Ways To Stop Wasting Food

I sound like a broken record, but with Americans wasting up to40% of the food they buy, I think this is a topic that needs to be revisited. The average family of four wastes $2,275 on food that is thrown out annually. That could pay for a nice family vacation, or several weeks of summer camp for the kids. It's easy to make a few changes that will reduce the amount of food you waste. You may not get down to 0% waste, put you can surely cut your waste in half. Here are a few tips. 1. Buy just what you need. If you're making a stir fry and need cabbage as I did last week, buy 1/2 or even 1/4 of a cabbage, especially if you have no other need for cabbage. Produce managers are happy to cut melons and cabbages, even things like butternut squash. 2. First in, first out. Rotate the foods in your refrigerator and freezer. This is something I'm not very good at, but it does help you use up things like yogurt, which do expire. 3. Buy from the bulk bins. Spices, nuts, dried fruits and more can be found in bulk. Buy just what you need. If you rarely use corriander, what are you going to do with a big container? Buy just what you need in the bulk bins, and be sure to label carefully. I recently bought raisins in bulk for $1.99 a pound. Purchasing them in a prepackaged box would have cost twice as much. 4. Stock up on produce and fruit that is in season. If you can't finish the strawberries you bought, use them in a smoothie or make some strawberry jam or strawberry butter. Or, freeze them and use them later. Don't throw them out. 5. Use smoothies or vegetable soup for everything that's leftover. I recently made a smoothie with spinach, kale, mint, banana, strawberries and juice. (I used Lipton green tea drink as the liquid). It was delicious. Veggies that are getting ready to be thrown out can be thrown in a vegetable soup. 6. Things that you used to discard, like carrot tops, celery stubs, beet greens (I love them, they're like spinach) can be save for soup stock. 7. If you need just a little bit of something, go to the salad bar at your local grocery store. For example, if you need just a few hearts of palm, buy them at the salad bar. Then, you're not faced with leftovers. 8. Finally, reconstituting leftovers into a new and different meal. For example, have roasted chicken one night. Then, use the leftover chicken for a chicken stir fry, a chinese chicken salad, or a cheese and chicken quesedilla. I'm working hard to reduce the amount of waste in my home. As Americans, we are so used to large portions and enormous waste. I can't remember the last time I went out to eat and didn't come home with a doggie bag. Since I don't like to waste it, last night's dinner becomes tomorrow's lunch, and if I don't eat it then, it becomes dinner for Pepper. He loves my leftovers.