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.
When I cleaned out my freezer the other day, I found a few things that were too far gone for saving:
The corn smelled super freezer burnt, the chipotle peppers had been in there way too long (The ones I mentioned in my post yesterday were from a new can), and the ham had been hastily thrown in there without any wrapping (??) to keep the lid shut, so the ham was super-duper dry.
Aand, I had to compost a bad avocado (whyyyy do I ever buy avocados from a store other than Aldi? I hardly ever get a bad avocado from Aldi.)
Freezer Challenge Update
Yesterday I finished using up the random bits of bread from my freezer (Yay!).
I made a small batch of garlic croutons, which my kids and I devoured in about 5 minutes.
And I made a pan of bread pudding.
(No one complained about that.)
I used eggs that had gotten a bit cracked and stuck to the carton. I just turned the carton upside down over the bowl and broke the eggs one at a time.
And if you follow me on Instagram, you already know I made a pot of broccoli noodle soup to use up broccoli and turkey broth from my freezer.
(I’d forgotten to mention the turkey broth in my freezer inventory.)
So, I’ve used up bread odds and ends (lots!), bananas, broccoli, turkey broth, and whole wheat flour so far.
Might be time to tackle some of the meaty contents of my freezer next…
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How did you do on the food waste front this week? And if you’re doing the freezer challenge, how’s it going?
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P.S. Totally forgot to tell you all that Ashlyn is the winner of The Make Ahead Cook giveaway. Congrats, Ashlyn! And happy cooking. 🙂
Aunt Arie
Sunday 21st of September 2014
I'm so happy to see this effort to raise awareness about food waste. I am definitely an offender--mine is usually fresh produce that I wait a LITTLE too long to use--but I am determined to use every every last bit of food that I've spent money on. I'm constantly working to balance the cost of food with the quality of food, so if I've purchased beautiful produce from local food growers and happily paid a little more to support those hard-working folks, the least I can do is not let the food die in my vegetable crisper!
CeCee
Sunday 21st of September 2014
We lost a half of an avocado and few bites of pot roast that we thawed on a lazy night. All in all not a bad food waste for the crazy week we had. We are closing on a house, and had several appointments (vet, doctor, work, and otherwise). It was a very stressful week, so to have few leftovers was good
Clare@doingitsimply
Friday 19th of September 2014
Hi Kristen! After a couple of years off publicly declaring my food waste, I'm back, because without this accountability I slack off :) Things end up in the bin and I think 'oh well, never mind' when, if I have to declare it at the end of the week, I am more likely to notice and make a save before it's too late! Thank you for this forum and the encouragement it has given me to waste less! This week I had some eggs that I didn't save, and half a lemon! Not as good as I wanted for my first week back, but not too bad :)
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Kristen
Friday 19th of September 2014
Oh man, I am SO the same way. I really need the accountability.
Kay Lynn
Friday 19th of September 2014
Great work! What is your go-to cookbook for recipes.....like broccoli noodle soup or bread pudding? Just curious!
Kristen
Friday 19th of September 2014
I use a lot of Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recipes, and I also have a basic Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I use for basics.
Vee@VeesEasyVegan
Friday 19th of September 2014
Recently I read an article on Penniless Parenting where Penny went away for a holiday and came back to a freezer full of dethawing meat. She writes about what she did with it to save it. Do not eat meat but can imagine the work. http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2014/09/what-to-do-with-entire-freezer-full-of.html
On my own home front excellent week here. No waste at all :) I too came home recently to my hubby cleaning out our freezer and defrosting it so I used up bits and bobs then and my freezer is pretty clear. My biggest challenge is bread which I freeze and then end up with loads of bags of bread with 4 slices or so. http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/poached-pears-in-citrus-sauce-talking-about-food-and-plastic-waste-home-made-delights/: