About cauliflower breadsticks, frozen spinach, and more...
Every other Friday, I host Food Waste Friday, where I share my food waste successes and failures. The public accountability does me good. 😉
You know me...I like to get the bad news out of the way first.
So.
Here it is.
Those are leftover cauliflower breadsticks. They were all right the first night I made them, but leftover, I found them to be quite unappetizing.
And while I saved several yellow squashes this week, this one was ugly on the inside as well as the outside, so I composted it.
On to happier news!
I froze a tray of spinach and various fruits that were about to go bad. Because, smoothies, of course.
I saved several summer squashes by making muffins. I used this zucchini muffin recipe, except I did not add cinnamon chips, and obviously I used yellow squash instead of zucchini.
I wouldn't say they were out of this world, but we did eat them all in pretty short order, and I didn't have to compost those squashes, so I feel like it was kind of a win.
I needed a mushroom or two for paninis, and since Mr. FG is the only one here who really likes mushrooms, I bought the loose ones. They cost more per pound, but I can use them up quickly and not waste any, so it's ultimately a money saver.
Here's how my fridge is doing:
and my freezer:
The freezer still mostly contains smoothie ingredients, so, happy day!
My fridge has a container of sour cream that froze and thawed and is now runny, so I think I'm gonna try using that in some kind of baking recipe. Aside from that, things are pretty darn under control. Yay!
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How'd food waste go for you this week? Share in the comments! And if you blogged a Food Waste Friday post, link us up in the comments.
Hi Kristen, I hope you are having a nice day! My food waste for this week was some potato salad, 4 slices of ham and some tomato slices. I might have to try a smoothie we haven't had one for ages. Take care and have a good weekend. Tara x
I used to waste mushrooms until I discovered that I could wash, slice, and freeze them for use in casseroles or on pizzas. They aren't quite as good as fresh, but in things like homemade cream of mushroom soup, no one would know. We do like to make stuffed mushrooms from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but sometimes I don't have enough time for that. Since we found this recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/oven-roasted-mushrooms-recipe.html
we haven't had any wasted mushrooms! They are delicious!
Well, sadly, I tossed a freezer casserole. ): I had made a big recipe of it and froze half. That was months ago. And since we didn't really love the first one we ate, I could never bring myself to serve the second one. BUT, we did make a couple of frugal meals this week with items I found in the freezer: Chicken pot Pie, and "Brinner" one night with some chorizo, egg, and leftover steak fries, served with biscuits.
Lots of food waste in the past 2 weeks.... Bread, veggies gone bad, some fruits, hummus, veggie dip.... bad, bad, bad! On the plus size, I saved 18 pounds of fallen apples from the neighbor's tree! Apple sauce it is.
My favorite chocolate cake recipe is here: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-sour-cream-bundt-cake/
That's not me, and not my website, but the cake is wonderful. It uses 1/2 cup sour cream in it, so it likely won't use up all your runny sour cream but it's a start and it will make your family very happy. My friends and family love it - the dark chocolate flavor in the icing is perfect and the cake is moist and beautiful. The bundt pan makes it fancy. Maybe you'll have a special occasion in the near future and get to try it.
Good save on the produce! I never remember quite in time to freeze my leftover leafy greens for smoothies.
Use up your sour cream in a cake! I've tried a zillion cake batter recipes and the most moist cakes have sour cream in them!! =)
Happy Friday!!
I am trying my first ever cauliflower pizza crust tonight, so I'll be interested to see how it turns out if we have leftovers...
On the food waste front, I had a pretty decent week! After quite a few not-so-good weeks I think I'm getting back in the groove.
http://lauxwellness.com/2015/08/14/food-waste-81415/
When you have leftover meat take the kids crabbing. it is fun for the whole family and you don't have to buy crab bait chicken at three times the price of regular chicken! And the crabs don't care how old or nasty the meat is, they will eat anything. (Just don't fall in or they just may try to take a bite out of you!) 🙂
(Long time reader, first time commenter, hehe) I love these posts! But I'm writing to ask where did you get the mesh sacks that your mushrooms are in? And do you use those instead of plastic at the store? That is BRILLIANT! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yay for delurking! Woohoo!
I got my produce sacks from epantry, and yup, they're in place of the plastic ones from the store.
An alternative for produce is inexpensive small mesh lingerie bags--washable, too. I get some funny looks, but that is okay.
I wish I could post pics here in the comments. You would see a picture of a fridge 3/4 empty and a freezer completely full. I live alone, so my freezer lets me keep foods from wasting away.
My food waste this week has been bits of lettuce as I make salads from 2 heads a friend gave me and the end of a pepper.
On the other hand, dinner one night was leftover leftovers. I could not finish my portion, so I saved it, paired it with a salad and had dinner another night. No waste. I do have a giant zucchini, giant yellow squash, and giant cucumber that need to be shredded and either frozen or used soon. Here's hoping I get to them soon!
Not such as great food waste week for me....threw out a boxed (mostly iceberg lettuce) salad my hubby got with some carry-out meal that he didn't eat (obviously, I didn't eat it, either....). A few squashes, eggplant, and okra were tossed that came in our CSA basket (we're not big fans of any of these vegs, though I do cut up raw yellow squash in my usual big lunch salads) - still trying to come up with the "magic recipes" that will make these veggies more acceptable. My son needed packed lunches this week for the end of his "summer room"/kindergarten prep/pre school class - threw away a grilled cheese sandwich (that he insisted he wanted for lunch), various parts of his favorite cookies....he's a terribly picky eater, so packing a lunch is really hard. Oh well, I'll keep trying - next week is bound to be better!:-)
1. Squash: try grating it, squeezing out the liquid (put it in a towel and twist), and adding to sauteed veggies, omelets, casseroles.
2. Eggplant: slice, salt heavily for 30 min, rinse off salt, layer between towels and put something heavy on them. These steps will help get out much of the liquid that make them unpleasant (for those who don't like them). After this most people fry them, or try making moussaka.
3. Okra. This is not a versatile veggie. They can be sliced, breadcrumbed, and pan fried. Or sliced and used to thicken soup and gumbo. That's about it.
"They cost more per pound, but I can use them up quickly and not waste any, so it’s ultimately a money saver." Totally agree - also I like buying veg/fruit like this as it reduces packaging typically for me!
My fridge photo this week could be mistaken for a cupboard door... By Wednesday it was almost empty - so an emergency mid-week meal was rustled up. Thank goodness for tinned fish and cornflakes - was even worth sharing as a recipe.
"Because smoothies, of course"
That's me too! It all goes in the freezer. This week I even put the greens of the strawberries in my smoothie and it tasted just fine!
Here is how we did: http://eatdrinkandsavemoney.com/2015/08/14/too-much-waste-food-waste-friday/
Yup! Such an easy way to save produce that would go bad otherwise. I love me some smoothies.
You could add that runny sour cream to smoothies for a new taste sensation.
I got back from vacation, so I had to throw away a lot of odds and ends: a bit of old hummus, the last of the raspberry mayonnaise we'd made up, the end of some tortilla chips, etc.
On the other hand, the half-stalk of celery I came home to was very soft but not actually rotten or moldy, so I used it in soup.
1/2 of a small watermelon. It was a little mushy so I kept scooting it farther back in the frige until it finally became totally inedible.
Unfortunately an egg went to waste this week. There was just one left in the carton and I'd forgotten about it. It was past its best before date, so I checked it by placing it in a glass of water - it rose to the top so out it went.
Proud to report no food waste this last week. Yeah!
Well I never would have thought of freezing spinach! I use it in my daily smoothies.
I made the mistake of making a smoothie with needs to be used up broccoli. Even though it was a small piece it threw the flavor all off including the consistency so I threw it out. I did manage to use up some cauliflower in a banana smoother & you could not taste it at all. That was a win because I bought a huge head from a local farmer & my husband decided he no longer likes to eat it. I am going to blanch it & freeze small pieces to use in smoothies too.
Aldi had .39 cent lb bananas & .49 for blackberries, .99 blueberries too so I froze a lot of fruit for this winter.
I use the plastic containers (the large ones) that blueberries come in to freeze my fruit, they lay flat and you can stack them & if tipped everything does not fall out.
Ooh yeah, broccoli in a smoothie sounds bad. But I'm amazed that cauliflower was ok!
@ Admin
When you have extra meat take the children crabbing. it is a good time for the entire family and you don't need to purchase crab trap chicken at three times the cost of standard chicken! What's more, the crabs couldn't care less how old or awful the meat is, they will eat anything. (Simply don't fall in or they just may attempt to make some real progress on you!)
regards
rakhi
@ Kristen
Plenty of food waste in the last week. extra meat, Bread, fruits, hummus, they all are bad. i use my extra meat take the kids crabbing. You don’t need to to go to market and purchase crab trap chicken which is twice the cost of standard chicken.
Regards
Tina
Lots of food waste in the past 2 weeks…. Bread, veggies gone bad, some fruits, hummus, veggie dip…. bad, bad, bad! On the plus size, I saved 18 pounds of fallen apples from the neighbor’s tree! Apple sauce it is.
Bunches of sustenance waste in the previous 2 weeks… . Bread, veggies turned sour, a few organic products, hummus, veggie plunge… . terrible, awful, awful! On the hefty size, I spared 18 pounds of fallen apples from the neighbor's tree! Fruit purée it is.
Sadly an egg went to waste this week. There was only one left in the container and I'd overlooked it. It was past its best before date, so I checked it by putting it in a glass of water – it rose to the top so out it went
I got over from get-away, so I needed to discard a considerable measure of incidentals: a touch of old hummus, the remainder of the raspberry mayonnaise we'd made up, the end of some tortilla chips, and so forth.
Then again, the half-stalk of celery I returned home to was delicate yet not really spoiled or mildew covered, so I utilized it as a part of soup.
Regards
Annabel
Loads of nourishment waste in the previous 2 weeks… . Bread, veggies turned sour, a few organic products, hummus, veggie plunge… . awful, awful, awful! On the larger size, I spared 18 pounds of fallen apples from the neighbor's tree! Fruit purée it is.