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.
It looked like this:
FYI, that white stuff on the strawberries? Not frosting or whipped cream.
Heh.
The poor avocados were forgotten about until they turned brown and dimpled and mushy. And then there’s the broccoli and chicken, which I had plans for…plans which got derailed when I got sick.
I also foresee some future casualties from my sick week, mostly of the green, leafy variety. I’d planned to make a bunch of salads, but that kind of didn’t happen. As of right now, the greens are still ok, but they’re getting on in lettuce years, so I’m a little iffy about our ability to eat the all before we lose some.
I’ll give it a big ol’ try, though. Bring on the salads, baby!
Oh, I do have one small win to report. I found a not very wonderful sweet potato lurking in my kitchen, so I cut out the bad spots, peeled, boiled, mashed it, and used it to make a batch of Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip muffins.
My feelings about the virtuousness of this activity are mixed, since the muffins aren’t exactly health food. But they are a delicious treat, and I have to tell you, I think they’re WAY better made with sweet potato than with pumpkin.
So, if you find that a slightly bad sweet potato has taken up residence at your house, do give that recipe a try.
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Joshua’s 365 post: I love water!
Tarynkay
Sunday 3rd of March 2013
If the lettuce is past it's prime, trying grilling it, roasting it, or adding it to stir fry. Seriously, it sounds weird to cook lettuce, but all of these are really tasty ways to salvage less than crisp lettuce. If you grill or roast it, top it with a vinaigrette.
Hazel
Saturday 2nd of March 2013
Good ways to eat/use up salad without eating cold salads is in soup or frittatas. Lettuce soup is good, or add it to any vegetable soup that your going to blitz. If you have a lot of leaves and put it in an orangey coloured soup it may look a bit murky, so I'd add it to potato/pea/leek (and potato) or similar I think. Cooked lettuce (probably not Iceberg though) is really very tasty, and I got the soup tip from a Swiss lady who learnt it from WW2...
For the frittata (Spanish omelette/tortilla/egga), toss the salad in your favourite dressing or just a little (balasamic) vinegar or pesto with olive oil (trust me on this!). Beat about 2 eggs per person, season and stir in the salad and any chopped herbs you may have to hand- I especially like chives, mint and/or parsley. Fry a little garlic and some onion too if you like- spring onion is good- and when softened add the egg mix and cook as usual. I often grill (broil) the top with a little grated cheese.
This is a good way of using cold cooked potatoes (fry with the onion before adding the egg), or cooked peas, chopped asparagus etc (add with the egg). It's also really tasty with leftover pasta. Either use sauced pasta or if the pasta is plain, dress as per the salad (balsamic vinegar or pesto and olive oil are my favourites, and I'd add fresh mint in too, in the summer).
HTH!
Isela
Friday 1st of March 2013
I buy not ripen avocados, I let them outside and ripen them by wrapping them in newspaper.
No avocados go to the thrash.
Tiffany
Friday 1st of March 2013
I hate the amount of food waste and lack of nutritional meals that happen when I get sick. During my last trimester, my husband was sweet to take over dinner prep a few nights a week. Of course that meant it would be grilled cheese and tomato soup or quesadillas those nights. Oh well, at least we all got our calcium! I had a pretty good week as far as food waste goes. I threw away a small container of some unidentifiable goo, which I narrowed down to a tahini sauce with some other ingredients in it. Since I didn't know what it was, nor did I remember exactly when I made it, I tossed it. Better luck next week!
Elizabeth
Friday 1st of March 2013
I wasted less than $2 worth of food this week. Not too bad in the scheme of things. http://roadnotchosen.blogspot.ca/2013/03/raising-my-eggspectations.html