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.
The white squash (I think it’s a patty pan?) is my own fault because I forgot about it in the drawer until it became mushy.
(Justification alert: I got a LOT of squash in my produce box, and we don’t particularly like squash, so I’m sort of pleased that I managed to get through almost all of them.)
The two yellow squash are partly my fault and partly my fridge’s fault. I’m not sure exactly why, but they froze, even though they weren’t shoved into the back of the fridge. They were a little old to begin with, but still workable for something like zucchini bread.
Once they froze, though, I felt it was time they went to live in the compost bin.
The moldy jalapeno just went unused too long. No justification there!
Now for some happier photos, because I did lots of food-saving yesterday.
(Oh, actually scratch that. I have a moldy avocado to show you first.)
Now onto the good stuff, for reals.
I froze some discounted peaches from the produce stand. We’ll use these for smoothies in the winter.
I peeled and froze some tomatoes from my parents’ garden because we had a few too many to eat before they went bad.
(In case you were wondering, peeling tomatoes is easy. You just cut the stem off, dunk them in boiling water for a minute, remove them to a bowl of cold water, and the skins peel right off.)
I made a salad to use up the last of a head of lettuce, some leftover beef, the end of a cheese round, and some leftover homemade mustard vinaigrette dressing.
Last Friday, I’d made enough dough for four thin crust pizzas, but I only baked three.
(Joshua ended up going out with a friend, so we needed less pizza!).
I sort of forgot about the dough, but found it yesterday. I heated up a pizza stone, patted the dough out into a circle, threw it into the oven, and wished it well.
I wasn’t sure the yeast would still have any oomph left, but the dough did indeed puff in the oven and it made a delicious flatbread, which we ate up in short order.
And lastly, I made a smoothie which used up the last bit of an avocado, the last of the kale, two portions of leftover fruit salad, the last of a jar of yogurt, and a bit of OJ concentrate. And I added frozen blueberries.
The kids and I thought it was quite delicious, actually. No one would have known it was such a clean-the-fridge concoction, especially because the blueberries make almost any smoothie an appetizing color.
So, I had to compost a few things, but I think I saved a lot more food than I threw out, which makes me happy.
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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, share your link in the comments! 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 writing a comment.
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Kate says
I got some adorable small tomatoes at the farmers market last week, but my family was clearly confused by the fact that they were an heirloom variety that is green when ripe. I ate as many as I could, but found several of them oozing on the counter yesterday. Oh well.
WilliamB says
Two large tomatoes: fine when I bought them but one split and molded very quickly, then infected the other.
Couple ounces smoked turkey; inherited it from someone else so not exactly my fault.
FG: I don’t like squash much either. I preserve them by dehydrating them, using them later in soups and pasta sauce.
Canadian girl says
Hi Kristen, a little tip from the north…..I freeze tomatoes just as they are from the garden. When I want to use them, pull them from the freezer and run them under warm water for a minute. The skins peel right off so easily!
Jo@simplybeingmum says
Such a good job on the saves!
Regarding the tomatoes – I wasn’t sure how to skin them so I didn’t for this weeks ‘naked’ bolognese as part of Zero Waste Week 2014. They blended fine, no complaints from the Kids phew!
Jo@simplybeingmum says
Meant to add
http://simplybeingmum.com/2014/09/05/no-waste-tastes-great-zero-waste-week-2014/
Lili@creativesavv says
Good job on using up so much fridge stuff!
When it comes to freezing fresh tomatoes, I just freeze them chopped, with skins still on. No one in the family seems to mind the skins. And it’s so much easier for me.
Frugal Paragon says
Not so good. I found half a package of Neufchatel cheese that had gone moldy before I could think of anything to do with it. On the other hand, I made some progress using up frozen mozzarella cheese before it gets totally freezer-burned.
Deb @ Saving the Crumbs says
We ate up almost all our leftovers from the fridge last night for supper. Of course, it was a fairly odd conglomeration of Chinese stir-fry and Mexican beans, but I LOVED seeing the clean fridge!
My husband on the other hand always complains when we finish the leftovers because he then has lots of empty containers to wash after supper. I’m not very sympathetic, but I do help rinse…. 
Christina B says
I discovered while making baby food that pureed squash freezes very well. You can throw it in soups to thicken and add some flavor. I do not like squash, but pureed in soup I can handle it.. You can also throw some in spaghetti sauce
Amanda says
I had a good week!
My kids and I ate leftover lasagna all week so it wouldn’t go bad. We added different sauce halfway through the week and it made it like a totally different meal! This morning I used up leftover rice to make rice pudding. And my husband and I both took leftovers to work for lunch! The fridge is looking nice and empty, so I think I’ll clean it today before I go shopping tomorrow.
Amanda says
Oh, and I should mention — squash can be pureed and mixed into sauce for homemade mac and cheese. It’s delicious and the cheese really masks the squashy flavor! Here’s a good recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/butternut-squash-mac-and-cheese-recipe.html
stacy says
I make a lot of homemade salsa in the summer months and you can also add a squash or zucchini to it….no one will ever notice. I just make a very simple recipe in the food processor with whatever fresh ingredients I have on hand – tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, only 1 squash or zucchini (small), cumin, lime juice, oregano, salt, pepper and a dash of sugar. And I do not peel my tomatoes! I also puree and freeze my tomatoes without removing the skins and add it to spaghetti sauce or other recipes at a later date – no problem with the skins, you hardly notice. Saves me time!! And great job with the saves this week! yay
stacy says
Sorry, cilantro, NOT oregano! lol
Rebecca says
Not sure what happened….lost a zucchini and a pint if 1/2 and 1/2. I think I was planning on baking with the 1/2 and 1/2. Saved bread and made French toast. Also, working to clear the pantry. Making macaroons to use evaporated milk. Hoping to do more cooking and clean out some food.
Vee@VeesEasyVegan says
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/brussel-sprout-slaw-with-sesame-last-words-on-no-poo-food-waste-friday/:
I have a sad looking mouldy lemon in my waste this week. This is a reminder to recycle my fruit bowl!
Have a great weekend!
Lisa says
To save you even more time; freeze the tomatoes whole with their skins. When needed just run them under some warm water for less than a minute and the skin peels right off. No need to boil water etc.
Diane C says
I never peel tomatoes for freezing, and I don’t run them under warm water either. I just place the frozen bag o’tomatoes on a towel on the counter and as it thaws, the skins are magically separate from the pulp. Works every time. Even when I’m too lazy to core before freezing. It’s a great time and energy saver!
Kathleen says
We are staying in a cottage in Maine this week. Since we’re going home tomorrow, we did a fridge clean out. I think the only thing we will end up throwing out are the mustard greens that we brought from home so that they wouldn’t go bad while we were away. That didn’t work out so well, eh?
We did a lot of cooking while here and for the last two days we’ve had leftover lunches to use everything up.
FeatheredFiend says
Woah, that avocado reminds me of the avocado and lime I bought for guacamole…last week. It’s still okay, but I better get to it tomorrow morning.
Frugal Lee says
Thanks for the great tips – I’m vegetarian so didn’t get so much out of the Easy Pulled Pork post (https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2014/09/easy-pulled-pork-from-the-make-ahead-cook/) but this is perfect timing with the Fall months coming up. More Veggie Posts, please!
John Green says
I like the idea of food waste friday! We tend to waste way too much food these days, so this is a good way to hold ourselves accountable. I just might have to join in next Friday if I have any food getting thrown out.
Liz @ Economies of Kale says
I’ve never seen that white type of squash before – and I am a big squash/zucchini fan so will look out for it now.
Those peaches are making me wish summer would hurry up and get here. I’ve nearly finished the mango I froze for smoothies last summer!
Rachel says
I like to freeze tomatoes too but do not peel them since they are super easy to peel when slightly thawed. The skins slip off the same way they do for the boiling water method.