Giveaway — “American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of its Food (and What We Can Do About It)

by Katy on September 2, 2011 · 162 comments

Big news, girls and boys! The paperback of Jonathan Bloom’s award winning American Wasteland is finally available, and I have one copy available for a lucky reader.

For those not in the know, this book is a wonderful and engaging read about all issues related to food waste. From farm to forgotten crisper drawer, it’s all in here.

To enter to win this book, write something in the comments section about how you work to avoid food waste. I will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, September 6th at 9:00 P.M. Pacific time. One entry per person, U.S. residents only.

Good luck!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

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{ 161 comments… read them below or add one }

Mary Kate September 2, 2011 at 9:10 am

I serve leftovers, I remake leftovers, and I’ll eat just about anything at any meal to keep food from going bad.

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Little Miss Moneybags September 2, 2011 at 9:28 am

This week, my husband and I accidentally came home with three bags of on-sale salad mix…each.

I have been eating salads for lunch and dinner all week long to use it up. I’m getting a *little* sick of salad – but I’m determined!

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Emily September 2, 2011 at 9:31 am

I put vegetable and chicken scraps in a bag in the freezer. When it’s full, I make some yummy stock.

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Kim W September 2, 2011 at 9:35 am

I am making a real effort to eat leftovers for lunch, sending them with my husband for his lunch and really pay attention to what gets eaten . Like if we only realistically eat 4 apples a week then I dont buy a bag . I buy 4. Keeping the fridge cleaned out helps to so things don’t work their way to the black hole in the back of the fridge.

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Sarah September 2, 2011 at 9:36 am

I serve lots of leftovers and am getting better at turning old things into new things. Sunday’s roast beef, veggies, and rice turned into a rice pilaf with small chunks of roast sprinkled throughout and the veggies pureed into a binding sauce. Often leftover rice gets fried – my kids love it that way. The steamed broccoli from a few days ago got put into some mac and cheese, along with half the tub of ricotta that I shouldn’t have bought in the first place. I don’t normally make my mac and cheese with broccoli or ricotta, but since I had them, I threw them in, and it was good. Cooking this way means most dishes are never the same twice. Since variety is the spice of life, I’m calling that a good thing.

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Heather W September 2, 2011 at 9:38 am

I probably need to read this book!

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Jessica September 2, 2011 at 9:45 am

I let my husband cook! Seriously–I am a rule-follower and need a recipe in order to cook. I hate that because recipes usually require you to go buy at least one thing you don’t have in the house, and then you’ve got a big container of it just to use a tiny pinch. My husband, though, can look at everything we have in the house and whip up something delicious using leftovers and whatever else we have on hand. I bow to his talent! 🙂

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Kerrie September 2, 2011 at 9:45 am

I want this book, I’m #7 on paperbackswap to get it! This is something that I try really hard to work at. I make apple peel jam, I freeze vegetable scraps for stock, I make a lot of summer smoothies with old fruit (mine or other people’s). I’ve attempted crumby/cobbler desserts with fruit frozen as it passes its prime, with mixed results.
Everything we cook we plan for stage one and two, making stage two an alternative that we will like and be able to use everything to make.

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Mrs. Thor September 2, 2011 at 9:48 am

We make two shopping trips per week to try to avoid overbuying. We also sometimes pay more per unit to avoid buying in bulk if we know we will not be able to consume it all.

And, sometimes, the husband eats two bananas per day when I don’t do my part. Of course there is always banana bread too. 😉

I also save veggie and meat scraps for broth.

We are not perfect, but I am very happy with my food waste progress. I have gotten much better over time. 🙂

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Keri September 2, 2011 at 9:49 am

I make lunch-sized portions in glass containers whenever there are leftovers, and immediately freeze all but one. I have easy lunches ready to go when needed, rather than eating the same thing several days in a row and getting burned out. I’m also adept at putting lots of bits of veggies in pasta dishes or spaghetti sauce to make use of what’s in the drawer.

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Holly September 2, 2011 at 9:49 am

I go through my fridge every few days and make up a mixture of all my leftovers. “Goulash” is a staple in my house.

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Bauunny September 2, 2011 at 9:54 am

We have chickens! So they get almost all the leftover food — which they recycle in to eggs for us. We even feed them the crushed eggshells! A continuous loop.

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Doris Lee September 2, 2011 at 9:56 am

I do cut the mold off of hard cheeses and eat them (I try not to let them get moldy in the first place, tho’).

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Stormy September 2, 2011 at 10:01 am

I clean out the fridge at least once a week so I can see what is about to go bad and move it toward the front so I can remember to use it ASAP

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Meg September 2, 2011 at 10:03 am

As soon as I’m done cooking, I divvy up my food into individual meal portions. By having them ready to go, it’s infinitely easier to take the leftovers to work for lunch. I’m not time crunched or tempted to order out while good food sits at home in the fridge!

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M September 2, 2011 at 10:04 am

I’ve moved from having a dedicated weekly shopping day to waiting until we definitely need more food. I buy carrots, oranges, etc. individually rather than in a bag to get just the right quantity. And about once a week, I make soup to use up veggies.
Next weekend, I’m going to a worm composting workshop! I am ridiculously excited.
My downfall is making too much food when we’re having company. I think I need to start only cooking things I can freeze when we’re having guests.

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Eli September 2, 2011 at 10:16 am

I am the Leftover Queen! I absolutely despise food waste and I trying to eat / re-imagine my leftovers all the time. I am also incredibly lazy about getting myself to a grocery store, so I am constantly coming up with very “creative” meals from the odds and ends in my fridge, if only to delay shopping my one more day.

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gabbie September 2, 2011 at 10:20 am

I’ve been pureeing and freezing veggies I don’t use in time. We’re just a family of two, so it’s really hard to go through all the veggies before they go bad.

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Cindy September 2, 2011 at 10:22 am

I have a garden and am busily canning, freezing and dehydrating every morsel that comes out of it!

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Jacquelyn September 2, 2011 at 10:25 am

I ‘fifo’ everything in my pantries, freezers, and fridge, and do my best to keep my fridge from being full, because when it’s full, stuff gets buried and goes bad.

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Jenn H September 3, 2011 at 2:55 am

What an excellent turn of phrase for food! I like to tell my husband the next 2 dogs we get are going to be called FIFO & LIFO!

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Carolyn September 2, 2011 at 10:36 am

We plan our meals and I always try to keep a lookout in our frig and pantry for things getting old, nearly empty and eat our way through it. As an organizer and a little bit of a minimalist, the empty frig at the end of the week is comforting to me. I actually feel a little overwhelmed by a full frig. Somehow, it is always nearly empty by week end with very little waste. Now, if I can translate what works for us into helping my clients waste not, want not.

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Kim September 2, 2011 at 10:50 am

I quit buying perishable food at Costco. We can never use it up before it goes bad so it’s a waste of money and resources. We also started menu planning and now that the boys are back in school they know to bring home anything in their lunch that they don’t eat to be used another day.

Kim

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Glenn September 2, 2011 at 10:52 am

I like to repurpose leftovers to create a whole new dish, i.e., leftover risotto might become risotto cakes.

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Caroline September 2, 2011 at 10:53 am

I put off grocery shopping. Mostly because I would rather do almost ANYTHING else then go to the grocery store; but I have found that the lack of options in my kitchen forces me to eat the things that are not my favorite. E.g., the spinich I had left over from a pasta recipe gets used for a dinner salad. If I had a fully stocked kitchen there would have been no way I would have used it all before it would have gone bad. Hunger and despiration is a great motivator.

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Chantill September 2, 2011 at 10:57 am

While my husband will throw out anything in the fridge that even looks at him funny, I eat lots of leftovers and also substitute ingredients in recipes in order to use food up. I have also tried to only purchase the amount of food I know we can eat before it goes bad, but sometimes it’s hard to judge how much my teen girls will eat! We also have a garden and freeze and dehydrate whatever produce we can’t eat fresh. Whatever veggies do end up rotten get composted.

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Annie Jones September 2, 2011 at 10:59 am

The most common thing we do to avoid food waste is to eat our leftovers. We like them fine just the way the were served to begin with, but sometimes I rework and re-combine them to make brand new meals.

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cj sime September 2, 2011 at 11:04 am

Crock pot cooking can revitalize even the saddest looking veggies. I am extremely picky about my veggies being pretty when I eat them raw, but ugly or nearly dead veggies always turn out in the crock pot.

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Melanie September 2, 2011 at 11:11 am

I am trying to reduce waste be being more diligent in my meal planning. And I do “planned-overs”: the leftover roast from last night will become beef & noodles in a day or two. I do more frozen veggies than fresh since they don’t go bad before I can use them. My husband complains that the freezer is a brown banana graveyard – guess I need to make more banana bread, pancakes, etc. 🙂

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Melanie H September 2, 2011 at 11:14 am

try to incorporate left overs in a subsequent meal or send them to work with my husband for his lunch

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Sharon September 2, 2011 at 11:14 am

Earlier this year, I purchased an Excalibur dehyrator, and have been a mad-eyed zealot in dehydrating leftovers and excesses for later use in soups, stews, etc. After the individual components are dehydrated, they are placed in vaccuum sealed canning jars, and it’s surprising how a half-cup here and there really begins to add up! In addition to avoiding waste, it’s nice to know that if I decide to make beef stroganoff or potato soup this winter, I can go into the basement to get what I need, and not out into a howling snowstorm …

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jen September 2, 2011 at 11:15 am

Many dishes or at least side dishes I make are easy to adapt to whatever veggies or meats I need to use up. I’m getting better at cooking up or chopping up sad fruit and made a pear tart today for that very reason. Hope it comes out good…

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Emma September 2, 2011 at 11:20 am

I cut bruises off fruit and put them in smoothies. I also menu plan to avoid waste.

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Cindy September 2, 2011 at 11:21 am

I’ve been freezing little leftovers and using them as casseroles and soups. They’ve turned out great!

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Maureen September 2, 2011 at 11:59 am

I work from home so I’m trying to eat the leftovers for lunch since hubby doesn’t really like leftovers (horrors!). I’m trying to buy less too so that it doesn’t go to waste.

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N September 2, 2011 at 12:02 pm

I bought a worm composter this spring. It was a bit pricey and certainly something that many people could build themselves… but it was very easy to set up and get started, which I appreciated. It’s been fun checking on the worms and the kids enjoy feeding them kitchen scraps.

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Mary September 2, 2011 at 12:02 pm

We eat leftovers whether we love them or not. We raise a vegetable garden so we cook what we grow or buy from our farmer’s market. And we use the freezer. We also have chickens and a compost bin. I would love to read this book for more inspiration!
Thanks

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Shannon Breen September 2, 2011 at 12:09 pm

This may be horribly obvious, but the biggest thing for me is carefully labeling things with dates. Whenever I open a new bottle of salad dressing or put the remainders of a pack of bacon in a container for the fridge or the like, I put the date on top. I don’t know how many bottles/jars/containers of food have been tossed because I looked at it and couldn’t remember when I opened (I mean I couldn’t even say the year, let alone the date). Thanks!

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valerie September 2, 2011 at 12:23 pm

I eat my leftovers! If I have a little extra veggies or fruits that my dog can eat, he gets those for treats. I also try not to buy more than I need for a few days. It means I shop more (though I can easily walk to a grocery store or Farmers Mkt) but in the end there is less to throw out if I can’t finish everything. Oh, I am also a big eater!

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Indigo September 2, 2011 at 1:17 pm

It all starts with knowing how much of something I can expect to eat between the time or purchase and the time it starts to go bad. I’ll devour a box of clementines but I know I can’t eat my way through a bag of oranges so I buy those individually.

I also keep in mind that it is okay to be “out” of something. The store is still there, I can stop by on the way home from work, or just make something else. There is no law that says I have to have this meal today. People tend to stock up too much on perishables, trying to avoid the grocery store, and end up with too much waste, and still in need of some forgotten item.

I go into the store with a list of basics and an eye for deals but I write down what I’ll use it for if it wasn’t on my list. If I can’t figure out what the ingredient can be used for in the store, it stays in the store, regardless of the deal. It isn’t a deal if it just rots in the fridge.

I also tend to make a lot of meals that can either freeze well for future lunches/ quick dinners or can be reinvented as leftovers. Last night’s rice can go into a quick chicken soup, or become Chinese fried rice. Extra chili gets thickened up with refried beans and ground flax to be turned into filling for quick frozen burritos.

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Laura's Last Ditch--Vintage Kitchenwares September 2, 2011 at 1:18 pm

I Dumpster dive. I score good items regularly from my local produce market, such as a bag of apples where only one is bad. Honestly, I don’t need the book since it’s on hold for me at the library, but I just wanted to answer the question.

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Smiles September 2, 2011 at 1:22 pm

I’m horrible at this. My husband is in the military and has an apartment near base while I have the house I owned before we met. We visit each other on the weekends (when he isn’t deployed) but don’t live together full time because of our job locations. And where we spend the weekend often depends on work or social obligations so it can change at the last minute. We either stock up on groceries and then aren’t home to use them or buy little and then end up eating out most of the weekend because there is nothing ready in the house. Cooking for 1 just doesn’t seem worth it. A friend gifted us a chest freezer so I’m hoping that helps us cook on the weekends and freeze the leftovers for solo meals during the week as needed.

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Jennifer G. September 2, 2011 at 1:28 pm

I am in the middle of a “grocery shopping fast” right now, where I try to use up as much food as I can before grocery shopping again. I’m almost out of fresh stuff, but it keeps me hammering through the pantry items.

I’m also devout about freezing stuff. If I think something will go bad before we can eat it, I will prepare it however I need to and freeze it. We saved 12 cups of sliced apples this way a few weeks ago! (I had bought one bag my husband didn’t like, then he bought a bag at an orchard on vacation but didn’t take lunch to work very regularly for a while.)

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Barbara Marlow September 2, 2011 at 1:38 pm

I’m with Mary Kate. I love leftovers and my fiancee doesn’t mind it either. If I make too much at a meal, I will leave some out for leftovers for a couple of days and freeze the rest. If I make a chicken, I will save the bones in freezer bag for broth for soup. Scraps from produce, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc go into my Rubbermaid tote outdoors. Sometimes I will use leftovers to invent a new meal. I hate to waste food.

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Susan September 2, 2011 at 1:39 pm

I have come along way with my food waste but I still have a lot of improving to do. I only store my leftovers in clear glass that way I have a clear view of what is in the refig. I no longer eat out at lunch, I bring what we have leftover. I also do not cook a new meal every night. If we have leftovers I will add something to round it out for a complete meal.

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jordan September 2, 2011 at 1:41 pm

I love going grocery shopping, so I just plan to go several times a week and think about the meals for the next day or two, rather than go and buy for the week.

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Kacy September 2, 2011 at 2:15 pm

I try not to over buy when I am grocery shopping and try to plan meals. I find a garden helps too because I am so motivated to can or freeze or eat what is there when I’ve been the one planting and watering and babying what I am going to eat.

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Juli September 2, 2011 at 2:19 pm

I make a list reminding kids what’s available to eat and put it front and center on the fridge. I make sauce from mushy or half-eaten apples and pears and use it in baked goods. I also freeze fruits and veggies for use in smoothies, baked goods, and soup stocks, as others have mentioned. I make rice pudding with leftover rice and bread pudding with stale bread or uneaten heels. I trade leftovers with my sister so nothing goes bad just because we’re sick of it.

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Stephanie September 2, 2011 at 2:23 pm

If I do forget the crisper drawer, I feed the contents to my two hens. I feel like they’e “recycling” my rotten-ish food to make eggs!

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Rubymay1029 September 2, 2011 at 2:25 pm

I pack leftovers for lunches instead of separate containers. It is easier for DD to grab a prepared container than to dip up her own in the mornings for lunch packing.

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Jennifer September 2, 2011 at 2:43 pm

I really try to clean out my fridge before I go shopping, and try to buy groceries for no more then a week

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Annie September 2, 2011 at 2:55 pm

I bring food I’m not going to eat in time to the office and give it away.

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Hilary September 2, 2011 at 3:01 pm

I have a section of one shelf in the fridge where I put all things needed to be used soon. That shelf is the one I first see when I open the door, so those items get used and not wasted.

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Virginia Bruce September 2, 2011 at 3:06 pm

Before I prepare a meal, I “interview” the stuff in my fridge to find out what needs to be used up and what might fit with whatever I have in mind. Sometimes it means checking the drawers and what’s in those containers. I hate to throw away food, and this method works well for me. In garden season, I check for what needs picking too.

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Rachel September 2, 2011 at 3:07 pm

I eat leftovers for lunch. It’s not glamourous or exciting, but it certainly reduces the dribs and drabs of other meals hanging around in the fridge.

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Erin September 2, 2011 at 3:18 pm

I, too, eat leftovers for lunch. I am fortunate enough to both get one hour for lunch and to live five minutes from work. It may not be glamorous, but when I come home the house is quiet and the food is quality. Leftovers also serve to feed everyone lunch on the weekends. If my mom comes to dinner, the leftovers go home with her, as she lives alone and rarely cooks just for herself.

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Carol September 2, 2011 at 3:21 pm

We do several things to keep from throwing food out: We shop intentionally – meaning we intend to eat conservatively. Leftovers are what we eat for lunch daily until they’re gone. Any scraps or fruit cores are feed to our chickens, who translate some of that energy into eggs everyday. Other waste goes into the compost. Very little is actually thrown into the trash. We do what we can!

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Marianne September 2, 2011 at 3:40 pm

I look at whats in the fridge and go to lovefoodhatewaste.com which my friend Katy Wolk-Stanley showed me!

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Tracy September 2, 2011 at 3:43 pm

Katy,
I love your giveaways. I cook big batches of food items and freeze those items in single serving containers. I have two boys that have jobs, go to college and date. They can then pull something healthy out of the freezer, heat, and eat in a matter of minutes. This helps to keep the food waste down to non guilty amounts.

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Alice September 2, 2011 at 3:45 pm

The biggest change that I’ve made lately is to stop what I call ‘aspirational grocery shopping.’ I’m not a very creative cook, and for a (long) while, I kept on buying things that I thought I Should Buy, rather than things that I was likely to actually prepare. Ever since I’ve realized that broccoli, carrots, celery and onions get eaten, and everything else should be bought frozen, there’s been a lot less getting tossed.

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Lindean September 2, 2011 at 4:11 pm

We make a weekly meal plan, and only buy “special” ingredients if we know they will be immediately used. This meal plan usually gets made on Wednesdays, so that we can take advantage of grocery store specials on perishables and so we know what to shop for at our local farmers market on Saturday. Without the plan we end up buying all kinds of tasty things that don’t necessarily taste great together…

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Stacie September 2, 2011 at 4:15 pm

Well, to be honest…I make the kids clean their plates and eat leftovers and yes! we do ration things like how much extra cheese you can put on a pizza and I have found myself to say things like..”there are 2 more bites left in that apple!”
Guess I have become my mother. And really, it is okay~
🙂

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Maniacal Mommy September 2, 2011 at 4:15 pm

I grow many of our veggies, so I do not have to buy much fresh: it is in our freezer already. Celery in the winter, some lettuce if my husband is desperately craving taco salad. Our school insists that healthy snacks be brought each day, so that takes care of the fruit I buy.

If all else fails, and food STILL goes to waste? It becomes chicken feed, which becomes eggs that we eat. So maybe the last ten grapes with a bit of mold on them were expensive chicken feed, they still did not technically go to waste. Same goes for the last two bites of oatmeal, or pancakes, or half a cup of spaghetti. My friends melons never did get sweet enough to eat: my chickens were grateful for them!

Every year I find myself flush with more tomatoes than I am able to, or willing to, can. Tomato plants come up from seed, or everything ripens at once, or a plant waits until it is too late. When my family has canned all they can muster (which is why my garden is big, I grow for three families, sometimes four): I donate.

Our small town has an equally small apartment complex for senior citizens, most of them on fixed incomes (so their rent is subsidized). For the past seven years I have taken my extra produce to them.

There is nothing like an 80 year old woman clapping her hands with joy at the thought of eating a home grown tomato “with just a pinch of salt, my doctor insists that is all I can have!” to make you glad it wasn’t chicken feed.

I know there is waste, and then there is waste. But sometimes we forget about all who can benefit from our negligence, be it birds or humans.

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Tina B September 2, 2011 at 4:25 pm

I am terrible at food waste! My worst problem is fresh veggies that always seem to go bad. One thing we do is eat leftovers but that is more about saving labor then saving food.

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Cate September 2, 2011 at 4:34 pm

I try to stay on top of the food that’s in our house, and make plans to preserve things if I know we won’t eat it before it goes bad. Sometimes that means canning, sometimes that means freezing, sometimes that means baking and then freezing…either way, it keeps us from wasting food!

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Nina Nelson September 2, 2011 at 4:40 pm

I send leftovers to work with my husband. He’s a firefighter that works 48-hour shifts so we avoid throwing a lot away because he loves leftovers. 🙂

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Emily September 2, 2011 at 4:46 pm

I plan my family’s menu for the month, so when we are shopping it is for the purpose of making those meals. Any leftovers are put into tupperware containers and taken for lunches.

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Ann September 2, 2011 at 5:04 pm

We plan 3 meals a day for the week prior to shopping and try to plan leftovers for lunches. We also are now in the habit of buying just a little bit less than we think we will need…there are just the two of us and, heavens knows, we could stand a little calorie deprivation. We have 3 dogs and a pig (a visiting pet of a relative), so the final dregs go to them…except onions… Most of our food waste reduction is in the concious decision making process of not having snack foods, planning meals and paying attention to what is in the fridge.

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Debbie September 2, 2011 at 5:18 pm

I save all of my vegetable scraps in a bag in the freezer for making vegetable stock, and I save all of my bread ends in a bag in the freezer for use as bread crumbs in recipes or for making stuffing.

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Bonnie September 2, 2011 at 5:19 pm

All I can claim honestly is that I eat leftovers and practice creative repurposing with them. The topic of food waste has caught my attention as a personal household issue and as a broader social issue. I’d love to learn more.

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Linda September 2, 2011 at 5:35 pm

I have always been opposed to waste and work hard to incorporate leftovers into the next meal. With kids I have also found that if I go ahead and fix/arrange something they are more likely to eat it (wash the grapes, berries, melon, etc and have it sitting front & center in the fridge). I often joke and ask if they would like me to chew it for them too!?!

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Christina September 2, 2011 at 5:42 pm

I only shop on the same day or the day before I plan to cook. I cook large quantities and freeze portions. I don’t mind eating the same thing a few days in a row, so I don’t feel the need to have lots of groceries on hand to make something different every night.
What I would like to improve on is using my veggie scraps to make broth.

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Jessica September 2, 2011 at 5:46 pm

I, too, eat leftovers for lunch, but am very guilty of wasting produce. I am hoping that one we’re in our “real” house next week and have a better-working kitchen I will be back to my regular cooking schedule, and this book would really help! Thanks, Katy!

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Kayduh September 2, 2011 at 5:47 pm

We menu plan and try to build those menus around any extra ingredients in the fridge. We will be having enchiladas this week because we have left over tortillas from last week’s tacos!

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Marissa September 2, 2011 at 5:49 pm

We eat leftover first or combine leftover with new food & try to eat produce within days of buying it.

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Kathy M September 2, 2011 at 6:29 pm

We are careful what we buy and make an effort to use up what we have before buying anything new. Thanks for the give-a-way.

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Christine S September 2, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Leftovers reused into pasta salad or soup. Great way to get those veggies before they slime up!

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Alyson September 2, 2011 at 6:45 pm

My husband and I–and my 1 year old–eat leftovers for lunch, so that takes care of my everying. I also menu plan every week and am intentional with my purchasing. If there is anything that is about to turn, I freeze it for later.

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Rachell September 2, 2011 at 7:11 pm

We freeze and can but what has really made a difference for us was to buy less. It seems so simple but it used to be ok, what are we going to buy this week and now it’s more like can we get by without shopping this week.

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namastemama September 2, 2011 at 7:15 pm

My son had a terrible habit of eating all around an apple. I always saved these and then sliced it up and made him eat the rest. Then I found smaller apples to buy.

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Linda September 2, 2011 at 7:16 pm

I live alone. every recipe is many meals for me but I portion leftover and freeze them for future meals.by doing this I don’t have to eat the same thing day after day and the food doen’t have a chance to go bad before I use it

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Laura V September 2, 2011 at 7:16 pm

We have “Smorgasbord!” for dinner, which is a way of making the lineup of leftovers really really exciting.

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Lynda September 2, 2011 at 7:26 pm

I’ve been *re-purposing* food forever: We eat leftovers, make casseroles, what doesn’t get eaten by the family is fed to the chickens, worms and or the piggies. My newest challenge is the school lunch room…I just took a parttime job as a substitute school cook…I am horrified by the waste! If I keep this job I will need to work on a composting type program…otherwise I’ll have a complete melt-down!

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Katie September 2, 2011 at 7:26 pm

To avoid waste we do the simplest thing ever…we eat our leftovers. It’s part of the plan.

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AMY September 2, 2011 at 8:00 pm

When I think about dinner plans, I always check the fridge for what to work with and what can be used up. I also try to have my leftovers in one section of the fridge to prevent it from “growing legs”.

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Jennifer September 2, 2011 at 8:03 pm

I am really good at turning one thing into another not to waste what we can’t eat in 1 night.

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Leslie K September 2, 2011 at 8:06 pm

When I am on my A game, I plan the meals ahead and buy food accordingly, instead of swinging by the store and buying stuff that I might use. I try to plan at least 3 meals during the week, and have a couple of meals of leftovers. We have tried to stick with Meatless Mondays, or, more like 2 meals during the week that are meatless…while not necessarily saving on the downstream waste, it saves a lot on the upstream costs/waste. Not quite ready to go veggie yet, but even a little bit helps.

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Rolinda September 2, 2011 at 8:30 pm

Honestly, to save on wasted food in our house, I simply make it a habit to remind my husband of what’s in the fridge on a nearly daily basis. It’s worked so far.

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Jenny September 2, 2011 at 9:07 pm

Guess I’m not alone in eating leftovers for lunch, and shopping with a meal plan! We also eat either curry, stir-fry, or veg with peanut sauce once a week. It helps use up all those little odds and ends of vegetables before they go bad.

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Gigi September 2, 2011 at 10:32 pm

Like everyone else, we try to eat up our leftovers as well. I’m also learning to buy only the amount perishables that I know will get eaten so there is less waste overall.

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Erin from Long Island September 2, 2011 at 11:03 pm

my biggest issue used to be buying produce in ridiculous quantities when it was on sale, I have learned to scale it down to what I need, and nothing more.

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Margaret September 3, 2011 at 1:34 am

We cook using primarily fresh vegetables so food waste could become a problem but because we also try to shop for veggies as we cook (which means shopping 2-3 times a week), we tend to use those veggies. We try to minimize our overall waste as well (minimal plastic wrapping) and that leads to less food waste by having less stuff we can keep and then let go bad. And then our leftovers go as lunch with the hubby to work! Hooray Tupperware!

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Jenn H September 3, 2011 at 3:02 am

My favorite way to reclaim the veggies that are ready to go south is to throw them in the freezer until I roast a chicken. I take the chicken carcass and the less than perfect frozen veggies & throw them all in the crock pot before we go to bed. We wake up to the smell of wonderful chicken stock. I take the stock & pour it into muffin tins and stick it in the freezer. Once they freeze up you have perfect little 1/4 cup sized disks of stock to put in a zippy bag & pull out as needed.

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Rebecca R. September 3, 2011 at 3:16 am

Although it is messier looking, I try to keep all my food out in the open, so I don’t forget about what I have and I eat all of it.

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Sarah September 3, 2011 at 3:50 am

It’s not a huge thing, but a step in the right direction: my husband is used to cooking for a crowd, and we’d end up with so many leftovers that we couldn’t possibly get through them all. Now, we’re doing a better job of keeping our recipes appropriate to the “crowd” we’re trying to feed (our two mouths and those of two small children) so that we don’t have so many leftovers that then go to waste.

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Amber @ neuronmommy.com September 3, 2011 at 4:17 am

We make “veggie delight” soups from any veggies that need to be consumed asap! Most of the time it doesn’t matter which combo you use, it turns out great. We also do leftoevers for lunches. I make a meal plan for each week, and if there are any extra leftovers (aside from what is used in lunches) we incorporate that into the next dinner.

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Jean September 3, 2011 at 4:28 am

We try–the guilt sets in when I realize I left something at the back of the ‘frig.
I will make a soup from leftovers. If I have a bunch of vegetables in the ‘frig, I will roast them up for soup base.
I take “last night’s leftovers” to work for lunch the next day.
Friday nights we like to go to our local, small unfancy restaurant (dinner for 2 under $20) but if I have food in the ‘frig that should be eaten, we skip it–two wins there, saving the the $20 and not adding to the mulch pile.
This week following power outages from the tropical storm, I cooked up food from my children’s ‘frigs and have shared it/returned it back to them when their power came back up.

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Alison September 3, 2011 at 5:00 am

I “shop” my fridge on a daily basis. This helps to use up the left overs and to save money.

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Rosa September 3, 2011 at 5:12 am

We make a meal plan every week, starting with what’s in the fridge and pantry. I learned to cook by dumpster diving & preparing food for Food Not Bombs so I’m a lot better at cooking whatever needs using up than I am at deciding what I want and going to find it.

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A. Marie September 3, 2011 at 5:22 am

About the only thing I can mention that others haven’t already described is using various prepared foods *promptly* if there’s been some flaw in the preparation (for example, a cracked hard-boiled egg or a freezer bag of tomatoes with a seal failure).

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Jennifer September 3, 2011 at 5:46 am

I have been chained to the stove preserving the harvest from our garden, other folks gardens (who are done preserving their own) and foraging from friend’s fruit trees. It’s gonna be a tasty winter in Indiana!

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Katie September 3, 2011 at 6:07 am

I always tried to eat leftovers for lunch, but I didn’t really get in the groove until I realized that I didn’t need to pack an individual lunch every day. Now I often bring a big container of whatever I have on Monday and eat it all week. Lots less waste.

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Lea September 3, 2011 at 6:12 am

I dedicate a shelf in my fridge for leftovers. My husband usually takes them for lunch, but in any case that’s our go to first area.

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april September 4, 2011 at 1:57 pm

Wow Lea that’s a great idea!

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Margaret September 3, 2011 at 6:16 am

I am trying to make only what we will eat in a meal or two. I also freeze extra food for later. I have purchased an ice cream maker. I will be able to make left over fruit into fruit ices and sherbet.

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Lorraine September 3, 2011 at 6:41 am

There’s just the two of us – empty-nesters – so some times it can be challenging to cook the right amount and consume it before it goes bad or we’re sick to death of it – we only have so much freezer space… But since I started really paying attention and following “Food Waste Friday,” I’ve noticed a huge improvement in the amount of food we toss.

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Melissa September 3, 2011 at 6:42 am

I do a number of things…I have cut way down on what I buy in the first place. I’ve become a freezer fan and freeze everything from individual servings we can eat later and things that are freezable but in danger of going bad at a time when I am uninspired. Finally, I regularly serve my family meals under the thrilling banner “Smorgasboard” which is various bits of leftovers that otherwise might be abandoned in the fridge for…too long.

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Roberta September 3, 2011 at 8:17 am

I take leftovers to work for lunches, and I meal plan based on what’s in the fridge. Sometimes it means I have similar snacks until something is used up, for example this week lots of cherry tomatoes and peaches. Next time I shop, maybe I’ll be snacking on strawberries and baby carrots for several days. The variety in my diet averages out over time, and less food gets wasted.

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Anne Weber-Falk September 3, 2011 at 8:57 am

We switched to clear glass bowls to put leftovers in. We can see what’s in them and that means we use them. We can reheat in them so it’s more convenient and fewer dirty dishes. No more sliding to the back of the fridge either. The glass bowls are heavier and they can stack on each other so they stay put on the shelf. Best thing I’ve done for the family in a while.

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Beth September 3, 2011 at 9:13 am

I’ve gotten good at finding ways to add almost any type of leftovers to whatever I’m cooking. Plus I like to make my own stock with bits of left over veggies, carrot tops, chicken bones, etc. using my crockpot – its so easy!

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Renee September 3, 2011 at 9:41 am

I have just finished reading the book from the library because of you and The Frugal Girl. Would love to have a copy. I am concentrating on using everything, more so than I used to. I’m also in the process of setting up a worm bin. Thanks for your work!

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Lisa September 3, 2011 at 9:45 am

I tend to cook really basic foods then get creative with leftovers….transforming them into completely different meals. I keep a covered container in my freezer and add dribs and drabs to use for soup/stew. When I cook in bulk, like large quantities of beans, I divide them into meal sized portions and freeze them. When the occasional food item gets past me, if it’s vegetable it lands in the compost. If it’s grain or meat, the outdoor dogs are happy to get it.

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Tabetha Smelser September 3, 2011 at 9:49 am

I try to eliminate food waste by planning our our meals and planning out ways to use our leftovers. I write a very precise grocery list to avoid buying things we don’t need. Also, I try to get creative with foods that I notice need to be used up, sticking them in an omelet, a soup or something like that.

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Jeff the Aldi Shopper September 3, 2011 at 11:52 am

I’m doing several things to minimize food waste –
– saving vegetable trimmings for the stock pot (an oldie, but a goodie).
– preparing food in smaller quantities to reduce leftovers, except when leftovers are part of the plan.
– using up any leftovers I do have on “Mexican Feast Night”, where it all gets incorporated as filling for tacos and burritos – easily my family’s favorite supper of the week! And they don’t even realize they’re eating leftover eggplant, zucchini, and whatever else in the tacos. Less waste, and more nutritious, too!

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Barb @ 1 Sentence Diary September 3, 2011 at 1:31 pm

Doing my best to avoid food waste by buying less. I’ve also become excellent at freezing items before they go bad, and I’m now working on remembering to use the frozen items!

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Edamommy September 3, 2011 at 1:38 pm

Oh, awesome – this looks like a really interesting book.

We compost, try to buy in bulk and work carefully to try and use up leftovers either through simple leftover meals or incorporating these foods into my menu planning.

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Madeline September 3, 2011 at 2:49 pm

I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but I have STOPPED stocking up on stuff. We are empty nesters now, at age 57, and I love to cook but I am struggling with learning how to cook LESS so we don’t have to eat the same dish 3 times in a row. (We don’t, and then it is thrown away..) Also,I just do BAD with freezing stuff.. once it hits my freezer it is no man’s land and I throw it out a year later. I like fresh meals!

We like to eat out twice a week, once at the cheap korean noodle place and once at the also cheap ,vietnamese pho place, so that’s just 5 meals a week to cook, plus lunches….
Sounds weird, but,spending a tiny bit more by shopping at Trader Joe where they have smaller packages, means less leftovers, tasty offerings, and is saving me money. i HATE to throw food away!!!!!!

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Alana D. September 3, 2011 at 4:34 pm

If I don’t use my leftovers in two days, I freeze them in meal size packages.

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Marcy September 3, 2011 at 4:54 pm

We eat left overs; however, they are not a favority of my husband. So, I do try to cook smaller portions.

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sandra j September 3, 2011 at 6:14 pm

I try to freeze leftovers and use them for lunches at work.

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Kris September 3, 2011 at 7:08 pm

First step is eating what is left on the plates. I hate wasting food because someone’s eyes were bigger than their stomache. Second step is hubby taking leftovers to work for his lunch. Third step is me and the little kids eating them for lunch. Fourth step is re-using them in a new way for dinner a subsequent night.

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Kathy S September 3, 2011 at 7:33 pm

Still a work in progress. I try to make stock out of chicken carcasses and chicken soup or stir-fry out of leftover chicken. Vegetable peels are either composted or frozen for stock. My husband is pretty good about eating leftovers for lunch. Every once in a while I make leftover soup.

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Tammy September 3, 2011 at 7:38 pm

I uses to throw away a fair amount of food until I started calculating how much the stuff cost that I was getting rid of. After that I began shopping a lot smarter and eating what’s i had planned instead of what was convenient.

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Kandace September 3, 2011 at 9:16 pm

Solid meal plans are key. I try to plan a month at a time, in consultation with our monthly calendar. I rarely cook a meal without planning on eating it for 2 days.

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Deb September 3, 2011 at 9:18 pm

If milk or juice starts getting near its expiration date, I freeze some in mason jars. I have totally eliminated wasting milk and orange juice this way!

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susanmcl September 3, 2011 at 9:32 pm

I really try to stay stay within our food budget, so that minimizes what can be bought in the first place. I shop at least 2 – 3 times per week as needed for fresh fruits & produce. This helps to cut waste & I get the specials for the week at each store, saving a ton of money.

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Kris September 4, 2011 at 3:08 am

Meal Planning and conscious buying have helped us cut down on our waste. Also we are good about taking leftovers for work. When we have food that needs to be eaten we will replace a meal plan item with Hodge Podge Night which the kids think is weird, but also love to participate in. 🙂

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Linda September 4, 2011 at 3:46 am

I keep leftovers mostly in check by eating them for lunch the next day. My husband has a microwave at work, so he routinely eats leftovers for lunch. I work from home, so I also eat leftovers for lunch.

Even with this, I still throw away too much food. I would love to read this book. Maybe it will help me to be more aware of all the waste.

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Jen September 4, 2011 at 3:48 am

I am a single mom and my little kids don’t eat much, so I usually only plan three dinners for the week. If I make any more than that, we always end up with WAY more leftovers than we can possibly eat.

I also sometimes just make my kids plates and since they barely eat, I eat their leftovers as my dinner. Sad, I know, but I hate to throw all their food away!

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Kris September 4, 2011 at 5:32 am

I’m still working on this. What I’m trying to do first is always inventory what’s about to go bad, or is leftover, and eat that before I cook/buy something new. I’m also working at not cooking like an army cook when I’m just one person, and on buying smaller quantities that will get used before they go bad. Lastly, I’m working on keeping all my fresh foods visible so I remember to eat them – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown away an expensive avocado because I forgot I had it until it was covered in gray, moldy spots. It’s a work in progress but I am slowly improving.

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Kimberly September 4, 2011 at 6:59 am

One of my favorite Aha! moments was when I figured out that I could freeze spaghetti sauce in an old ice cube tray. Then once, solid, I pop them out and toss them in a freezer bag. I can then use one for just me, or several if I need pizza sauce, or whatever.

I also chop up fresh parsley and cilantro, put them in the ice cube tray and fill with water. When solid, they also are stored in freezer bags. When I need a bit of either herb for a sauce or recipe, I just defrost and use. The flavor is still better than dried, and I’m not tossing a clump of cilantro or parsley in the trash because I just don’t use enough of it quickly.

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erika September 4, 2011 at 7:00 am

I restrict grocery shopping to one day a week. I start planning out the menu and making notes about what we’re running out of the night before, so when it’s GO time, I’m as prepared as I can be. I only buy what’s on the list. And if we “run out of food” before grocery day, we just have to get creative and use what we have before buying more.

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Karrieann September 4, 2011 at 9:33 am

I surely could benefit from this book! It will be a wonderful book to whoever the winner will be.

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Celeste September 4, 2011 at 10:04 am

The most important food waste reduction strategy at our house is to be careful not to buy more than we can eat. This includes being honest about what we do and don’t like and trying new things in moderate amounts. We’re a two-person household, and that needs to be considered when we shop for fresh food. We also try to rotate canned/jarred and frozen items forward as we add new stock, and we always look to see what we have as leftovers before we prepare a meal. Proper storage is also important to avoid pests, rot, etc.

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Leezcheez September 4, 2011 at 11:41 am

I am certainly better at this than when I was working fulltime! Menu planning and precise grocery lists have been paramount in reducing our family’s food waste. I am NOT very good at eating leftovers for lunch (variety being the spice of my life), and my husband doesn’t take them to work…so the leftovers get frozen in three serving sizes (there are only 3 of us in the house) and used at a later date. I have come to greatly appreciate the near-empty refrigerator on grocery shopping day!!

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Paige September 4, 2011 at 12:58 pm

I used to pack way too much food in my daughter’s lunches (I didn’t want them to be hungry) and would have items returned uneaten. I have made a true effort to send just enough food so there is nothing wasted. With a two small snacks provided at school there is really no chance that they won’t have enough to eat!

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april September 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm

I try to eat leftovers for lunch, and we’re buying less food at one time from the store so the fresh stuff doesn’t have time to go bad.
Great ideas here in the comments, and thx for the giveaway, Katy!

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Lisa@Granola Catholic September 4, 2011 at 3:32 pm

I make crock pot soups, to use up the odd bits of leftovers in the fridge.

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Jennifer September 4, 2011 at 4:04 pm

We share with the neighbors!!! They, in turn, often share with us. Much less goes to waste when you offer it as a freebie. 🙂

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Bobbi H. September 4, 2011 at 5:09 pm

I HATE to waste food. I don’t cook every night because there are only two of us, so Thursday night has become “clean out the fridge night” when we get out all of the leftovers and eat them. I also take leftovers for my lunch at work. I have a plastic bowl in the freezer that I put odds and ends in until I save enough to make “freezer soup”. I learned everything I know from my mother who grew up during The Great Depression.

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leigh September 4, 2011 at 8:20 pm

Isn’t the crisper drawer the place for beets to go to die?

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Diana September 4, 2011 at 8:26 pm

I often freeze meals, we pick fruit from abandoned trees, we have a leftover only dinner a few times a week to clean out the fridge. There is always more we can try to do to keep from wasting food. Thanks for bringing up the subject and for the chance to win.

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Bet September 5, 2011 at 7:43 am

Things get lost in our fridge because (a) the light doesn’t work and we can’t figure out how to fix it and (b) the fact that the freezer is on top and the fridge on the bottom means that you have to get down on your haunches to see what’s behind the first “layer” on the shelves below the top one. As you probably know, men don’t look beyond the first layer. So I try not to let any food get pushed to the back and lost.

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Carolyn S September 5, 2011 at 10:37 am

I would love a copy! I currently meal plan each week before going grocery shopping. I base my meal plans off of what is currently in the fridge and make sure ingredients overlap. Not only does this prevent food from going bad, but it also saves me money and stress each day when I used to try and figure out what to make for dinner!

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Sarah September 5, 2011 at 1:39 pm

We have two easy ways to avoid food waste: compost bin and four chickens in the backyard. The only things the birds can’t eat or don’t go in our bin are chicken products and pits.

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Jeanne September 5, 2011 at 2:36 pm

My boyfriend and I always eat leftovers for either next day lunches or dinners. (All my co-workers comment that I eat ‘real’ food everyday, not frozen microwave meals.)
We are both firm believers in not throwing any food out. And our big compost bin has given us great fertilizer for 2 summers running now!

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Robin September 5, 2011 at 4:01 pm

I need this book Katy — your blog has inspired to me to try to reduce waste, but could do a better job. What I AM doing is to freeze food before it goes bad. Today I rescued some bread from being tossed and threw it in the freezer with the thought to make bread crumbs later.

Robin,
Cary, NC

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Sheila September 6, 2011 at 4:46 am

I’d love to win this book. Maybe I could then convince my husband that he’s not cooking for a platoon, just a family of 3. 🙂

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Jo's Country Junction September 6, 2011 at 5:00 am

Our food waste goes to our chickens so I never feel really bad about it. Maybe I should but I don’t. I pick up the bad tomatoes from the garden and the too far gone windfall apples for the chickens too. They love it and it makes me not feel quite so bad for not being perfect.

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Amy September 6, 2011 at 5:26 am

Compost, freeze-for-later-use, use the bruised fruit for baking, use the wilted vegetables in stock/crockpot/soup recipes.
I’m toying with trying to come up with a weekly food plan so that I only buy what I need for the week, supplement it with what I grow and have no ‘overs’. However, I want this to be a seasonal/local food friendly menu and I do not like eating the same thing week in, week out, so I’m slowly working on this challange.

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Kelly September 6, 2011 at 6:05 am

I shop weekly and try to buy only what we will eat for the week. At first I thought this meant I paid a bit more for food in the long run. Since I’ve embraced it, however, what I see is that I pay at least the same or maybe even less because I throw out less, especially fresh stuff but also even shelf items that would expire.

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Kris September 6, 2011 at 6:33 am

I too keep a shelf for all leftovers, and store then in glass containers. Easy to know what’s in each one. I’ve also found using some of the online recipe sites (that you don’t have to pay to access) a great way to plug ingredients and find a dish to make (or morph into something else depending on what’s in hand) using up any large amount of leftovers or other pantry items that need to be eaten. It’s not a perfect system yet, but I’ve considerably reduced the food that hits the garbage / compost bin.

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Isis September 6, 2011 at 8:23 am

We went through a huge reorganization in which we made lists of everything on every shelf in the pantry, and inventoried the contents of our chest freezer. Sometimes keeping the lists up to date falls by the wayside so there’s a little wiggle room there, but in general it makes it easy to see at a glance what we’ve got, even if that one lonely can of corn is hiding behind the Costco-sized box of diced tomatoes.

Also, packing bento for our lunches has proven to be a fabulous way to use up tiny, otherwise useless bits of vegetables or leftovers.

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Madeleine September 6, 2011 at 9:33 am

I hate food waste!
I used to shop for recipes, but now I make an effort to modify any recipe to use what I have in the fridge or pick recipes based on what I have.

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Claudia September 6, 2011 at 10:55 am

About a year ago, after one too many fridge clean-outs, I made a conscious decision to waste less food. Sure, I make lots of quiches and quesadillas, but the most helpful thing has simply been Buying Less Produce.

I used to have a hoarding mentality, which is silly with perishables, as even if you get a great deal, you are unlikely to use up massive quantities of the food before it goes bad. Also, I think most of us feel like we’re being healthy by buying lots of fruits and vegetables. We’re not; EATING fruits and vegetables is healthy, but having a crisper full of rotten produce isn’t any better for your body than it is for your wallet. It takes some time to figure out exactly how much produce your family REALLY consumes, but the investment of time is well worth it, since once you do, you can base your shopping on the next 3-4 days of meals and have hardly any waste.

Before, I’d buy two pounds of green beans just to “have on hand.” Now, I buy one pound of green beans, knowing that it will last for one dinner and maybe a one-serving leftovers lunch. If I use them up and want more green beans for later in the week (which I don’t think has ever happened), I can go back and buy more. Same with milk, fruit, etc. Instead of a huge bag of apples, I’ll buy four, one for each member of my family. When I use those, I’ll buy four more. I know many peoples’ frugality strategies involve staying out of the store, but that just doesn’t work for me. I usually wind up running in several times a week for something, so I’m better off having a kind of perpetual shopping list and trying to keep my purchases to 3-4 items or so per trip.

That said, if you have the storage space and ability to plan, go nuts with stocking up on nonperishables.

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psmflowerlady/Tammy September 6, 2011 at 11:06 am

I just inventoried my freezer and found a shelf-worth of food that NEEDS to be used (mostly veggies) and about 4-5#s of meat/chicken that I am going to mix with some mildly freezer burnt veggies to make dog food. I had gotten a quarter of a beef and a good bit of the food had gotten burried, so it was really important to me that I pull that food out (it’s still good – just hidden) and work off my list of where the food is that needs to be eaten.

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Karen September 6, 2011 at 11:46 am

I recently treated myself to a new cookbook and was eager to try it out. Sadly every recipe I tried was less than stellar. One was a vegetable curry and it was truly awful. However, instead of tossing it all out I scooped out and saved the veggies and put them on a pizza the next night – and it actually turned out quite good. (If you use enough cheese anything is good. ) Healthy veggies saved, food waste avoided, and the next day I returned the book to Powell’s for a refund – so no money wasted either!

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Faith September 6, 2011 at 11:47 am

I try not to buy too many fruit and veggies at one time. I also try to keep an eye on everything and I throw things in the freezer when I know I won’t use them up in time. I go through my frig and freezer a couple times a week and make plans for most of the food in them.

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claire September 6, 2011 at 4:53 pm

I write the date I buy and the date that I open an item on the bottle/packaging so that I’m better able to eat it before it expires.

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John Crabtree September 6, 2011 at 7:42 pm

1. almost all leftovers become lunch for one of us
2. we keep a garden, which drives our meal planning and shopping, keeps us eating fresh food and we shop to maximize the use of that produce
3. we compost every scrap of food that is produced in food prep and anything that we don’t manage to work into our lunches for work (and, therefore, eventually goes bad)
4. we work really hard to use leftovers and other food that needs to be consumed before it becomes inedible in our cooking at night as well, and any leftovers thereafter go back into the lunch rotation, if possible

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Kristin weekley September 7, 2011 at 10:38 am

We eat all of our leftovers and only shop when we need something. Our food budget is only 200$ a month so we have to be careful to waste nothing!

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