Food waste

tomatoey

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the food item thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

I'm mad at myself about some chicken thighs right now

ncboiler89

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

1. The only thing in my freezer is frozen meals so I just throw them back in.
2. Over-payment checks from anyone. I always forget to cash them.

tomatoey

ncboiler89 wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

1. The only thing in my freezer is frozen meals so I just throw them back in.
2. Over-payment checks from anyone. I always forget to cash them.

I'm not sure that's a good idea!

ncboiler89

tomatoey wrote: »

ncboiler89 wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

1. The only thing in my freezer is frozen meals so I just throw them back in.
2. Over-payment checks from anyone. I always forget to cash them.

I'm not sure that's a good idea!

It is

BWBTrish

I never waste any of it.

Very rare.
When i only think it will go to waste i give it away. when i have too much or when i have foods i dont like.


I pre-prep and freeze my foods
And specially i freeze all my fruit i like to have them frozen in the evening. They are like candy or ice pieces.

I buy my food for 2 weeks at the time. And never have problems with food that is left over.
I just plan.

oh_happy_day

I meal plan and buy what we need. I make an effort to monitor what's in the fridge and will occasionally declare that dinner is "whatever you can find" to ensure that bits and pieces of vegies are used, that leftovers don't get forgotten etc. Ditto for stuff I've defrosted. I defrosted the wrong meal the other day. Still ate it, didn't feel like soup but ate it anyway!

GreenValli

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. Changing dinner plans after taking meat out to defrost happens about once a week. But I just cook what I had defrosted and originally planned the next day.b
2. Potatos. I don't cook them that often and this time of the year they sprout too quickly and I do throw some out. But I do still buy them in 5 or 10 pound bags anyway when they are a good deal, even though I know I will not use them all. I rarely throw out any other food though.

Orphia

On bin days, I usually have to throw out leftover sliced meat, wilted lettuce and veg, and a couple of leftover bowls from meals that have fed the family.

It's fairly rare that meat we've bought/defrosted for a meal gets thrown out whole. Once a month or less.

GaleHawkins

Our dog is large enough to eat food that we do not eat.

ahoy_m8

1. Rarely. Will use next day.
2. Cilantro. I also buy but struggle to use a 10lb bag potatoes. I peel, parboil & freeze half. Last weekend made & froze a big batch vichyssoise.
I try hard to use it all.

marsinah1

1. Changing dinner plans after I've defrosted something to cook doesn't happen more than once a month. Even then, I still prep the meat and cook it that evening or the next day.
2. There was a chronic problem with sandwich meat going to waste. I stopped buying it so anyone who wants a turkey sandwich here has to go to a sandwich shop. The second most likely thing to get tossed is a bag of salad mix.

shadowconn

I buy as much frozen as possible for this very reason. If I buy meat, I cut it into individual portions, bag it and freeze it. If I'm doing meat, I'm either frying it or boiling it. So it can go straight from the freezer into a pan.

SLLRunner

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the food item thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

I'm mad at myself about some chicken thighs right now

Good questions. It's interesting but I used to waste food all the time but I rarely do it now. I buy only what I know I will eat, including fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. If I have bread that a little stale, I make bread pudding out of it, and it's delicious.

Annie_01

If I have food that has been in the frig for a while I chop it all up and make spring rolls. I put anything and everything in them.

NJGamerChick

shadowconn wrote: »

I buy as much frozen as possible for this very reason. If I buy meat, I cut it into individual portions, bag it and freeze it. If I'm doing meat, I'm either frying it or boiling it. So it can go straight from the freezer into a pan.

This. And if I'm freezing portions, I'm making the packages thin so they stack and defrost quickly.

I will sometimes brown ground beef and freeze it for sauce/taco night, too. And whatever meat I am eating on my own gets poached the day I get home so it's ready for when I need a quick meal, usually chicken, but this weekend I'm playing with some pork shoulder I got on sale for pulled pork.

Leftovers are what goes bad sometimes. The stuff that ends up in the back of the fridge, so I have started making an effort to rotate my fridge.

stealthq

If I defrost something and then change my mind, I make it the next day. It won't go bad overnight.

The biggest waste for me is packaged salad greens. I hate washing bunches of spinach, etc and never get all of the grit out (no salad spinner), but the dang packaged stuff starts rotting on me in two days. I've pretty much quit buying it. I'm not a big salad person anyway.

tomatoey

stealthq wrote: »

If I defrost something and then change my mind, I make it the next day. It won't go bad overnight.
.

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

1. Rarely. Will use next day.

What's an acceptable timeframe? I.e. say you took something out not last night but the night before. I felt like if I made it at noon, it might have been ok, but I didn't have the opportunity. By the time I had the chance, I decided it was a bust.

(I seriously rarely freeze stuff, that's why - I buy for a couple of days, meat never goes in there.)

hekla90

I live alone so buying fresh produce can go bad. I just go to the store and buy it every few days so I'm not throwing it out constantly.

tomatoey

SLLRunner wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the food item thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

I'm mad at myself about some chicken thighs right now

Good questions. It's interesting but I used to waste food all the time but I rarely do it now. I buy only what I know I will eat, including fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. If I have bread that a little stale, I make bread pudding out of it, and it's delicious.

I do the same for stuff in my fridge - it's the frosting/defrosting process that's a mystery to me! (Fish is good bc you can do it like minutes before cooking.)

MrsSylvie

i use to defrost and end up never making at least half of the salmons i took out over the years and i have lost count of how much ground beef i have thrown away.. that all stopped after i bought a miracle thaw tray though, now i take out the frozen meats an hour, sometimes less, before i need them and they are completely defrosted.

cityruss

If the humans in the house don't eat it, the animals do.

tomatoey

SylvieKuchma wrote: »

i use to defrost and end up never making at least half of the salmons i took out over the years and i have lost count of how much ground beef i have thrown away.. that all stopped after i bought a miracle thaw tray though, now i take out the frozen meats an hour, sometimes less, before i need them and they are completely defrosted.

i need this! i must have this!

my mom used to have one, i totally remember now! they work really well!

and unlike microwaves, they don't cook the meat or leave frozen bits.

thank you so much!

scyian

Almost never. I meal plan before I shop for food so I rarely get any excess. Only things that really get thrown in the freezer before it goes off is the odd quarter of a loaf of bread and the odd banana.

middlehaitch

I am forever taking meat out of the feeezer, then an offer better than me cooking comes along.
If it is still frozen when thrown in the fridge it is good for 3-4 days. If it is already defrosted 2-3.
The time frame depends on the type and quantity of the meat. The above applies to things the size if a chicken breast.
I will quite often cook it into some kind of meal, then stick it back in the freezer.
My freezer needs a good clean out!

Right now it is yogurt that is getting thrown out quite often.
It has, with fruit and honey, been my staple lunch for quite a while.
I think I am getting bored with it. There are 3 not quite finished containers in the fridge right now that are past their sell by date waiting for the green pick-up day.
It may be time for cottage cheese.

Cheers, h.

kyrannosaurus

I endeavour to waste nothing. I am on a limited budget so wasting food would be throwing money down the drain. Sometimes I end up having to eat food I don't particularly fancy but that's just how it goes.

If I get invited out to lunch or dinner at the last minute and I already had food in the fridge that needed to be eaten that day, I just tell them. I've taken my own food to friends' houses before and eaten it while they've ordered food to be delivered. We still get to catch up, my food doesn't go to waste and I don't have to spend any money I hadn't budgeted on buying other food.

Bshmerlie

1. I don't freeze my meat. I buy it fresh and cook it. There is a supermarket next door to where I work.
2. The only thing that ever goes bad is lettuce. I just can't eat that quick enough.

Alatariel75

I rarely waste meat I have defrosted.

What we usually end up chucking is leftovers, and fresh herbs because I buy them for one dish and don't use the rest.

Lounmoun

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the food item thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. Almost never. My dinner plans are pretty firm. If I couldn't cook it that day then I would cook it the next day. If it has been thawed in the refrigerator and kept refrigerated then this isn't a problem. If you thaw it in the microwave or something you should cook it right away. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/meatsafety/thawing.cfm
2. Fresh vegetables or fruits sometimes go bad before they get consumed. I try to buy frozen vegetables for this reason or stuff with a longer shelf life.

shadowfax_c11

It is perfectly okay to put defrosted food back into the freezer. 15 years working in food service following USDA guidelines. No need to waste. Also defrosted meat can be in the fridge and usable for 3-5 days so you can always just cook it the next day or so.

jgnatca

It being just the two of us, and hubby will sabotage the plan of he wingles out it is something "healthy", I have had to build some strategies. I typically have leftovers for lunch the next day. I buy small amounts of vegetables and prepare them right away. The salads come out for every meal until finished. I give away baking. Big batches of stew or slow cooker meals get shared with my daughters family. Having a teenager and a husband well over six foot, her family hoovers any leftovers I bring over.

Hubby's learned he may delay fish night one day, but never twice.

kommodevaran

tomatoey wrote: »

1. How often do you take meat out to defrost, but change your dinner plans?
2. What is the food item thing you're most likely to let go to waste & throw out?

1. I do this every other time I defrost meat. (I don't usually buy a lot of meat at once, so never have to resort to freezing in the first place, but there was a deal, so I now have a freezer full of meat, and I am pretty sure this is going to happen again.)
2. Fruit, cucumbers, and cabbage. I really have to be in the mood for fruit & can only eat certain kinds. I always think I'm going to make a cucumber salad but never do. I can't consume enough cabbage to get through it.

I'm mad at myself about some chicken thighs right now

1. I would say never. If I need to defrost/soak something, I have to decide the night before what I want to eat the next day, and then I eat that, because that is what I want.

2. Nothing. I buy only stuff I like, and in the amounts I can eat before it spoils. I plan extra carefully for perishable food.

This is what I do and how I think now. It used to be a different story. I used to throw away a lot, and I felt sooo guilty. A good plan, that accounts for both needs and wants, is important and very helpful for me.