Our staff thinks a lot about food waste at work, but even though we\u2019re well versed on strategies to reduce food waste, we all still have to work hard each day to waste as little food as possible in our own lives. In order to find out what practices really work, we asked our staff to share the tips that have made the biggest difference in their own kitchens. Here\u2019s what they said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI freeze foods I don\u2019t have time to use.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cWe learned to love leftovers.\u201d<\/strong> We\u2019ve found that he best way to reheat quality pizza is not in the microwave \u2014 that ruins the crust. Instead, we heat the slices in a frying pan over medium heat until the cheese starts to get soft again. The crust is crisp and delicious, the toppings warm, and it is almost as good as the first moment we opened the box. \u2014Jeremy<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI shop more often.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI clean my plate.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI put less food on my plate.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cWe plan ahead and make a list.\u201d<\/strong> To keep us on track, we use a great app called AnyList<\/a>, which allows us both to add and cross off from a centrally shared shopping list. AnyList also allows you to schedule meals in a shared calendar where you can link to recipes so you and your family all have access to the same information. \u2014Katrina<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI use my roots, stalks and tops.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t buy large amounts, even if it\u2019s a better deal.\u201d<\/strong>
\nAs a carb-counting vegan who loves experimenting in the kitchen, I usually end up with an excess of produce. Rather than watch it go bad before I can cook it up, I\u2019ve found that most produce will freeze just fine. Blanching vegetables prior to freezing keeps them in a good condition for cooking while freezing raw is perfect for anything you can throw into a smoothie. You would be surprised at how many vegetables you can fit into a smoothie without tasting them at all \u2013 especially if you throw in a few frozen banana slices or berries! \u2014Katy<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWe love pizza in our house, but we have a combination of crazy food allergies combined with picky eaters. This means that we end up buying three pizzas for the five of us. Inevitably, there are a few slices left over. While I\u2019m a huge fan of cold pizza, as is my youngest son, the rest of my family is not.<\/p>\n
\nI pass by my main grocery store four times every weekday on the way to and from daycare so I started buying fresh produce only a day or two before I know I am going to use it. I\u2019m not making a special trip to the store, just an extra stop, and I have really cut back on the amount of fruits and vegetables going bad in the fridge. \u2014Jeff<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIt sounds simple, but I make it a policy to clean my plate. I was raised by a Depression baby, and this value was drilled into me before I can even remember. I am kind of peculiar in that I don\u2019t eat around a schedule or just because it is \u201ctime to eat.\u201d If I am at a restaurant with friends, and I am not particularly hungry, I\u2019ll just order a cup of soup. Sometimes I find myself ravenous and end up ordering and consuming enough to feed a small village. But I try to order only what I can eat at the time, and always take home a doggie bag if I can\u2019t finish it. \u2014Heide<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve always eaten a lot. I guess the habit started as a younger person when I was an athlete and either needed the extra calories or was able to burn them off without much effort. Over the years, my diet didn\u2019t change that much, but I\u2019ve had to exercise quite a bit to stay at the weight I want to be. Our efforts at food waste reduction here at work led me to give smaller portions a try, and to my surprise, I found that even though I have been putting noticeably less food on my plate, I don\u2019t end the meal hungry. In addition to wasting less food, I felt lighter, more awake, and as a bonus, I\u2019ve lost some weight to go along with it. At restaurants, I\u2019ve basically just stopped ordering an appetizer, because I find that the entree is enough. \u2014Gray<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMy husband and I have been members of a CSA for years. While we cherish the abundance of fresh local veggies we receive each week, it\u2019s also a hefty veggie burden for two people to bear! For us, the key to avoiding spoilage has been weekly meal planning<\/a>. Each week when we get our box we\u2019ll take stock of it as well as what we have in the fridge and pantry. We\u2019ll then write out a meal plan for the week taking into account things like what items need to be used first and nights we won\u2019t be home for dinner or have less time to cook. Once we decide on a plan we then shop for any remaining items we need to complete specific meals and recipes.<\/p>\n
\nSince diving into the food waste issue, I\u2019ve started finding ways to use parts of vegetables that I used to trim off and toss. Most stalks from greens<\/a> can be chopped and saut\u00e9ed along with the leaves if you give them extra cooking time. This broccoli-rice casserole<\/a> that uses both tops and stalks has become a favorite at our house, and I\u2019ve even made celery salt from celery leaves. Whatever I can\u2019t find a use for, I toss in the freezer to use for vegetable stock<\/a>. \u2014Amy<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWith only two of us in my household, buying larger amounts of perishable items without a plan to use all of them ends up being just a waste of money and food. I take inventory on what I throw out when I clean out my fridge and cabinets, and then make sure to buy smaller portions of those items, even if it is not as cost effective. For instance, I used to buy large tubs of cottage cheese or sour cream because they were only $0.50 more than the smaller containers, but I would only use half before they went bad. I also had a bunch of salad dressings that would go bad before I could use them, so now I only buy one or two dressings at a time until I use them up and then I try a new one. I usually aim for the smaller bottle so I do not get sick of the dressing by the time I use it up. \u2014Abby<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-316","cooking-eating","type-cooking-eating","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ivaluefood.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cooking-eating\/316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ivaluefood.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cooking-eating"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ivaluefood.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cooking-eating"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ivaluefood.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}