First, our food waste. This was not a stellar week. I just discovered those pomegranate seeds yesterday. Very sad. Luckily we had eaten most of them before this last bit got moldy. As far as the greens, we're getting so much in our CSA that I need to have a plan for every item. Last time, I made soup out of what was left on the day before our next delivery. This time, I planned to do a stir-fry, but this bok choy and broccoli didn't last the 13 days. And finally, the single pie crust in this box had somehow missed the rotation since I've baked several pies since the early 2009 date on the box.I'm tracking our food waste in league with Kristen at The Frugal Girl and other bloggers in an effort to waste less. Throwing away food isn't just throwing away money, it's bad for the environment for it to sit rotting in a landfill.
Luckily, all but the pie crust will go to compost, but I'm going to work hard to have less waste next week. On the positive side, I got some great suggestions from readers last week about what to do with runny rosemary jelly, and I baked an apple pie with it the other night that was very tasty. I'm looking forward to trying the other suggestions over the next few weeks. Also, I looked up a daikon recipe online, and tonight I'm going to make a simple daikon and carrot slaw. It will be perfect with our vaguely asian tofu/spinach stir-fry dinner.
My favorite blog post of the week goes to Betsy at Married With Luggage for this post titled "Could you live with just 100 things?" Betsy mentions me in the article as someone who's taken on a challenge with my possessions. Well, let me tell you, I have WAY more than 100 things. I'm afraid I probably have more than 100 things just in my jewelry box. See why I don't need anything new?
But actually the fact that I'm mentioned in the post isn't why it's my favorite. I love the whole "100 things" idea, but what really put this post over the top for me was the You Tube video of George Carlin's comedy act about "stuff." It's 24 years old, and still brilliant, timely, and hilarious. Check it out if you need a laugh. I know I really needed one this week. Thanks Betsy!
Are you tracking your food waste this week? How did you do?
6 comments:
I recently figured out how to make broccoli last. Cut about 1/4 inch off the ends, pop it upright into a cup or jar of water. Cover loosely with a plastic bag or maybe some foil. Refrigerate. Every few days you might want to cut a tiny bit more and refresh the water. The last broccoli I bought was on Dec. 28th. It's still bright green and crisp.
I discovered this not long ago when I had some broccoli which was beautifully colored and still had tight buds but was so limp it sagged in my hand. With nothing to lose I tried giving it a drink and was thrilled at how it responded. Now I am storing it that way.
At least most of your food waste was able to go into the compost. :-)
Composting is one area I need to work on. I'm not even sure how to get started, so I think I'll be researching composting in the near future.
Also, I love your Thrifty Threads posts. :-)
Stephanie
My daughter has chickens which are able to consume vast quantities of food waste... still not good to let food go to waste, but I feel better that it'll be turned into eggs;)
BTW, this morning I posted my first "progress report" on my own year without spending☺
I am usually horrible with food waste because I'm so bad at planning meals and tend to just eat whatever requires the least effort. But, this week, I packed lunches for work every day and managed to eat some stuff that would have gone bad. I felt really proud. Packing a lunch is kind of a pain, but I feel really good about it when I do it. When I pack my lunch, I am more mindful of what I eat and thankful that I have the resources to feed myself. I think I will save a significant amount of money, too!
Thanks for blogging about the 100 things post. It is amazing how much ahead of the curve George Carlin was in so many things.
It was funny to see your pie crust in this post after just looking at the one that has been sitting in my refrigerator now for weeks. I used one crust to wrap around some brie with a little brown sugar and jam (the fastest "surprise company" appetizer you can make and look like Betty Crocker) and intended to do something else with the remaining one, but it never happened and I forgot about it. I should have just taken one out of the freezer. Lesson learned.
Got too much waste this week. I made beans and then let them sit in the fridge for days now. Gotta get better at the waste.
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