Comments on: Have You Joined the "Waste No Food Challenge?"

By: chaotic kitten

chaotic kitten — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:55:37 +0000

Hi, I thought you might like to know I linked to this post from my blog, it’s very inspiring

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:06:56 +0000

I read somewhere that the average U.S. family wastes 14% of its food. If they were to spend $400 a month on food, that means $56 is going into the garbage or toilet. Not to mention the inestimable numbers of people who are literally starving here and abroad every single day – how precious would that $56 worth of food be to them?

My favorite thing is to raid the fridge when it starts getting bare or the produce starts looking sad, get creative with the available ingredients and/or do a websearch for recipes with those particular ingredients. We’ve stumbled upon some fabulous new favorites this way!

A. Marie – absolutely – soup, soup, soup! When hubby is out of town, I grab one of my homecooked frozen soups (I freeze them in small pyrex bowls, then unmold them into freezer bags and label/date) and I’m able to have a very satisfying meal with minimal effort!

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:24:15 +0000

I read a blog called Less is Enough. She had an interesting post for April 14 that relates to this topic. http://www.lessisenough.wordpress.com

By: AnnMarie

AnnMarie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:36:13 +0000

I never joined it, but someone else I read was participating (ChiliChews?) and it got me started thinking. And acting. At the beginning of the year, I started trying to really think about whether I needed to buy food for myself. I tried to question each item I wrote down on the shopping list for DH. This is to help me eat all the stuff I froze, canned, and dried over the last couple years that’s still around. And the leftovers I’d freeze and forget about.

I’ve been pretty successful (but unfortunately our grocery bill hasn’t gone down as DH isn’t on board). And I finally made a fantastic soup the other day from leftovers and some cilantro base my parents gave me a couple years ago. For some reason, I usually make very bland soups despite seasoning them. I keep trying but…. Well, this time it was so good that when I went to reheat the leftovers last night, I discovered my DH had eaten them all! He almost never eats much of my soup. Darn–cuz I really liked it too! Luckily, I’d frozen 2 cups (I’ve finally learned that leftovers 5 days in a row just isn’t fun, and we do have freezer room); when I get it out, I won’t tell him! LOL

I’m going to have to find out where they bought the stuff and get some more when the jar is out. This may be my secret! And luckily, we love Mexican-inspired soups.

Oh, and count me in as a challenge participant now.

By: Cheapchick

Cheapchick — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:33:46 +0000

I freeze bananas without the skins when they are mushy..save for banana muffin making day. Started to do porkchop/hamburger/egg/chicken leg count as we have 6 mouths with varying appetite depending on the day to prevent waste and uneaten leftovers. Tried to cook less main course and have extra raw veggies so less is wasted. Monitor bread waste….freeze at stale point for stuffing. Food waste is a difficult thing. I have recently found that in the case of some fruits that I love (Mango) frozen is better as I can never get a fresh one that is ripe and there is zero waste as I always eat 100% of what is purchased and use coupons to reduce the cost.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:15:15 +0000

I don’t think I’m officially part of the WNFC, but I’ve been actively working on this since August. The biggest help for me is to not have much food on hand. If I can see the back of the ‘fridge, I know exactly what is in there and what we have to eat up. Plus, those odd bits of leftovers look much better when they are the only food that is left!

My current challenge is what to do with food that I don’t like. I made a bean and squash stew recently and didn’t care for it. Now there is a large container in the freezer taunting me every time I open the door.

By: A. Marie

A. Marie — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:16:02 +0000

SoupSoupSoupSoupSoup!!!

Ingredients of tonight’s chicken stock: Bones and pan scrapings from curried drumsticks made for dinner, plus two Ziploc bags of frozen chicken/turkey bones from earlier meals. (I learned about tossing bones into the freezer–and remembering to use them in stocks!–from the Two Fat Ladies cooking show a decade ago.) Bunch of parsley that didn’t dry altogether successfully in the attic. (I grow and dry herbs.)
Two stalks limp celery, one slightly sprouting Spanish onion, and two cloves actively sprouting garlic from vegetable bin. (Onions and garlic went in skins and all.) Bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Water to cover everything, in a 10-quart stock pot. The actual soup will be made from the boiled-down stock tomorrow–probably a mulligatawny, because of the curry.

So, you see, regular soup making is a great way of using things up and avoiding waste. This happens two or three times a month around here.

By: maclynx

maclynx — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:44:55 +0000

Jackie, i with you. Bought chicken becaus DH was going to cook it for sandwiches for he week. Unfortunately he procrastinated as usual and I encountered the mess on bin night as I looked for what needed to be thrown out. In the last few years this weekly ritual has basically come down to bones and fat that I can’t compost.
Grew my own lettuces this summer(Australia) and only picked what I needed – this cut down tose liquid problems in the bottom of the veggie bin

By: Mari

Mari — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:28:49 +0000

I haven’t been doing so good. I plan my meals and have the meat thawing in the refrigerator the night before. The day I plan to cook, my husband would have other plans. Like working late or have errands when he comes home. And he will not(and I mean H**LL NOT) eat leftovers. So I try not to cook very much at one time. But when he does eat there isn’t enough for him! He thinks it is a lot easier to stop by a fast food resturant and eating. So I have factors working against me.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:27:19 +0000

This is such a timely subject. Just yesterday I trucked way too much lettuce/veggies to the compost pile because it wasn’t eaten. I also had to throw out some pieces of chicken (uncooked) because I never found the time to cook them. What a waste. I vowed yesterday to stop wasting as I have been.

Love your writings! They keep me focused.