Don't throw food away challenge

Doom_and_Gloom

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

£0.46/£2

Thankfully nothing to add to my total. Last night I realised that I had 6 parsnips that really needed using. They made a nice soup with 2 carrots, an onion, a tin of tomatoes, a small marrow (given to me by my dad who grew it), 2 cloves of garlic (from a bulb given to me by parents), some red lentils, frozen sweetcorn, frozen peas and a bit of spice and herbs (and obviously a bit of water) . Made 4 portions so there are 3 in the freezer for another time.
Was really nice with 2 slices of wholemeal bread.
So that saved 6 parsnips from going in the bin.

TrixieB

a handful of pasta spirals that fell into the washing up while I was straining and a piece of brocolli that dropped on the floor - I can't bend to pick it up so I've kicked it in the general direction of the bin in the vain hope OH notices it and picks it up

VfM4meplse

BohemianCoast wrote: »

But if it's just the things you pick up cheap at the supermarket I'm a big fan of getting stuff out of the freezer and cooking it rather than buying more food, even if it's cheap.

Ha, ha, this made me laugh....I took a peak into the reduced section of the chiller cabinet at my local Sainsbury's last night (I'm always on the hunt for reduced hummus ), which had a load of pre-packed ready meals and dairy filled deserts. There was a staff member close at hand, and a huge trolley packed full of items he had just reduced, which I assumed were destined for that same cabinet......so I picked up an item on top and started looking at it's ingredients. Imagine my surprise when I heard an offended "excuse me" to learn that it was actually someone's trolley! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:. Ok, I shouldn't have been looking as I neither wanted nor needed anything, but I think it's selfish to buy a quantity of food that cannot possibly be consumed whilst still fresh, share the love. If destined for the freezer it must have been a huge, because this trolley was ALL reduced deserts, you seriously couldn't have fit it into an American-sized fridge.

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Last night I realised that I had 6 parsnips that really needed using. They made a nice soup with 2 carrots, an onion, a tin of tomatoes, a small marrow (given to me by my dad who grew it), 2 cloves of garlic (from a bulb given to me by parents), some red lentils, frozen sweetcorn, frozen peas and a bit of spice and herbs (and obviously a bit of water)

I'm a great one for souping, not a big parsnip eater but I shall try it next time I see some going cheap!

Doom_and_Gloom

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I'm a great one for souping, not a big parsnip eater but I shall try it next time I see some going cheap!

I have to say I bought them cheap at 30p :rotfl: but unlike you I love parsnips.

PixieDust

Do you really need another freezer midear, if there are only two of you? It could be a good idea in the short term, but in the long term it could just be exacerbating the issue....what will you do when that one gets full....buy a third one?

Obviously if you currently have a tiny freezer or your family are heavily into huntin' shootin' fishin' growin' then I could be talking out of my rear nether regions But I'd urge you to aim to cook and use one entire drawerful of food (with our help, of course ) before deciding to splurge and spend more money than you might save

A (huge, important, so-shall-remain-nameless) company that my Mum works for once threw out four catering boxes of white sugar sachets because according to the box they were out of date, and as a company they could not "serve" them. Mum rescued two of them (all she could carry at the time!), and needless to say, we didn't have to buy white sugar for a long time. As I recall we made our annual jam with it that year. Though it was a bit tedious having to sit round the table tearing and tipping sachets 'Appy days!

Diflower

PixieDust wrote: »

Do you really need another freezer midear, if there are only two of you? It could be a good idea in the short term, but in the long term it could just be exacerbating the issue....what will you do when that one gets full....buy a third one?

Obviously if you currently have a tiny freezer or your family are heavily into huntin' shootin' fishin' growin' then I could be talking out of my rear nether regions But I'd urge you to aim to cook and use one entire drawerful of food (with our help, of course ) before deciding to splurge and spend more money than you might save

A (huge, important, so-shall-remain-nameless) company that my Mum works for once threw out four catering boxes of white sugar sachets because according to the box they were out of date, and as a company they could not "serve" them. Mum rescued two of them (all she could carry at the time!), and needless to say, we didn't have to buy white sugar for a long time. As I recall we made our annual jam with it that year. Though it was a bit tedious having to sit round the table tearing and tipping sachets 'Appy days!

Agree about the freezer. I sometimes think ours is too small but really it's perfect. Once I realised that 'even if it's a bargain it's still money you don't need to spend' it was much better:).

PixieDust that did make me laugh about the sugar, as a friend did the same with a big pack of butter portions that happened to be going free. You should have seen us unwrapping them to make cakes for a party:rotfl: We did come up with a clever trick though, we looked for recipes which used melted butter (eg flapjacks) and just bunged them in a pan then fished out the wrappers:T

rosieben

most of my herb and spice drawer is out of date at the moment, but I'll replace some soon as they can lose their flavour over time; I remember a friend of mine complaining that a curry she made wasn't hot enough, then she discovered the curry powder was 7 or 8 years out of date lol

Luckyred, it is very much a matter of personal choice and you must do what you feel comfortable with, but I'm very cynical about dates - to me it seems a very good wheeze whereby the manufacturers and supermarkets get more money from us

VfM4meplse

rosieben wrote: »

most of my herb and spice drawer is out of date at the moment, but I'll replace some soon as they can lose their flavour over time; I remember a friend of mine complaining that a curry she made wasn't hot enough, then she discovered the curry powder was 7 or 8 years out of date lol

Is such a thing possible?? I think a billion Indians will disagree with you there, so plse don't ditch what you've got!

Stored in airtight containers in a dark environment, spices will last forever. Maybe not perfect, but still quite safe to eat. Can't believe the statement about the curry powder, it's not particularly hot anyway; the answer is to add whole dried red chillies.

rachbc

itground spices to do go out of date - not off as in harmful but the oils which provide the flavour evaporate over time. The trick is to buy whole spices and grind as you need (and keep in the dark rather thna out on the spice rack) - they stay flavourful much longer that way.

I ttotally failed the challenge - 2 rolls went mouldy and I bought a load of whoospied meat so ditched my bread crusts and peelings stash in the freezer to make room. But I'd rather have high value items where there are substantial savings than a few pence worth of onions skins in there!

rosieben

I'm not ditching them all, but they do lose flavour, so will replace some of them.

I keep my herbs and spices in ikea drawers (the ones that fit a4 paper) rather than a rack; the jars and packets lie flat and I can see all the labels easily

only peelings thrown out until last night when I had to ditch one small, very stale trifle sponge cake found loitering in the bread bin ... so 8p to add to my total.