Food Waste Friday | Help a reader out!
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.
Well, I had a much better week than last week, thankfully. Going a second week without grocery shopping definitely helped me to clean out my fridge and pantry, so I'm thinking this bi-weekly shopping thing is going to be good for my food waste.
The only thing in my fridge that might go to waste are some radishes...they're a little bit old and I'm not sure they're salvageable. Other than that, I'm good to go, and my fridge is delightfully empty.
On a separate note, a reader left a comment yesterday asking for suggestions about using up a box of Safeway brand Cheerios that weren't fit for consumption as breakfast cereal (sometimes off-brand cereal is like that!), and I know you guys will have some great suggestions to share in the comments.
I'm low on using-up-yucky-Cheerios ideas, but if the reader decides the cereal is not worth salvaging, I'd suggest taking it back to Safeway. Most stores have a money-back guarantee on their private label products and will refund the purchase price. The cereal will still be thrown away, yes, but at least when the product is returned, the shopper can get some money back. And hopefully Safeway tracks that kind of thing so they can learn which of their products need some reformulating.
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Today's 365 post: My children's favorite store
I was thining about the cheeroios what about some type of cookie with them?
But your idea about taking it back to the store might be a better Idea.... Would hurt to give them a call and inquire!
Grind the cheerios up and use them as a breading for chicken.
Totally odd idea but fun for kids - get some pine cones, slather with peanut butter (generic brand so you aren't putting lunch on an inedible object), roll in bird seed or Cheerios! Makes a great winter meal for the birds and fun for the kids to make as well as watch the birds come eat.
Cheerios are always great for artwork! A little glue, glitter, and construction paper and a kid can create just about anything!
Well, if she has kids, I would suggest using them for a craft. I like this idea for making christmas wreaths that could be used as fun, homemade ornaments: http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/cheeri-ho-ho-os.jhtml I'm sure there are also some ideas out there by more crafty people than me about how to use cheerios for some kind of Thanksgiving craft.
I've also had friends who used them to help potty train little boys. They apparently make good targets!
Well, I think you should return them. Having worked in some of the upper levels of grocery store mgmt, and directly with the buyers, I know that stores do keep track of those things.
For the radishes- Can I suggest this recipe? http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001074569
It's AMAZING, simple and the best way to use up not-super-fresh radishes.
If they're just slightly stale, she could use the cheerios in homemade granola bars or maybe smashed in something like meatloaf to replace the bread crumbs. They also may not be too bad crushed and toasted on top of a casserole. If they really aren't edible, I was going to suggest a bird feeder, but someone already beat me to the punch. They might also be good used to develop fine motor skills by letting her kiddos string them onto a piece of yarn or twine to make a necklace. We've even hung those up outside as a very simple bird feeder.
If they're only inedible as cereal...could she try to use them for a rice crispy-type treat?? The marshmallows used to hold everything together might disguise whatever "off" taste the cereal has.
Or crush them up and use the crumbs in place of bread crumbs?
My first thought was to make a chex-mix type of snack with them. With the flavorings and the extra toasting they may be more edible.
I give things like that to my mom to feed to her chickens !!!
I hope I have done the link correctly? Not sure? Hope I don't keep repeating the link etc... oh well - also is this where I comment on food waste? Nevermind me... not a good week! Anyway this is my first week posting my waste and it's good news (I think anyway) just 6 x celery hearts as I managed to salvage everything else into a slow cooked vegetable curry (recipe on my blog) and the three lemons were cut up and frozen to use as lemony ice cubes in the future. Poor celery hearts - off to the recycling bin they go... (really need to think about composting? maybe next year when I get my raised veggie beds in the backgarden)
For the cheerios, crush them up in a plastic baggie and use them as if you would use breadcrumbs. Add a little salt/pepper/oregano/garlic and coat the outside of some chicken or porkchops (or tofu if you are a veggiesaur). Or, add a little sugar and cinnamon and coat the outside of a sugar cookie.
Works like a charm 🙂
Cheerios in homemade Chex mix are my favorite part!! I think since you dump italian dressing and other seasoning on them they would work perfectly. The shrink up and are really crunchy and delicious!!
She could possibly melt a little butter, add some garlic and herbs, toss the Cheerios in the seasoned butter, then bake at around 375 degrees until they are crunchy again and use for a snack. It might boost the flavor to where they're edible again (I've done this with stale shredded wheat biscuits and it worked).
Almost a no-waste week again except for weirdly spoiled red peppers. Looked good on the outside, but were black and icky inside. This is my third week for food spoiling in mysterious ways.
I was thinking about a rice krispie as well, using cheerios instead. You can mix in a little peanut butter or chocolate with the marshmallows as well. Pretty delicious!
We threw out some pasta that we didn't like (won't be making that recipe again!) and I found some tortillas hiding in the back of the fridge that I can't remember when they were bought. Oops.
As for the cheerios, I like the pinecone idea a lot! That sounds like a fun activity for kids. If that doesn't work out, using them to make breadcrumbs and coating chicken, pork, or tofu is a great idea!
Thanks for all the tips for the Cheerios!
Since I don't have kids I think I will try to crush them for breadcrumbs!
Hmm..
Could she make something like rice krispie treats...but use the cherrios instead? Butter and marshmellow can be very forgiving.
You don' have to have kids to make those bird feeders. The birds will never know who made them.
My friend makes cheerio muffins regularly - take advantage of the nutrients and vitamins in the cheerios without the taste!
http://mrbreakfast.com/display.asp?categoryid=1&subcategoryid=9&recipeid=1186
http://www.food.com/recipe/cheerio-applesauce-muffins-214118
Just some grapes here this week. We ate most of them but the last ones hit the compost. Grapes are right behind cilantro in the "things that never get used up" list.
I freeze my grapes if they get a little limp. They're better than sherbet.
Suggestions for icky cheerios:
Mix them in with good cheerios. Try this in a small bowl first to make sure you don't end up wasting your good cheerieos.
Crush them and use as bread crumbs.
Add them to chex mix or muddy buddies recipe.
I went through my cabinets this time. Bleah.
As for the cheerios, I have no clue. Sorry, wish I could be more helpful
For the cheerios...give these bars a try!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanutty-Caramel-Bars/Detail.aspx
I see someone else suggested the applesauce cheerios muffins, and they are excellent and very healthy.
http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/Recipes/featured-brands/cheerios-cereal/applesauce-muffins.aspx
I first posted that I hadn't looked in my fridge because I'm just too exhausted but didn't think there was anything that needed to be gotten rid of. And as soon as I posted I couldn't stand not checking. Aaagh, I made soup nearly two weeks ago, how on earth have I managed to look into a not very full fridge and miss seeing it that whole time? And I noticed that a quarter full jar of jam was starting to grow a little bit of mould and moving that brought the jar of apple juice to light that I had put in there the last evening I steam-juiced apples, intending to have it as a nice treat the next morning with breakfast. Since I gave the steam juicer back two weeks ago, it's possibly not surprising there was some mould there. But, eeewwww, I hate things growing mouldy in my fridge - will have to give it a good scrub down tomorrow. Wish I'd never heard the word spore. Shudder.
Love some of the cheerio suggestions by the way. Never buy them myself and don't have kids but if I did I would totally want to try using them to teach little boys where to aim. Fantastic! 🙂
No waste for me (at least not that I can remember), but this week has been sort of a blur so I could be wrong.
If the store doesn't take them back, I'd put them outside for the birds to eat. We have garbage disposal....er....chickens, and they are eating machines! And they don't care one bit about what brand it is! : )
Make nuts & bolts! (a chez like mix)
I would melt some marshmallows and butter and do a cereal bar treat. That's what I did with the last box of less-than-good cereal I had. Got it gobbled up quite nicely. Hopefully she has kids!
we use 'cheerios' as dog treats. Quick, easy, cheap and our dogs have never turned them down (even if stale). Ears go up at the words "who wants cheerios?" They think that ANY cereal is cheerios.
Some ideas for using the 'cheerios' is to grind them up and use instead of bread crumbs in dishes like meatloaf. You can also use them as a crumb coating for chicken or other such items... It can also be used as a crumb topping for pies (mixed with butter and sugar.) Some may be better able to be used than others depending on how horrid it tastes. You can also use them for craft projects.
The Wasted Food blog by Johnathon Bloom is very good. He has a great book out on it too. I do wish I had one of those devices like Marty Mc Fly in the movie "Back to the Future". It was called a Mr. Fushion. If I only had one of those I would be super rich. This week all I wasted was some ketchup packets I saved from McDonald's during the game of course where I won food prizes. I also wasted a little soda so, I did good. I need to cut back on it but, I do love it and the energy it gives. Have a nice weekend.
Can I just say how clever and creative all of you are? I'm really impressed by all of those uses for yucky store-brand cheerios. Great job!
String them outside & hang in trees/bushes to feed birds - can alternate with popcorn for variety
DON'T THROW THEM OUT
Grind the cheerios up and add them to toasted stale bread ground up and stale crackers ground up... any types, mix together and you have home made breading for chicken, fish, pork, whatever... I add seasonings as I go - depending on what I'm making or side dishes.
For me its usually produce 🙁 Ill have to take a pic next week...its good to keep yourself in check.
I'd think using them in some sort of dish/dessert where you add other flavorings would disguise the "off" taste of store label cereal. i bought store label pop tarts like this once and there was just no salvaging them, but luckily children usually don't have the same taste buds as adults so I gave them to my mom (a school teacher) who sometimes has children who come to school without the money to buy snacks or can't afford to bring them from home. I wouldn't recommend doing that with the Cheerios but if anybody buys individually wrapped foods their families don't like, always offer them to your childrens teachers for that purpose. I try to use up extra Register Rewards and Extra Care Bucks for taht purpose as well because sometimes the breakfast, snack and lunch those kids get are the only food they get in a day.
I adore the Honey Nut Cheerios snack mix sold in the store, by the way, as well as the regular kind in the yellow bag. Maybe try and recreate that with your cereal but add some cocoa powder or something to it so you can't taste the cereal so much?