Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born. If you’re not a blogger but still want some food waste accountability, feel free to participate by leaving a comment.
We’ll start with the good news, because that’s just my perky way.
Yesterday, I made a batch of Banana Chocolate Chip muffins to use up 3 spotty, bruised bananas. I also made 3 loaves of cinnamon bread, using up more of the eggnog (in case you don’t follow me on Facebook, I had some eggnog go slightly sour, and I made a small batch of cinnamon bread to use up some of it. I froze the rest, in case the bread turned out. It did! And so I defrosted some more eggnog yesterday and made another 3 loaves. I modified the Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread recipe to make this bread…I left out the oatmeal and also reduced the butter and sugar since eggnog has a lot of sugar and fat in it.)
See what riveting stories you are missing out on if you haven’t “liked” my Facebook page?? How do you even survive?
(please note that the previous sentence should be read in a dripping-with-sarcasm way)
Also, I made scrambled eggs for breakfast yesterday and used up a piece of bacon and several mushroom slices in the process (also spinach and Swiss cheese. I love me some Swiss cheese). And for lunch I had a salad made with all sorts of random stuff I found in the fridge.
Scrambled eggs and salads are excellent ways to use up food.
Anyway, I was the no-food-waste diva yesterday.
Unhappily, I do still have some waste to report for the week.
I’m pretty sure that the tomato sauce and the half and half are a result of the power outage we had last week as neither of those things should have gone bad so quickly.
I’m just pleased that those two things are appear to be the only waste that resulted from the outage, though. It could have been much, much worse.
The two avocados that went bad, though? Those are my fault. I’ve been on an avocado eating kick lately (which is progress for me. I used to hate them!), and when they were on sale, my eyes were apparently a little bigger than my stomach, and I bought more than I could eat in time.
If they were just mushy, I’d use them in some muffins, but sadly, they are a bit moldy, so they’re going into my compost bin (well, first they’re going into my winter compost bucket!).
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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You’ll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don’t blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.
Today’s 365 post: Yogurt and Jam x4
Joshua’s 365 post: Some of my reptile art
Beth
Wednesday 9th of February 2011
You can use the avacado as a face mask it is great for your skin.
Jen
Sunday 6th of February 2011
I'm inspired by the eggnog rework with your bread. It's helpful to read new ways to push the frugal/creativity boundaries, too. The leftover tomato sauce used to get us a lot, too. My hubby freezes it in cupcakes now which helps.
Jenny
Saturday 5th of February 2011
I am loathe to admit that I threw out a couple of cups of Frugal Girl Tortellini Soup. I thought my husband had eaten it when I had an evening event, but it was lurking in the back of the bottom shelf. Otherwise only a few leaves of lettuce that turned slimy.
PigPennies
Saturday 5th of February 2011
This was my first week partaking in Food Waste Friday. I was conscious all week about trying to make use of things (stale corn bread into corn bread crumbs, yes please!) and although I threw out a couple of things, I saved the sour milk. I'm not sure what I'm going to bake yet, but I'm excited! I've decided to try to cut down our grocery bill with more home-baking, so this is a perfect first step.
Diane
Friday 4th of February 2011
I almost wasted 1/2 pint of Half and Half this week. Then I remembered, Luke the Lab probably would not mind the Half and Half on his morning bowl of oatmeal. I poured it on; he ate it; nothing wasted. By the way, Luke is allergic to dog food; therefore, he eats and thrives on oatmeal in the morning and a mixture of rice, cheese, egg, and some type of meat for dinner. This combination is still cheaper than paying for the repeated vet bills for his allergies.