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.
I feel like my fridge has been a disorganized disaster for the last week or so, so I was not at all surprised to discover some food waste when I cleaned it this morning.
It’s really dark this morning, so I had to use the flash on my camera. Thank goodness I have the LightScoop.
Because without that handy-dandy tool, this is what my photo would have looked like:
Of course, it’s not like food waste pictures are ever beautiful, but I definitely prefer the one taken with the Lightscoop.
(Lightscoop didn’t pay me to say that…I just am such a fan of this little tool for really-need-flash situations, I keep on talking about it! If you’ve got an SLR and you’re looking for a cheap way to improve your flash photos, fork over the $30 and buy a LightScoop…you’ll be so glad you did! )
I have one small piece of Tilapia that got shoved to the back, a couple pieces of chicken thigh that didn’t taste that good to begin with (I think I am becoming accustomed to the taste of small-farmed chicken or something!),and some produce (half a sweet potato, half a potato, some grapes,two apple slices, and some sauteed mushrooms).
Good grief. I haven’t been this bad in a long time! A week like this every now and then is good for my growth in humility, though.
Plus, a good fridge cleaning is kind of cathartic, and I’m optimistic about my ability to do better next week. Starting with a clean fridge is so helpful.
Now, if I can just maintain the clean fridge….
________________________________________________
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: This is the work of Sonia.
Virginia
Tuesday 9th of November 2010
Oh, sad sad food waste weekend. Lately I have had to go on several brief work trips, but like three of them in the last 5 weeks (unusual for me). The first time, I cooked meals for my husband to eat while I was gone and he polished them off. The second time, he only at about half of it. This last time, he didn't eat ANY of it, and I ended up throwing it all out this weekend. UGH! I told him that I'm not going to do it next time--sorry, my love! LOL Not only did this waste food, it wasted my time cooking days' worth of meals. Also tossed some slimy cucumbers (ew), a few rotten apples (they sneak up on me!) and some freezer-burned fish from this spring. I did, however, earn a free turkey at the grocery store which I promptly found a home for (we already ordered our local one) so I was able to pay it forward, which was nice.
Mavis
Monday 8th of November 2010
This post inspired me to make sure I used up fresh fruits & veggies I had. Over the weekend I made apple cake and apple/pear crisp to use up apples and pears that were given to me. Then I got the last of the tomatoes from our one very productive tomato plant (which is now cut up for compost) and followed instructions on how to skin them. I made a batch of homemade chili using 2 cups of peeled tomatoes (very juicy) and froze the rest of the tomatoes. I felt very much like a Suzy Homemaker and enjoyed eating the results of my efforts.
WilliamB
Sunday 7th of November 2010
Nothing this week - sorta. The full order of leftover restaurant wings went uneaten so I turned them into stock. Techicnally they weren't wasted but morally they were. Better to have eaten them and turned the bones into stock.
Challenges ahead: broccoli rabe and cabbage from my friend's CSA. Probably better to give the cabbage away then waste energy and inputs disgusing food that I just don't like.
Mary
Saturday 6th of November 2010
This week I didn't waste anything!
I do have some careful planning to do, though. I've got some odds and ends of veggies left over from making spaghetti sauce. I think I will chop them up and freeze them today until I can eat them. I've got a few slices of pumpkin bread that needs to be used soon (no danger there, though, that stuff is awesome). I have said batch of spaghetti sauce that I will need to use / freeze by the end of this coming week. I also have some spinach that I need to use or freeze soon before it starts to get slimy.
I feel like I am right on the edge of wasting like 10 different things, lol.
Jill
Saturday 6th of November 2010
I had a lot of leftovers to deal with this week, which I was pretty concerned about. But we managed to eat through them all. A very small portion of baked beans did get tossed as they got shoved to the back of the fridge, forgotten about, and then dried up. I also tossed a lone potato roll which was in the bottom of the bread basket and sprouted things.
I have my work cut out for me again this week. I overbought on markdown produce and have some serious fruit eating to do. I also have more yogurt than I care to think about in the fridge that needs used SOON!!