Food Waste Friday | I should have skipped THIS week!
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.
First, thank you all SO much for your comments on my quandary post yesterday. You all were almost unanimous in telling me to wait on the e-book, and I have to tell you, I feel an enormous sense of relief about taking that off of my plate (which tells me this was probably the right decision!). I just need someone else to tell me that it was!
I'll get to work on putting together a number of Christmas-y posts this month, and after Christmas, I'll work on writing a smaller e-book (on a different topic) so that I can get some experience under my belt and work out the e-book selling kinks before I take on the Christmas e-book project.
Now, food waste!
Last week, when we had no Food Waste Friday, I had nothing to throw out.
This week, though, I do have a couple of things.
A few sprigs of cilantro have gone south, along with part of a package of cherry tomatoes, and some leftover rice. It's from a casserole-ish dish that I made, and I should have remembered that we always end up with too much rice (perhaps I should write this down on the recipe card, 'ey?).
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Today's 365 post: This was my kids' idea.
Just a bowlful of soup for me this week. I'd made it from last week's leftover parsnip, apple and celery, but in my enthusiasm to use up the apple had been a little heavy handed. Tasted an awful lot like apple puree - which would be fab for weaning but not so much for my lunch! Managed to create a 'No Waste Tastes Great' recipe (to be frozen and used on Meat-Free Monday) from a few other veggies that could potentially have gone to waste. Apart from that I rescued yet another lime from the fate of the recycling bin which I sliced and froze - let's hope I entertain a lot of Gin and Tonic drinkers this holiday 🙂
I freeze leftover rice flat in 1-cup portions in zip-lock baggies. They're great for a quick side, to bulk up some burritos or soup, etc. I used to always end up throwing out rice, but no more! It takes so darn long to cook and so when I remember to cook the rice, I cook up a few extra cups.
I've just starting doing this too Karen, though not yet cooking extra, which really is a good idea. It really is a great time saver to already have some in the freezer. When I think about how many small portions of leftover rice I've put into compost over the years, instead of just adding to a ziploc bag in the freezer, it makes me sad. But as Maya Angelou once said "You do what you know how to do, and when you know better you do better!" Now I'm very happy with my rice habits 🙂
Not such a great week for me either. Although considering how full my fridge was at the beginning and how much we needed to use up, it wasn't *too* bad in the end.
I use leftover rice to make rice pudding. When I lived with a bunch of guys, it was a huge hit!
The only waste I had this week was a leftover turkey enchilada that got pushed to the back of the fridge. 😛 I have a few questionable bananas, but I am eating one as I write this , and the other three will be made into Cinnamon Banana bread tomorrow for holiday gifts.
Half a cucmber, half a bunch of cilantro, and some leftover salad. The Thanksgiving leftovers vanished with no problem!
I don't have anything to report (haven't cleaned the fridge yet). I was very intrigued by how you store your cilantro. I've started washing my cilantro in the salad spinner and wrapping it in paper towels and storing it in a ziploc bag. It seems to stay very fresh for 2 weeks. Now seeing yours stored in a glass mug, has my interests peaked. Does it stay fresh longer that way?
Also I wanted to Thank You for sharing all your helpful tips on living on a budget.
Woohoo no waste this week!
Well, I was feeling all excited today that this week I had only a chicken leg and half a satsuma that didn't make it. Then this evening I came across a packet of ginger snap biscuits (cookies) that had been left slightly open and had gone stale. Fortunately it could all be composted (it's wonderful that we can place meat into yard waste here in Seattle). Now however, I realize that I could have been more creative and used the biscuits in some manner, crushed or soaked in something yummy...sigh! Ah well, live and learn.
I only had a small amount of old cheerios but, the birds love them. A bunch of blue jays showed up.
The persimmon went from almost-ripe to fermented when I wasn't looking, the fink. I expect the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers will become waste soon.
I think you made the right decision about productivity and the e-book but for a different reason than the ones I saw posted (in addition to your not being overloaded). I think you should share them when it will more good for the readers. Right now is not the optimum time for a Christmas e-book but I think October or even June might be. Same for productivity - December is an unlikely month for anyone to successfully improve their habits. Most of us are trying to meet the demands of the month without breaking the bank or our sanity. January will do nicely, or even late Feb when people's start-of-year enthusiasm is flagging.
I freeze left over rice too, in little single portion pots for portion control. Works a treat! left over herbs also freeze well and are easy to use.
Good decision about the e-book, I think. The removal of the pressure will bring the fun back again!
J x