Food Waste Friday | Two pictures and an interview
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.
I lost the last part of a loaf of French bread. I'd gotten it out of the freezer to make croutons (and I did make two batches), but then the last of the loaf kinda got shoved to the side and forgotten about. French bread has so little in the way of sugar and fat (which act as preservatives), it's prone to molding quickly.
I also found a bit of pizza that had been languishing at the back of the fridge, and a poor shriveled up, squishy avocado. I may cut the avocado open to see if it could possibly be thrown into a smoothie, but I'm not optimistic.
Oh, also, there's an interview with me up on Expendable Edibles. Nancy and I chatted on the phone last week, and the post is kind of a loose transcript of what we talked about.
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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.
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Today's 365 post: Double appointment
Joshua's 365 post: Uh-oh.
Awesome interview! Too bad about the avocado. I'm thinking I need to buy a couple this week for some guac.
I have to say I had the same situation with an avocado a few days ago..but when I cut it open it was OK and went into an avocado mayo! Bread on the other hand, I keep just throwing in the freezer when we get down to the heels....It stinks when it goes spotty before you can use it up...
I have taken to shopping every other week too, and I have to say its very refreshing to me to not have to shop every. single. week!
have a great weekend!
The little crusty ends of bread thing has never been an issue in our house--we take those last bits of loaf, cube them up and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. From there you can use them to make homemade stuffing next time you roast a chicken, add eggs sugar and milk to make homemade bread pudding (if it's made with whole wheat bread cubes and you add an extra egg to the recipe it makes a reasonably healthy breakfast zapped warm in the microwave and topped with yoghurt). Also, if you do it while the cubes are still frozen, you can give them a spin in the blender--this gives you fine bread crumbs you can then spread on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven at 300 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (much watch carefully). Voila! Bread crumbs for toppings, homemade shake & bake, etc.
I ALMOST had a no-waste week, but mayonnaise beat me. Good thing I beat it first when I made it, or I'd be feeling really bad about it.
FYI, the link you left seems not to be working properly.
Oh boo. And I was so proud of myself, too. Thanks for letting me know.
http://www.themrs.ca/2011/03/food-waste-friday-gasp-i-never-saw-this.html
You can add a new one up there to the linky if you want...just put something like (correct link) after your name or something.
STILL working towards a waste free week but no dice quite yet. On the positive side my upstairs freezer is almost cleaned-out 🙂
And you're doing a fantastic job of it, by the way.
Ahhh... heart.
7 Potatoes got the better of me. I photographed them and they amazing look as though they are attached to a wall in mid air... we are officially food less. My freezer is also almost completely bare...
I had no idea about stilltasty.com! thanks!
Well, I have been on the quest to use up what is in my very large freezer out in the garage. For the past few weeks, I have bought very little at the store (fresh produce and dairy is about it) in an effort to eat the things we have bought in bulk or put aside because we couldn't' eat it before it went bad. I'm ashamed to say that for the entire month of March, our grocery expenditure has only been $119 (I usually spend that per week!) and i only anticipate spending about $40 tomorrow for the last week. ashamed because it goes to show just how much food was stashed in my freezer!
But it has been a good experience overall. There were things in the freezer we had forgotten about and happily enjoyed. There are things we bought, found we didn't particularly care for yet still kept it in the freezer! Anyway, we sucked it up and ate it after re-inventing it into another meal. The bonus has been using up items from the pantry as we re-invent the freezer fare. What an interesting way to declutter...
Wow! You are totally my hero!
No waste for me this week. My dogs have been enjoying the apples that I have in the house at present time.
My husband cleaned and organized the fridge last week (major husband points) so this week I could actually see what we had. You were definitely right when you said stir fry's are a great way to use up a bunch of vegetables! First no waste week which makes up for my poor performance last week.
I didn't do too bad this week, I tribute that to the fact we are leaving on a short trip soon so I am trying not to buy any perishables!! I do have a little bit of Butter Milk hanging out on the top shelf.. about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Any suggestions on how to use that little bit up?
Pancakes! And if you don't want to eat them right then, they freeze really well (don't forget to individually wrap them). Then you just heat them up in a toaster or in the oven (my choice) when you want them.
Most batters are tasty with buttermilk - pancake, waffle, breading for meat or veg - or freeze for later use. Don't forget to label the package!
I was going to suggest freezing too. It's not as thick when it's defrosted, but it's still very usable.
Scones!
Thanks for all your help everyone, I've done the Pancake route before, that is actually why I have this small amount of it left over LOL! I had a restocking of the freezer supply, Pancake Making Wednesday. I am thinking I'll go ahead and freeze it, but scones sure do wound tasty too!! I guess the bigger question which several of my Southern Sisters have wondered is why does Barber only sell it in Quarts, instead of Pints... at least round here anyway! Thanks Again!!
For next time ... have you tried buttermilk powder? I add the powder with the dry ingredients and the water with the wet ones. No more problems with leftover bits. I haven't done a price comparison; if you do this, remember to factor in the amount that gets wasted.
I over bought some fruit last week, so we had some waste this week...again!! UGH!! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though!! I have some bananas that I thought I would have to add to my photo, but I decided to freeze them to use in muffins or bread later.
Kristen,
I think we could do without the pictures on food waste fridays...once again, ewwwwww!
Maybe you could do without them, but *I* can't! 🙂 The pictures aren't there for you to stare at and enjoy (that's what the photos on other days are for)...these ones are here to keep me on track.
When I don't post photos of my food waste, I'm simply far less motivated to work hard at using up my food. Public embarrassment is a powerful motivator for me, apparently.
Of course, I try my best to have no yucky food to photograph, but I am not perfect, and two years into this, food waste is still a problem for me (a much smaller problem, but still a problem).
If icky food pictures squick you out, I'd gently suggest that you stick with reading the 365 posts on Fridays. I hardly ever post rotten food pictures on other days, so if you just avoid Fridays, you should be in good shape. 🙂
Oh my goodness - keep the visuals! I am a visual person - and your photos remind me to check the refrigerator and pantry - now there is a lot less ewww in my kitchen. Love, love, love Friday blogs!
Oh, the pictures are what it's all about! Keep 'em coming.
Grossed out = motivated.
Grossed out is right...I throw stuff away before the mold grows! That is when I need to throw food away.
Then, Girl you'd better have more no food waste Fridays 😉
Not gonna happen. 😉 Food waste is what started my blogging journey, and Food Waste Fridays are here to stay. The majority of my readers are helped and encouraged by this unusual feature and I am too.
So we'll carry on, and you can avert your eyes. 😉
After all the 'gross' discussions I double checked the photos in case I had missed something - I must have a strong stomach - didn't repulse me at all - perhaps that's not a good thing? (not that I would eat shown items of course!)
What I meant is you'd better not have any more Fridays where you have food to photograph 😉
Karen no one is forcing you to come to The Frugal Girl on Fridays.
Katy
Katy, you took the words out of my mouth. What is the point of FWF without the pictures to go along with (or, lack of pictures). Great movitation - keep 'em, Kristen!! Not that you were waffling on that 😉
The moldy stuff is yucky!!!!! 😉
Not a good week at all!
And my Dad seems to be developing this habit of "picking up a few things" every other day, which does nothing but confuse the situation.
my fridge is bare this week so nothing to waste!
You can put avocado puree in chocolate cupcakes! yummmm
The recipe has 1 cup puree avocado, 2eggs, 1/2 teasp. balsalmic vinegar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup milk, 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp salt, 350 degrees 15-20 min.
I freeze tomato sauce all the time, but have never heard about leaving head room. Why is that/how does it help?
Water expands when it freezes. If you don't leave some room in the jar for that, the glass jar can break from the force of expanding food.
Ex: I am freezing chicken stock right now in canning jars. I fill them so there is one inch of room from the top of the liquid to the top of the jar, and leave the lids off untill they are frozen solid. That way the stock can expand up and there will still be room for the lid to screw on.
That's exactly what I was going to say!
Thank you for being real and showing you (barely) moldy bread. I lose gluten free bread regularly. Like yours there is no fat, sugar, or additives so it molds easily. It is worse in the fall when the air is always damp.
We are due to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend so food waste is minimal. I'm eating the last of the tater tot casserole for lunch. Then I'm packing the rest of our fruit for munching in the car. I also turned 4 apples into apple chips for car ride munchies.
I keep our GF bread in the fridge and it will last 2 weeks or more. You can also freeze sliced bread and just pull out a few slices at a time. Microwaving can help moisten up bread that has dried out, a common problem with GF bread.
I usually turn the bread into crutons or French toast if I think I'll lose it soon. I do make a fresh loaf once a week, and like most families, some weeks it goes and others it doesn't. My husband and daughter don't like the bread refrigerated or frozen. I have to agree with them so I just have to keep tabs on it.
Do you bake your GF breads or buy them?
I make crumbs with my bread bits, and freeze them in a jar. I don't care if types of bread get mixed up, and it seems that I use bread crumbs about as fast as I make them so that I always have 1-3 cups on hand.
Ooh, have fun at Great Wolf!
Bread got me this week. I am disgusted as I wanted to finish what I could of it yesterday and get the rest into the freezer. It seems like the much warmer weather we've had this past week was even warmer and more humid than I thought!
I should really particiapte. We throw away too much food. Thanks for the inspiration!
I wasted nothing.
I agree I think the pictures for FWF are an important part of it and
should be part of the post. With all this talk of freezing jars does
anyone know how well or if pyrex glass storage dishes would do in
the freezer?
I freeze food in mine alllll the time, so yep, I'd say they work just fine!
ouch, hate losing an avocado...and homemade bread...and any pizza, ever! I keep tossing big portions of onions. Hope it's okay to toss the spoiled outsides and use the seemingly unaffected centers of produce like onions. ??
I do the same thing with onions!! I actually had a few cloves of garlic sprout last week so I planted them in my garden... couldn't bare to chuck them!! 🙂 I give you huge credit for trying to use as much of it as you could!!
You could also try chopping and freezing any onions you suspect you might not use - I haven't noticed a difference when I cook with onions I've frozen.
Definitely OK.
I think "Food Waste Friday" is a great idea! My friends and I are proud that we are able to eliminate food waste through careful meal planning and more careful shopping. We also organized ourselves so we could buy in bulk and split the cost. We save money, time, and freezer space. At the same time, we eliminate waste by taking only what we need for the week. We also significantly reduce packaging waste. And since we use an online tool called SplitStuff (http://splitstuff.com), splitting is fast and easy for us.