Anonymous wrote:In a pinch you can dice and throw almost any leftover into a wrap or over a bowl of rice or pasta

I put out all proteins veggies grains cheese and wraps...dinners ready!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monitor your fruit, and when it's about to turn, wash it and put it in the freezer for smoothies.

Cheese freezes very well.

Produce that needs to be used up:
Bell peppers / onions - I roast and put in freezer
Tomatoes - make a bruschetta
Bananas - banana bread or freezer
Meat - freezer

(OP you'll need to start a thread on using up freezer food next! You have to be very organized and plan ahead...)

Once you learn how easy it is to make banana bread, you never stress about those overly ripe bananas again.

Banana bread is yummy. Another option is banana pancakes. You can place them in fridge, and eat them on the run. They're fine cold, or even spread with a little jam.

We also either freeze them and use in smoothies or buy frozen berries and add that to bananas for a smoothie. No more wasted bananas ever.

Anonymous wrote:Every week or so we have a "fridge clean out meal" -- basically eat all of the tiny bits of leftovers and use up a bunch of veggies that are about to go in a frittata.

You mean a 'leftover buffet'?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monitor your fruit, and when it's about to turn, wash it and put it in the freezer for smoothies.

Cheese freezes very well.

Produce that needs to be used up:
Bell peppers / onions - I roast and put in freezer
Tomatoes - make a bruschetta
Bananas - banana bread or freezer
Meat - freezer

(OP you'll need to start a thread on using up freezer food next! You have to be very organized and plan ahead...)

Once you learn how easy it is to make banana bread, you never stress about those overly ripe bananas again.

Banana bread is yummy. Another option is banana pancakes. You can place them in fridge, and eat them on the run. They're fine cold, or even spread with a little jam.

In a pinch you can dice and throw almost any leftover into a wrap or over a bowl of rice or pasta

Don't make or buy food for more people than will eat it. For example, I bake a small lasagna in an 8-inch pan. I buy one loaf of bread or one bag of bagels or one bag of english muffins - not several breads that will go bad and get thrown away.

Anonymous wrote:Monitor your fruit, and when it's about to turn, wash it and put it in the freezer for smoothies.

Cheese freezes very well.

Produce that needs to be used up:
Bell peppers / onions - I roast and put in freezer
Tomatoes - make a bruschetta
Bananas - banana bread or freezer
Meat - freezer

(OP you'll need to start a thread on using up freezer food next! You have to be very organized and plan ahead...)

Once you learn how easy it is to make banana bread, you never stress about those overly ripe bananas again.

When you have things to use up, use them. For me sometimes that means eating random things that don't usually go together. More often it just means planning around what I have -- only used half a rotisserie chicken? Into the pot it goes and dinner will be chicken soup. Berries are about to go off? Smoothies for breakfast. Feel like making cookies and remember I have half a package of dried cherries? Oatmeal cherry instead of oatmeal raisin. Potatoes and onions? I can make pierogies. You get the gist. All manner of veggies can be sauteed and thrown in with marinara sauce. Or even just into pasta with butter or olive oil. Veggies on truly last legs can become soup easily.

Get chickens. Nothing is wasted, they are little cannibals and even eat chicken leftovers. Also I don’t have to track it so closely because I know it is used for good, one less thing to stress over.

Meal plan
Stick to purchasing what's on your list at the grocery store

And, life happens- that's when we have an EMG night for dinner (everything must go). Might be whacky, but uses what's in the refrigerator

I shop multiple times a week. The real waste that I noticed when I shopped less frequently was produce that didn’t make it through a whole week — even when package dates said that they would, so I buy lettuce and spinach and less hardy fruits and vegetables twice a week, and eat berries and soft fruits within a day or two. I also buy frozen strawberries and peaches for sorbet.

I purchase many items planning multiple dishes. One of my favorite meals is egg roll in a bowl, and I use any leftovers to make okonomiyaki. Leftovers go on salads, in omelettes, and in stir fries. My mom used to do soups and croquettes too.

Anonymous wrote:Cook meals that make for good leftovers and pack them as such when you do clean up. When I make a stirfry and there are a lot of leftovers, I will put them in a few smaller containers instead of one huge one. Makes it really simple to just throw one of those in my work bag for lunch the next day instead of having to portion it out in the morning when I'm rushed. Similarly, if you intend to freeze the extras just do that when you're cleaning up the first night. Don't put it in the fridge to sit and be forgotten.

This is a good idea and I think I will start doing this.

Meal planning but I now subtract a meal bc I never cook as much as I want and so assume one night will always be pasta/quesadillas, which we always have ingredients on hand.

Freeze meat immediately.

I have a white board on my fridge that has all of the produce for the week written out so I dont forget about the bell peppers or celery.

Soups/frittatas/curries that can use up end of week veggies.

Cook meals that make for good leftovers and pack them as such when you do clean up. When I make a stirfry and there are a lot of leftovers, I will put them in a few smaller containers instead of one huge one. Makes it really simple to just throw one of those in my work bag for lunch the next day instead of having to portion it out in the morning when I'm rushed. Similarly, if you intend to freeze the extras just do that when you're cleaning up the first night. Don't put it in the fridge to sit and be forgotten.

Grocery delivery. It's hard for me to get to the store very often, so when I did shop in person I was trying to buy a big batch of groceries for a week or 10 days at a time, I was guesstimating what our week would look like, how many times we would eat at home, etc. Inevitably I would get it wrong because I was planning too far ahead - we'd eat out, or not get home in time to cook one night, and things would get wasted.

Now, I have delivery and I only order 2-3 days worth of food at a time. I have a much better handle on our schedule for that close a time frame, and thus waste less. Yes, it's not the greatest in terms of fossil fuel usage, but I figure it balances in what I save.

Also - buy proteins frozen when you can. Frozen salmon, frozen tenderloin, etc. It's easier to thaw before you will use it, then remember to freeze before it goes bad if you don't.