Tips for not wasting food?

Options
jamihatchett
jamihatchett Posts: 2 Member
edited September 2017 in Food and Nutrition
It seems like every time I try to eat healthy and buy veggies, they go bad before I can eat all of them. Even just a tomato, pepper, and bag of spinach will go bad. It's just me eating this stuff, and I don't have a whole lot of time for cooking. I work 7 days a week, and a lot of 12 hour shifts. It's not a simple "prepare your meals for the week on sunday" because Sunday is the same as every other day as far as time goes. I need something I can just grab and go. Salads and sandwiches work great, but eating the same thing every day makes me not want to eat that food again for a long time. Any ideas? I've got about 60 lbs to lose, and burn roughly 1700-1900 calories a day, every day that I work (varies between 6 and 7 days a week). I'm 5'1, female, 163lbs. I've been doing a couch to 5k program but currently sidelined by an overuse injury. I average between 15000 and 18000 steps a day without much effort.

Replies

  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    Options
    Overnight oats (you can Google or Pinterest for a recipe that fits your taste), yogurt, boiled eggs, chicken salad, pimento cheese. If you have a day off, cook up some chicken breasts, steak, rice and beans and container them up for heat and eat. You can also look into the frozen meals at the grocery store, which are super easy and relatively inexpensive...add some microwaved steamed veggies for extra bulk if you need it.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Options
    I plan my meals (for variety avoiding waste), and buy perishables accordingly, usually twice per week. I aim to buy just what I can use before next shopping trip. Other produce. like potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion (shallots are great for singles), broccoli, carrots, apples, oranges, keep a long time in the fridge. Then there's frozen vegetables and berries that keep forever.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Options
    Buy frozen or canned veggies if you won’t use fresh ones. Plan your meals for the week in advance and be realistic about what you actually will and won’t end up cooking. When you do cook, freeze some portions for later. Prep your veggie when you get home so you won’t need to do it when you’re busier. And only buy produce you’re looking forward to eating. If you’re not excited about spinach and you only buy it because you think you “should” eat it, then odds are you’re not really going to eat it.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options
    Buy frozen veggies when possible.

    Look up how to freeze veggies - some are very easy. You can freeze fresh tomatoes, peppers and spinach without blanching.

    Tomatoes will become mushy when thawed (the skin will slip off). These are best used in sauces and stews.

    Peppers lose a little bit of texture, but you can still use them for stir fries and such. Not good for a salad.

    You can freeze spinach. The texture will be fine for smoothies, casseroles and such. Not good for a salad.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,190 Member
    Options
    Do you not use up your fresh vegetables because you don't think of things to do with them or because it's hard to find the time to prep them? I try to eat well, but I have little time and even less interest in food prep. My go-to is buying my vegetables pre-cut. A favorite trick I learned when I broke my arm and couldn't use knives at all for a couple of months....buy vegetables from the salad bar at the grocery store. Already cut and ready for use and you can get exactly as much as you want or need! There is definitely a convenience fee, but I figure it still costs less than throwing stuff away.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
    Options
    Ah aspirational vegetables . We have all been guilty of this. Frozen veggies are my favoritething due to this. Also bag salads. I eat the type you just pour the bag of veggies and dressing into a bowl all the time.
  • Piperx222
    Piperx222 Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    When I cook something, I make extra - usually 3 meals worth. 1 for right then, 1for the next day - or eat it a couple days after the original day if you don't like the same thing too close together and 1 put in a container and into the freezer for a quick grab frozen meal.

    I also do the bag of salads. After you open it, keep a paper towel in the bag to absorb the moisture and close the bag removing as much air as possible. Helps the salad keep longer!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    Options
    I mostly buy frozen veggies, especially the ones in the steamer bags because they're so easy to cook. If I want greens, I just keep putting them at the bottom of whatever i'm eating. Example: fill bowl 1/2 way with spinach, then put slice of lasagna on top. I also use baby carrots as my snacking food. They take forever to go bad, seriously.
  • timtam163
    timtam163 Posts: 500 Member
    Options
    Cut and freeze the veggies. Make a big batch of pasta or rice and beans for days when you're sick of salad; you can freeze individual portions or you can just make a big bowl for the week and keep it in the fridge.
  • jamihatchett
    jamihatchett Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    I've been doing a lot of tv dinners and prepackaged salads, along with Greek yogurt. Subway on occasion, and sometimes McDonald's. I stick with either turkey or veggie subs at subway, and usually a mcchicken or mcnuggets at McDonald's. I need to cut back on the Pepsi and vending machine snacks.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    Options
    These can lengthen the fridge-life of fresh produce.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BD165TY/ref=sxts_bia_sr_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3182441022&pd_rd_wg=n5Y81&pf_rd_r=K1HY433P48RF62V05VVE&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B01BD165TY&pd_rd_w=wIwvD&pf_rd_i=rubbermaid+freshworks+produce+saver&pd_rd_r=TZ01VE7TH0JAT91CG0Z0&ie=UTF8&qid=1506619158&sr=1
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Options
    Stick with eating foods that will keep - with salads, you are unfortunately stuck with fresh, but cooked/used in soup etc can use frozen, canned, or fresh that you chopped and froze before it went bad.

    If you really like salads, then invest in a salad spinner, and wash the whole batch - then throw the whole thing loosely covered in the fridge..it will usually last at least half the week that way since it keeps a lot of the excess moisture off and doesn't fully seal in what moisture is there. Then it'll be ready to grab a bag full in the morning and go (if you have a work fridge that you can keep the fixings in and the time during lunch to prep the salad - add dressing/pepper/parmesan/etc.).

    Spinach will also be good cooked, so if you get fresh spinach for salad, throw in freezer for later use before it goes bad. (not so much for iceberg/romaine/etc). Same for tomatoes and peppers. All will go well together in soup, which takes minimal prep time for a large volume of food.

    Otherwise, grab and go options with minimal or somewhat minimal prep time:
    • Soup (easy to up the fiber and veggies however much you want, takes about 10 minutes to throw random stuff and a protein source in the pot)- when done ladle out at least a few bowl-sized containers at a time. Generally lasts well over a week in the fridge. Ditto with chili/stew/other similar style foods.
    • cottage cheese / hard boiled eggs (great with honey dijon mustard) / yogurt / peanut butter / Clif or other food bars (pref with some added protein and fiber; they make for a great yogurt mix-in when broken into pieces, also great dipped in peanut butter). and/or some combo of these.
    • rice & beans (bulked out with extra veggies) - more time consuming than the above, but less time-consuming than batch cooking entree style meals in the same volume.
    • Some protein source tossed onto microwaved bag of frozen veggie. possible protein source: some prep time but not terrible amount: toss ~40 oz of chicken into instant pot with some water and spices. cook. when you return, drain, pat dry (mostly so they don't stick together in freezer bag), chop, throw in freezer baggie (optionally pre-portion into snack bags or those cheap foldover sandwich bags before putting into freezer bag- this also keeps from having a hard time separating out frozen-together chunks)-note:also good for topping salads. also: pre-cooked chunks of ham (you can sometimes find very lean ham quarters that you only have to chop up).
  • canihazcarbs
    canihazcarbs Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    Frozen mixed vegetables are perfect for me. I make fried rice & throw them in. I make fried rice to last me 3-4 days at a time.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,712 Member
    Options
    Great ideas given so far! If, however, you have produce that's just about to go bad and there's nothing you can make with it or eat at that time, this is the only time I use my juicer. I juice all of my produce that's starting to go bad rather than throwing it away.

    You don't even have to use the juice right away. I pour it into an empty ice cube tray and pop it in the freezer. Then when I'm cooking things like soup or something in the crock pot or anything that needs a bit of moisture I just toss in a cube or two. I really dislike throwing away food so this works for me.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    Options
    I got a crock pot. When veggies are starting to look limp and I'm not using them, I just put them into the crock pot before I head out of the house, with some herbs and spices and water, and let it make soup for me while I'm gone.

    This works for nearly any veggie. If you don't like the texture at the end, just puree it for pureed soup. It's a good based to use for sauces for other dishes, or as just soup itself. Easy way to use up veggies before they go bad, that you can do even with limited hours.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options
    Buy frozen vegetables and fruits- you also can freeze fresh produce before it goes bad http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze.html
    Canned vegetables and fruits. You can buy low sodium, low sugar varieties if that is important to you.
    Buy produce whole and leave it whole until the day you are going to eat it.
    Store vegetables and fruits properly. https://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/spendsmart/2015/07/27/storing-fruits-and-vegetables-2/
    Use vegetables and fruits with the shortest shelf life first. Things like potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, squash, broccoli, apples, oranges have a longer shelf life than lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes or bananas. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1153
    http://www.stilltasty.com
    Before vegetables go bad put them in a soup or casserole.

    Planning meals might help cut food waste as well. Use what you buy. If you buy fresh spinach and only want salad from it 1 day have a plan to put the spinach to use in other meals. You can add something like spinach to sandwiches or many cooked dishes. If you need ideas of other ways to use a food I recommend searching pinterest.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Options
    I never manage to eat salad greens in time, so I stopped buying them. I make salads now using more long lasting vegetables such as red cabbage and carrots. Cabbage lasts basically forever in the fridge if it's kept dry.

    I agree with the suggestion to use frozen steam bags of veggies when possible.

Categories