It's Friday...

... and our kitchen is still in a state of chaos due to our mini-remodel.

Which means the refrigerator and stove are in the dining room, cereal bowls are in the bathroom sink, and we're not cooking. Which has definitely led to some challenges in the area of avoiding food waste.

Do I sound like I'm complaining? Hardly. We got to eat out twice, and I didn't have to cook all week. Not that I ever actually HAVE to cook, but it's not very healthy to graze on Trader Joe's snacks for meals. Or to live on pasta and pizza, my husband's specialties. Plus we're getting a partially remodeled kitchen(!), which is a big improvement on the 60s-era model we moved into.

If you're new to this blog, every Friday I participate in the Waste-No-Food Challenge at The Frugal Girl. We try to limit our food waste by taking a photo of what gets thrown out that week. The idea is to FOCUS on the issue, and to sort of publicly commit to trying to waste less.

Not only are the many people involved in this challenge saving money by wasting less food, they're helping the environment by keeping it out of a landfill. You can read about the huge impact of all that food that gets tossed at Wasted Food.

I don't have a picture this week, but we did have a little bit of food waste. I just couldn't get in the kitchen to photograph it because I wasn't allowed to walk on the newly laid floor. My husband accidentally left out a partial pot of brown rice, and I found a rotten orange in a forgotten bowl in a corner of the reading room.

What I did right was PLAN before the madness. I shopped only for a few essentials, and I gave away a head of kale I knew would go bad before we could cook again. In my experience, the key to wasting less food has been: PLANNING, ORGANIZATION, and BUYING LESS FOOD.

Are you trying to waste less food? How'd you do this week? Please share your thoughts, tips, and ideas for wasting less in the Comments section.