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Wasting Food Costs Money

November 26th, 2011 at 02:28 pm

I was reading in the forums this morning and I saw Jeffrey had posted this article:

http://www.nationofchange.org/10-tips-reduce-food-waste-during-holidays-1322153327

It talked about how much food is wasted in the U.S. especially during the holidays.

I know this is something I have tried very hard to stop in our household. There's a commercial for plastic bags that shows folks throwing away about half of their food and how they should buy these great plastic bags to stop that.

I would like to offer a rebuttal to that ad. It's not the use or misuse of plastic bags that results in food waste, it is the fact people aren't careful and use what they have.

We had very few leftovers this Thanksgiving. We had a great meal and enough for another meal which we ate Thanksgiving night. Instead of buying a whole turkey, I bought a turkey breast. It was plenty for three of us for Thanksgiving and just enough for supper. I had planned to make turkey and noodles if we had any leftover after that -- I saved the broth. Since I didn't use it, it will be frozen for something else.

As for the potatoes, I made just enough. That was a tough one for me. I have a hard time judging how much is enough. But, I decided to make a little less than I normally would so there wouldn't be a ton left over. I figured there was plenty of stuff to eat. Our table wasn't sparse either time and we ate plenty.

In my every day cooking, I try to figure out ways to use those leftovers. Last week I used the ham steak for 2 1/2 meals. Leftover green beans from one meal were used to make a vegetable soup for another. Sometimes we have clean out the fridge supper -- some weird choices, but I hate to throw food away. Partially because I hate to see waste, but also partially because it costs money. I was not happy last week when I was using stuff up from the freezer and although we had eated most of the okra, that I had let it sit too long in the freezer. I tried fixing it, but it was beyond using. I know I bought it on sale, but still, it was wasteful. I did manage to use up the small amount of hashbrowns that were in the freezer - I chopped a green onion in with them to give it flavor.

Hopefully I will have no waste coming up during the holidays. Right now my freezer is kind of full from some of the sweet breads I baked and froze for our church bazaar. But, after that, I hope to empty it and start freezing some of the things I can use for other meals. I just need to be careful not to let anything slip to the back and be forgotten.

5 Responses to “Wasting Food Costs Money”

  1. Amber Says:
    1322320121

    Your post was an eye opener. My mom had given away so much food and I thought gee now I'm going to have to spend money grocery shopping when we had plenty left overs (a selfish thought). But after reading your blog I realize that hey if she hadn't so much would have been wasted and I was being selfish. Thanks a bunch Smile

  2. wickedlove1707 Says:
    1322335609

    This is something I always try to do. Why shop for tonight's dinner if I can just use yesterdays leftovers to make something else? Saves me the time and money to run to the grocery store.

  3. snafu Says:
    1322342583

    It helps to have list of PLAN-OVERS like...

    LEFT OVER Roast Beef returns to table as:

    curry
    stir-fry
    pot pie
    shepherd's pie
    beef wrap
    beef barley soup
    Mandarin beef salad
    beef stroganoff
    stew
    enchiladas
    quiche
    pasta salad
    spaghetti sauce
    taco salad

    for example. Likewise lists for poultry, pork, potato, greens. Wrapping anything in a WonTon wrapper or tortilla is suddenly Asian or TexMex miracle.

  4. LuckyRobin Says:
    1322346994

    I think meal planning is something too many people skip and it results in wasted food. Even though we had a lot of leftovers, I planned what I would do with them before hand. Today is being spent making them into meals for the freezer, for those lazy days or sick days when I just don't want to cook. We still gave 2/3 of the leftovers to SIL and MIL/FIL. I feel good about that because I know SIL is struggling mightily and MIL/FIL are one paycheck away form disaster.

  5. crazyliblady Says:
    1322426477

    I myself have been going to the cupboards whenever I make up a shopping list to make sure I get what we do need, but not get a bunch of something we don't need. That is, unless it's on sale really cheap and we use it a lot. If I have small amounts of leftover rice, tomatoes, and chicken, I think about what I could make with that maybe adding a little seasoning, etc. rather than throwing it out. I can easily make a tasty, impromptu meal from stuff like that. It's fun, adds variety to our usual fare, and we don't waste it. I hate to waste food, as it is so expensive these days.

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