Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born. If you’re not a blogger but still want some food waste accountability, feel free to participate by leaving a comment.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me this morning…usually I am a little tired when the alarm goes off at the unfortunate hour of 4:45, but then I kind of snap to it and get on with my day. This morning, though, I’m just dragging. I had big plans to paint Joshua’s bed today, but I think I might just put that off until another day. 
On to food waste, though!
The stuff in the photo is some seafood dip. I tried a new recipe, and while it wasn’t terrible, it was just…ok. And unfortunately, the recipe made a lot! We ate quite a bit of it, but it’s now almost 2 weeks old, and 2 week old seafood dip makes me nervous.
Also, earlier in the week I cleaned out my below-the-fridge freezer and found several freezer-burnt items…a little bit of cooked chicken, and a few slices of stromboli. I think there might have been something else too but my brain can’t remember what it was (I am having some serious difficulty waking up this morning).
On the upside, I ate that tilapia that I mentioned last week, so yay me! I sauteed it in some butter and put it on top of a salad, which I doused in Asian salad dressing. Of course, if you follow me (or like me. or fan me. or whatever the heck it is that they call it now.) on Facebook, you already knew that.
Incidentally, did you see that I have a lovely, neat Facebook url now? Instead of www.facebook.com/wysd94556ofreer9000 (I just made that up, but it’s similar to my old url!), I’m now just www.facebook.com/thefrugalgirl. Much better.
If I wake up before then, I may be back this afternoon with a short post.
Today’s 365 post: Our van’s shade tree
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I had a few things that just got lost in the fridge. I really need to work on organizing that a little better…
We did well. We used up a lot of stuff, and we are down to a refrigerator with a cup of leftover salad, 3 eggs, no meat (it’s in the freezer), one red pepper and some celery. We didn’t even have leftover stale cake this week, and we had three different cakes on Monday! Yeah, that rarely goes bad…
Read your two-post twitter from yesterday and no wonder you’re a little tired. Weather doesn’t help either. Sounds like a good day to take a load off and play games in water or something.
1. A pint of blackberries. It’s hard to believe as I write it but they were too sour, and sat in the warmth for too long so I couldn’t add them to the fruit to make smoothies from.
2. A quart of homemade rice pudding. Note to self: rice pudding doesn’t freeze well. It was odd, actually. The rice was terrible: gritty and mushy and styrofoam-like all at the same time, but one could still taste how rich and luxurious the pudding was. But since it was inedible I made chocolate pudding for my visiting relatives, thus knocking off another Cooks Illustrated recipe. (Verdict: good pudding, but I don’t eat pudding enough to make it worth keeping the recipe.)
3. A whole cabbage – if not soon, then sometime unless I can find a neighbor who likes them. It came with CSA and I can’t find a use that’s even remotely palatable to me.
I desparately need to go food shopping tomorrow. I was getting overwhelmed with fruit so I skipped a week to make sure my household (including guests) ate it all up. Success! And a very empty fridge.
I’m having a slow day too… and I can’t really afford it. Late night last night, probably a late night tonight and a very early start tomorrow. Oh boy. Well, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So let’s eat an elephant together today, Kristen!
I learned all about bitter cucumbers this week (ew gross is all I have to say) and wasted yet another rotting onion. We buy our onions in a bag because I cook with them almost every night. I take them out of the bag, but they still go bad. Does anyone else do this and have onions go bad almost every week? Some advice might be helpful here.
PS: I updated my background and am unsure of my thoughts. If you have a minute, please stop by and give me your (honest) opinions/suggestions.
You scare me, girl…eating seafood that’s over a week old. My mom always told me that with cooked food, four days is the max you can keep it. Then, it’s time to freeze or toss. Avoiding food waste is important, but your health is more important IMHO
Just “food” for thought…LOL!
The rule for cooked food isn’t that uniform. It depends on the sort of food (bread vs fish), how you cooked (lightly seared vs thoroughly smoked) – and most importantly – how it’s been handled (left at room temp for 2 days vs under 40F except for when it’s cooking). Some foods can be refreshed as well, most notably stock: if you simmer it 15 min every third day it can last forever in your fridge.
Off Topic: But just an FYI for anyone in the Washington, DC area, did you see that the Newseum is running a special where you can get 10 kids in for FREE with every adult admission purchased? A nice outing for homeschoolers, and non-home schoolers alike. Also, the recently removated American History Museum on the Mall in the Smithsonian has some wonderful exhibits for children–we’ve spent many happy hours there with our son! There’s a hands-on please touch room, a lab where children can do science experiments, plus a lot of interactive and interesting exhibits…including one on the history of transportation where you can “board” a bus that feels like it’s moving. And if your kids have never been to the Air and Space Museum, it’s also highly interesting and interactive. All of these activities are free, or low cost…and if you pack a lunch and ride the metro at non-rush hour it’s a very inexpensive, fun, and educational day!
Kristen, I’m tired pretty much every morning! My doctor says it’s due to “stress” and “depression.” I’m trying this new diet, though, for my colitis, and I’ve found it helps with the tiredness. Basically, I eat 4 or 5 small meals instead of 3 big meals, I don’t combine starches with proteins, and I’ve cut out all dairy products. Also, I eat a lot of blended foods because they are easier to digest. I can’t believe you wake up at 4:45!
i have no reason to be tired, but i’m sleepy today, too. must be something in the air. let’s blame something that ephemeral.
No food waste today but have posted what I should have included in my last one – I was convinced those beets would still be okay but when I took them out two days after my last food waste friday post they were growing something. Eeeww.
Getting nervous now about bitter cucumbers as I brought home a load on Tuesday and have just finished pickling the last of them. I hate cucumbers though so haven’t been taste testing as I went – to me they kind of always taste bitter and horrible so no idea how I’d tell if they were off or not. Have to bring the finished products back to the garden tomorrow for people to ‘enjoy’ (I hope!) with their break. I wish I had someone else here to taste first for me!
When I was researching bitter cucumbers I came across this on Wikipedia
“There appears to be variability in the human olfactory response to cucumbers, with the majority of people reporting a mild, almost watery flavor or a light melon taste, while a small but vocal minority report a highly repugnant taste, some say almost perfume-like. The presence of the organic compound phenylthiocarbamide is believed to cause the bitter taste”.
It sounds like you have highly sensitive taste buds (at least for cucumbers!)
That’s interesting. I remember learning that tasting cucumbers is one of the things that’s genetically determined but it’s interesting to read exactly why. Funny that you mention some people report it having a melon taste as melon is something else I really can’t stand to eat. Really dislike the taste of it and it seems to be there regardless of the type of melon.
Now if only I had such a sensitive palate when it came to something nice like wine or cheese – I could make a career out of it. Funnily, I think I am quite sensitve to the tastes of apples as well as I went to an apple-tasting once and could far better identify the flavours described than I have ever been able to do at wine-tastings. Hint of blackberries? Oaky? Nope, just tastes like nice wine to me. Sherbety apple? Absolutely.
Meant to add that I do occasionally try foods that I don’t like, just in case I like them now as I know that your tastes can change over the years. Cucumbers, melon and peppers are all things that I consistently dislike (skinned peppers are okay but with the skins even the smell makes me start to think of having indigestion). Olives are something that I have finally learned to like. Turnip I can manage to eat now without gagging although I still don’t like it. I do think it’s important to try things every once in a while.
I did try some cucumber the other day which had been freshly picked from the organic garden I helped in and although definitely crisper than I remember cucumber being it was still horrible. So I think I’ll memorise the name of that compound you mentioned so that I can explain it to people better in future.
I love your site, your posts are always fun. Keep up the great work, it’s very appreciated! That Mr FG is one lucky guy.
Threw out some very stinky raw chicken thighs yesterday. They got bumped up from last week’s menu, but the chicken didn’t last that long, even though it had been sealed and refrigerated the whole time. Not an inexpensive error, either.
next time you come up with a so-so mayo-based dip recipe, you might turn the leftovers into a base for a pasta salad & add other seasonings, plus cut up bell peppers and celery.
Not a good week here on the food waste front. Half a loaf of bread, two avocados, the last inch of salsa in a giant jar, half a cantaloupe, and a nectarine. We had family visting, and apparently it’s hard to know how much to buy for 8, when you usually buy for 2. I was trying to avoid a trip to the store during the visit (which I had to make anyway for milk) but next time I will buy less and visit the store as needed.
I had some taco meat approaching 2 weeks old! It somehow got buried behind milk & tea (I’m not sure how they even ended up on the same shelf!) so it was neglected and therefore it had to go! Oh well….I’m not gonna beat myself up over a small bit of taco meat.
Hope everyone has a blessed weekend!!
http://www.saramarlar.scentsy.com
No waste this week but if I don’t find a use for those new red potatoes I will next week.