Personally speaking, the main setback of fresh fruits and vegetables isn't the taste or the inconvenience of cooking with them, it's the spoilage. They go bad so quickly that it's a chore to keep them around and make sure they get used in time.
Going against what was just said, but there's no shame in buying frozen vegetables, especially peas and corn. They're quite nutritious and easy to store.
Fresh vegetables can stay good too if you buy the right kinds. I've found that asian leafy green vegetables like yu choy or gai lan keep a lot better. The leaves may turn a little yellow but they don't end up a slimy mess in a day. Cabbage is the western equivalent that keeps forever.
Frozen vegetables have been a lifesaver for me. I’m not up on the latest research, but I remember reading at one point that frozen veggies actually retained more of their nutrients than fresh because they are often frozen immediately after being harvested.
That is a problem specific to North American/car-centric/suburban cultures, where people buy groceries once or twice a month.
In places where the grocery shops are within walking distance and more integrated with your life, you just make groceries more frequently. Consequently, the food you buy is always fresher.
A lot of this can be solved by cooking your extras into something that freezes well using one of the basic techniques. Soups, stews, casseroles etc. can use up almost any random vegetables you have lying around, no formal recipe required, just keeping around a few basics like oil, butter, flour for thickening/dumplings, and your favorite spices.
I recently had a pile of potatoes sitting around for reasons unclear, now I've got several portions of an amazing potato chowder sitting in the freezer, ready to nuke in minutes when I want them. I had a spare onion and carrot lying around so those went in too, worked out great, no planning or recipe required aside from keeping basic cooking staples on hand.
Alternatively most raw vegetables (and fruits!) can be pickled. While you do have to get the proportions roughly correct, making refrigerator pickles is as simple as throwing extra sliced veggies into a jar with water, vinegar and salt (herbs and spices optional to your preference). The acidity keeps them from going bad.
Fruits can be turned into freezer preserves almost as easily. Almost any combination you have lying around can be mashed and cooked down on the stove as much or as little as you want with some sugar, pectin is optional. They'll last for months in the freezer, weeks in the fridge.
People think I'm a cooking genius when they see all this random stuff in my fridge but it's all so easy, the truth is I just don't like waste.
Frozen vegetables are good. Some canned vegetables retain their flavor and nutrition as well. Some canned veggies are just a hot mess (I am looking at you, canned asparagus). Canned beets are fine. Canned corn is fine in most recipes.
The beauty of canned goods is that you don't expend energy to store them.
The beauty of frozen veggies (and some frozen fruits, blueberries for example) is that they keep and work well for small quantities. I ate a lot of frozen veggies when I was single.
The problem with frozen vegetables is that they very easily loose texture. If you fry them they will in practice boil instead of being fried. The only thing that works in my experience is to throw them in boiling water and then just let the water boil again and finished. Or use them directly in a stew or soup or something like that.
Depends. Apples, carrots, citrus last a surprisingly long time in the fridge. Tomatoes prefer room temp. Extra bread always skips the fridge, right to the freezer. Freeze things rapidly, thaw them slowly. Plenty of tricks.
Cabbage, for instance, keeps longer than lettuce. Pluots keep, too, much better than peaches. Oranges, tangerines, and grapes keep well. Carrots keep pretty much forever.
I live on my own; I find it hard to use up veggies before they go off. It was easier when I was in a couple. (It's hard, or at least embarrassing, to buy two carrots and one large spud).
I went through this for years and was always felt so discouraged and guilty. I didn't have the repertoire or financial pressure to use the "leftovers". It changed completely for me when I decided to stop buying cuts like packaged chicken breasts and started buying whole chickens and making stocks and sauces. Now when I look in the fridge at the end of the week and see old, sad vegetables I get excited because I'm going to turn them into delicious stock. I feel so much better because my food waste has reduced by an order of magnitude, the food is tastier, the house smells great, and cooking this way is compatible with local, sustainable agriculture (I'm looking for a poultry operation in my area). But I have to acknowledge, it's a lot easier because I work from home.
