Food Waste Friday | It's ba-aack!
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.
After a two-week hiatus for the holidays, Food Waste Friday has returned. And after taking a little time off from photographing my waste, I'm ready to get back in the saddle.

I opened this sour cream container earlier in the week only to find it covered in pink something-or-other. Definitely not salvageable. It was about ⅔ full still. Boo. If I'd realized it was about to go bad, I could definitely have incorporated it into some of my baking (I could have sacrificed for the cause and made a Cherry Coffeecake!)
The rice left in this bag amounted to less than a cup, and it expired a while back. Not being one to take expiration dates as gospel (this one was actually a best-by date), I sniffed it, and unfortunately, it had that rancid smell that grains get when they're old.
So, I bought a new bag for the risotto that's on my menu plan.
I also have 2 sprigs of cilantro that are funky and need to go into the compost bucket.
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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.
Today's 365 post: This is a table





I didn't know grains could go bad!!! Really? Geez. I'll have to sniff mine. lol
Oh, they wouldn't be dangerous to eat...they just wouldn't taste good. If you think yours are tasting fine, don't worry about them a bit!
Me neither - and we're cleaning out our pantry with the FishFam challenge this month, so I have a lot of random grains I'll need to be smelling. Thanks for the tip!
Oh, and I threw out a very sad and green clementine this week. The entire box, however, was half off, so I think I still won.
Just this week I started throwing out leftovers. It made me sad to see so much waste. I think I will join in to make me aware of how much waste I actually have.
No waste for us this week! But this was my last Food Waste Friday post for my entire family. Tomorrow I'm moving into my new house and will start cooking (and preventing waste) for one!
I'm back in the saddle next week... with my No Waste Tastes Great Challenge, thanks to the inspiration of FWF. Combination of holidays, back to school and more snow in the UK means the cupboards are bare, as is the fridge. Nothing to report! We have been surviving on store cupboard staples and my frozen emergency fund for a few days now - which I love, I adore seeing it all being used up. Back to meal planning and budgeting from tomorrow - which means we may get a take-away tonight yay! or maybe not... I spy some eggs in the fridge - omelettes here we come (again) - Jo (simplybeingmum - family life simply done)
Too much waste at my place this week! I am hoping to do better this year.
I am surprised that the "Frugal Girl" is spending money on arborio rice! I find that short-grain rice is a lot cheaper, and the risotto is just as good.
Oohh, really? I'm new to risotto-making and was following the directions. Does any short grain rice work?
There's some disagreement about that. It depends on how "proper" you want your risotto to be. I've done it semi-successfully with barley, if you can believe that, but unless your rice has the proper ratio of starch types[1] it won't have the texture of authentic Italian-style risotto. I can go into more detail if you want, including the names of the starch types.
I didn't even know that spices could go bad, but they can. And then they get wasted.
HURRAY! HURRAY! HURRAY! I am proud to report my first no waste week in a long while (the holidays were a LITTLE out of control this year)! I do have some leftover pork roast, rice, and a few cooked veggies, but I am going to put those together in a casserole to throw in the freezer for later. I also have one cooked chicken breast and some chicken broth that will be tomorrows chicken noodle soup.
I had some waste of bananas that would not ripen. They tasted horrible so I had to waste about 2 of them. That made me so mad.
I am trying to focus more on wasting less and not cooking new meals when there's plenty of left overs. Just wanted to tell you too, that if you store sour cream and cottage cheese containers upside down in the fridge, it will last twice as long.
My waste this week was b/c of food being left from when my parents were visiting. My mom made way TOO MUCH cabbage and black eyed peas for New Years (especially since they left the next morning). Do to food allergies my kids can't eat the black eyed peas, I don't like them and well my husband is only one person. As far as the cabbage goes I just like a small amount once a year or so and out in the garbage this am they went. I thought I could force myself to eat some this week but it didn't happen. I am new to your blog and I just want to say thanks for all the great and inspiring ideas!
I had to waste a tangerine and leftover pork and kraut. The tangerine annoyed me it went bad three days after I brought it home.
had to toss a bit of marscapone yesterday. wasn't much left, but boy, do I hate to waste something so yummy!!
I did so badly this past week! I tossed about 2 servings of Chicken Paprikash that didn't taste good. Then I found the tail end of some applesauce with mold and a few other items in the fridge.
I really hate tossing food, and I've been doing much better since reading your blog.
Elaine