Food Waste Friday | It's about time!
Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. I started doing this in March of 2008 to help motivate myself to use up my food instead of wasting it and it's been very effective. Since it helped me so much, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
Time for a no-waste week, that is. It's been a little while since I've had the privilege of not posting a photo here on a Friday. I'm happy to report that there was no old food available to model for a picture this week!
I do have a little bit of waste to tell you about, but it belongs to last week's food waste post. I completely forgot to tell you that a little bit of the gravy from my slow-cooked chicken went bad along with the chicken, so it got washed down the drain.
I'll be back this afternoon to show you what I did with the three bags of candy in last week's grocery picture. 😉
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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You'll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don't blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.
Mine is an absolute disaster this week; there's loads of it and I feel really ashamed 🙁 Well done on your successful week, Kristen 🙂
I put the wrong post up at first, so I'm sorry there are two from me!
Not bad this week. One half of an avocado and 2 waffles wasted. I have started saving scraps for the compost bin I will be setting up this weekend. I also found a place nearby that recycles the items that my curbside pickup won't take. I am looking forward to taking several bags to them on Monday! I really am feeling great about all of these positive changes in our home. Thanks again Kristen!
I don't have anything either. Although, the fridge is vacant and needs to be filled today.
I love the idea of Food Waste Friday! This is something I think my family (4) could get excited about. Thanks for sharing!
This week wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had to toss a small amount of yogurt but it totally could have been worse.
Dear Neighbor, There is no need to waste food at all. Compost and feed your garden. Think you don't have space to garden? Everyone does! Visit http://www.scarlettsletters.ning.com for details. Love the premise of this site! S
I had to toss half a pan of trifle. Who throws out dessert? But I have to admit,I made it to try and salvage a bundt cake that didn't come out of its pan in one/ or 3 pieces. The cake wasn't the greatest tasting and the triffle didn't taste fantastic either. Sigh. I am not a great dessert maker, except for pies.
I am trying to find a use for some very tasteless, bland mellon we had high hopes for. The one before this was sooooooo yummy. Perhaps in a smoothie.
Rebecca - I know for a fact that melon in smoothies can be very nice. It'll be very liquid if its just melon; add banana(s) if you like it thicker.
You can also make melon pops:
1. Puree the melon.
2. Taste. If it's not sweet, you can add some sweetener (I recommend honey or sugar).
3. Pour into pop forms, or cups, or bowls. Use something for a stick: tongue depressor, skewer, plastic utensil (if you use a knife do NOT put the serrated edge in the pop).
Or make melon ice or granita:
1. Puree the melon.
2. Taste. If it's not sweet, you can add some sweetener (I recommend honey or sugar).
3. Pour into a bowl or pan. When it's about 1/3 frozen, stir it up. When it's about 2/3 frozen, stir it up again.
4. Eat with a spoon.
Frozen foods don't taste as sweet as they do at room temp, so I think it's likely you'll need to add sweetener. You can also add other fruits or juices. I find orange juice to be really sweet, so maybe try that?
Horrible week this week. This is my first time actually linking up to your website to formally participate and it's my worst week yet. I chalk it up to a bored 16-month old. Hope it's better next week!
Great job on a no waste week! We wasted a coconut, but that was all.
Nothing this week, hurrah. But that's because that poor romaine from 3 weeks ago, that I don't actually expect to eat, is still hanging on. OTOH maybe I shouldn't feel too badly about that lettuce: I'm doing an amazing job dealing with so-called clementines that are actually blended with something bitter, and the rind is going brown to boot. I think I'll make juice of the last 5.
Hmmm, there's a CI recipe for Orange-Honey Glazed Chicken that was good but too candish & sweet with full dose of honey and concentrated oj. Maybe I'll use the fresh juice and tinker some.
It's hard for me to completely avoid food waste, as my husband does shop and cook a couple times per week, and sometimes I'm just not aware of what's in my fridge until it's too late. Having said that, I am a thousand times better than I was when I started making it a priority to avoid food waste.
I did a huge grocery shopping trip this week, which crammed the fridge full to burstin', which is when food waste tends to happen.
Congrats on your no waste week!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
P.S. You do nobody any good by eating extra gravy under the guise of avoiding food waste. Except maybe the cardiologist. 😉
I agree, I actually do better when there is less in my fridge, so I can see what I have and think ahead on what needs to get used ASAP. Having a bigger fridge helps, for me anyways. And then, with less in there to start, it gets very empty by the time shopping day comes, so I can wipe off shelves before I go and then everything is clean to put the new groceries away.
I have bigger problems with my freezer, I need to get in there this weekend and organize and take stock of what I have in Deep Freeze so it dosen't go bad. Except for the 2 paint brushes still loaded with paint in the freezer, they don't go bad, and I just defrost them when I start painting again! Cool! It works with rollers too.
Does it still count if you don't clean out the fridge this week?
Kidding.
Congrats on the no waste week!
This week wasn't too bad for me, I think 3 things, the worst being a bottle of salad dressing--yikes!
Congratulations!
Does anyone have any suggestions on ways I can use up a big mixture of eggbeaters/eggs? I can't freeze them because the eggbeaters website says you can't freeze them after they've been opened. I have to do something with them today or tomorrow or I'll have to dish-disposal it all, which I'd REALLY hate to do! I'm planning on omlettes for breakfast tomorrow, but that's about all I can think of...
Also, I chopped up a bunch of celery to make celery sticks, and had NO IDEA what to do with the ends, the leafy part, or the white inside stalks (always seem too bitter too eat). I ended up just throwing it all away, which just seemed SOO wasteful. I live in an apartment, so composting is out of the question - I don't have a garden of my own. I can't wait to buy a house...
Erika - I have so much to say I'm going to split it into two posts. If you don't see me posting for a few weeks you'll know that Kristen finally put her foot down on my verbosity.
How about Donburi? It's a Japanese omlet and very different than western ones. It's quick and easy and - appropos of today's theme - great for using up leftover veg & some meats. Here's the basic technique, in amounts to serve 2 persons:
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. soy sauce (I prefer low salt)
1/4 c. mirin (Japanese cooking wine) or rice vinegar
1 onion, in thin slices
4 eggs, beaten
1. In a omlet pan or saute pan, mix stock, soy and mirin, bring to a simmer.
2. Add onions, simmer till onion is translucent and a bit brown (ie, they're cooked and the liquid has seeped into the onion.)
3. Add eggs, stir to combine, reduce heat to low and cook till done.
4. Serve over rice.
Notes:
- This is a very soupy dish, the first few times you'll probably have to taste the eggs to see if they're done.
- You can add a lot of veggies and many raw meats to this, including your celery. Slice the food thin. Add the veggies at the same time as the onion; add the meat after the onions are cooked.
- This tastes best if you cook your rice the Asian way, so it's a bit sticky: put 1c. rice and 1.5 c. water in pot, boil for 2 min, cover and simmer on low for 15 min, turn off heat and leave cover on and let sit for another 10 min.
And now on to part 2.
My first thought is see if the website is right, or if they're just trying to get you to buy lots of their product. So I'd freeze some, by the quarter cup, and take them out at staggered times to see how they turn out: one day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, etc.
I use celery ends and leaves in my chicken stock, storing the bits in the freezer till I'm ready to make stock. The root ends go in the compost. I have to problems with the inside stalks but if I did - into the soup or stock pot they'd go! I think a moderate amount of leaves would be fine in a stir-fry also; I wonder if they'd work in a salad?
I use the cellery leaves just like the stalk, chop and put in everything.
Leftover eggs means an egg bake. I load up a baking dish, in my house that is a 9 x 13 pan but I cook for 5, fill it up with leftovers, meat, chopped veggies that are cooked or slightly steamed, old bread, etc, then beat some eggs with a little milk and pour over the top. Bake 375 for about 30 to 45 min till the middle seems set.
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Looks like I won't have to throw away the eggs after all 🙂
Congrats Kristen! We had a not-so-good week. I've been away and working a lot, and it's harder to monitor. We actually wasted whipped cream! So Rebecca, you're not the only one who wastes dessert.
Erika- I would make an omelette or scramble for breakfast, and a frittata for dinner, which is basically a quiche without the crust. Bake the eggs with potatoes and any veggies you have in the oven. You can find tons of recipes online. Saute the veggies in a cast iron skillet or similar pan, then add eggs and cheese and bake in the oven. Yum.
And if there's still some left, maybe some baking!
This is my first public reveal of my food waste. 🙂 Sadly, some produce made its way into the waste.