Throwing Away Food - Hard

BrewerGeorge
BrewerGeorge Posts: 397 Member
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
Anybody else have trouble throwing away food? I definitely do. Growing up, I never went hungry but my family was rather limited in funds. "Eat what you take" was always a big deal in our family. To this day, I'm very much a clean my plate guy, but that's pretty easy to solve by just making smaller plates. Similarly, I have difficulty wasting ANY food. Now that I'm eating smaller meals, it's a BIG temptation to finish off that last 1/4 cup of mac&cheese (200Cal), last piece of pizza, or whatever instead of throwing it away. It's worst when there's not enough to save as leftovers, but even when there is enough to save the leftovers are piling up on me. The other night I made stuffing - just Stove Top with 1/2 the butter - and it was almost physically painful to throw away what was left after everybody had eaten. I did it, but I didn't enjoy it.

Anybody face a similar problem? Anybody know how to make it easier? I know somebody is going to say "make less in the first place" but many things are just set up for 4 people. What am I gonna do with an 1/8th box of dried Stove Top? or one uncooked pork chop?
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Replies

  • katythemommy
    katythemommy Posts: 437 Member
    Yes, I have that problem as well. I serve myself and my family, give them seconds if they want and then immediately freeze the rest. Having a son of my own now, I never tell him to finish his food, I only ask if his tummy is full.
  • ladybug1620
    ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
    Can you save things for lunch the next day just for yourself? And then throw in a salad or some other side if you feel like those leftovers aren't quite enough?
  • robinpickles
    robinpickles Posts: 78 Member
    Well stove top does have a portion and serve container.. maybe a better idea for your next purchase?

    Or

    How about a Food Saver? Put the leftovers on a plate, bag, seal and freeze..... Volla instant meal for another day!

    maybe just cooking smaller portions? I know when I measure out and cook what I will eat, I never leave a drop =)
  • DWilbanks
    DWilbanks Posts: 420 Member
    I know exactly what you mean. My mom was a "You can't get down from the table until you clean your plate" kind of woman. So it's hard for me to throw away food too. It's hard to be brought up like that and not keep it in your head. But I guess we both have to remember, once on the lips forever on the hips and trash it.
  • frugalmomsrock
    frugalmomsrock Posts: 1,123
    My entire life was "waste not, want not." I am a frugal mom (by necessity and choice), so throwing away is definitely hard for me. I have the hardest time with my kids not finishing something, so I do! I am trying to break the habit...
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
    Saving it for later is best.

    BUT
    Just remember, it makes no difference if you eat it or throw it away. The food is made so whether you poop it out or you throw it out - the only difference is your waist line. I was raised this way too, though my parents never made too much food, just enough and in our household as a child, it was "take what you can eat" instead. I was skinny till I left home.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I only save leftovers when there is enough for one plate. One pork chop plus one serving of stove top equals tomorrow's lunch. It also bugs me to throw food away, but I look at it and say to myself, I am choosing NOT to eat these calories, so I don't have to burn them off later. That eases my frugal mind.
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
    Totally! I am such a penny pincher, so to me wasting food is like throwing away money! I have tried a couple things to combat this. One is to make smaller portions of things, especially at home. Where before I brown a whole pound of ground beef for the two of us for tacos or spaghetti or whatever, now I use half as much. Also if eating out, I immediately take half the portion and put it on another plate, or ask for a go box to put it in. Or order something to share. It's difficult, but just littler things like that can make a difference.
  • demure_poetic
    demure_poetic Posts: 73
    Freeze left overs, check online to see how long any specific food can be in the freezer for. Or see if there are any shelters ect. that will take the food, I know some may not if you made it yourself due to saftey issues ect... but worth a try, check around....
  • abbie017
    abbie017 Posts: 410
    I freeze leftovers all the time, and that way I have a nice meal whenever I want it! Just take it out the night before to defrost and it saves the cooking, the cleanup, and the food! :)
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    I never throw away food! oh my gosh. I have little money, so doing that would be just silly in my position.

    If I have too much food for my meal, I put it in a baggy and eat it the next day or even the day after that. Always save it in my case. I cannot bear to toss food that I spent my money on. Because I wouldn't have a way to buy more to eat!
  • jessicae1aine
    jessicae1aine Posts: 885
    I'm the same way, and I didn't start being that way until well into adulthood. Once I started paying for my own food, and realizing how much that was costing, I got so I hate throwing away, or wasting, any at all. I have no clue how to make it easier, but I'm definitely watching to see if someone does.
  • rmartin72
    rmartin72 Posts: 1,085 Member
    I honestly agree with ladybug1620
  • CouleeRunner
    CouleeRunner Posts: 256 Member
    I freeze all leftovers, even one porkchop or 1/2 cup rice or a little meat sauce......then I make lunches out of items in my freezer when I need to - kind of like a pot luck. A piece of chicken, a bit of rice, some frozen veggies..no need to waste them.
  • CatMauro
    CatMauro Posts: 225 Member
    I totally could have made a whole new meal with 1/8 of a box of stovetop and 1 porkchop!! No seriously, I am the master of leftovers. If I have a lot, I freeze it, if not, I essentially wait a couple of days and then see what I can make with the leftovers I have in the fridge. Think of it as a way to let your imagination run wild in the kitchen.
  • melissalan
    melissalan Posts: 75 Member
    My granny (now deceased) had the same "problem". Nothing was thrown away. She saved every bit of leftovers and on Saturday would make a soup out of all those leftovers. Nothing was off limits. I saw her make spaghetti and lima bean "soup" one time.

    I don't encounter this problem too much because I have a grown man, a teenage boy, and two dogs that will eat almost everything.
    Maybe you could try turning the leftovers into a cassarole or try my granny's soup idea :happy:
  • asyouseefit
    asyouseefit Posts: 1,265 Member
    I never throw anything away. If there are leftovers, I bag them for lunch the next day!
  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
    I also have a tough time throwing food away. All those years hearing about starving children in China/Africa/South America made me a plate-cleaner, too. It's just my hubby and me eating at home now, and I have learned to use my food scale and cook only that portion of the box that we are going to eat. If there are supposed to be 4 servings in the box and we only want 2, then I weigh each ingredient on the scale and divide it in half. I put the rest in sealed zip bags and put it back in the box for the next time. It will usually keep for about a month or so in the pantry that way. Most of those boxed meals are dry goods, anyway.

    Hope this helps. :)
  • DancinSMartiPants
    DancinSMartiPants Posts: 363
    Yes, I have that problem as well. I serve myself and my family, give them seconds if they want and then immediately freeze the rest. Having a son of my own now, I never tell him to finish his food, I only ask if his tummy is full.

    I agree with this! Put the leftovers in those ziplock lunch containers and throw it in the freezer. You can wait a week or two before grabbing those leftovers to take to work for lunch. And since you wait a while you won't even be sick of eating it.
  • medoria
    medoria Posts: 673 Member
    I just started reading Geneen Roths book Breaking free from emotional eating and she brings this up. The book is really good and i highly recomend it.
  • sconns21
    sconns21 Posts: 92 Member
    Tell me about it. We're always looking for bargains in the reduced section. We ended up getting a chocolate brownie sundae for £0.20 the other day just because it was cheap then we had to eat it because it was fresh cream. It was nice though.
  • Rach911
    Rach911 Posts: 72 Member
    I am in the exact same boat, especially since I live alone so noone else can eat when I cook something that is for 4+ people. I do one of two things. First, use the leftovers for meals the rest of the week. The downside to this is, you will be eating the same meal several days in a row, but I'd rather do that then throw food away. Second is freeze it! I know you can't freeze stove top, mac & cheese, etc. (which is where eating for other meals that week comes into play) but there is a lot that you can freeze such as soups, casseroles, meats even fresh pizza. I bought a fresh pizza from Dominoes one weekend for my cheat day and didn't eat the whole thing. I really didn't want to throw more than 1/2 the pizza away, so I wrapped it in foil and placed in a freezer safe bag for my next cheat day. Popped it in the oven a week later and it was just as yummy as it was fresh. Hope these ideas help!
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
    My son takes leftovers to school the next day and the dog eats what the kids dont finish.
  • zeeeb
    zeeeb Posts: 805 Member
    yep. i have the same issue.

    and with my children, i never force them to eat their dinner NEVER!!! I remember sitting at the kitchen table crying because i didn't want to eat my tea, but being forced to sit there until it was all gone. my kids get, "right, if you've finished eating your tea, there's nothing til breakfast" so they know that if they don't finish their evening meal, they don't get snacks before breakfast. simple. it eliminates the idea of desert 95% of the time as well, because they virtually never eat all their vegies.

    but yeah, it's a learned skill to leave something on the plate and let it go to waste. I stuggle with it, and haven't found much success except serving smaller meals.
  • harley0269
    harley0269 Posts: 384 Member
    i hear ya dude! it was drilled into my head as a kid, that throwing away food is a sin!!
    its sooo dang hard to toss it. i cant do it! im not wired that way. it makes me sick to see people be so wasteful.
    i save my leftovers, no matter how small & i will find a way to make something new out of it. or i will freeze it.
    or i will save all my leftovers for one night shmorsaborg. (?spelling) kinda like a buffet night, where you get to eat a bite of this & a bite of that.
    i did find cooking for one is easier if you just cook one piece of chicken or fish a night & steam just enough veggies for that night etc.. if i cook only what i will be eating for that meal, then i do better sticking to my diet & not over eat.
    if i do make something in a larger quantity like spaghetti or something, i will freeze the rest in individual servings, for next time, or i will give leftovers away to my neighbors.
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,223 Member
    When I was in HS there wasn't always a lot of food in the house, so I'm a bit OCD when it comes to there being plenty of food. I go into panic mode if I don't have enough food for at least 2 weeks, that's from too many times of NOT having much in our pantry/fridge.

    I intentionally make a lot of leftovers (i do a lot of cooking on the weekends) - if there's waaay too much, I freeze for lunches/fast dinners during the week/etc...
  • lil_pulp
    lil_pulp Posts: 701 Member
    Wasting a few bucks for "unusable leftovers" is nothing compared to how much you'll spend in the future taking care of an overweight and unhealthy body. It's hard but it's for your health and your future, which are priceless.
  • BrewerGeorge
    BrewerGeorge Posts: 397 Member
    Thanks for the answers, Folks.

    I suppose I should have mentioned that I have an 18yr old and a 10 yr old (girls) eating with my wife and me. It's really hard to predict how much they're going to want to eat at any given meal, given growth spurts, periods, moods, etc. I have to start with enough for 4 just in case they want to eat it that night - maybe 30% of the time they do.

    I've been doing what you're saying, but I'm getting a lot of leftovers in the fridge even when I'm trying hard to eat them for lunch.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    I say better in the trash then on my gutt.:drinker:
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    I only save leftovers when there is enough for one plate. One pork chop plus one serving of stove top equals tomorrow's lunch.

    This.
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