throwing money in the trash. SICK OF IT!!!
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I hate throwing food away! So much so that I just don't do it where absolutely possible.
I'm a student, so food is a commodity (well, nice food anyway) so I make sure I use everything up!
As suggested, freeze bread and defrost it as and when you need it - if you pop it down in the toaster once this will defrost it quickly.
If you make too much stuff in the evening, do make sure to use it up. It's easy to eat for lunch the next day - you can always mix it up and serve it with a different side or add a few different spices etc - for example I'll make a huge chilli/bolognese once per week usually and then freeze it in portions. I'll then defrost them as I need them/want them and serve them with different veggies or sides - plus it cuts down on time heaps in the week. I get more time to work out or do other things rather than worry about what I'm going to eat or when I'm going to find time to make something healthy.
Also for 'use ups' as my family and I call them, I turn it into a challenge to make a meal of what I can find in the cupboard... kind of makes it seem a bit more fun, as well as economical. Also for the money you save put the extra you would have thrown away/spent in a pot and treat yourself to something nice. It's a great feeling being about to treat yourself and family to something when the money would have ordinarily disappeared in the garbage!
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FREEZING.. is your answer.. freeze the bread and only take out what you need at the time, buy gallons of milk in half gallons.. pour out a little of each container and freeze them until needed. buy Peanut butter, canned chicken and tuna for lunches instead of lunchmeat... you can also freeze lunch meat and sliced cheese. Boxes of cereal can be put into tupperware and the same with the crackers. if the fresh veggies and fruit are not being eaten then buy less of them.. stick with frozen and canned most of the time.0
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this works for kids.. but she is his wife not his mommy.. Grown men rarely respond well to being treated like children.. would you like your man to tell you what you are allowed to eat???Hide his wallet so he can't get fast food. Or... tell him he's only allowed a certain number of times a week and then wean him down... That's how I got my fiance to quite energy drinks for a few months! (The limiting part.) Just make sure you keep up with it and tell him it's 'cause you're worried about his health and it's too expensive to eat out. Or... Make a special night once a week to go out so he doesn't have to feel like he's being deprived. Then it's a treat instead of a regular thing. It worked for me when I was a kid I had to earn going to McDonald's on pay day. If I was bad, I didn't get to go! Then, once you get there, make them choose healthy things! So you still win! :laugh:0 -
Sit down and talk with him. Go over your weekly mealy plan with him. See what he thinks. Get some of his imput and talk about not bringing food home.0
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Food isn't going to go bad in a couple of days being in the fridge. I really doubt that you couldn't he at something up every once in a while. I mean if leftovers have been in the fridge for weeks, don't eat it. But anything that's less than a week old, should be fine.
I personally hate frozen bread. It's all soggy and nasty when it thaws.0 -
Meal planning and prepping food in small containers is the key.
For example, I had spinach left over from last week so I thawed some venison and made mini meatballs and froze them in serving size containers so I could pull them out as I wanted. Freezing in serving sizes is great for portion control and reducing waste.
Other ideas are freezing stir fry or fajita packs, if you have extra peppers, onions, other other veggies slice them like you like them and have them ready in containers so you can just pull something out and cook it.
I do all my food prep on the weekend since I do not like chopping when I come home from school or work. Plus if veggies are chopped or the melon is balled and frozen in 1 cup containers, I will take those for my snacks rather than buying a candy bar because I am starving.0 -
This article was interesting to me: "‘Use-by’ dates: A myth that needs busting" http://grist.org/food/2011-11-18-use-by-dates-a-myth-that-needs-busting
I do have to say that I'm one of those people who looks at the dates on food and if it's past that, I throw it out. But I've started to try to lighten up on that because it's just wasteful: I'm wasting good food, I'm wasting money, and I'm also harming the environment when I consider all the resources that were used to actually get that food to my refrigerator.
You've been given a lot of good suggestions here. A few thing that I'm working on now to reduce food waste:
- Organize your refrigerator and pantry. Get rid of stuff that is expired now, so you have room and can see the good stuff.
- If people put things in the wrong place, move them back. They'll learn and if it helps you avoid two open containers of sour cream it's worth it!
- Put like things together and label shelves (Leftovers, Beverages, Mexican, Yogurt - whatever works for you) so everyone knows where things belong.
- Have ONE shelf that's all leftovers (or partially used things like broth). When you're considering your next meal, look there first to see if there is anything that can be used up.
- If you have multiple of a particular item, write "OPEN" or "USE ME" on the one that should be used first
- Label food and containers with the date it was opened (and contents if you can't see inside). That way, you don't have to guess how long a food has been around. I have a roll of masking tape and a sharpie hanging from one of those 3m command hooks on my fridge. I just peel off a piece of tape, write the date, and stick it on the container. It works really well. (Not that my husband ever labels anything!)
Good luck!0 -
I know it's gonna sound crazy, but maybe you can try to plan to shop everyday for food, or every few days. I know it takes a lot of time out of your schedule, but then you don't have to worry about having tons of food at home. Just an idea.0
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Invest in a FoodSaver...0
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Just a few quick ideas - look up storage tips (for example, herbs that get their ends trimmed, and then stored in a little cup with a small amount of water and a ziploc over top last AGES longer than stored any other way!), and try to make meals with components you can easily freeze - soups, lasagnas, meats etc. Good luck!0
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Only buy meats in bulk. Like chicken and ground turkey. They can be stored in the freezer till the day before you plan on using it.
You can also stick your bread in the freezer till the day of.
Try buying frozen fruites and veggies (they actually tend to be more nutritious).
Buy things like lunch meat and fresh fruite and veggies the day of.
Also try canned foods. Like albacore tuna, or shredded chicken. Both are great for all kinds of recipe. The simplest of course being tuna salad (a little light mayo and some dill relish for me) or a chicken salad (nuts, plain greek yogurt, salt, pepper).0 -
A lot of things, like bread, can be kept in the freezer and taken out as needed. You can also portion off things like sandwich meats into single servings and take a little out of the freezer at a time.
I don't have a solution for fresh veggies, because I waste my fair share of those too.0 -
I trick my husband into eating leftovers. He has no idea!
1 roasted chicken ($2.00) is eaten with roasted carrots and potatoes for the first night
Then it's:
Chicken tacos (just chop it up and put in a skillet with salsa and/or taco seasoning and some black beans to bulk it up)
Quesadillas (use up the rest of the taco flavored chicken)
Pasta with cream sauce, broccoli and chicken
And finally...if there is any chicken left I make fried rice with all the leftover veggies in the fridge + egg.
With this meal plan, I'm using 1 chicken (about 4 pounds) for an entire weeks worth of dinners. I started saving a lot of money (and wasting less food) by planning my meals around 1 singular protein source. Something to consider.0 -
seems to me like having a heart-to-heart with the Mr. might be in order - like, let's come together as the heads of the family, make a plan, make some compromises (like, what quick stuff does he like that ISN'T fast food?), get some cooking done ahead, some frozen stuff... but I think if you frame it in terms of "hey, we're losing a lot of money, and I'm not getting healthier from this pattern, either..." he may really want to work together to make a change...?0
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We shop for groceries once every two weeks....
Freeze bread, buy frozen vegetables, cut up fruit and freeze it.....Don't buy milk unless you know for SURE you are going to use it. Figure out what your family typically uses, and don't buy anymore for a while.
We know that we go through 2-lbs of lunch meat, 2 loaves of bread, a half gallon of milk, a carton of eggs, etc. every two weeks, so we try and stick to that. Sometimes we do have to replenish our romaine and spinach stash halfway between shopping trips.0 -
After a big trip to the grocery store I end up freezing a lot of the perishables if I am not 100% certain I'll use them in the next few days.
Onions and bell peppers freeze wonderfully. I'll take them out and toss them into stirfrys, fajitas, anything using a skillet. I do the same with green onions, chopping them into rings and putting them in an empty water bottle. That way I don't waste them and I can just shake out a few. You can even take the white root parts and put them in some dirt to grow all over again!
I also find that it helps to explain the meals in the morning. Tell your partner that you'll have dinner prepared at a certain time, or have him help you prepare it.0 -
IM THROWING MONEY IN THE TRASH EVER WEEK AND DONT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT!!!!!!
i go to the store and get stuff to make meals for the week.
but because of my husbands crazy overnight and on call schedule he will not be hungry so wont eat what i make, or will bring fast food home so i dont get to make the meals i planned cause that is a lot of food and left overs NEVER get eaten in this house. they get pushed to the back of the fridge to collect mold.
like i will buy lettuce tomatos, lunch meat and bread for sandwiches for lunch for me all week. then hubby comes home late one morning at 11 am instead of 8 and we go to pay a bill and he stops at a fast food place. or he brings food home. so the bread and veggies go bad since they dont get eaten fast enough. im constantly throwing out milk, breads, fruits and veggies, on top of gram crackers that for some reason kids dont put in zip lock baggies so they get soggy. or cereal that goes stale since its left open one day they decide to eat at home instead of school and i dont notice for a week cause its kids cereal.
with just me and my 2 year old we wont use a loaf of bread in a week for lunch especially when daddy gets other lunch ideas.
i know me being super picky about eating old food that im scared is growing mold but you just cant see it , is part of the problem but i cant stop cause thats my health and my kids health i couldnt emagine giving them moldy food that makes them sick just cause the mold wasnt old enough to be seen by the eye yet. i have had grapes that i ate that showed no sign of mold but totally tasted like it.
how do i fix this with a crazy family of 6 schedule. some weeks we will go through 3 gallons of milk and some weeks not even a single gallon but its not something i can predict. and taking my 2 year old and 4 month old to the grocery store every single day just is a major task. dont even have room to put food in the cart with a toddler in the top and a baby car seat in the basket so i get stressed and become a angry person.
im going nuts!!!!!!
Someone mentioned sitting down with your husband and talking to him which I think is a great idea.
But you also have to let people be who they are. Like the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. If they don't want to eat what you're buying you can:
1) continue to buy the same foods and hope for a different outcome than just throwing it away
2) buy something they want to eat
Also you might want to google "The Sneaky Chef". They have tips on how to hide healthy foods in seemingly unhealthy foods, so kids actually eating spinach and carrots when they think they're eating hamburgers and french fries. My wife has made some of those sneaky chef meals and they're really really good, had no idea I was eating a whole day's worth of vegetables.0 -
After a big trip to the grocery store I end up freezing a lot of the perishables if I am not 100% certain I'll use them in the next few days.
Onions and bell peppers freeze wonderfully. I'll take them out and toss them into stirfrys, fajitas, anything using a skillet. I do the same with green onions, chopping them into rings and putting them in an empty water bottle. That way I don't waste them and I can just shake out a few. You can even take the white root parts and put them in some dirt to grow all over again!
I also find that it helps to explain the meals in the morning. Tell your partner that you'll have dinner prepared at a certain time, or have him help you prepare it.
That's great advice about freezing onions and peppers. I bought a bag of frozen onions once, and I've never been able to find them again. I guess I'll be freezing my own.0 -
As a mother of 4, and my husband is a truck driver and works crazy hours. I know where you are coming from. Anything can be frozen. If I have left over meat I will freeze it and make it in soup, stew, chili, enchiladas the next week. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots that are starting to go, I'll chop up and freeze to use for same or omelets. I will even grill lettuce and use as a veggie. I got creative because I was so sick of wasting food.0
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IM THROWING MONEY IN THE TRASH EVER WEEK AND DONT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT!!!!!!
i go to the store and get stuff to make meals for the week.
but because of my husbands crazy overnight and on call schedule he will not be hungry so wont eat what i make, or will bring fast food home so i dont get to make the meals i planned cause that is a lot of food and left overs NEVER get eaten in this house. they get pushed to the back of the fridge to collect mold.
like i will buy lettuce tomatos, lunch meat and bread for sandwiches for lunch for me all week. then hubby comes home late one morning at 11 am instead of 8 and we go to pay a bill and he stops at a fast food place. or he brings food home. so the bread and veggies go bad since they dont get eaten fast enough. im constantly throwing out milk, breads, fruits and veggies, on top of gram crackers that for some reason kids dont put in zip lock baggies so they get soggy. or cereal that goes stale since its left open one day they decide to eat at home instead of school and i dont notice for a week cause its kids cereal.
with just me and my 2 year old we wont use a loaf of bread in a week for lunch especially when daddy gets other lunch ideas.
i know me being super picky about eating old food that im scared is growing mold but you just cant see it , is part of the problem but i cant stop cause thats my health and my kids health i couldnt emagine giving them moldy food that makes them sick just cause the mold wasnt old enough to be seen by the eye yet. i have had grapes that i ate that showed no sign of mold but totally tasted like it.
how do i fix this with a crazy family of 6 schedule. some weeks we will go through 3 gallons of milk and some weeks not even a single gallon but its not something i can predict. and taking my 2 year old and 4 month old to the grocery store every single day just is a major task. dont even have room to put food in the cart with a toddler in the top and a baby car seat in the basket so i get stressed and become a angry person.
im going nuts!!!!!!
Wow. I'm not sure where to begin...
I guess first, food doesn't go bad that quickly in the refrigerator. When I have leftovers I eat them until they're gone. Yes, it can get boring but I'm not going to waste food, especially if it was delicious and healthy. My food budget for a family of 4 plus a newborn is just over $100 a week. With that tight of a budget I will not throw food away. My husband doesn't always like leftovers and my kids like variety so I end up being the one to eat the leftovers, but for me, that's fine. It's quick and easy, something I don't have to worry about.
If you make a meal, eat it. Don't eat the fast food your husband brings home. If you want to eat sandwiches for lunch, eat them. Don't let your husband and his bad habits affect your plans.
Your kids shouldn't be eating different foods than you. Don't buy "kids" cereal, it's loaded with sugar and doesn't have the same nutritional value that healthy organic cereals have. My kids don't get special cereal. They get the same ones we eat. We buy organic cereals, often ones with fruit, which are actually delicious.
Make breakfast and lunch for your children, don't let them eat at school. That way you can ensure that your groceries are actually being eaten and that your kids are eating healthy foods.0
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