What's the worst food to throw away?
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.
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A reader sent me an NPR article that talks about which foods are the worst to throw out.
It's a quick read...go check it out!
Unsurprisingly, meat is the worst offender. I used to throw out my fair share of meat in the past because my leftover habits and shopping habits weren't really great.
(Here's a post about the biggest ways I changed my habits: Ten Ways to Stop Wasting Food)
These days, most of my food waste is comprised of compostable produce, though, and I rarely have to throw meat out.
In keeping with that:
I had an unfortunate experience with an avocado. It was starting to get a little rotten in spots, but when I cut it open, it was mostly hard.
I managed to eat half of it, but couldn't bring myself to ingest the other half. So I composted it.
Oh well. I get my avocados from Aldi, and this is one of the first bad ones I've gotten out of hundreds I've bought, so I'd say that's a pretty decent track record.
I don't know why, but the avocados from Aldi are almost always better than what I can buy at a regular grocery store. And they're so affordable!
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Oh dear! Unfortunately I have thrown away a couple of slices of cooked chicken (this is the worst thing to waste!) this week and some cottage cheese. The chicken I wouldn't normally buy, but it was for our holiday last week as an emergency lunch. And as it isn't something we normally have at home, we kind of forgot to use up the remainder!
I also have Aldi avocados in my fridge. They feel very soft. They will be chopped and frozen with the kiwi (I think this is okay to do?) for smoothies.
On a more positive note, there's also a fab recipe on the post, a video (haha - how funny - even still!) and a selfie. Not sure the last one is a positive though. Thank goodness for Instagram. A few tweaks and you can barely see the dark circles under my eyes. (oh and I mentioned we have similar sofas? check it out ;))
It's surprisingly hard to take a good selfie, isn't it?? I've taken some pretty ugly ones since I got my smartphone.
And don't stress about the chicken. I think vacation gives you a pass. I know I always waste far more when we're on vacation than I do at home, despite my best efforts. It's just harder when you're out of your normal routine.
I almost lost some tomatoes and peppers from my garden this week...it seems as though they all ripened at the same time. We couldn't get them eaten fast enough and they were starting to go bad. Then I realized I could boil them and turn them into salsa. DUH! But I'm compelled to share that lately, thanks to a new show called Frankenfood, the kids have gotten into turning our leftovers into egg rolls. We've had spicy macaroni/broccoli egg rolls; taco meat/spanish rice egg rolls; lasagna stuffed eggrolls...All very interesting eats and I love that my kids are getting into inventing new options for our leftovers. I just have to make sure I keep a good supply of egg roll wrappers on hand!
I've never heard of that show-will have to check it out!
Do you fry or bake the egg rolls?
I've been trying to avoid food waste but I still have some problem areas. I like to buy organic fat free milk WHEN I buy milk. Unfortunately there's a refrigeratory oatmeal 'recipe' I like but not enough milk is used. I've wasted 2 half gallon cartons the past couple of months. I just don't use much milk except for the occasional bowl of cereal (rare since I usually stick with something egg-based or oatmeal/greek yogurt). I'm debating freezing some but the last time I tried freezing in sandwich bags then putting in a big freezer bag I made the mistake of not realizing it would wrinkle and be hard to get out. I don't see smaller containers of organic at my grocery store. price-wise it's a waste since it's around $3 something for each half gallon - now that doesn't break the bank for me but I do hate the waste just out of general principle.
tortillas are another thing I can't seem to get through- esp the corn tortillas -the ones I like come like 50 per pkg 🙁 I think my mom used to freeze these so I may have to resort to my freezer more. produce I've improved on by not buying as much but still some gets by me. the other day I brought bananas home from work and forgot and left thm in the car 🙁
I have a similar problem with milk - I like a little, but struggle to finish a large carton before it goes bad! So I've given myself permission to buy the smaller carton. It costs more per ounce, but less overall. And I won't waste a drop of the little one!
You can make yogurt from the last half-carton! FG has the recipe in a post on here, and it can be done in much smaller quantities than what she describes for her family. Scald the milk, let it cool, put a dollop of live culture yogurt in a pint jar, fill it with warm scalded milk, and keep warm for a LONG time. I've been keeping it warm in a pot of warm water on the stove (refreshing the warmth of the water every couple of hours) until it's done. If the resulting texture doesn't completely do it for you, you can still use it for baking or smoothies, and it keeps a LOT longer than the milk will. Or you can make buttermilk. Same sort of deal, except you don't need to scald the milk, just innoculate it with live culture buttermilk and leave it on your counter for a couple of days. Easy peasy, and again, extends the shelf life until you can use it in baking or cooking.
This is smart. I sometimes opt for the same thing myself...like buying just a few mushrooms instead of a larger container. It makes sense money-wise and food-waste-wise!
This gets harder and harder, as more produce comes in packages instead of loose.
I dislike this for so many reasons:
- I can't buy just how much I want
- I can't buy just the ones I want
- the whole package gets thrown out if just one item goes bad
- wasteful packaging
Yep. I do know that to some degree, this packaging prevents waste because it protects the food better. I'm not sure which is the best choice, but Jonathan Bloom tells me that it takes fewer resources to produce the packaging than it does to produce the actual food, so if that's the truth, then this is a stickier issue than one might initially think.
My husband and I both work and don't have kids, but we're trying so hard to get out from under graduate school debt as well as my credit card debt, so we've learned a lot about what freezes well. We also NEVER get through family size containers of stuff before it goes bad.
Corn tortillas freeze really beautifully, as do flour tortillas. I also used to freeze milk in freezer containers - like a Pyrex bowl, or even a mason jar, would work just fine (don't fill it too full). You can then thaw it in the refrigerator. We can't get through a whole gallon of milk very easily. I need to switch back to buying half gallons because I hate wasting food, but especially animal products.
I am glad to hear that my push to not waste any meat has been a good one! I figured it was true that animal products were more wasteful, but it's nice to see it in a well-done scientific study. I like it when my instincts are backed up by science!
Oh gosh, yes. I always end up freezing my corn tortillas because they seem to only come in large packages, and I usually only need a few at a time (I mostly fry them up for salad toppings.)
And yep, freezing milk also works just fine.
You could probably freeze in ice cube trays before bagging.
Wow, I'll definitely think differently when throwing meat etc. away after reading that link. Thanks!
My family is not big on eating leftover meat and I used to throw it away regularly. Now I cut it up into small pieces and freeze it. Chicken can go into quesadillas. Beef is used for vegetable soup and pork is used for pork fried rice.
I almost never throw out meat. I eat very little of it and it's usually incorporated into a meal. I am single so I cook for a whole week and split it up into containers if possible. (Unless it's something like veggie burgers!) If I think I won't be able to eat it all, into the freezer goes my little bowls of soup, chili or pasta. I don't think I had any food waste this week, but I am going to have to decide what to make to use up the stuff in the fridge. I have some fresh salsa that needs to get used up, along with some burrito sized tortillas...quesadilla time!
It was not a good week in my house.
I am 3 weeks postpartum and a lot of people have brought us food. I'd been doing a pretty good job freezing and serving leftovers for lunch. My husband went to the store before I delivered and I had no idea what was actually in the fridge. I ended up composting 3 ears of corn, 2 lemons, green beans, sugar snaps and throwing away a quinoa salad. Not a good week.
Oh, goodness...at three weeks postpartum, you deserve some grace!! Things will get better.
You *definitely* get a pass on this one. I'm also of the opinion that one is not always morally responsible for waste from food that others bring into the house.
Could someone else help you with the freezing? Houseguest, parent, spouse? Or ask that anyone who gives you food, give it to you frozen and labeled?
Can't wait to read the NPR article! I love a good food waste read 🙂
I bought pork chops from Also that were incredibly salty. There was just no saving them. Unfortunately that was my 2nd such experience with Also meat, so I'll just go back for other things.
I have to say that my experiences with the fresh meats at Aldi has never been great. I have purchased their frozen meats as well as cured meats like sausage, bacon and lunch meats, and have had a lot of luck. I'm with you on the pork chops and had similar experiences with beef cuts as well as the fresh chicken. For some reason the frozen chicken was fine (whole, pieces, and boneless skinless).
I've done very well lately, seldom wasting any food, but the warm weather and my lack of attention meant I lost some cornbread muffins.
Everytime I buy avocados I always ended up throwing them away and I haven't bought it for a while.
I knew there was another good reason to be vegetarian! 🙂 Since the meat doesn't really apply to me, I think the worst food to throw out is: 1) the most expensive, and 2) the one you thought was the most tasty. 🙂
Hi Kristen,
I sent this to Jo and thought you may find this concept interesting.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zero-market-zero-waste-store-coming-to-denver?sa=0&sp=0
I had a fabulous week in my fridge. No waste! I mention it here http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/butter-bean-stew-a-fantastic-bartering-opportunity-virtual-vegan-potluck-no-waste-friday/:
I talk a little bit about bartering which is also a great way to have no waste.
I am not sure what the worst offender for waste is. Meat ( which we do not eat) and dairy ( same) I am sure. I try and squeeze life out of everything we have in our fridge!
I've had the same problem with avocados recently. I wait for it soften but it turns brown before it's soft - I've had to throw away quite a few this summer for that reason.
No waste this week.
I'm giving myself a pass on the lunch on a business trip. Eating all of the Food Court meal even though I was no longer hungry is a bad idea, but I had no way to cart it home.
I'm also doing great on emptying out the freezer. Since my goal is to empty out the freezer rather than not spend money, I can buy whatever food is needed to make the frozen food into a tasty meal. The dribs and drabs continue to be challenging in both good and bad ways.
I had a few unfortunate experiences with meat so now I freeze it all as soon as I bring it home (sometimes portioning it up first if necessary). It has meant my meat waste has gone down, but sometimes makes for a very full freezer!
I am known as the leftover queen (lol) so I thought I would share some things that I do....we had some assorted leftovers from the Mexican restaurant (meat and veggie fillings, corn sandwich bun, avocado, etc) I browned ground turkey with taco spice and sauteed this with all the various bits, added liquid and served it over rice, HUGE hit. Another hit, trust me on this one, almost any pasta and grain salad is good sauteed and adding more of what might be missing and served with a protein. (chicken, meat, legumes, etc.) Any leftover bread product can baked into croutons or crumbs. Any dried out/stale bakery product or cereal or cooked cereal can be made into cookies. Just adjust the flour and moisture within a standard recipe. I haven't seen Frankenfood, but will for sure. Maybe they have shown some of these ideas?
Avocado's are great beauty products as well.