I've certainly done better.
Well, hi.
It's Food Waste Friday, and this is definitely not my best one ever. Life has been a little a lot busy around here in good ways (we took an overnight trip with the kids last weekend) and some not-as-fabulous ways.
Regardless, my food waste amounts are directly proportional to the crazy in my life.
Much crazy = much food waste.
I really, really did not want to look through my fridge yesterday, which is exactly why I keep doing Food Waste Friday posts. *I* need them!!
So.
I found some Swiss chard in the fridge that looked wilty and I thought I'd just freeze it to throw in some smoothies. But alas, inside the leaves there was fuzzy mold.
Also, right behind that is a bunch of broccoli rabe, which came in my produce box and which I have never eaten or cooked before. So, I accidentally put that off until it got slimy.
This is a downside of a produce box delivery (getting things I sometimes don't know what to do with or don't feel like preparing!), but honestly, it's also an upside. We might not always eat everything in the box, but the net effect of the box is that we eat more produce and more variety too.
I mean, I never ate kale before my produce box started, and now it's kind of a regular.
But hopefully next time I get broccoli rabe, I'll be better about using it.
Here we have a single pancake (What? My kids always eat leftover pancakes!), a leftover Beef au Jus sandwich, and some chicken that is far too old to safely eat.
Here's what my fridge currently looks like.
Do you notice the abundance of eggs? The chickens my friend owns have been laying like crazy, so I've bought a lot of eggs.
I think some pfannekuchen needs to happen. Or a Dutch baby or two.
Here's the door of the fridge, which is generally pretty boring....mostly condiments.
You know what's starting to look gnarly again, though?
The freezer beneath my fridge.
I think maybe I'm gonna add pics of my freezer each time Food Waste Friday rolls around because at this rate, I'm going to need another freezer challenge in short order.
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Alrighty...that's it for me! How did food waste go at your house this week? Tell us about it!
And if you blogged about it, leave your link in the comments so we can come visit you.
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P.S. Remember the Ultimate DIY bundle sale? Apparently it ran at a time of year that was financially tough for a lot of people who wanted to buy the bundle, so it's being offered again on Monday and Tuesday for 48 hours. More on that when Monday rolls around!
I don't know of two things that can throw food waste into a spiral like busy-ness and sickness. We had some of the sickness thing go around, and the refrigerator bore testimony to it. This is a time when you have to give yourself some grace...
I've debated getting one of those produce boxes/CSA deliveries going. I think I'd probably like it because it would expand my vegetable horizons but I'm also worried about having bushels of kale and just letting it go to waste.
Kale = kale chips which never go to waste. They don't even get cold.
My suggestion is to try it for a season. Few people like everything but it really does expand one's horizons (I now put kale in soups, eat chard occasionally, learned to roast brussels sprouts, and love cauliflower which I used to hate.) And perhaps you have a friend or coworker who would take what you don't like.
So true. A produce box along with a commitment to avoid food waste...well, it sort of forces you to expand your horizons!
My problem with a CSA box - and this is super duper lame I know - is that I couldn't always get there to pick it up! Not sure if there's a huge advantage to doing a CSA over the farmer's market (guaranteed income for the farmer likely, plus portioning out crops so probably less food waste?), but for my pocketbook I've decided to stick to the farmer's market.
Oh, I could totally see that. Mine actually delivers door to door, which is perfect for a homebody like me.
That's not lame at all. I've done two CSAs, I stopped with each when pickup was no longer uber-convenient.
When we were doing CSA we would have a stirfry or an omelette every week to use the random veggies.
I had a really busy week too and I agree with you MUCH CRAZY = MUCH FOODS WASTE. I will check my fridge tomorrow and I don't know what I will find in it !
Oh, I hate it when I think I can save something and then some hidden mold or rot or bugs derails my plans... I was going to use up some packets of instant grits this week but they were full of bugs (yuck!) so I had to throw them all away.
I made a decision that will actually increase my food "waste" in the coming weeks or months and blogged about it, along with my Food Waste Friday results, here: http://imperfectlyfrugally.blogspot.com/2015/03/food-waste-friday_27.html
When I need to use up eggs I add them to my bread. They make the bread rise to incredible heights and can make my whole wheat bread lighter and tastier. Even when I just have leftover yolks or whites I throw them in and use them up! I just add them to the liquid ingredients as part of the total amount. I make bread almost every day so this works well for me when I have a surplus egg supply.
Wasted produce always makes me sad. I think you did pretty well for being so busy!
Here is how we did: http://wp.me/p4yT07-1iQ
I have a blog post pending about this very thing - but to summarize, I pre-made plates of food one night using leftovers from three meals. I was just NOT going to cook a whole other meal with all those perfectly tasty leftovers. Everyone picked a plate and nuked it. I rewarded them with ice cream. Win! I also froze some leftover chicken to make a chicken pot pie in the future. Such an easy meal: Chicken, veggies, soup, crust. Never any leftovers.
Good for you!
My kids are super helpful at eating those kinds of things at lunchtime, which I so appreciate.
I'm flying solo this week, plus taking a couple of days off = very much NOT crazy. The only food wasted was the few small tomatoes my roommate left behind.
Right now I'm having lazy meals that use up what I have. Frex, multiple omelets using the mirepoix or duxelles I've had in my freezer since Thanksgiving. I'll never have an empty freezer because I still take advantage of good deals. (Recent example: Carr's Water Crackers on sale for $2, with a coupon for 'buy 2, get $2 off deli meat,' combined with Hormel Natural Choice on sale for $2 per package.)
VERY JEALOUS. Flying solo at home (temporarily) is my favorite way to unwind.
(Obviously I wouldn't want that state of affairs forever, but a short while is always welcome.)
I have a recipe for Dutch Apple Babies that seems to be a bit of both your recipes combined. While the Dutch Baby cooks you cook apples on top of the stove (in a bit of butter) then add maple syrup when they are finished cooking and add them to the Dutch Baby when it comes out of the oven.
Oh, that sounds yummy!
Bit worried about your eggs lasting, you need to store pointed end down and air cell uppermost. You could beat some together and freeze ready for cakes.
Well, eggs do keep for about 5 weeks, so I'm pretty sure we'll be fine! The six of us can get thru quite a goodly number in that time.
*Please ignore if this was posted twice lol!*
I would love to get a CSA box, but I'm afraid we would waste a ton. My husband and son both loathe veggies. 🙁
We had a fair week at our house!
http://thelauxhomestead.com/2015/03/27/food-waste-friday-32715/
Nope, I'm only seeing it once!
I wouldn't say my husband and kids ADORE veggies, but they will eat most of them. And fruit is no problem at all! (about half our box is usually fruit.)
I had to throw out half a butternut squash. It is the last time that I buy a precut squash. Whole they last for weeks on the counter. This one went bad after five days in my fridge. I also found some very old sweet potatoes in my freezer that got thrown out.
On the other hand, I made soup last weekend to use up celery, carrots, onions, and chicken stock from my freezer. It took us all week to eat it, and I swear if there had been any more I don't think we could have finished it, but we did and nothing got thrown out.
Broccoli rabe is one of my favorite vegetables. You can steam it like broccoli, but I love it sauteed with oil and garlic. Delicious.
PS - the video ads between the text and the comments is back again, on Mac+Firefox, Mac+Safari, & PC+IE systems. (Just doing a little differential testing again. The habit is strong.)
Ugh. I am so sorry, but thank you for letting me know! I contacted that ad help desk to ask for removal, and apparently they haven't done it yet (I can't remove that one myself because it's not something I put in manually).
Many apologies!!
No need to apologize! But since I know you don't want them, hopefully I'm helping out when I say I see them.
Oh, absolutely! Not everyone is served the same ads, so even if I do check my site every day, I can't always know when a rogue ad peeks through.
So I always appreciate knowing.
I threw away a Stromboli we got while eating out, it was horrible reheated. I also bought a huge bag of buffalo style chicken for a treat as I don't typically buy to much prepared products. They are super hot, my husband hates them...I like them but ended up with endless hot flashes after eating them. I am trying to find a way to salvage them.
Could you wash off some of the spice? I mean literally dunking them in water.
I am new to the more frugal living lifestyle and paying close attention to food waste. But you have inspired me so much!! This week I threw out two pears and a teeny bit of cucumber that was rotten, one serving worth of leftovers we forgot to eat (boo) and a handful of moldy cheese. Oh and a little bit of a bag salad that got lost in the produce drawer. Not exactly worth a medal, but a significant improvement over years past. I now cringe every time I throw food out, I feel like I should just put dollar bills in the garbage. =/
I know! Once you see it like that (dollar bills hitting the trash can), it really changes how you view food waste!
Broccoli rabe: Rinse broccoli rabe and rough chop it into bite sized pieces. Separate thicker stem end from the leafier stuff. Saute 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add thicker stems and saute 3-5 min. Add remainder of broccoli rage and sauté another 5 min or so - with lid on - stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
We eat it plain or mixed with pasta and parmesan cheese. Common to add sausage to the pasta dish as well. At one point my older son told his doctor that broccoli rage was his favorite food!
Good to know, as I think I'm getting a new bunch in this week's box. Thank you!
Broccoli rabe instantly made me think of this, pretty much one of my all-time favorite recipes:
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/09/baked-pasta-with-broccoli-rabe-and-sausage/
I guess it has some similarities with what Monica mentioned... seems like pasta, cheese, sausage, and broccoli rabe are a match made in heaven! 🙂
I have been SO terrible about food waste lately. For me the issue is just letting my fridge get way too full (it's just two of us, so we really don't need crazy amounts of food on hand at all times!) and then I don't see stuff and it goes bad. My boyfriend was noticing how grimy our fridge is looking the other day, so I think maybe next weekend we'll do a full cleanout. Hopefully with all the weird old condiments gone it will be easier to see everything (just in time for farmer's market season! yeah!!!)
That's what gets me into trouble half the time too...letting the fridge get crowded.
Off to check out your recipe. I'm determined not to waste it this time!
Ugh...I hate food waste and ours was bad this week, too. I had to throw out almost a pound of lamb that we didn't eat. It was mostly my fault...I just don't like lamb and so I wasn't motivated to use up the left overs.
I have been pricing out razors and will have to give $.99 razors a look. Currently I've been getting our razor blades at Costco when they have the extra 'sale' price on them. They come out to a little more than a dollar a blade, but they seem to last forever (which is awesome!).