Use it up! Don't throw it in the bin!

BigMummaF

In answer to your question Hansi .....Pup is a dog??????????????......Yup!:D

He's an english bull/staffie X, & 15mths old this week. I read up a bit on the Pets thread before starting, but he loves his Mumma's cooking:p He had to have some medicinal tinned food from the vet for four days & we almost had to spoon-feed him cuz he didn't want to eat it.

Thing is, it works out much cheaper than buying dog food, cuz he usually has what we have but minus any onion or leek. We don't have a terrific amount of processed food anyway, so it's easy enough to cook up a seperate portion as you would for a toddler. I must say tho, that I don't put salt into the cooking & doggies are safe with herbs & garlic.

SuziQ

I haven't been 'doing' this challenge per se,but reading it has really influenced my attitude to left overs. Firstly,planning means I have no food thrown away as I 'just forgot to use it'. I am ashamed to say I regulalrly had to throw away reduced items I had forgotten to freeze quickly if I didn't intend using them immediately, and I have also thrown away ince that I bought double of and then didn't use. Now I know exactly what I am doing with what I buy-the addes bonus is,as I have virtually no food in my bin bags,the foxes now leave them alone (very think foxes living in my garden at the moment!)
I have also cut my waste down from up to 7 bags a week to only 3 max. (This is 1 adult,3 children 1 in nappies at night,2 cats.)
I have stopped buying newspapers except either Sun or Sat for the TV guide,read oline now. And I leave all extra packaging at the recycle point at our local Mr T which has also reduced our waste.
I used to throw veg that looked a bit sad-now it is chopped up and used to pad out gorgeous quorn and veg curry. Dried up cheese is grated and used to top spag bol and shepherds pie (I can't believe I used to throw it away!)
I started through necessity,but am now totally converted and wouldn't change even if I was handed a million tomorrow.

Reminds me,yesterday I went to the Eric Clapton/Sheryl Crow concert in Hyde Park (complete with picnic made with almost past it's best salad!) had a fantastic day with no spends apart from tickets bought months ago,and 2 largers.

We parked around the corner from Hyde park,and looked acrss the road. Parked opposite was a Bugatti worth I million pounds! The attention it was getting was unreal,I myself took loads of pics for my car-mad DS1.
Who on earth would buy a 1 million pound car,theN leave it parked unattended in a busy London street?

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVE,INDEED!

SuziQ

I haven't been 'doing' this challenge per se,but reading it has really influenced my attitude to left overs. Firstly,planning means I have no food thrown away as I 'just forgot to use it'. I am ashamed to say I regulalrly had to throw away reduced items I had forgotten to freeze quickly if I didn't intend using them immediately, and I have also thrown away Mince that I bought double of and then didn't use. Now I know exactly what I am doing with what I buy-the added bonus is,as I have virtually no food in my bin bags,the foxes now leave them alone :j (very thin foxes living in my garden at the moment!)
I have also cut my waste down from up to 7 bags a week to only 3 max. (This is 1 adult,3 children 1 in nappies at night,2 cats.)
I have stopped buying newspapers except either Sun or Sat for the TV guide,read online now. And I leave all extra packaging at the recycle point at our local Mr T which has also reduced our waste.
I used to throw veg that looked a bit sad-now it is chopped up and used to pad out gorgeous quorn and veg curry. Dried up cheese is grated and used to top spag bol and shepherds pie (I can't believe I used to throw it away!) I started through necessity,but am now totally converted and wouldn't change even if I was handed a million tomorrow.

Reminds me,yesterday I went to the Eric Clapton/Sheryl Crow concert in Hyde Park (complete with picnic made with almost past it's best salad!) had a fantastic day with no spends apart from tickets bought months ago,and 2 lagers.

We parked around the corner from Hyde park,and looked acrss the road. Parked opposite was a Bugatti worth I million pounds! The attention it was getting was unreal,I myself took loads of pics for my car-mad DS1.
Who on earth would buy a 1 million pound car,then leave it parked unattended in a busy London street?:eek:

HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVE,INDEED!

kippers

This thread is getting more interesting week by week.

I haven't thrown anything out for weeks and weeks now. I really plan well to make sure i use everything up now.

Olliebeak

Hanging my head in shame! Last week I overbought on the whoopsies, fresh bread and whoopsied fresh milk.

Managed to freeze the whoopsies and milk but the bread wouldn't go in the freezer - consequently half a loaf and a pack of sesame-seeded burger buns have had to head for the bin . Also failed to use up a large pot of whoopsied yoghourt - got rid of most of it, but when it got to five days ood even I had to draw the line!

I am now giving myself a punishment -

I must empty the freezer before buying any more stuff!
I must empty the freezer before buying any more stuff!
I must empty ......................................................

babybug

Hello. I'm not a regular on the OS board but have found this thread really inspiring! Some of the recipes on here sound so good I want to buy the ingredients just to make them :rotfl:

This afternoon I have made a mixed-fruit crumble to use up all the softening fruit from the veg box, OH is tucking in already!

I made "sundried" (or oven dried in reality ) tomatoes, half of which I blended with a very sad red pepper (roasted) and some veg stock to make a fantastic soup. The tomatoes and the pepper would have been thrown away normally.

I never realised how virtuous I'd feel just by using stuff up. :T

EssexHebridean

Right - that's this week's meal plans just printing out to go on the fridge. OH thought I was mad when I started this - he now rather likes the fact that he knows what he can look forward to for dinner each night, and actually complained that I swapped a couple of dinners around last week! :rotfl:

Tonight I'll make a big bowl of cous-cous salad with sunblush tomatoes and roasted red peppers bought from the olive bar in tesco on friday - that will do us enough for dinner tonight and dinner on Tuesday. Those little olive bar pots are really good value - £1.59 for a pot and you can cram lots in if you squish it down well. It works out heaps cheaper than buying jars or packets of sundried/blush tomatoes that's for sure. The rest of the week is sorted out via bits from the veg box & freezer, and the little bit of topping up from tesco. The supermarket spend from June has come in at £40 under budget too so pretty good going. I have to do another stock-up shop in July as I have vouchers to use which make it worthwhile but hopefully it'll come in at around the same sort of figure......

I did have to sling out the remainder of a pot of yogurt the other day - it made smoothies and some went into a curry but I just couldn't find a use for the rest. There might be a few carrots to go when I check the fridge also - but at least they go to the compost bin.

hansi

Olliebeak wrote: »

Hanging my head in shame! Last week I overbought on the whoopsies, fresh bread and whoopsied fresh milk.

Managed to freeze the whoopsies and milk but the bread wouldn't go in the freezer - consequently half a loaf and a pack of sesame-seeded burger buns have had to head for the bin . Also failed to use up a large pot of whoopsied yoghourt - got rid of most of it, but when it got to five days ood even I had to draw the line!

I am now giving myself a punishment -

I must empty the freezer before buying any more stuff!
I must empty the freezer before buying any more stuff!
I must empty ......................................................

Whoopsies???? I thought they were the things that dogs did on carpets:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

hansi

If you have some milk that's on the turn, why not let it go the whole hog and turn it into yoghurt. I do it all the time even with fresh milk.

Horace

When I was at my chap's flat in London, I had a little clear out of his fridge and chucked out the following which he insisted was ok to eat (it wasn't, I know because I tried it and was extremely ill):

1 tub of Yeo Organic Butter - end date August 06

1 tub of Lurpak Butter - end date December 07

I bought a new pack to replace it all, funnily enough he chucked out the butter dated 07 and kept the Yeo stuff from 06, it smelt ok, spread ok but boy did it make me ill:eek:

He had all sorts of fossilised food in his fridge.

I had a clear out in my fridge and unfortunately was forced to chuck out some lettuce (it had gone slimey) and a small bag of jersey royal spuds as these had gone slimey and smelly. I admit that I had forgotten all about them.