Do You Hate Wasting Food?

My husband and I often debate about whether or not to throw away food we discover in the back of the fridge that is slightly past it's prime. You know what I am talking about: small chunks of cheese, half a bunch of soft cilantro, zucchini that has turned slimy, one portion of scrambled eggs from last week, or pita that is hard as a rock. Certain items inevitably need to go right into the trash (i.e. slimy zucchini) but others are a valid subject for debate (i.e. small chunks of cheese or hard pita.) Much to my husband's chagrin, I would often emerge victorious from these spirited tete-a-tetes and end up tossing everything in the trash.

These days, on a tight budget and feeling conscious of our carbon footprint, we have made a large effort to cut down on our food waste. Each week I prepare a grocery list which is comprised of the items I will need to prepare each meal for the week. This includes breakfasts, lunches for Daddy Flava to take to work, food for BF, and approximately 5 dinners per week. For the other two dinners we usually do leftovers or something from the freezer. It has amazed me what this small effort has done to cut down on the amount of food we waste. I bring into the house only the things I intend to cook or prepare for that week rather than taking the approach of "let's go to the market to see what looks inspiring". Worst case scenario is that I end up needing something that I don't have in the fridge and we need to make an extra trip to the store.

Although preparation has drastically cut down on our food waste we are still inevitably faced with hard pieces of bread, small chunks of cheese, a stray leek or half an avocado that could be tossed in the trash. This is where it is fun to get creative! Left over whole wheat tortillas from turkey wraps become cheese and black bean quesedias. Some hard crusty bread that is too difficult to eat turns into bread pudding. Of course, we all know that a veggie box full of stray carrots, onions, and potatoes will make a great base for a soup. If you are willing to do a little extra work, there are a plethora of tasty things to do with leftover food items.

If you still need to be inspired and want to learn more about why cutting down on food waste is an important environmental issue check out this great website LOVE FOOD, hate waste. They are based in the UK but have tons of useful information about food storage, portioning, and some hard facts about the impact of food waste.

- Mama Flava