Food Friday

No picture, because... no waste! Yay. I'd like to thank my husband, for eating every last little portion of leftovers and shrunken tomatoes this week.

We did well this week because I was determined. But over the past two months we have had a lot less waste in general and I think there are 3 main reasons:

1. I'm buying less food. I really am only planning 3 meals a week: one with a healthy fresh fish, one like chili or soup that yields plenty of leftovers, and once a week my husband makes pizza or pasta (lucky me). Our schedules are too variable to plan more than that, so we have to be flexible. The other nights we either eat leftovers, eat pantry meals (I always have plenty on hand for several different choices), or we go out to a restaurant or a friend's house.

2. The Eat Me! section of the refrigerator is still working beautifully. We make sure we put anything that needs to be eaten in that spot before it goes bad. It has its limits because I don't want to put lettuce there, so we still have to keep our eye on the crisper, and some days it seems like the entire refrigerator needs to be jammed into that section, but overall it's been working great.

3. When I first started thinking about wasting less food, from reading Wasted Food and The Frugal Girl, I started labelling our leftovers. That has also helped tremendously because we haven't had any little containers end up in the back of the refrigerator in a state of decay.

I also have to acknowledge that this is easier for us because we don't have children. I really admire anyone who could pull off little or no food waste with kids. That requires a great deal more planning and commitment than I've attempted. So bravo to you moms (and dads!) out there. I also have to say it would be much harder if my husband were a picky eater. He will eat almost anything I cook, and often raves about simple meals. And I'm sure not every husband would go for that "Eat Me!" section. I know a lot of people won't even eat leftovers. Luckily we actually do like them (if we liked the meal in the first place!)

How was your week? Do you have any tips or tricks for reducing food waste you'd like to tell us about? Please share your thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns in the Comments section. And if you had a lot of food waste, don't be embarrassed. The first step is paying attention.