do you throw away much food?

**disneysteve** · 08-26-2009, 04:21 PM

This is something we need to work on. We throw out way too much food. Our biggest problem areas are bread and produce. We do a lot of vegetarian cooking so we buy a lot of fresh veggies. Unfortunately, many veggies can't be bought in small quantities. You can't buy 2 stalks of bok choy, for example. You need to buy a whole head. Asparagus is sold in a large bunch. Stuff like that.

As for bread, I tend to freeze stuff as soon as soon as we get home but my wife and daughter prefer to leave stuff fresh and certain things don't freeze well.

We need to figure out how to use all that we buy more efficiently.

**PrincessPerky** · 08-28-2009, 12:50 PM

I have 4 klutzy kids..I sweep up enough to feed a family in Africa every day... (Americans eat way more than that)

Though food going bad, we are getting quite good at using everything...course I did just toss a thing of yogurt and some spag...

**whitestripe** · 08-30-2009, 03:12 AM

it is very rare that i throw food away. slightly wilted vegetables i use for my dogs food (which i make every 7 days). DF always takes leftovers as it saves him making his lunch at 5am in the morning.

bread is an exception - i work at a bakery so i bring home (for free) a loaf every day i work (three days a week) I give one or two loaves to my parents and one for our house - but usually we throw out half a loaf a week.

**ladydii** · 08-31-2009, 07:14 AM

I need to get way better at watching this as we throw out WAY too much food, most often produce. Sometimes my intentions are better than my actions. I am pretty good at using up leftovers but do need to work more on the produce and bread issues.

**JBinKC** · 09-11-2009, 06:13 PM

I do a pretty good job. Definitely below 15% which is supposed to be the average amount pitched. Milk is the one thing I often never end up finishing up before it sours.

On the old bread I save and grate it for breadcrumbs.

I guess my frugality is rooted from childhood because if I didn't clean my plate that food got served back to me the next day

**buildmybudget** · 09-12-2009, 05:14 AM

I would say we do a pretty poor job right now too. But with a new semester starting we'll be planning lunches and dinners for a whole week and leverage on night of cooking into 3 meals or so.

**rob62521** · 09-12-2009, 06:24 AM

I would say it depends. I try to plan meals to use up what we have, but I just threw away two overripe bananas. I normally make banana bread, but the recipe calls for three (yeah, I know I can freeze them), but then reflected that when I bake banana bread, I give it away since dh doesn't like banana bread. Right now things are a little tight money wise so I'm not sure how frugal it is to bake bread to give away and use flour, yogurt, brown sugar and eggs.

Disneysteve, do you eat eggs and cheese? If so, one way you could use up bread and some of the vegetables is to make an egg casserole. You take the crusts off the bread, and soak them in the eggs. I use about 4-5 eggs for two of us and add milk if the bread seems to soak everything up too quickly, then use whatever leftover vegetables and cheese to mix in. Leave it in the fridge overnight and then bake covered at 400 for about 40 minutes and uncover for about 5.

**disneysteve** · 09-12-2009, 06:56 AM

Originally posted by rob62521 View Post

Disneysteve, do you eat eggs and cheese? If so, one way you could use up bread and some of the vegetables is to make an egg casserole. You take the crusts off the bread, and soak them in the eggs. I use about 4-5 eggs for two of us and add milk if the bread seems to soak everything up too quickly, then use whatever leftover vegetables and cheese to mix in. Leave it in the fridge overnight and then bake covered at 400 for about 40 minutes and uncover for about 5.

Sounds good. That wouldn't solve our waste problem, though. We toss out bread because it has started growing green fuzzy stuff, so by then it would be too late to use it in a casserole.

**rob62521** · 09-12-2009, 06:17 PM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

Sounds good. That wouldn't solve our waste problem, though. We toss out bread because it has started growing green fuzzy stuff, so by then it would be too late to use it in a casserole.

Can't help you with your "science experiment" with the green fuzzy stuff.

**PrincessPerky** · 09-13-2009, 03:37 AM

Oh but you could try to make penicillin!

Do you put your bread in the fridge? It lasts longer that way.

**disneysteve** · 09-13-2009, 05:02 AM

Originally posted by PrincessPerky View Post

Do you put your bread in the fridge? It lasts longer that way.

It does last longer that way, but also gets all dried out. Personally, I'd rather freeze it, though that alters the texture, too. At least it doesn't turn green and end up in the trash.

**JBinKC** · 09-13-2009, 06:38 AM

Dried out bread at least has some remaining food value as it can be used as a source of breadcrumbs.

**Ima saver** · 09-13-2009, 11:34 AM

The thing we waste the most is milk. Neither of us drink milk, but we need some from time to time for things like pancakes or soup. I just buy the smallest container I can find.

**disneysteve** · 09-13-2009, 01:01 PM

Originally posted by Ima saver View Post

The thing we waste the most is milk. Neither of us drink milk, but we need some from time to time for things like pancakes or soup. I just buy the smallest container I can find.

That's an easy one to fix. Buy dry milk and just mix some up when you need it.

do you throw away much food?