Don't throw food away challenge

fuddle

Time to confess... I've been dealing with some sad news these past few days and haven't been focused on the task in hand. We've been having takeouts and the like and I know DH threw away a loaf that was about 1/4 left due to mould. The fruit have gone the journey too.

So, I'm here reading and will get back into it but right now it's another stress and I'm not going to think too deeply into what needs using up and how.

Bare with me, it never leaves you, just sometimes being frugal isn't the bee all and end all (she says as shes about to put the sandwich crusts on the bird table )

vintage43

Recipe please - these sound lovely (though would make with Fry Light as on a diet )

gallygirl, just put your peelings in a bowl with seasoning and some olive oil then lay them spread out on a baking tray cook for 10 mins then flip them over and cook for 15 mins, I did it while Sunday lunch was in so we had them as a starter!

Well sunday roast is out of the way, all that was left was a few peas, a bit of mash, 1/2 a yorkshire and some gravy which I mixed up with some chicken skin and some of the yucky bits of left over meat and Nellydog thought she was in heaven!
The carcass is now being turned into stock and the spare meat has gone into the freezer for a sweet and sour later in the week.
feeling quite good about it, think I'm going to see how long we survive with what I have in, will probably result in some 'funny teas', as my kids call them, along the way

forever_saving

I save my potato peelings too . I have several bags in the freezer (i do par boil them before they go in). I always use three or four slices of bacon ( i find smoked is better or if i have ham that needs using), cut into small pieces, half or whole onion depending on how big and fry them in a small amount of olive oil. When half cooked i add all of the peelings (i do boil them for literally a few minutes first). We often have that with poached eggs and beans. If i have told people, they say haven't you got any money then because you must be skint to be eating that.
We don't waste alot these days. Before i discovered this site i used to throw so much away and didn't think anything of it.
I will follow this so i can get even more ideas .
FS x

LittleMai

A good day for not wasting anything! Yesterday I had a massive jacket potato for dinner, it was so big that I couldnt finish it all. Normally I would have just thrown the rest away, but I saved it, and reheated it in a pan today for lunch. It didnt look pretty (potato, baked beans and cheese all mixed together, a bit like slop!), but it was tasty, and it meant that I didnt throw anything out! :j:j

I hope you're ok Fuddle, I can understand that when there is a lot of sad news is happening, money saving is that last thing to worry about. I hope things get better for you!:grouphug:

mrsd

I admire all the things you guys do to avoid waste. Have to admit that in our house we have become quite wasteful with food, however as we want to move house we really need to start watching the pennies. So as a start, yesterday when I went to A$da for weekly shop bought one of their meal deals (our weekend treat), says for 4 but there are 3 of us, we normally eat as much of the pasta as we want, same with garlic bread and pudding. What doesnt get eaten gets thrown away. Yesterday though before even cooking I froze one portion of the pasta (DS can have this another time when DD and I have something with fish) and one of the garlic baguettes. We still polished off the whole pudding. We all had plenty none of us were still hungry. Tonight am baking Christmas cakes and have casserole in oven too using up some of last weeks veg, some of that will definately be frozen for later date as well. I know its not on a par with what some of you do, but am hoping that little changes will lead to good savings and habits that will last the kids a lifetime.

ChrissieT_2

I try to put left overs and half bits of stuff in glass storage jars in fridge so that I can see what they are. So at the moment I can see a quarter lemon which isnt drying out, half a raw onion, some fudge sauce left from friday's pudding (half of recipe anyway which was way too generous) and the rest of saturday's pumpkin soup. That way I can eat the soup tomorrow/tuesday, and when I do dinner tomorrow hopefully I'll remember the onion. Lemon for OH G&T and fudge for stressy moments - or nice apple pudding recipe - or just cos it's nice! Obviously I'm not always perfect.

PixieDust

I did my first ever roast dinner today (Chicken, roast spuds, peppers, courgettes, carrot and bit of use-it-or-lose-it parsnip. Boiled swede. )

And, and, and....now I'm attempting my first stock. I am ridiculously excited :j

Can I ask....everywhere on this site I see things like "A$da" instead of Asda... Mr T instead of Tesco....L**l instead of Lidl. Why?

rising_from_the_ashes

Congratulations pixie! I never did one for years as I thought it was a load of work & hassle - how wrong was I!

Re using substitutes such as Mr T, Mr A, Al*di etc - it's to stop the threads coming up on goo*gle searches etc (if someone puts say AS*DA, the newest things will come up so if they're often mentioned on forums you'd get these showing up all the time, especially if less than favourable comments are being made which people could (again not 100% sure about this) be held liable for. HTH

WelshWoofer

In the spirit of using things up I have decided to defrost half a loaf of bread from the freezer and have cheese and salad sandwiches for work for the next few days. I have half a bag of lettuce, a cucumber and some tomatoes that would usually end their life in the bin but no more!

No waste today either - the little bit of veg leftover from tea got mashed up with somne gravy and a bit of meat for the dog's tea saving a tin of dog food for another day.:T

Oh yes and i "had" to eat 2 mince pies that had been in the cupboard for a while too to save them from the bin - aren't I a martyr!

gallygirl

Loving this thread. I usually make soup on a Mon when working from home, cue recipe books and google. This week it will be the opposite way round - what have I got rather than what do I 'need' to buy :j.

Hmmmm, swede soup anyone

ETA: Garam Masala Neep Soup it is :j

ETA2: Made it in pressure cooker, very nice it is too