apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Using scraps is one thing, but I think most food waste comes from people buying items and then not using them before they spoil.

So my number one food saving tip is: make a realistic menu and a shopping list every week, accounting for schedules and travel. I haven't thrown out or composted a single rotten piece of food since I started doing this, including leftovers.

Broken links.

I'm with brightonsadle! Make a menu for the week and only buy those food items. I've done this for years and not only do I actually eat everything I buy, it's a lot cheaper than just going without a plan to the grocery store.

I liked a lot of the tips on the Planet Green site but the one that got my attention is to save portions of onion or peppers to use another time. Are people really chopping half an onion and throwing the rest away? I would really hope people are smarter than that. But maybe I'm giving them too much credit.

I don't make a strict plan because I'm not sure what will be on sale, but I know and track my staples carefully. When I cook, I often make extra portions and freeze them for days when there's no time and we have a Mustgo night each week to make sure leftovers are getting consumed.

And on the leftovers .... if you have kids that don't like to eat them, try putting them on a little menu and taking orders like a restaurant. This can make leftover night fun. Also, package leftovers in serving sizes so they're easy to grab and attractive.

Graciela, I noticed that too! I hope no one is throwing away food like that. I'm weird about onions (love the flavor, hate the texture) so one of my fridge staples is a wrapped onion that I use bit by bit through the week. Can't imagine just using a half or quarter and then throwing the rest in the bin.

It does make sense if they're talking about broccoli stems or something else that's edible (with a little peeling, and not just for stock) but that's typically tossed out.

I figured they meant the root/top/skins of onions - I clean & use these in stock because they lend a bit of color (and flavor, of course). Excellent use: boil eggs w/onion skins for an "antique" look to your easter eggs.

I was always told that vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and anything in that family couldn't be used in stocks because the flavor is too strong and pungeant. But yeah, just about any vegetable scraps or leftovers go into stock. This is incomparably easier if you cook one or two big dishes on a weekend afternoon. My favorite thing is to process all the vegetables for a stew or something else that is going to require stock, set them aside, make stock from the scraps and/or extras and anything else I happen to have on hand, and then use the ensuing stock in the recipe.

I used to save celery leaves for stock until I read that they make your stock bitter, so now I just compost them. I supposed I could do a taste test, but does anyone know if this is true?

Question, my husband and I buy most things in bulk monthly in order to save money. When I cook I most always have leftovers, which don't always get eaten. I am going to try using labels that will be dated in order to encourage us to eat them... But does anyone have any ideas on using left overs expecially meat. It's normally one to three small servings, so it isn't much to work with

Carbaugha11, I use leftover meat for sandwiches. This is great for leftover roast chicken, pork, or beef and uses up the small amounts. Leftover minced beef can be used in cottage pie, along with leftover (or newly made) mashed potatoes.

Most of the time, though, I try to buy portions of meat at the store that I know I can use all in one or two meals. We put half away in the freezer for a lazy night, or make up lunch boxes for each of us for work the next day.

I looked at those tips, you would need a walk in freezer to save all those left overs.

I often throw in celery leaves when I'm making stock and haven't noticed it being bitter. Perhaps that happens if you use too many of them at once?

I miss having a garden compost and many dogs, cats, and chickens. Nothing goes to waste then!

Most of the tips are common sense (of course) but I can't believe I've never thought of roasting squash seeds the same way as pumpkin seeds. I love home roasted pumpkin seeds, I bet I'd love the squash kind as well.

As for saving the pickle juice in the pickle jar - I don't do it too many times, since of course you don't want to risk growing yucky stuff, but one of my favorite things to do is throw in a bunch of baby carrots when the pickles are all eaten. Leave them in for 48 hours and they make a crazy delicious snack, but are still much crispier than store bought pickled carrots.

Share your food with friends and neighbors! Sometimes I am just bored with a good dish, so I don't want it. I pass it on before it gets old.

I used to do a leftovers smorgasbord meal once a week or so.

I am surprised no one mentioned hamburger soup. Start with hamburger, tomatoes,onions, and just about any veggie left over add pasta or rice etc. It really cleans out the refrigerator.