interest, but I won't bore readers with uploads of everything. Suffice it to say I spent rather more, since several things had to be replenished. We did more entertaining in February, too, and I had used up most of the meals that I had prepared previously and frozen. 

I continued mainly buying fresh fruit and vegetables.  But in addition, during the first week of February, I also bought:

800g chicken mince
2 x 800g chicken breast
800g chicken thighs
1kg pangasian frozen fish
4 x 70g pots of tomato paste
1kg Greek yogurt
2 4-packs of toilet paper
2kg wholegrain bread flour
1kg sugar
1kg white cake flour
500g oats

On the first Friday, we went to Lidl, mainly for canned 'wet' cat food.  We were fairly restrained - we didn't need any more chocolate, for instance - and this is what we bought:

In addition to cat food we bought coffee, washing fluid, soap, frozen beans, large lentils, frozen salmon, more frozen pangasius fish (as it was on offer), and - yes - our first possibly ultra-processed product of this year, Alaska pollock fillets in breadcrumbs.  I had read an article online from a reputable source (though I can't now find it) which said that, while we should in general avoid anything highly processed or ultra processed, there are some foods which are beneficial in other ways that we shouldn't boycott. They included jarred pasta sauce (so long as free of nitrites or colourings), wholegrain bread, ideally with seeds, and fishfingers.  We're all supposed to be eating more fish, after all. We don't generally eat fish fingers, but we do like these breadcrumb-coated fillets, and the ingredients list isn't too bad. So they were included in our Lidl shop. 

I did not, however, buy any puff pastry - something which is good value in Lidl - and I experimented with a flaky pastry recipe using hard vegan spread [bought in December], to make spanokopita. Rather more work than using ready-made puff pastry, but I was able to use half wholegrain flour, and it turned out pretty well. 

The following week, as well as lots more fresh fruit and vegetables, I bought some cartons of juice, some small jars of spices to replenish ones we were running low on,  some cartons of passata, a bag of dried red lentils, frozen peas, frozen broad beans, and a box of twelve free-range eggs. 

In the second half of February, I bought another kilogram of Greek yogurt (I do like on my breakfast muesli; it's my one regular dairy product), two 300g tubs of 'planton' vegan yogurt, a bottle of apple cider vinegar, and some coconut oil. 

We went to Metro, for the first time since Christmas, as I wanted to buy some more dry cat food; once again we were mostly quite restrained, and this is what we bought:

Cat treats as well as dry 'Brekkies' food, some white cleaning vinegar, some malt vinegar for cooking, two jars of instant coffee (another thing I have to admit to liking, though I know it's not considered real coffee by many), pineapple chunks, brown basmati rice, a rather large bag of garam masala, but I haven't been able to find it in smaller quantities, two cans of coconut cream with minimal additives... and some mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is processed, maybe ultra-processed, but I haven't been successful in making it, and it's a lot of hassle. And we don't eat a lot of it.

We made another nut shop visit, too, and bought our standard nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc, as described last month.

The following week, as well as yet more fresh fruit and veg, I bought another kilogram of wholewheat bread flour, and one of white bread flour. I also bought a bag of cornflour, and another processed product: a pack of digestive biscuits. I use them from time to time to make various desserts, and don't like to run out. But I'm going to look for recipes, to see if I can make something equivalent to keep in the freezer.

So, rather more 'extra' products this month, but the only ones that might be considered ultra-processed are the breaded fish, the mayonnaise and the digestive biscuits.  Given that reports state that, in most western countries, over 50% of the food eaten is ultra-processed, I'm not too worried. 

Eating a variety of plant-based foods

 It's fairly easy to eat healthfully in Cyprus. Fruit and vegetables in season are generally inexpensive; I have often bought a crate at the outdoor fruit market, typically two or three kilograms (sometimes more) of tomatoes, plums, peaches or apricots, when they are plentiful, for a couple of euros. I lightly stew and then freeze the ones I don't use immediately in 400g portions, so I have them available at other times of year. 

In the winter, citrus fruit is excellent value. Large, delicious Merlin oranges are currently 79 eurocents per kilogram, for instance. Lemons are even more prolific, and most years someone offers us a large bag of lemons from their tree. If not, a crate of about 15-20 lemons costs around a euro. The juice can be frozen in ice cube trays, or other containers for use all year round.

So it's pretty easy for us to get our 'five-a-day' - usually it's nearer eight or nine portions of fruit and veg - as well as the recommended 30g fibre, much of which is in the fruit and vegetables we eat. I do this not to be virtuous, but because I like fruit and veg, and also because I appreciate the related health benefits. 

What I hadn't come across until recently was a newer recommendation that, in addition to the above guidelines, we should aim for at least 30 different kinds of plant-based foods each week. A friend on Facebook mentioned this and I checked various links; it seems to be from a legitimate study. It's different from the 'five-a-day' principle (which should still be followed) in two significant respects:

(1) We don't just count fruits and vegetables, but other plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes. Starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn can also be included.

(2) Each kind of food is only counted once in each week.  

I am aware that being able to do this is a 'first world' privilege. We're fortunate to live in a country that offers a wide selection of high quality produce at affordable prices. In many parts of the world, food products are seriously limited, or highly priced, and it may be impossible to eat more than one or two different kinds of food in a week. 

I have to admit, too, that my first question was whether coffee, cocoa and sugar would count; all are, after all, plant-based. But they're not mentioned in any of the lists I looked at on this topic, so I assume not. Herbs and spices can be included, but each is only worth a quarter of a food 'point' as the quantities are generally so small.

Out of curiosity, I decided to keep a record of a week of typical eating for us, some weeks ago, without making any deliberate adjustments, to see if we reached the goal. 

Sunday

We're rather predictable as far as breakfasts go. I had my typical basic breakfast with freshly squeezed orange juice, and home-made muesli, which contains oats, coconut, almond meal, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, raisins, dried apricots and dried cranberries.  I had a cup of coffee, too. We don't use dairy milk; instead I make both cashew milk and oat milk. I can't count oats again, but cashews can be added to my list. Oh, and I always eat a brazil nut. 

So that was twelve at the start of the first day, but I couldn't count any of them again for the rest of the week.

Richard, meanwhile, had a glass of orange juice, half an apple, a banana, a pear, a little pot of mixed nuts (brazil, peanuts, walnuts, almonds) and a cup of coffee with the same two plant-based milks.  

So he started the week with ten different plant-based products. 

Sunday is the only day we usually have a cooked lunch. I used a previously made lemon chicken from the freezer (which, in addition to the chicken, contained onions, mushrooms, yellow peppers and lemon juice). We had roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli with it. 

That made seven more plant-based foods to add to our weekly inventory.

Our friends were coming over for an afternoon of games followed by a shared meal.  So I made a couple of loaves of bread in the breadmaker (with wholewheat flour, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and chia seeds), and soup (which contained onions, tomatoes and courgettes, all pureed together after caramelising with garlic and spices, then simmering). For dessert I made an apricot crisp, which contained previously frozen apricots, some lemon juice, and an oat-based topping with some raisins in it. 

Already we were getting into duplicates which didn't count in the '30-a-week' guideline. but I think that made an extra five for me, and an extra eight for Richard as he didn't have apricots or seeds with his breakfast. 

During the meal, we ate some raw carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and peppers brought by our friends. Only the cucumber is counted as a new food, but in all that made 25 different plant-based foods for me, and I think 26 for Richard on our first day. I decided not to count garlic, herbs or spices at all, just treating those as a bonus. 

Monday 

I went to the fruit shop first thing, to buy the vegetables needed for Tuesday evening, some fruit that we were running low on, and one or two other things. I was pleased to see locally grown strawberries at €1.49 per 500g. They looked and smelled good, so I bought a pack. And since cherry tomatoes were on offer (two for the price of one) I bought some of those too.

Just under nine euros bought me this lot: 

Our breakfasts were the same as Sundays, with the addition of about ten strawberries each. 

For lunch we had some cold turkey and mushroom pie left over from the end of last week, with cherry tomatoes, and the leftover apricot crisp. No new plant-based products there. However we then opened some new dairy-free chocolate from Lidl, with coconut and pecans. Even if the cocoa doesn't count, the nuts do. 

On Monday evenings we usually have something fairly quick to make and vegan. Since I had an avocado which was just right for eating, bought a week earlier, I made some guacamole to eat with black bean fajitas. The tortillas were whole-grain, with rye as well as wheat, and the filling, in addition to the black beans, contained onions, mushrooms and peppers... all of which were included in Sunday's lunch. We also had some tomatoes, cucumber and mixed lettuce and cabbage. 

So we only added seven different plant-based foods on Monday, but if I was counting correctly, it means I had already reached 32 and Richard 33 different plant-based foods in just two days.  

Tuesday 

A pear was an extra plant food for Richard for breakfast, but everything else was the same for both of us. Lunch was leftover bread and soup from Sunday, with more of the coconut and pecan chocolate. 

On Tuesday evenings we usually have some kind of fish, with roasted vegetables. This time I cooked baked salmon with lemon slices and roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, red peppers and broccoli.  The only one we hadn't eaten earlier in the week was sweet potato, and I decided to add in garlic this time, since we ate four or five roasted cloves each, rather than just using a sprinkling. 

Still trying to keep track, I counted 34 for me by this stage, and 37 for Richard.

Wednesday 

In the morning I cut up the mango I'd bought at the froutaria on Monday, and we had that along with our usual breakfast foods. At lunch we ate leftover fajita filling and salads, so nothing new there. In the evening I made vegan sausages for me, which are mainly chickpeas; Richard had meat sausages, made a few months ago by a friend. We had them with potato wedges, roasted mushrooms and cauliflower,  and some home-made baked beans, which used haricot beans. 

Total plant-based foods so far: 38 for me, 40 for Richard.

Thursday 

We had some more of Monday's strawberries with our breakfasts, and more leftovers at lunch. In the evening I heated up a container of chili con carne which I'd made and frozen a couple of months earlier, along with a few of Wednesday's baked beans. I used the microwave and the air fryer to make jacket potatoes, with carrots and broccoli, also air fried, which worked well. I also microwaved some frozen peas which I thought would be the only additional plant food for Thursday, until I remembered that my chilis always contain a good amount of red lentils. 

So I'd reached 40 plant foods, Richard 42. 

Friday 

I took my trolley to the local fruitaria first thing, and bought this selection of fruit and veg for the next few days - enough to last us until Wednesday:.

That lot came to just over 15 euros.  The most expensive item was the three peppers; there weren't any in the reduced section, so they were full price, and I paid nearly a euro per pepper (about 300g each). Next highest is the pears. The oranges - lovely large, juicy ones - were still just 69 or 79 cents per kilogram and I bought two different kinds. 

Breakfast on Friday was as before, likewise lunch, with the addition of some apple pastries that were on sale at Lidl, where we went later in the morning (and spent rather more than €15 on items such as cat food, canned coconut milk and honey). And while the pastries were not exactly healthful, I realised that I hadn't had any apple so far this week. So that took me to 41. 

I was going to make spanokopitta in the evening but was quite tired, and we'd had pastries at lunch-time anyway. So we decided on our favourite local fast-food, Souvlaki Express. Chicken with salad in a pitta for Richard, falafel for me. I was losing track, but we had both exceeded 40 different fruits and vegetables, without having taken any added herbs and spices into account. 

Saturday 

I made chicken jalfrezi in the slow cooker first thing, then breakfast and lunch as before... Saturday is our curry night, and we had the jalfrezi with wholegrain pittas, raisins, coconut, mango chutney, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, apple and banana. I don't think there was anything 'new' to the week's plant-based foods, other than the banana for me, as I hadn't had one at breakfast.

Having eaten, without any effort, considerably more than the 'ideal' number of different plant foods during the course of a week, my main feeling was an overwhelming thankfulness at living in a place with such an abundance of high quality, inexpensive foods. 

The following week

During that first week, we had eaten some foods that we don't eat every week, such as the strawberries and mango. We don't eat avocado every week, either or black beans (which we had twice), or baked beans... 

So I logged another week, less rigorously. We didn't have a fresh mango, but still had mango chutney with our Saturday curry. No avocado or baked beans, but we had some canned pineapple when I made sweet-and-sour cheese. We also had some brown rice, which is another one (white rice doesn't count - but I never buy it anyway).  

I don't know that we reached forty during the second week, but we ate well over thirty different plant-based foods. It's not as if we're vegans or even vegetarians, although we don't eat meat every day. And we don't eat a huge number of different fruits or vegetables. But the articles I read implied that many people don't even manage twenty different kinds. 

Rather than continue tracking, I decided to list what we eat by different types of plant-based food. 

Typical groceries

I go to the fruitaria at least twice every week, sometimes three times. A couple of typical purchases are shown above. I'm not very adventurous, which makes it easy to shop without making a list. Every week I buy, and we both eat:

Fruit:
Oranges - apples - bananas - pears 

Vegetables:
Potatoes - sweet potatoes - carrots - broccoli - tomatoes - onions - mushrooms - peppers - cucumbers - garlic cloves

Also, we always have and eat at least once:

Frozen:
Peas - french beans

Every six weeks, we go to a lovely little shop that sells nuts and various dried products.  Between €50 and €60 buys us sufficient of the following to last for the next month and a half, mostly eaten at breakfast:

Nuts:
Almonds - brazil nuts - cashew nuts - peanuts - walnuts

Seeds:
Sunflower - flax - chia

Dried fruit:
Raisins - dates - apricots - cranberries 

Also: 
Coconut 

With the addition of wholewheat (in bread) and oats (in milk, and my granola) I make that 31 plant-based products which we both eat almost every week.  I also eat a large courgette each week, and Richard has a portion of broad beans at the same time.  Even if we don't have a fresh mango, we have mango chutney. We always seem to have something containing lemon juice, too, whether used fresh or frozen. 

I could also include quarter portions each of: chili powder, sweet paprika, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, ginger, turmeric, parsley and basil, all of which we use pretty much every week - and other herbs and spices less frequently. 

At least once or twice a month we also eat:

cauliflower - spinach - cabbage - lettuce - avocado

brown rice - pineapple (canned) 

chickpeas - lentils - black beans - haricot beans 

And, when they're available in season:

clementines - apricots - peaches - strawberries - plums 

It's not a competition; the only 'prize' for eating lots of plant-based products is an increased chance of longevity, with good health as we age. There are, of course, those who eat almost no fruit and veg and still live to be elderly and free of disease. There are also those who are extremely fit and eat very healthfully, but who still develop serious diseases or life-threatening conditions at a young age.  

But I'm not a fatalist. I'd rather increase my chances of good health even if, in the end, environment or genetics beat lifestyle. I know some people have allergies or specific foods they don't like. But there are many more fruits and vegetables than the 50 or so that I've mentioned. So I'm a bit puzzled how anyone in a developed country with widely available (and reasonably priced) produce could NOT eat thirty or more different plant-based foods in a week.  

Another post about shopping in Cyprus

Friday used to be our regular supermarket shopping day.  However, when our sons left home, we didn't need to do a big shop so often. Combining our smaller food requirements with excellent local shops within five minutes' walk of our home means that, in general, we now only go to the Metro supermarket about once every two months.  We also visit the grain/nut warehouse about once a month, for nuts, seeds and coconut. 

The last time we went to the warehouse was right after we returned from the UK, mid-September. We went to Metro early in October. However... we had unexpectedly run out of coffee filters. And I could not find any at the local shops. So, as we needed to get to the nut warehouse last Friday, I suggested we call into Metro as well, but promised I would not do a 'big' shop. And we also called by the Achna open-air stall where crates of various fruit and vegetables are available at remarkably good prices:

There wasn't a whole lot that interested us, so I picked up a small box of bananas (about 1kg) and one of potatoes (about 1.6kg) for a euro each. Not that great value, but reasonable, and saved me carrying them home the following day.

Then I spotted two lone pineapples, a little battered but smelling just fine. I asked how much, and was told they were one euro. Since they were a euro each at the main Achna shop, I said we'd get them. I love fresh pineapple, and thought I might dehydrate some, or even experiment with freezing some pineapple.  The woman who serves at the stall speaks no English, and my Greek is extremely basic... but another man appeared, with the usual excellent English of Cypriots, and explained that the pineapples were part of a 'two for €1.50' deal, so that I could choose any of the other crates nearby for 50c. I opted for some peaches which, when I weighed them later, came to about 5kg.  The pineapples weighed around 1kg each.

So we paid a total of €3.50 for nearly 10kg fresh produce:

Next stop was Metro. Richard had to pop into a friend's office, so I went around the whole store, just in case there were any special offers, or other things we might need in addition to the coffee filters. I did remember dried milk (which helps home-made yogurt to thicken), and raspberry and green tea (which we can't get anywhere else, and which I like very much)... and I also spotted some special offer washing-up liquid, carob syrup and kitchen roll. 

And, following on from something my friend Sheila did recently, I weighed my purchases from Metro too. We paid approximately €15 for this lot, which weighed a measly 2kg: 

Last stop was the nut warehouse. We bought around 1kg almonds, 1kg walnuts, and 1.6kg cashews. We eat these for breakfast, and I cook with cashews from time to time. There are also quite a few pre-packaged bags of produce, mostly quite small but also rather inexpensive.

So I also picked up 1 bag of raisins, 2 bags of sunflower seeds, 2 bags of flaxseeds, 3 extra bags of walnuts, 4 bags of brazil nuts, and 6 bags of coconut.  Which makes me sound a bit like The Very Hungry Caterpillar...

The nut warehouse bill was much the highest, a little over €53 for a total of 6.5kg produce:

I had not used my dehydrator since the previous weekend, but with plenty of fruit to experiment with, I set it going again and enjoyed the fruit-drying aroma through the day:

I also cooked large quantities of peaches - each one just cut into wedges after removing the stone, and put in a pan with a little water, simmering until soft. I froze some, and we've been eating (and sharing with friends) the rest. They taste a little like canned peaches in juice... they look a bit browner, but (at least in our view) taste even better.  

A small, Cyprus-style warehouse with flour and nuts

On our way back from Agia Napa last week, I saw that we would be driving very near to a warehouse which friends had suggested we might visit. They found it recently on the recommendation of other friends... this is how many things work in Cyprus. We knew that it was a small place that didn't actually look like a warehouse, on a corner of the road where Sarris supermarket is.

We also knew that it was open to the public, and sold very good value nuts of various kinds as well as flour, dried fruit, and various other items. I was intrigued.

So we drove slowly along the road in question, looking at all the street corners, until we spotted it:

The name, according to the receipt I have, is (in English letters) Patroklos Chrysostomou Ltd.

It didn't look at all like a warehouse on the outside, but we quickly realised that there were two parts. First we went into a rather crowded small shop with some conveniently pre-bagged nuts, raisins, seeds, and so on, and also some places to scoop most of these items for oneself into bags, at a slightly better price.

I don't tend to remember prices very well, but had made a note of the best value almonds I had previously found (a little under 9 euros per kilogram at the froutaria) - and these were less still, with the locally grown ones at 6.75 euros per kilo - significantly less. Since we prefer to buy locally grown produce whenever we can, we bought some. We bought some cashews, walnuts and raisins too, also rather better value than we could buy elsewhere.

Then we wandered out into what appeared to be a garage at the back of the shop where there were large flour sacks on the floor, and various other items around. We didn't want to spend very long there - it was already after our usual lunch-time and I was feeling decidedly hungry - but I did ask if they had any wholewheat flour - what we saw all appeared to be white. One man told me in broken English that they were ALL whole wheat, but some of them had the 'shells' taken away. I suppose he meant that they didn't contain anything other than wheat, but even the one which he said still had the 'shells' in looked much whiter than our usual wholegrain flour.

Since the sight of flour sacks, open to the air (and thus potentially any insects...) wasn't all that appealing, and it's not as if we use THAT much flour anyway, we didn't investigate further. But I think we'll be returning to this place in the future...