What Lurks in the Fridge?
Is your celery or lettuce squishy and slimy again? Do you find a disgustingly moldy onion in your pantry too often? Do you forget to use up leftovers like spaghetti and meatballs and, when you discover them, they smell funny and unsafe? Do you feel like you are throwing away too much food?
What is it Costing You?
All of us throw away food once-in-a-while. But, throwing away food every week is too much – too much wasted space, time, and money. Estimates are that, on average, Americans throw away 30-40% of their food budget – which can cost you up to $1,000 or more dollars in a year. Just think what you could use that extra money for!
How to Waste Less and Save More!
1. Plan meals in advance of grocery shopping. Do a 3-day, or 7-day plan and write it down.
2. Look through your pantry, fridge and freezer before you make your shopping list, to buy only what you need.
3. Make a grocery shopping list that includes what you need for your meal plans, and everyday, healthy staples.
4. Keep it simple at the grocery store. Shop your list.
5. At home, put away perishable items first, then put away dry foods. Date perishables to remind yourself to eat them before they spoil. Work your meal plans.
Summer is a tricky time for food safety, so be extra careful with these summer food safety tips.
Ongoing Tips for a Healthy and Affordable Kitchen!
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Planning is so important and is also my downfall. Once I skip a day (bad day at work, need to order in pizza) it throws off my whole schedule. My perishables end up going bad. So important to stay on track. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Thank you for commenting. Yes, planning is not easy but always worthwhile. Try to order the small pizza when you have a bad day at work and then ‘tackle’ the next day with fruits, vegetables and a healthy plan. You’ll have a really good day by doing this!
Can you recommend any good meal planning sites? Thanks!
Thanks for your question, Kristi! What are you looking for exactly? An online site to do some planning? Let me know a few more details so that I can help you.
Whenever I am reading a magazine and come across a recipe I’d like to try, I rip it out and save it in a file folder. If I try it and love it, it goes in my “To Print” file. I then type it up so I have a .doc version to share with friends and put a hard copy in my personal cookbook.
The tip here is to only save recipes with ingredients you normally buy, or to group 3-5 recipes with similar ingredients into your weekly food plan (ex: pork roast with potatoes and carrots, carrots and pork stir fry, potato salad with pork sandwiches…)
Great tips, Cindy! I love double-ad Wednesdays at Sunflower Market; that’s my shopping/food prep/meal plan day.
Wow, Megan, you have a nice system in place. What is double-ad Wednesday at Sunflower Markets? Sounds intriguing. Thanks for your comment!
I think it may also be helpful to remind people that leftovers are for eating, or reusing… My lunches at work are nearly always leftovers, which saves a bundle in and of itself.
I also think it’s of value to remember that trimmings (the ends of carrots, a few lettuce leaves, onion peels, pear cores, etc) make great vegetable broth. I accumulate them in a zip-loc freezer bag in the freezer, and when the bag is full, drop them in the pressure cooker (a stock pot is good, too), cover with water, boil for a while, and voila. This stock is beautiful for soups, risotto, etc, and makes something out of an apparent nothing. Mother Nature and the pocketbook will thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Stacia. I agree with all you do to waste less and save more!