One of my resolutions is less food waste. I threw out quite a bit of food yesterday and this happens regularly. I'm going to minimize my purchases- instead of buying 4 veggies and 6 fruits I'll buy 2 and 3...

A couple random suggestions from a fellow busy mom who tries to cook healthy food (and also tries to avoid waste to the extent possible):

- A little planning goes a long way. I'm not perfect at this myself but taking a few minutes to think through the week ahead and sketch out a basic meal plan can help you avoid buying unnecessary stuff and/or having to go back to the store because you didn't get what you needed for the weeks' meals.

- Leftovers are your friend. I try to make enough of certain dinners that I get two full meals out of it. Doesn't work for everything but reheating leftovers is probably the easiest way to have a quick healthy dinner in 30 minutes or less. Works best for things like baked pastas, stews/chilis, and chicken thighs (won't get tough from being reheated once). Also grains are great to reheat--it might take 20 minutes to cook a batch of farro, but it will reheat in seconds so make sure you make enough for two meals.

- Garlic and herbs/spices with chicken or fish is an easy and healthy dinner--there are many different combinations you can try. Pair with grains like farro, quinoa, or brown rice. One note: baked chicken thighs with the bone tend to take at least 35 minutes to fully cook in my experience, so plan accordingly (but again, if you make a big batch, it takes much less time to reheat once cooked). Boneless thighs will cook more quickly and fish filet may only need 10-15 minutes unless it's very thick.

- Roasted veggies are also super easy, though the prep is what can be time consuming. You can cut up veggies like broccoli/cauliflower ahead of time, then just spread on a pan with olive oil and roast for 20-25 minutes. Chopping veggies is probably a good way for the kids to help out too (as long as they're careful!). If you pre-wash and dry the kale ahead of time, kale chips only take about 12-15 minutes and my kids love them.

Anonymous wrote:We do a lot of bowls:
brown rice, barley or kamut
Bag salads
Roasted chicken (Whole foods, Tuesday sale) or extra firm tofu cooked in air fryer.
Beans (black for Mexican, chick peas for Mediterranean, white for Italian).

I cook a whole turkey when I can find good price. Use that meat for soups, tacos, bowls. Throw bones in crockpot w/ onion& celery. Let it cook for 24 hours, strain into mason jars, scoop off fat. Easy soup.

+1 on roasting a turkey when you find a good price. Rotisserie chicken is fine in a pinch, but if you are willing to cook a turkey, you can get 4x or 5x the meat for the same price. I've got teens, and DH and I both work full time. Here are some things that helped us:

- I have a chest freezer in the laundry room. I bought it used several years ago for $50-60.
- I try to plan weekly menus. Right now, I'm focused on trying to use what's on hand and in season, which means a lot of spinach and kale cooked with the grains/protein we already have on hand.
- I have a Crock Pot and use it.
- I made a pantry inventory list over break to have a better sense of what we already have on hand.
- Do some advance work on the weekends or on days you know you have more time. I typically spend a few hours prepping for the week over the weekend, and will also do maybe 15 minutes of prep work mid-day on my remote work days.
- AI will generate menus for you if you have an odd set of ingredients on hand, and don't know what to do with them.

I just unsubscribed to every grocery delivery service I was using. I found them hard to keep up with, and I ended up with duplicate items. The only thing related to food or recipes that I am still paying for is NYT cooking. It's $5/month (I think) and I have found it worthwhile. Here's an example of a recipe that I found today that I will be making -- I haven't made it before, but it's a five-star recipe with lots of reviews, so I'm willing to try it:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021485-one-pan-orzo-with-spinach-and-feta?unlocked_article_code=1.l04.tGAN.zEED4JSEiJRm&smid=share-url

I already have orzo, frozen peas, garlic, and lemon on hand (maybe feta, too).

Good luck, OP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get an example of how you currently cook?

We usually have pasta one night a week - usually alternating between ziti or spaghetti & meatballs. Always involving Rao’s sauce & store bought meatballs. I wonder whether I should cook either of those things from scratch but have yet to do. Lately middle son has been requesting Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti to be added which I’ll do with rotisserie chicken.

Alternate breakfast for dinner one night a week - one week banana choc chip pancakes (which I make - and recently decided to stop using biquick and make the mix myself), and one week eggs / turkey bacon.

Some variety of something taco-y - a taco casserole, make your own taco bar, chicken chili in crockpot.

I’ll make zatarain’s jambalaya mix and put in rotisserie chicken & chicken sausage; there’s a Korean beef recipe I do that’s pretty easy (http://www.lizzywrite.com/2010/05/korean-beef.html?m=1); in the winter I’ll make this crockpot chicken and dumpling soup from time to time: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8941/slow-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/.

I could definitely stand to try to make a sheet pan meal not in my current repertoire - so I’ll add that to my list of things to try.

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself or maybe dinners aren’t the hugest problem?! Idk. I basically have 30 mins to make dinner and I’m not a good cook. Rachel Ray’s 30 min meals for example would take me an hour

Same. Don't ever believe the estimated time on recipes, lol.

Hello fresh 2x delivered hello fresh boxes to my house instead of a block away, both times by the time I could reach the owner she'd had replacements sent and said go ahead and use them. Everything was timed but felt like I was running 5 relay races at the same time.

I highly recommend cooking one pot dishes on the weekend. Take your time and chop ingredients, etc, before you start actually cooking. I'm someone who likes to lounge around at different times while cooking instead of using the 5 minutes while something is sauteing to be frantically chopping green peppers or whatever. You mentioned Rao pasta sauces--tomato sauces would be an easy thing to cook in batches on a weekend and then freeze in smaller containers. I've also made pasta in advance, then tossed in oil and frozen for later use. You can make gnocchi from instant potato flakes, flour, and eggs, then freeze after cooking them. Some dishes freeze well (pieces of carrot or potato in soups and stews get a weird mushy texture although grated would be fine, such as a broccoli cheese soup with grated carrot).

Anonymous wrote:for those recommending frozen vegetables, how do you cook them?

I love roasted veggies but roasted from frozen ends up mushy.

I'd steam them or use in stew or soup or stir fry.

A couple of things re: waste:

I throw veg scraps in a ziplock bag in the freezer--carrot peelings and ends, outside leaves and cores of cabbage, onion skin and the root end, the spines (??) of kalel eaves, parsley stems, etc etc and make veg stock when the bag is full (then the cooked remains go to compost). I use the veg stock as a liquid in cooking constantly and have noticed it actually gets a ice almost smoky aroma. Stock from turkey and chicken carcasses obviously. Beef not since it was common practice to bone roasts, but years ago I would save the bones.

One pot meals --potato hash, rice and beans, lentil rice dishes are the ones I make mostly--are great because you can throw in whatever vegetables are hanging out in your fridge. Also applies to soups and stews. If you google you will get ideas as to seasoning--and if I'm not sure if some herb or spice will work added to the ones I'm already using I will ask google about pairing x with y, which has helped me find new ways of seasoning dishes I'm used to making.

if you have some random ingredients you want to use up google the ingredients--2 or 3--and almost guarantee some interesting recipes you would never have thought of will appear. I've discovered a lot of new dishes that way.

After reading your typical weekly menu, I think you should focus on improving your culinary skills as a first step, because it’s much easier to be an efficient food shopper when you are more comfortable in the kitchen. Since you mentioned Pioneer Woman - I learned to cook years ago by following the step by step instructions in blogs like hers. Maybe pick a few of her recipes and add them to your regular rotation to improve your confidence.

My family will eat leftovers, which is a huge way to reduce food waste. If you have reluctant spouse/kids, try and convince them to do leftovers 1-2 a week to start, and try to repurpose them so they’re different. Ie do pulled pork tacos for dinner, then use leftover meat for sandwiches and add something like pickled onions to it (which you can make from scratch very easily!)

Pick a few new things to cook each week; make it fun and not stressful; if you have a lofty goal of allll whole non processed foods you will feel frustrated and give up. Make it a progress not perfection goal.

for those recommending frozen vegetables, how do you cook them?

I love roasted veggies but roasted from frozen ends up mushy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get an example of how you currently cook?

We usually have pasta one night a week - usually alternating between ziti or spaghetti & meatballs. Always involving Rao’s sauce & store bought meatballs. I wonder whether I should cook either of those things from scratch but have yet to do. Lately middle son has been requesting Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti to be added which I’ll do with rotisserie chicken.

Alternate breakfast for dinner one night a week - one week banana choc chip pancakes (which I make - and recently decided to stop using biquick and make the mix myself), and one week eggs / turkey bacon.

Some variety of something taco-y - a taco casserole, make your own taco bar, chicken chili in crockpot.

I’ll make zatarain’s jambalaya mix and put in rotisserie chicken & chicken sausage; there’s a Korean beef recipe I do that’s pretty easy (http://www.lizzywrite.com/2010/05/korean-beef.html?m=1); in the winter I’ll make this crockpot chicken and dumpling soup from time to time: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8941/slow-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/.

I could definitely stand to try to make a sheet pan meal not in my current repertoire - so I’ll add that to my list of things to try.

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself or maybe dinners aren’t the hugest problem?! Idk. I basically have 30 mins to make dinner and I’m not a good cook. Rachel Ray’s 30 min meals for example would take me an hour

Same. Don't ever believe the estimated time on recipes, lol.

We do a lot of bowls:
brown rice, barley or kamut
Bag salads
Roasted chicken (Whole foods, Tuesday sale) or extra firm tofu cooked in air fryer.
Beans (black for Mexican, chick peas for Mediterranean, white for Italian).

I cook a whole turkey when I can find good price. Use that meat for soups, tacos, bowls. Throw bones in crockpot w/ onion& celery. Let it cook for 24 hours, strain into mason jars, scoop off fat. Easy soup.

I have dabbled in meal delivery services in the past and didn’t find it to be a great value for the price or improve our cooking that much but I could consider trying again.

Could you try blue apron or another meal plan? Your cooking skills are amazingly unimpressive.

Anonymous wrote:Can you get an example of how you currently cook?

We usually have pasta one night a week - usually alternating between ziti or spaghetti & meatballs. Always involving Rao’s sauce & store bought meatballs. I wonder whether I should cook either of those things from scratch but have yet to do. Lately middle son has been requesting Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti to be added which I’ll do with rotisserie chicken.

Alternate breakfast for dinner one night a week - one week banana choc chip pancakes (which I make - and recently decided to stop using biquick and make the mix myself), and one week eggs / turkey bacon.

Some variety of something taco-y - a taco casserole, make your own taco bar, chicken chili in crockpot.

I’ll make zatarain’s jambalaya mix and put in rotisserie chicken & chicken sausage; there’s a Korean beef recipe I do that’s pretty easy (http://www.lizzywrite.com/2010/05/korean-beef.html?m=1); in the winter I’ll make this crockpot chicken and dumpling soup from time to time: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8941/slow-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/.

I could definitely stand to try to make a sheet pan meal not in my current repertoire - so I’ll add that to my list of things to try.

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself or maybe dinners aren’t the hugest problem?! Idk. I basically have 30 mins to make dinner and I’m not a good cook. Rachel Ray’s 30 min meals for example would take me an hour

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the ideas!

It involves changing me as a person because this is not how I was raised (cooking well etc) - it involves learning all anew.

You seem like a very pleasant person who is rising above the few baiting comments from a-holes that make me want to help you even more.

Consider getting a Subscription, or following a meal plan from a publication like the New York Times or one of the restaurant bloggers. If you truly plan out your whole week of meals in advance (knowing what nights you will be out and reducing meals accordingly), even if one night gets thrown off, you’ll still have cooked most of the time, and not have much waste.

Recipe blogger, not restaurant bloggers.