Throwing food away

catznine

Hi Jackie! I was brought up by a Mum who started married life during the rationing years and she brought us up very frugally. Both my sister and I hate to waste food and can and at times have had to live on very tight budgets.

I often feel she is at my shoulder in the kitchen like Jimminy Cricket!:D

fredpipes

I'm notorious for taking doggie bags (tupperware ones!) home from friends' dinner parties - and it's not for the dog either! I have no shame, but I know they'll just bin it!

I also cook up extra spuds and use the leftovers next day as roast!

Austin_Allegro

When I was in the States I got offered doggie bags for my leftovers without even asking - but that never happens in the UK and you'd probably get a horrified look if you asked. It's odd because we're always told how wasteful the Americans are. I think it comes down to snobbery again. The Americans are business minded and want to get their money's worth - the leftovers are seen as paid for and rightfully theirs. In the UK we are afraid of looking 'cheap' or 'needy'...

purpleivy

Hapless wrote: »

Why not bread crumb it and freeze it. handy for making stuffing etc.

LOL at this. I crumbed some bread in my more frugal days and put it in the freezer.... no label of course, as breadcrumbs are bread crumbs.

Made a 'queen of puddings' when visitors came.... believe it's egg custard with crumbs, jam and then meringue over the top... can't remember the details.

After we started to eat it, it became apparent that there was something not quite right..... where was the garlic smell coming from? hadn't used any for this meal........ Oh! Right! must have been GARLIC breadcrumbs! checked the freezer and threw out the remainder. I don't think I could eat that pud again, the thought makes me feel ill.:D

purpleivy

The only exception to this is leftover salad that has been tossed with a dressing - it goes BLEUGH and soggy if it is kept so that does go in the bin.


Unless we have visitors I tend to serve all salad items separately, that way any leftover bits can be easily dressed and scoffed for my lunch the next day... and everyone can have their favourite dressing, lowcal/fullfat/balsamic/mayo etc etc. Kids get the bits of salad they will eat and leave the rest for others.

purpleivy

Regarding meals out... I would rather have several small courses rather than one massive one..... which will inevitably be too big, even if it's all I'm having. Not a big chips fan and these seem to be a big part of a main course out these days.

Instead I have small quantities of really nice things... usually a starter, followed by another starter with a side salad or similar and pud if there's something I fancy. rest of the family generally have too much and are offering samples round of things we haven't had before perhaps, so i don't feel hard done by. This means i don't buy food I don't want and there isn'st the waste either.

thriftmonster

purpleivy wrote: »

The only exception to this is leftover salad that has been tossed with a dressing - it goes BLEUGH and soggy if it is kept so that does go in the bin.


Unless we have visitors I tend to serve all salad items separately, that way any leftover bits can be easily dressed and scoffed for my lunch the next day... and everyone can have their favourite dressing, lowcal/fullfat/balsamic/mayo etc etc. Kids get the bits of salad they will eat and leave the rest for others.

My MIL read that you could put leftover tomatoes from salad into a casserole. Then she started adding leftover lettuce and cucumber to beef casserole as well :eek: - it's scarred dh for life (and seriously put him off beef casserole!)

ellie-g

I cook everything from scratch and there is never any waste because my two dogs finish it off. (great for resisting the temptation to overeat!).They even like apple cores. I think they enjoy the change from dog food! I would draw the line at giving them anything greasy or salty though! They are both fit and healthy and full of energy.

I think one of the arts of not wasting food is learn to be creative with whats already in the fridge/larder etc and I always try and use up fresh food that way. I consider it to be a personal failiure if I have to throw food out.

I have to say I havent always been so thrifty though...

Ellie
x

~daisy~_2

daisyroots wrote: »

~daisy~ you asked how people made one chicken last for several meals, this is what my Ma used to do. The same chicken could appear at our table for several performances

Roast, with supporting cast of roast potatoes and veg.
Cold with salad - and maybe a matinee performance in a sandwich or two
(She stripped the carcass of any meat she could get off easily, and boiled it for stock. Then she got any remaining meat off the carcass, and chucked it. One of my jobs was to stand there, wait till the carcass was cool enough and pick all the little chicken bits off, while listening to the Home Service)
Rissotto made with chicken stock and chicken bits.
Soup made with rest of chicken stock and any leftover rissotto and veg

This is how my Ma made a big chicken feed four people at four meals. I often do part of this process, rarely all these days.

i know the mechanics of stretching a chicken - my point was i never have enough meat left on it in order to stretch it !!
like i said maybe we are just greedy LOL

daisyroots_2

Sorry - I misunderstood. But when writing all that out, I reflected on the size of our portions in those days. Rationing had not ended that long ago, and I think we simply ate less than we do now.