With the price of groceries still very high, I thought I would give some of my tips and hacks for reducing food waste. I read one article, that stated about one-third of all food in the US goes to waste. Rethinking about food waste helps to increase your food savvy, makes one produce less waste, and even save a little on the weekly food budget.
Making A Shopping List – Taking Inventory
Before going out on a shopping trip, I like to take inventory. I make a mental note of what is in the freezer, fridge, and food storage areas. Think about what you have on hand and what you need to buy to produce home-made meals. Perishable items should be noted and used up.
- For example, if I have a lot of apples with bad spots of them, I would buy some pork chops. I would proceed to cut the bad spots off the apples, slice them and add them to the pork chops in the frying pan.
- If I notice cream is about to go bad, I might add it to tomato soup or a sauce.
- Slightly wilted broccoli is added to stir-fry, so chicken strips might be picked up. Also, if I have a lot of lemons in my fridge, I might give the stir-fry a squeeze or two or use the zest. Thinly sliced lemons in a glass of ice water makes a good refresher.
- For some reason, cucumbers go quickly bad in my fridge bin, So, I try to cut up vegetables like carrots, celery and cucumbers into bite size servings. Then I store the cut vegetables in clear plastic ware at eye level.
- If I notice, I have too much milk on hand, I might make sugar-free pudding or hot cocoa. Even oatmeal can be made with half milk and half water.
- Cottage Cheese can be added to cooked noodles for a nice pasta dish. Sprinkle dried parsley on top.
- During cold winter days, slightly wilted fresh vegetables like carrots and celery can be cut and tossed in a pot of vegetable soup.
Be Flexible with Cooking Ingredients
In being real, sometimes you don’t have time to go grocery shopping and might need to use substitute an ingredient or two. Frittatas, stir-fries and fried rice are good dishes to use up vegetables.
I often buy a bunch of spring onions as they make a nice garnish for a lot of different main dishes. It also makes the dish looked planned and not put together with older food items. Remember presentation is very important in meal planning.
Ending Notes on Reducing Food Waste Blog
However, how do we figure out what is food and what is waste? There are no fast and ready rules for this. So, use your good judgement and perhaps your sense of smell. Even when things seems to be ready for the trash, remember you can also compost items and keep them out of land fills.
Onion, part of a green pepper and a sweet potato found in the crisper.
Sweet Potato Fries ready for oven.
Now, what I’m I making for dinner tonight? I guess I’ll just have to go and check things out. I know I have one sweet potato that is looking a bit old. It might be time to cut it into slices and bake in the oven with sliced onions and spices.
Below photograph shows sweet potato fries served with a chicken and vegetable wrap.
Note: 1-14-2024
Received a note from Trail Diva about feeding left over food scraps to the local crows during wintertime. In my opinion, yes, that counts. Anytime food is eaten and doesn’t end up on a landfill is a good thing. (CAW CAW!)
Resource Sites: www.latimes and The Washington Post, Food section, Jan. 10, 2024.