Throwing food away

taplady

we are like Frogga, we rarely leave anything on our plates but if we do it goes to the dogs, any excess in the pot goes in the fridge for reheating in another dish.
Any veggies past their best go into soup. Just the other day I was about to put some tomatoes and peppers that we hadn't eaten into the compost when I thought 'what am I doing? this could be soup' so I made soup with some carrots also past their best and a bit of swede and it was delicious - ask my sister as I gave her some for her lunch!:D

lil_me

Ok confession time, BEFORE being on this forum I would throw out between £15 and £20 of food on an average week. I spent over £800 a month on groceries, toiletries and cleaning products.

NOW is a different matter. Left overs still in pans go in the fridge (dogs hate me for this) to be reused for us. Left overs from plates go in the dog bowls for with the next days dinner.

annie-c

daisyroots wrote: »

I'd love to hear from anyone who automatically bins the leftovers from every meal. ?

I don't do this every meal; I live alone and mostly I batch cook and divide into calorie controlled portions, storing extra portions in fridge/freezer for work/another day.

I don't always bin leftovers, as far as possible I feed them to the birds or put them for recycling.

But often, yes, I scrape leftover food into the bin.

daisyroots wrote: »

Is it because you didn't like it ? Or because you think it will go off in the next 10 minutes ? Or because you don't know what else to do with it ? Or do you think that keeping food for the next meal is only for people who can't afford fresh food for every meal - in other words, do you think saving food is what poor people do, and you want to feel rich ? ?

I'm not quite sure that you have all the options covered here and to be honest some of these questions seem a bit judgemental!

If I bin leftovers it may be for a number of reasons including:

• didn't like it and as I live alone no-one else will eat it
• realised I was full before finishing the plateful and would rather waste the food than waste my efforts to lose weight
• I work full time and irregular hours so sometimes my plans change and many foods won't last forever even if it won't go off in the next 10 mins
• am frequently away with work and so if the leftovers won't freeze the food will go off before I can eat it

I don't identify with the rich/poor argument. I earn a decent salary but still tend to shop carefully, take advantage of reduced/special offers and eat on a budget in order to spend money elsewhwere. My parents, who brought me and my siblings up on a shoestring, and who are less well off than me actually spend more on food and waste more - but I don't think they do this to 'feel rich'; it's not about comparison with others, rather that they associate eating leftovers with a time when they were poor and they like now to feel that they have moved on from where they used to be. Although I make different choices from my parents, I sympathise with where they have come from.

daisyroots wrote: »

What is your opinion of people like me who rarely throw food away ?

Good for you! It's absolutely none of my business to criticise or think badly of you because of the way you choose to live. We all make individual choices about how to live our lives and it seems to be a waste of energy getting upset about someone else's choices.

csarinaknight

I was brought up during the war and do not waste anything, in fact thats what caused my expnding waistline....could not bear to see one of the kids plates with food left on...................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then I cottened on to giving them smaller portions..........LOL

I hate to see waste, it alwsys upsets me in restaurants seeing plates with food left on..............

At home if there are any leftovers I will use them up in soup or stock, I will cook ectra spuds to make potato salad or saute potato's and cauli and brocc to make cauli and brocc gratin, just needs cheese sauce and breadcrumbs to make a yummy supper dish served with jacket spuds and baked tommys, all cooked in the oven at the same time.

Left over rice I make into a mixed rice salad using cooked mixed veg.......as a general rule though there are not usually any leftovers...........in the old days leftovers went to the hens or pigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! re-cycling?????????????

PasturesNew

The ONLY food I throw out is a maximum of half a loaf every 7-10 days. And I am thinking about making bread/butter puddings with these soon... not had one of those for years!

Whenever I cook, I always cook far too much, then it's cooked and can be microwaved as another meal the next day. e.g. I always cook 8 sausages, that's 2 for then and the other 6 wrapped in pairs in kitchen towel and put straight in the fridge. They are then eaten as sausage sandwiches or even microwaved the next day to eat with mash.

I hate waste. I see it as cash chucked in the bin.

PasturesNew

lil_me wrote: »

... BEFORE being on this forum I would throw out between £15 and £20 of food on an average week....

I start by spending £10/week. You can't waste food if you're not buying it in the first instance

PasturesNew

catznine wrote: »

Leftover veg and potatoes and gravy from the serving dishes go into a "freezer fairy" a tupperware jug kept in the freezer and when it is full I make surprise veg soup - surprise as it is always just a little bit different from last time.

What a great idea. I'll remember that for when I have a freezer.

deniseduck

I always save leftover food that hasn't been on anyone's plate, put it in a container and straight into the fridge. Unfortunately though, half the time I forget it's there and when I find it I can't remember how long ago it went in there so it has to go anyway! Also, my husband doesn't like leftovers so it's down to me to either eat it myself or use it in a way he doesn't realise what he's getting. So I'm just trying to gauge portions better so that I don't serve more than we need in the first place. I really hate waste, it upsets me to see things being thrown out.

ceridwen

My standby dish for if I have some cooked veg over is Spanish Omelette.

I am just sitting eating some now in fact - as I had leftover cooked cauliflower and carrots. I fried some onion and garlic and put that, plus the leftover veg, a bit of tomato in a flan dish. Beat up 3 eggs with a little milk/flour and seasoning over the top of that. Grated on a bit of parmesan cheese and baked it in the oven - must have been 180C for 15-20 mins.

Had it with spicy potato wedges and salad.

Thats enough for 2 meals - so the rest will be lunch tomorrow.

Agutka

:rotfl: :rotfl: Never ever scrape food off other people's plates - if you get my mothers' it will almost certainly contain spat out sections! Eugh.

Of our own plates however I will rescue a potato for tomorrows fry-up. That's really all we get left. I'd never rescue someones mushy mixtures, just untouched things. Any other leftovers are things still in the pans, which we obviously put in the fridge for later, and inedible bits from the meal - gristle, bones, icky veg, which land inside the dog. When I'm visiting other people I hate seeing them scrape the icky bits into the bin, such a waste not to have a dog!
I wonder what life will be like with a picky toddler. I'm guessing the dog will get bigger and bigger...