Food Waste Friday
Well, it's just been ages since I've made this kind of a post, isn't it? I think we can all be honest here and acknowledge that at this point in my life, sporadic posting is about all I have in me. Hope y'all are okay with that.
This last week, there's been no food waste. This makes me happy.
I will admit that there've been a few weeks where I've tossed away something (like the cup of grapes I threw away a week or two ago because I made the really unfortunate discovery that no, in fact, we had NOT eaten all the grapes as I'd thought we had). For the most part, however, we've still been doing really well on the waste front, despite the lack of posting-that-creates-accountability.
One thing I've noticed us doing lately that I feel has really been helping with the food waste is simply not going to the store. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. Y'all know I keep a good amount of staples in the house (even though my Cave is now officially defunct), in the form of canned goods, grains, flour, eggs and flesh in the freezer. So when we go to the store (about once a month, excepting incidentals here or there where we ran out of just flour, or just onions, or just-whatever-that-one-thing-is-that-I-can't-cook-today-without), we load up. And I mean, really load up. The most we've spent on this method is $200, which sets us at a max of $50/week (which honestly really IS a little high for just two people, even when one of those people comes in at 1.58 the mass of the other). We go to the produce section, and buy whatever our little hearts desire in there: fruits, squashes, everything. The produce we select seems to have a strange shelf life breakdown. First week, tons of fruits and super perishable veggies (green beans, lettuce, etc) get eaten, and life is glorious. Second week, there're still apples, oranges, and other fruits that have a longer shelf life, plus celery, carrots, etc. Week three, oh look - parsnips! potatoes! blah blah! And by week four, we're down to maybe a squash, and the remaining onions and garlic (garlic, seriously? We must eat 15 heads a month on a slow month). And then there's simply nothing left in the house in terms of fresh produce, and then I know a trip to the store is in order. By that point our meals are getting pretty boring anyway, so I'm thankful for the trip even if I'm not thankful to put out so much money at one time. I'm finding that by basing my shopping habits on what is happening in the produce drawers, I waste almost nothing.
I know I will want stock for risottos and such, so every scrap of onion/garlic peel, every carrot end, every cucumber end and peel gets stuffed in the freezer for stock later. Why'd I buy so many bananas when Ross never eats more than one? Oh yeah - into the freezer with those for future banana bread. Too many squashes and they're looking a little like they're on their last legs? Slice them and freeze them raw, then use the slices to grill, roast, mash or other things with. Those fresh lemons I didn't need the peels for? I'm cutting them into halves and stuffing them in the freezer. Later, I can zest them (which, btw, is stupidly easy when the fruit halves are frozen), or if I don't want to use them for that, I can even run a piece of a half through the garbage disposal on cleaning day. Or even rub a frozen-then-thawed peel on my wood furniture after oiling it (or better yet, make preserved lemons with your leftover peels). Made too much coffee? Freeze in ice cube trays and make frothy frozen coffee drinks later, or just plunk a few cubes of coffee in a cup of milk to melt into deliciousness.
So this method is working really well for me at this point. How're y'all doing with managing your food waste? Any tips I need to know about? Let's get some more information sharing on this topic!
This last week, there's been no food waste. This makes me happy.
I will admit that there've been a few weeks where I've tossed away something (like the cup of grapes I threw away a week or two ago because I made the really unfortunate discovery that no, in fact, we had NOT eaten all the grapes as I'd thought we had). For the most part, however, we've still been doing really well on the waste front, despite the lack of posting-that-creates-accountability.
One thing I've noticed us doing lately that I feel has really been helping with the food waste is simply not going to the store. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. Y'all know I keep a good amount of staples in the house (even though my Cave is now officially defunct), in the form of canned goods, grains, flour, eggs and flesh in the freezer. So when we go to the store (about once a month, excepting incidentals here or there where we ran out of just flour, or just onions, or just-whatever-that-one-thing-is-that-I-can't-cook-today-without), we load up. And I mean, really load up. The most we've spent on this method is $200, which sets us at a max of $50/week (which honestly really IS a little high for just two people, even when one of those people comes in at 1.58 the mass of the other). We go to the produce section, and buy whatever our little hearts desire in there: fruits, squashes, everything. The produce we select seems to have a strange shelf life breakdown. First week, tons of fruits and super perishable veggies (green beans, lettuce, etc) get eaten, and life is glorious. Second week, there're still apples, oranges, and other fruits that have a longer shelf life, plus celery, carrots, etc. Week three, oh look - parsnips! potatoes! blah blah! And by week four, we're down to maybe a squash, and the remaining onions and garlic (garlic, seriously? We must eat 15 heads a month on a slow month). And then there's simply nothing left in the house in terms of fresh produce, and then I know a trip to the store is in order. By that point our meals are getting pretty boring anyway, so I'm thankful for the trip even if I'm not thankful to put out so much money at one time. I'm finding that by basing my shopping habits on what is happening in the produce drawers, I waste almost nothing.
I know I will want stock for risottos and such, so every scrap of onion/garlic peel, every carrot end, every cucumber end and peel gets stuffed in the freezer for stock later. Why'd I buy so many bananas when Ross never eats more than one? Oh yeah - into the freezer with those for future banana bread. Too many squashes and they're looking a little like they're on their last legs? Slice them and freeze them raw, then use the slices to grill, roast, mash or other things with. Those fresh lemons I didn't need the peels for? I'm cutting them into halves and stuffing them in the freezer. Later, I can zest them (which, btw, is stupidly easy when the fruit halves are frozen), or if I don't want to use them for that, I can even run a piece of a half through the garbage disposal on cleaning day. Or even rub a frozen-then-thawed peel on my wood furniture after oiling it (or better yet, make preserved lemons with your leftover peels). Made too much coffee? Freeze in ice cube trays and make frothy frozen coffee drinks later, or just plunk a few cubes of coffee in a cup of milk to melt into deliciousness.
So this method is working really well for me at this point. How're y'all doing with managing your food waste? Any tips I need to know about? Let's get some more information sharing on this topic!
Wait, you actually *massed* him? I'm kinda weirded out by that. Where did you find a science-y scale big enough?
ReplyDeleteAlso... Post when you can. We'll wander through when there's something to read.
And cool that the new shopping (or not-shopping) method is working for you.
Allie, I tend to let things go bad way too often. Maybe we should try your method! Thanks for posting when you can. I enjoy reading your stuff, but I certainly understand being too busy. Good to see the occasional post, even if you can't find time every week. Hope the busy-ness is good busy-ness. :-)
ReplyDeletej.,
ReplyDeleteNah, I just used what we conventionally call weight, since that effectively gives the mass. I could/would calculate his weight (v. mass) differently for different non-Earth places (by dividing his weight by Earth gravity then multiplying it by the non-Earth gravity in question), but I think once I got to Jupiter Ross would just tell me I'm calling him fat. ;) But his mass/Earth weight is 86.18kg, and mine is 54.43kg (sometimes; I actually float between (52.16kg and 54.43, but I thought I'd use the higher number to be more fair), so that was just a simple calculation to see how much larger than me (in terms of mass) he is. In terms of height, he's only 1.2 times bigger than I am (6'3"/1.9m v. my 5'2.75"/1.59m). Which I suppose makes sense based on distribution of mass differences between men and women and all that jazz.
Huh. I just realised how obvious it is that I miss math a lot.
Yeah, I'm loving this method. I feel sometimes like it's a feast/famine situation, but I only feel that way because it weirds me out that all the food (other than the remaining dried mushrooms) actually fits in my kitchen now.
Wendy,
Amen. I used to waste a LOT more than I do now. And occasionally during a really busy week some stuff that I've tucked into corners of the fridge gets way way away from me and still gets wasted. Let me know if this method works out for you in reducing waste!
And yes, definitely, there've been a lot of really great changes (that I'll post about as soon as I've got time for a lengthy post), but they've definitely been keeping me on the go!