Don't Throw Food Away Challenge

spandles

fairyclicks wrote: »

I am currently sitting wondering what i can do with 4 apples that are past their best and won't be eaten as they are - maybe i can bake them in some bread or something similar - any ideas?

Half it and stick in a chicken next time you do a roast - I do the same with pears and lemons etc

icontinuetodream

puy lentils left over from last night so put some cranberry sauce into portabello mushrooms, topped with the lentils and cooked in the oven for 30mins....nomnomnom

hereigoagain22

I'm always wasting food :-(

I just went food shopping and have a fridge, freezer and cupboards full of things. Far too much for myself and 2 young kids to manage. Can't fit a single thing in my freezer now. No idea what to do with it all

Off the top of my head I have -
Cheese
Ham
Jam
Butter
Cocktail Sausages
Scotch Eggs
6 Fresh Eggs
A Lettuce
A box of cherry tomatoes
A bag of carrots
A bag of onions
A large swede/turnip
A bag of new potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
A bag of maris piper potatoes
2 red and 2 green peppers
3 large garlic cloves
Milk
Fresh juice
A large loaf of bread
4 paninis and 2 baguettes
A gammon joint
Sirloin steaks
Bacon
Bananas
Oranges
Apples
Pears
Kiwis
Grapes
Yoghurts



And that doesn't include the freezer... chicken breasts, mince, stewing beef, chicken thighs, all sorts of veg/chips/wedges etc, Then all the biscuits etc. in the cupboard that go soft before we eat them!!

Help, I have issues!! I meal plan every week but we always end up eating at my parents, having leftovers etc. and then I have loads left over and still buy a full week's shop the next week. Surprisingly I'm only spending £30 - £40 a week but still have so much waste :-S

icontinuetodream

hereigoagain22 wrote: »

I'm always wasting food :-(

I just went food shopping and have a fridge, freezer and cupboards full of things. Far too much for myself and 2 young kids to manage. Can't fit a single thing in my freezer now. No idea what to do with it all

Off the top of my head I have -
Cheese
Ham
Jam
Butter
Cocktail Sausages
Scotch Eggs
6 Fresh Eggs
A Lettuce
A box of cherry tomatoes
A bag of carrots
A bag of onions
A large swede/turnip
A bag of new potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes
A bag of maris piper potatoes
2 red and 2 green peppers
3 large garlic cloves
Milk
Fresh juice
A large loaf of bread
4 paninis and 2 baguettes
A gammon joint
Sirloin steaks
Bacon
Bananas
Oranges
Apples
Pears
Kiwis
Grapes
Yoghurts



And that doesn't include the freezer... chicken breasts, mince, stewing beef, chicken thighs, all sorts of veg/chips/wedges etc, Then all the biscuits etc. in the cupboard that go soft before we eat them!!

Help, I have issues!! I meal plan every week but we always end up eating at my parents, having leftovers etc. and then I have loads left over and still buy a full week's shop the next week. Surprisingly I'm only spending £30 - £40 a week but still have so much waste :-S

Quite a list!!
baguette pizza with the tomatoes, ham, cheese and cocktail sausages; picnic lunch with scotch eggs, cocktail sausages, lettuce & tomatoes;roasted gammon joint with sauteed potatoes, swede & carrots; mixed veg soup with the carrots, onion, potatoes & swede served with hot paninis; fruit kebabs;stuffed peppers (just stuff with some of the mince you have in the freezer, onion, garlic & herbs)....

there are lots of things to do with what you have but without knowing the type of meals you enjoy, its difficult!! What i tend to do when I am feeling a bit lost for what to do is perform a 'grab three items' meal!!!

get a carbohydrate (either grain, potato, potato or pasta) a protein (with me its nuts, veg, pulses or sea veg/sprouts) and veg/fruit (or both) and make a meal from it....I have all my dried stuff in boxes in one cupboard (carbs one side, protein other) and literally just grab a box from each to decide on what I will be using that day...then its just making interesting stuff based on what you have pulled out

It may make for some interesting meals, but you really end up using everything you have in that way!!:D

Frogletina

Food thrown away in March

Bread - I am determined no more will be thrown and I will try to remember to to freeze it before it's too late. I have half a loaf and a couple of rolls in there at the moment but really wanted fresh for sandwiches so bought another loaf.

Milk, only a small amount this month - I use for cooking mostly and end up keeping a little in case someone calls who wants some in a drink. If they don't I end up thowing it.

Chestnuts in shells, was given a few and didn't use them in time.

Runner beans - the quality of these can be shocking, I took some back to Sainsburys last month as they were still in date but turning really brown. The ones on still on sale were just the same and with so many different dates the stock and quality control must be really bad. I can understand why people take the longest best before date.

I also had to call over an assistant to remove some of the half cucumbers last time I was in, they were soggy and oozing and still a few days in date!

frogletina

[Deleted User]

I checked the fridge and several of the tomatos were not looking their best managed to salvage two out of 7 the other five I poured boiling water over then cold and skiined them and roughly chopped them up.Put into a small saucepan with a dollop of lazy garlic and a handful of lentils and some dried mixed herbs and simmered till soft . I have them in a bowl now ready to go into a chilli with a few kidney beans to make a nice chili to be portioned up for the freezer.I couldn't bring myself to throw out 5 large tomatoes and I am not keen on them fried or on toast but roughly chopped in a chilli they will get used up,beat binning them anyway

madmary_2

I'm new but I hope it's OK to post here. I have hardly thrown anything away food wise this last few weeks. I have been making bread and butter puddings at the weekend and last weekend I made two and we only ate one. The second just never got eaten. Not too sorry as it was very cheap to make. However, what I do with the crusts is crumb them and freeze the crumbs. I plan to make a savoury crumble this week.

Mary

[Deleted User]

Well i ended up throwing around 95p worth of food out, which considering last month i didnt throw anything away isnt good. Im buying too much veg and my freezers full to bursting so the mushrooms went moudy, along with the cabbage and spinach i bought (how do you stop spinach from going all wet and limp?). I, like Madmary, also make bread and butter pudding if ive got lots of bread left over too, i made one last night. I also make bread pudding too.

princesskitty29

Hi all, I was joining in with this thread a little while ago but had to drop out for a while as I was getting married and going on honeymoon - it was a fairly stressful time before the wedding and I didn't have the time to do this too! But I am back now and would very much like to get back on the wagon! As it's nearly the end of April I will start from May and my amount will be £5, but I am hoping I will do much better!

I hope there's some others still around, I enjoyed dipping into this thread and seeing how everyone was using up their leftovers and seeing the advice everyone had, it was inspiring and helped keep me on track!

icontinuetodream

You're in at No.41 princesskitty and congratulations on your wedding :j:j:j:D