Waste Less, Eat Better: How To Reduce Food Waste Without Trying Too Hard
Jinkies, gang! The price of food is out of control here in North America. 😱
The price of eggs? Out of control.
Steak? A luxury.
Olive oil? A significant investment.
Butter? Let me take out a loan first.
Being a food blog means that we are extremely aware of how inflated food prices have gotten. It hurts our souls when food that we paid hard earned dollars for ends up being tossed out. 💸
Here’s some tips to help you (and us) reduce our food waste and save money!
Save Veggie Scraps & Bones for Stocks & Broths
This one is as simple as it sounds. When you’re cutting up veggies for a recipe, instead of throwing away the parts that you don’t need, put them in a freezer bag for the next time you make a big batch of stock. Have a chicken carcass? Freeze it to save it for your next batch of chicken stock.
Don’t know where to start with stocks and broths? Read this post.
Don’t Skip Out On Meal Planning
Have you ever just bought a whole bunch of stuff from the grocery store without putting much thought into it and then staring at the fridge thinking to yourself, “what should I make?” Well, if you meal plan, then you only need to buy the ingredients that you’re actually going to use to make things. Which means that head of lettuce that you thought you’d use but didn’t won’t wilt in your fridge.
If you have no idea where to start with meal planning, try using AI to make your life easier.
Actually Eat Leftovers (Instead of Lying To Yourself)
That’s the tip. Eat the leftovers.
Alternatively we could call this tip “actually cook food you enjoy eating the leftovers of.” Because if it doesn’t reheat well and you’re picky about the texture of your food (like we are) you aren’t going to eat it. So don’t make a huge batch and then turn your nose up at the leftovers. Set yourself up for success!
Do you know what makes for great leftovers? Chili.
Try Recipes That Use as Much of the Ingredient As Possible
Recently there has been a trend in the high end dining industry to cut down on food waste. Chefs try to utilize as much of an ingredient as possible for recipes. So why not take a page from the pros and try to do that yourself?
Shop More Often
This one might seem a little controversial, but hear us out. Yes, it’s generally going to be a better idea to grocery shop and buy items in bulk. However, if you’re a busy person whose schedule is constantly changing, then it might be a better idea for you to just buy the food as you need it. No sense in buying a bunch of perishable food items if you’re going to be out of the house four nights this week.
Freeze Food Before It Goes Bad
That loaf of bread that’s sitting on your counter? Freeze it! Those leftovers that you’re not going to eat right away? Freeze it! Your freezer is your friend.
🧊 Mediocre Tip: Freezer burn is your worst enemy. Get a vacuum sealer.
Of course, not all foods freeze well, but most do. Here’s a handy list of what doesn’t freeze great. A good rule of thumb is also: if it has a high water content, it won’t freeze well. The food will become mushy when you thaw it. Gross.
That being said, soups, stews, chili, Thanksgiving leftovers, sauces, perogies, green onion cakes, baked goods, and bread are a few of the things we can vouch for that do freeze well!
🧊 Mediocre Tip: Create a freezer inventory list to keep track of what is in your freezer. This is especially useful if you have a chest-style deep freeze where things can get lost at the bottom of the abyss. This list can be a note in Google Keep, a Notion list, or a physical list that you update on your freezer. Whatever works best for you!
Channel Your Inner Pioneer Woman & Pickle It or Can It
Pickling and canning food is a time tested method to preserve ingredients, and make them last for years. Back in ye old days (prior to modern refrigerators and global supply chains) pickling and canning items was a necessary thing to do in order to ensure that you always had the ingredients you needed at the right time of year.
We are complete noobs when it comes to pickling and canning — we’ve only ever attempted quick pickling of cucumbers and red onions. That being said, we would love to try our hands at it one of these days! Let us know if you want to see a pickling or canning series.
Check Expiration Dates & Best Before Dates
Before we get into this: food labeled as “Best Before” is not the same as an expiration date. Best Before dates are guidelines for quality, not safety. So yes, one way to waste less food is to eat items that are past their Best Before date. Of course, if your milk smells bad and it’s past the Best Before date, don’t drink it. But if something still smells fine and looks fine, it’s probably fine. Use your best judgement.
🧑⚖️ Mediocre Disclaimer: Hey gang, our lawyer is recommending that we remind you guys to NOT eat expired food. Expiration dates are different. Eating expired food is a bad idea that will lead to bad times for you and your stomach.
Sources: Health Canada | USDA
Now, when buying food at the grocery store, we’re always in the habit of checking Best Before dates, as even though it won’t kill us to buy something that’s nearing its BB date, it won’t go bad in our fridge before we get a chance to eat it.
That being said, buying food that’s nearing its BB or expiration date can help both the environment and your wallet — grocery stores will typically mark down food 30-50% the day before something “goes bad”. Buy that discounted salad kit if you’re going to eat it tonight anyways. Freeze that cheap meat. Making croutons? Might as well buy the stalest loaf of bread on the shelf.
This one is a food myth that we feel pretty strongly about. Check out this post to learn about more food and cooking myths!
Dehydrate It
Dehydrated food isn’t sexy. When we think about dehydrated food, the first thing that comes to mind is those unappetizing meals you take with you when you go backcountry camping.
That being said, dehydrating food at home can help you waste less food and still be tasty!
Have some overripe bananas? Dehydrate them and make banana chips! (Apple chips and dried mango are some of our other favs.)
Have a ton of parsley in your garden? Don’t let your last harvest wilt in your fridge. Dehydrate it so you can use it all year round.
Have a cut of meat that you don’t like, such as liver? Dehydrate it into dog treats!
💡 Mediocre Tip: You don’t need a dehydrator to do this (although it’s definitely a helpful tool if you can afford it). If you don’t have one you can use your oven.
Split That Costco Trip With Your Friend (Who Has The Membership Anyways)
We get it. Sometimes a deal is too good to pass up. We love Costco, but if you’re a single person or even a two-person household, you might end up wasting food when buying in bulk.
Are you really going to be able to eat all of those oranges before they go bad?
Are you sure you’re not going to get sick of eating that big box of protein bars?
Split it with a friend. Waste less! 🤝
Storytime With Trevor 📖
Let’s turn back the clocks to a simpler time: 2011. It was the first year that I was in university and the guy who lived down the hall from me was going on a Costco run. I had never been, but I had heard such wonderful things. So we all piled into his car and drove to Costco.
I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that you could buy. After much exploration around the aisles (and the free samples) I stumbled across it: Cookie Crisp cereal. I had never had cookie crisp before. This was amazing. So I bought a Costco sized thing of Cookie Crisp cereal, which, at the time at least, was two giant boxes packaged together. I also bought the Costco sized thing of milk. I got back to my dorm room and immediately poured myself a bowl of cereal. I took a bite.
Turns out, I am not a fan of Cookie Crisp cereal. I was able to pawn off the milk to the guy on my floor that absolutely loved milk, and used the cookie crisp cereal as a snack for several months until it got too stale to eat. Is there a lesson here? Yes, don’t buy stuff from Costco if you aren’t going to eat it all.
Delete UberEats From Your Phone
Listen, we’ve all been there. Work was brutal. The client didn’t answer any of the questions you sent them a month ago, instead they just talked about #ThePowerOfAlignment. There was traffic on the drive home. And now you have to cook?
Ugh, just the worst. Good thing you have Uber Eats. Or DoorDash. Or Skip The Dishes. Or whatever the food delivery app is in your area.
Ordering food every so often is fine — we do it too. But if you have those apps readily accessible it’s just one more reason to not cook (even though you have ingredients waiting to be used in your fridge). We recommend deleting the apps off your phone entirely. If you have to reinstall them and log in, that should hopefully give you enough time to think to yourself, “no, no I should just cook.”
Organize Your Fridge
It’s 10pm, do you know what’s inside of your fridge right now? Chances are you don’t, so you have to open it up and take a look inside. If you do, can you see everything that’s in the fridge? Or is your fridge so jam packed with stuff that it’s bursting at the seams?
The point of this tip is to consider only stocking what’s reasonable in your fridge. If you stuff your fridge to capacity, how can you know if you need to buy another carton of strawberries?
Another thing to remember about refrigeration: just because you put something in the fridge, doesn’t mean that it’s going to last forever. At some point it will go bad. If your fridge is constantly stuffed to capacity, are you actually going through everything? Or are you just using your fridge as a garbage staging ground?
Divert Your Waste
This is a last resort. If you truly can’t eat something or it has gone bad, composting is better than throwing food in the trash — it drastically reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates a valuable fertilizer. It’s an easy way to reduce your environmental impact!
And if the food is still edible, your dog has an iron stomach, and that food is not poisonous to dogs well… they could get a little treat? They deserve it.
Are there any tips that we missed?
Share them in the comments below so we can all waste less food!