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

zarazara

cleaned outfridge and cupboards yesterday. threw away all out of date stuff so I can start afresh with this challenge.
had a curry last night and boiled my own rice instead of buying it from the chiy, but had to throw a bit away as its very nasty stuff re re-heating and food poisoning so i never keep left over rice.
today i am starting with using up things in the freezer, about 2 weeks food in there. food shopping is cheap this month.

maltesers_2

I have a problem with jars of ingredient stuff with short sell by dates. We opened a jar of wholegrain mustard to use one teaspoon in a recipe and the jar says keep in fridge and use within 4 weeks. The same applies to creamed horseradish, pesto, tahini etc. Has anyone any ideas what to do about these problem jar stuff?

thriftlady_2

maltesers wrote: »

I have a problem with jars of ingredient stuff with short sell by dates. We opened a jar of wholegrain mustard to use one teaspoon in a recipe and the jar says keep in fridge and use within 4 weeks. The same applies to creamed horseradish, pesto, tahini etc. Has anyone any ideas what to do about these problem jar stuff?

Goodness, I've never looked at use-by dates on things like mustard and I certainly don't keep them in the fridge off to check my jars......no, my jar of wholegrain moutarde de meaux says bb dec this year (I bought it last year) and the jar of Dijon Maille doesn't have a date on anywhere :j meaning I get to decide when it is no longer fit to eat ! which will be a very long time coming because all these sorts of things are full of vinegar which is a preservative. The same goes for jam-sugar is a preservative so they last for ages in a cupboard-no nedd to refrigerate

mumzyof2

How do you mean i half her portions down?``

margaretclare

There's an interesting article today: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/what-a-waste-britain-throws-away-16310bn-of-food-every-year-822809.html

Like JackieO, I grew up during WWII and so did my DH. In addition to wartime rationing, I grew up in poverty. I can honestly say that now we never waste food in this house. Anything inedible, like fruit peelings, is composted - we have a thriving tribe of worms living in a worm-bin just outside the back door. Although DH likes going to Tesco because of 'the range of choice', on the whole we know what we like and we don't often buy different things that aren't on our list.

I was up early this morning listening to the birds early on, not quite dawn chorus but still early, and I found that article. I was absolutely amazed by it.

About the problem of getting children to eat. I was asked about this years ago by a neighbour whose little boy was a 'fussy eater', would only eat a few things. 'How do you get your little girls to eat?' she asked. Well, for one thing, by the time they got home from school they were usually hungry. They didn't have sweets and snacks on the way home, so they would sit down and eat whatever I cooked for them. 'Hunger is the best sauce' is an old saying, but still true.

Re cheap white bread, we usually have a loaf of this, 29p, not for us but for the fox which visits and has mange. I'm treating him with medication applied to the honey sandwiches that I put out every night. It's a big joke in the family, that I cut the crusts off this cheap white bread and make tiny sandwiches with honey, just for the fox! They like sweet things, you see. However, I don't regard feeding the wildlife as 'waste'. No food waste of any kind goes into our bins.

lil_me

With reguar left overs - for mumzyof2 and anyone else struggling with this - if you can guess something won't be eaten only put a small amount on the plate. If they need more add to their plate with a clean spoon/fork. When they are finished the leftovers will be in the pan/dish to be kept for later.

Before you go on holiday away check and see what will be off before you get back, saves having to clean the fridge out after it's had rotten food in. Freeze anything you can inc any milk, butter, marg, veg, fruit, meats etc etc.

zarazara I always keep left over rice, cool quickly then freeze or in the fridge for the next day then reheat properly, I've never poisoned myself yet.

funkyfunkymonkey

mumzyof2 wrote: »

How do you mean i half her portions down?``

Assuming this question is from my suggestion, what I meant was to give her half of what you normally give her at lunch and then half of what you would normally give her at tea. Then over the course of the day she has had the equivalent of the one meal she was previously eating at either lunch or tea (but not both).

Hope that makes sense?

FFM

funkyfunkymonkey

I'm loving this challenge, I have already changed a few things.

Yesterday I would normally have baked a new loaf to go with our spag bol for tea, even though there was a bit of bread left from Thursday. So, what I did on Friday was to use up the old bread (great soaked in the spag bol anyway) plus DS and I don't mind the crusts even if DD and OH turn up their noses. We even had one slice of bread and some crust left for toast this morning.

The effect of this was that no crusts were thrown out and no bread was wasted. The saving to me was a loaf not baked.

Sadly, one of my oranges had a new white/green furry coat on yesterday morning so it got booted out to the bin. But at the market yesterday I only bought the fruit that I thought would last long enough to be eaten.

Breakfast this morning was a bit bizarre, everyone had something slightly different and I explained we were using up food rather than throw it away. DD and DS received this new way of eating very well. OH was a little bit 'pouty', but ate his toast and ham and beef paste (which he had opened during the week for a sandwich). I had the last toasted crust with some ham and beef paste (to show solidarity you'll understand). We also shared an orange - before it put on a furry coat and walked.

FFM

Food wasted Friday: 1 orange

recovering_spendaholic

In my attempt not to throw away any food I have been freezing leftovers from casseroles and curries etc and freezing them in single portion tubs. This has worked very well and I now have a freezer well stocked with hm ready meals BUT... I have just got a Sainsburys shop and by mistake I have ordered two extra large frozen chickens - I only wanted one and intended to let it thaw for cooking and so not put it in the freezer. I didn't discover the second one until the woman had left so now I have this HUGE chicken (well 2 of them!) and there is no way we will ever eat all that chicken before it goes off! I just can't fit it in the freezer - I have tried all kinds of jiggling and it won't go, so I wondered if anyone knew if I could cook them both and then take the meat off the carcass on the spare one, wrap it up securely and then put that in the freezer? If I can do this safely then I can make it fit in, but I don't want to give everyone food poisining!

funkyfunkymonkey

recovering spendaholic

I freeze cooked chicken all the time. Sometimes I defrost it and eat it cold, other times I reheat it in something like a curry sauce.

Never had any food poisoning problems.

FFM