Wasting Away

Did anyone else read the article this week that says more than half of the food produced in Canada is wasted? It goes on to say that 21% of that waste occurs in household kitchens, an average of $1700 per household! That's more than $140 dollars per month going into the garbage. That's a lot of money.

I have been guilty of some pretty bad food wastage in my time: Soggy vegetables, serving upon serving of leftovers, entire trays of meat, frozen, thawed, then forgotten long enough to have become questionable, stale crackers, moldy bread, freezer burnt mystery bundles... the list goes on and on and on. I'm no saint, but I am improving.

We still waste food, I won't lie, but we definitely waste less food than we used to, and I think that's important to note. Wherever you are in your journey, don't aim for perfection, just aim for improvement. It's less of a burden, and you get to celebrate more victories that way. There are a few strategies I use that have helped us to eliminate some of the food waste in our house, and I'm going to share them here. Hopefully there's something helpful to you in the mix.

1. Make a Meal Plan

If you didn't think I was going to tell you to plan, go and read the rest of this blog first, and then come back here. I've been on team "wing it" for most of my life, but having children and a budget has really helped get me a little more focused. About groceries, anyway. A plan for your food is really important.

Sometimes my meals plans are super detailed (highlighted items need to be added to the grocery list)

When you have a meal plan, you give yourself a framework for what you're going to use in the upcoming days (or week or however long you plan for). If you know what you're going to eat/serve/cook/use then you can also check how much you already have and how much you need to buy. Without a meal plan, you might add celery to your list, thinking, "I'm sure I'll use all that," and then only use two ribs and let the rest go limp in the drawer. With a meal plan, you either buy just the two ribs you know you need, or plan your meals to use the entire head of celery before it turns into unappetizing rubber in the crisper.

aaaand sometimes my meal plans are chicken scratch garbage. Both are still helpful for making sure you get and use the groceries you intend to. You don't have to have scrapbook quality meal plans. Any plan will do.

2. Make a Grocery List

A meal plan on it's own is no good if you don't set yourself up for success by making a grocery list. While you're making your list, think of (or write down) all the ingredients/components you need for each meal and snack you have in mind for each day, and identify the items you need to purchase. Add them to a list. Even if you're only planning for the next 3 days, that's still likely at least 9 meals with different ingredients and spices and details to remember. Why memorize that? Just write it down.

Making your list makes you less likely to stray and impulse shop, as well. Without a list, you might walk into the store chanting, "stir fry, spaghetti, tacos" and rounding up the required groceries (don't lie, I know I'm not the only one who does this), but get distracted somewhere between the soy sauce and the tortillas remember that you maybe want to make homemade pizzas instead. But instead of what? You've already got half of what you need for stir fry, spaghetti, and tacos in your cart. Oh, hell, maybe I'll make pizza after that. Just have to go back to produce for mushrooms, and a can of pineapple, and... wait? What was I making? Chili? We like Chili. Better grab some beans. Before you know it you have a cart full of stuff you don't know when you're going to cook, you've spent twice what you thought you would, and you still forgot the damn taco seasoning. Make a list. Stick to it.

3. Put some detail in that grocery list

Once you've written it down, write down the quantities you'll need for the meals you've planned. Do you need to buy the giant bag of onions if you only plan on using one this week? How many tomatoes will you use in your salads, and how many will turn to mush before you get to them? This is also helpful if you share your shopping list with someone else in your house. How many limes? 2? a bag of them? Nothing like throwing away 15 unused rock hard limes 2 weeks from now, because you didn't need a whole bag to make one cup of guacamole. Another detail to add is the desired ripeness of your produce. If you're planning to use the avocados today, you want ripe ones. If you're buying for a meal later in the week, you'll want to get some that are still firm. Same with bananas. Don't buy all the yellowest ones in the place if you want them to last you the whole week. A detailed list helps to ensure success with number 4 and that is...

4. Only buy what you need

Yes, sometimes the bulk bag of potatoes or onions or garlic is a better deal than buying them loose, but it's not a deal if the stuff goes bad before you use it. If you eat potatoes every day, then go ahead! Buy the 20lb bag, but if you can't remember the last time you made it through a whole bushel of onions before they turned, keep on walking. Grab 1, and move on with your life. The lone onions are bigger, anyway, and you can often stretch one to last you 2 meals or more.

Guess what? This 3 pack of garlic is cheap as heck, and maybe you're like I used to be, thinking, "I like garlic, I'm sure I'll use this all up. Doesn't garlic last forever?" But guess what else? This garlic is garbage. It's almost always rotten inside and I end up throwing over half of each bulb away. Waste of money. Also gross. And I almost never say bad things about garlic. If you can, opt for the single bulbs. They're usually bigger, and are Canadian grown, and aren't nasty inside. One bulb will run you closer to a dollar, but you'll use more of it instead of tossing it out.

5. Check your best before dates

Especially when you're buying dairy and meat, if you know you're not planning to use the entire thing immediately, try to find the items with the latest best before date. If you're going to stick the meat into the freezer or cook right away, opt for the ones marked down 30% because the best before date is approaching. Be mindful of when your food is set to "expire" and try to use or freeze it before it's reached the point of no return. And remember (this one is really hard for me) that "best before" doesn't mean "disgusting immediately after", and use your judgement and common sense before throwing something away just because it hit its due date that afternoon.

6. Use Your Freezer

The freezer can be an amazing tool. It can also be a wasteland where groceries go to die, though, so you have to use your freezer properly. Did you buy the club pack of ground beef? Portion that thing out before you stick it in your freezer, otherwise every time you see it, you're going to heavy sigh and pick something else until eventually you admit defeat, the club pack of hamburger is a weird shade of gray, and you huck it into the trash. Byeeeeee, money!

When I buy meat for the freezer, I portion it out in ziplock bags, label the bag with what's inside, how many and the date. (Sidenote, if someone has a better way to freeze meat than in a ziplock, let me know). I try to keep all my frozen meat in the same area of the freezer so nothing slips to the bottom to be forgotten with the bananas I swore I'd make a loaf out of one day...

A good way to set yourself up for freezer success is to freeze things flat. If your drumsticks are laying flat in the bag to freeze, not only is it easier to store in the freezer, but it's also less daunting to thaw out. If it looks easy, I'm more likely to use it. If it looks like I need a hammer and chisel to get it going, or thaw it out for 13 days, it's likely staying in the freezer for a long long long long time. Also, going back to the bananas... peel those mofos before you put them in the freezer. Cut them into smaller chunks and freeze them so you can use them in a smoothie or to make that fake ice cream (gross) that pinterest seems to love, or yes, make banana loaf. If you can eliminate the horrible step of peeling a thawed, black banana, I bet you'll make more loaves.

You can freeze a surprising amount of things to be used for later. I freeze buttermilk and whipping cream (poured into ziplock bags and frozen flat and thin) measured out into the amounts required to make our weekend waffles. Thaw them overnight in the fridge (do not thaw them under warm water or the microwave. You will be sad.) and they're ready to go in the morning. Then you don't have to get ripped off buying the smaller containers of dairy, but you also don't have to play roulette on Saturday morning when you open the carton and sniff.

We also freeze leftovers all the time. We typically freeze them in lunch sized portions to be taken to work through the week. This way, you don't have to eat your same leftover borscht for 45 days in a row, but you also don't have to spend money to buy lunch. You also don't have to spend time to make lunch, which is another bonus.

My friend Andrea told me that she keeps a dry erase list on her freezer so that she knows what's inside and can use what she's got before restocking. I don't do this, but I think it's a great idea.

7. Make soup

Soup is incredibly forgiving. Whatever vegetables you have on hand on the brink of being inedible will probably taste great in a soup. If you don't know how to make soup, it's disgustingly easy. I will share a couple of recipes one day, soon.

8. Serve smaller portions

Sooooo much of the food waste going on over here is a result of children telling me they're so hungry, and then eating 3 bites of whatever I put in front of them. So now, instead of scraping their uneaten food into the garbage, I serve them a little, and tell them they're welcome to have more after if they'd like. Also, I sometimes try to let them eat first, so that I can eat their leftovers when they're finished, instead filling my own plate and dumping theirs.

Yesterday I made sandwiches for lunch. Actually, I made one sandwich. I gave half to my 5 year old, and she at 3/4 of it. Her one year old brother ate the rest. This half was served to my 3 year old who was "soooo super hungry". She ate the top bread, and I had an open faced sandwich for lunch. Old me would have made everyone a sandwich and then either over eaten or thrown a bunch of food away.

Another thing we do if they've asked for seconds of something that needs to be made (sandwiches, another fried egg, another slice of toast) is invite them to take a big drink of water and then wash their hands, brush their teeth, or whatever would be next in the day for them, and if they still want one after that we will make it. More times than not, they've lost interest in the seconds by the time they've completed the task. Which is better than toasting another slice and frying another egg and then being told that actually, they're not really that hungry anymore.

9. Consolidate your pantry

If all of your rice or chilli powder or pasta or whatever dry good is stored together in one spot or container, you're way more likely to use it all up before buying another bag. Nobody needs 18 bags of oats in their pantry.

Actual oat situation at my sister's house last week. Can you relate? Because I can. #splitpeaseverywhere

10. Use Sealable Containers

Half of my spices used to end up in the garbage by way of the dustpan because I was lazy and didn't make sure they were properly sealed or stored away. Same with lentils or other ridiculous small foods that seem to bounce everywhere upon making contact with a hard surface. I'm still finding popcorn kernels from a mishap in 2014 in random pantry crevices. Put a lid on it. Pour them in jars, or use those ikea bag closer things. Not just to avoid spilling (which is super annoying) but also to keep your goods fresher for longer. Fresher food is food you're more likely to use, and less likely to throw away.

I like to buy the Kraft parmesan cheese because the lids screw on to regular mason jars that I can use in the pantry. It's typically quite a bit more than the no name cheese ($7.50 vs $5, but is frequently in a flyer for $4.99). Actually, ideally, I'd like to buy the real chunk of parmesan, but I have no self control and would eat it in the car on the way home because I'm a monster.

12. Lower Your Standards

Anyone else guilty of throwing away a whole tomato because the top was a little soft? Or refusing to eat an apple because it had a bruise? Maybe you toss the whole brick of cheese when there's a tiny speck of green on the edge? This was (is) a hard one for me. If something looks "gross" I'm not really into it. It's important, though, to remember that just because part of something is no good, it doesn't always mean the whole thing has to go. A mushy tomato is still totally usable in a soup or stew or pasta sauce. A bruise on an apple isn't going to kill you. At the very worst, just cut that part off, and eat the rest. I still draw the line at soggy lettuce, but most of the others are still totally usable.

11. Remind Yourself

Remind yourself that all that food in your pantry and fridge used to be money. Remind yourself again, when you're throwing it away, that it used to be money. Remind yourself that it is absolutely a privilege to throw away food. Most importantly, remind yourself that you're working hard to improve your habits, and take note of your victories. Remind yourself that everyone is capable of making changes, and that small changes can make a big difference. Remind yourself that these things take time. Every step is a step in the right direction.