We’re entering the weeks that are historically the worst for food waste. Makes sense, because people are cooking like crazy. You have Thanksgiving feasts and then holiday baking and then big meals when families get together for seasonal parties. So much food prepared, so much food wasted.
All that food waste makes me crazy. I am guilty of it as well, but I try to be mindful of it. You can too with just a few extra steps:
Use It Up: Can it, freeze it, pickle it, donate it. Take your harvest or your excess and plan a use for it so it has zero potential to end up in the trash. This post covers so many different ways to do just that!
Freeze It Right: I love freezing all sorts of things, especially Soups, Sauces, and Purees. I also think making freezer meals is the coolest thing ever. One of the reasons I’m able to successfully freeze so much is because I use these Tips for Preventing Freezer Burn.
Make Leftovers a Meal: The first step is to learn how to properly store leftovers to prevent food waste. If they aren’t stored right, there will be no usable leftovers to cook with anyway. So assuming the leftovers have been properly stored, you can eat on them for days or even turn them into a new recipe like this Leftover Pot Roast Stew.
Turn It Into Stock: Throw all those extras into a pot and boil it up. I like to have a big gallon bag that I throw my extra vegetable scraps into and freeze them. When the bag is full, I pull it out and make some delicious homemade vegetable stock. Then I freeze that and use it as needed.
Fridge Organization to Prevent Waste: Did you know that in order to get the most out of your food, you should be storing certain things in certain spots in the fridge? For example, putting milk in the door is a no-no {same goes for yogurt}. It apparently needs to be on the shelves in the fridge, toward the back, where it stays coolest. So much to learn to help prevent food waste.
Change Your Shopping Habits: Did you know that shopping MORE creates LESS waste? Sounds odd, but it’s been proven that avoiding bulk shopping reduces the amount of food you throw away.
How do you prevent food waste, especially around the holidays when cooking is at a peek?
~Mavis
Martha says
I have two other methods that I use quite often. First, I save ALL leftovers from our meals, and if they are too small to serve again, I throw it in the “Soup Ingredients” container in the freezer. When the container is full, I make Leftover Soup. I certainly don’t call it that, or no one would eat it, so I just call it “Vegetable Soup” and everyone is fine with that. I do everything from leftover veggies, meats, rice, pasta to leftover gravies or sauces. No soup is ever the same, and that’s ok. No one has ever complained, but they HAVE asked me to make it again, which of course is not possible.
The other thing I do is trade my leftovers with a friend. Sometimes my family just won’t eat a second round of something, but her family will, so I pack it up and drop it off for their family to enjoy. She will do the same for me, and then we both get to have something “new.” Win-win!
Laura Z says
I like the idea of trading/sharing leftovers. There are a lot of elderly folks who could really make use of a home cooked meal.
I, too, often recycle leftovers into soup, which I freeze if I can’t use right away. More often, though, I will use leftovers into a quiche, frittata, or omelet. This works with almost any leftover green vegetable and many meats. I often make a one crust pot pie with leftovers. Potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, etc. all go into a baking dish with the leftover meat and gravy. Cover with a singer layer of pie crust, and bake until done. No one ever complains about that one!
Leftover potatoes can become croquettes, shepherd’s pie, or the base for soup. Gravy can be thinned to become soup base, too. Bread can become croutons, crostini, or bread pudding. Fruit that is past it’s prime can be frozen for smoothies at a later date. Fish can be used to make fish cakes or a seafood salad. Leftover chicken can be used to make chicken salad, shredded (and frozen) for tacos, and the bones used to make stock, which I freeze in mason jars.
Rebecca says
Thanks for these great tips for reducing food waste. I often make stocks with vegetable scraps, shrimp shells, steak bones, chicken carcasses, etc. And stock makes any dish taste 10 times better!
My HH is not a fan of leftovers, so I really have to be clever to get him to eat them – – – they can’t look anything like they did the first time around. Luckily, I am one who doesn’t mind leftovers at all and even think some dishes like homemade soups, chilies, and stews are better the next day and after. Sooooo, in order to save money and not waste food I take the leftovers for lunch – – – double win – – – no food waste and free lunch 😀
Beth Bonar says
I shop once a week for only what I’m cooking that week. Sunday is my cooking day. I prepare all of the meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I package them up for daily serving. I freeze meal that I will serve later in the week. This works well for my husband and I. It also helps to watch what you eat and keep us on track with our diets. My husband has kidney disease and his diet is very limiting. I have very few leftovers that don’t get eaten. If we don’t eat what is in the freezer that week then the next week I try to work it in the menu.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the idea of cooking once a week Beth. 🙂
Harriet Wallace says
Love your ideas! I’m now making my first steps at minimizing the food waste of my family. It’s very interesting for me and for my kids too and we are now searching for different ways to reuse our food leftovers. Your post gave me some great ideas to try, Thanks for sharing!