Wasting food

[BrandonP]

It really irks me the amount of food people waste.

Especially when they have plenty in the fridge but want to eat out instead, or buy something else. Whilst the stuff in the fridge goes off.

I also notice people try to eat healthy by buying fruits and vegetables, but end up wasting half of it. Almost like it is the thought that counts when buying healthy!

[AllieVaulter]

Me too.  I've never been in a situation where I didn't have access to food, but it always makes me ill to throw food away. 

Have you seen John Oliver's segment on food waste?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY  It's pretty freaking disturbing. 

[honeybbq]

Well, buying it is HALF the battle....

I cook 7 nights a week usually on top of FT 2 career household. I plan my meals and grocery shopping as best I can.  I usually only grocery shop 1x per week, or sometimes have amazon Fresh deliver.

Sometimes a surprise happens and the salad spoils too quickly or I have to work too late to make the meal. Stuff *does* happen. We compost, so at least if something is spoiled at least it's not 100% wasted. I also 'save' the little tops off carrots and ends of the tomatoes and give them to the dogs...

I agree, in general, we waste WAY to much food. Particularly at restaurants.  I hate when I travel (hotel/no fridge) and can't finish my meal (75% of the time, since portions are too huge) and I have to leave it behind. I have boxed it up and offered it to the homeless before. You know they are really desperate if they want my leftovers. At least it's not wasted, I suppose.

[Johnez]

We are/were horribly guilty of this at home. The good thing is we've learned what we can handle and what we can't. Mangos and berries are eaten quickly, apples and oranges can last a little while. Keeping an uncluttered fridge helps as well, nasty surprises in the back corner are easily avoided when you eat down the stock you have.

[StockBeard]

I used to waste food a long time ago. Bought with the good intention of cooking for myself, procrastinated, threw stuff away. All the time.
It's easier now. I did not really improve, but I'm married, and my wife cooks, + she hates waste. She knows in advance what we'll want to cook for the week, and when things go bad she finds way to recycle. e.g. a Banana that is too ripe goes into a cake.

[gt7152b]

It drives me nuts when I see people throw away perfectly good food. My sister, niece, and nephew were visiting not long ago. I had made waffles and my nephew was the last to get up so he got the last batch. I just gave him a plate with a couple of waffles on it since he's a growing 14 yr old. Went to throw something in the trash an hour or so later and there was a whole waffle lying in the trash. I almost yanked them back out of the trash to save for later or at least feed to the dog. It's not really his fault though. I remember when he was a toddler and my sister would order him his own full meal at a restaurant even when he said he didn't want anything. It would basically get thrown out after he had a couple of bites. My other sister does not eat leftovers. Everything they prepare or buy gets thrown away after a meal. How am I related to these women?

[The_path_less_taken]

Get chickens and dogs: between them, I no longer throw anything out. The ducks were also quite helpful when I enthusiastically bought bok choy at Costco....and just couldn't face soup in 90 degree weather.

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

I've gotten quite a bit better at this the last few years, and I have a worm bin now, so the worms get anything that I do let go bad. I think moving to a whole foods plant based diet helped as well because I'm more focused on fruits and veggies and cook most of my meals so I'm much more aware of what's in the fridge and how soon I need to eat it. I also think that moving towards viewing food as nutrition and less as entertainment has helped. That reduces the temptation to eat out or buy silly stuff. I could still be better at this, but I feel like I'm slowly moving in the right direction in my relationship to food, which reduces my tolerance for wasting it. It's been a years long and ongoing process.

[acroy]

Supposedly if you add up all waste:
- food not 'pretty' enough so disposed
- 'expired' which is still good but disposed
- waste/spoilage/mishandling in the distribution chain
- consumer waste
- restaurant waste

about 40% of all food in the USA is wasted

We live in a land of literally too much. Food is cheap to the point we throw away almost half of it - and are still fat. Amazing!

[CletusMcGee]

Simpsons did it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn4Frslsq8M

[MVal]

I am a Nazi about wasting food, to the point it irritates or disgusts those around me with what I'm willing to salvage or rescue from "the trash." But I ask you, who will have added $21,000 to her net worth this year on a 40K/yr salary? This girl!

[Trudie]

We are/were horribly guilty of this at home. The good thing is we've learned what we can handle and what we can't. Mangos and berries are eaten quickly, apples and oranges can last a little while. Keeping an uncluttered fridge helps as well, nasty surprises in the back corner are easily avoided when you eat down the stock you have.

I agree.  One of the best antidotes I have found to not wasting is to be careful not to stockpile too much.  It's the stuff that gets hidden in the back or in a drawer that will get thrown away.  For the last 2-3 months we've cut down our grocery spend in a major way and are just eating off the stock pile at home and have not had to throw much away.  It's a good feeling to have an uncluttered fridge.

[bsmith]

My other sister does not eat leftovers. Everything they prepare or buy gets thrown away after a meal. How am I related to these women?

This drives me effing nuts. I know people like this, who turn up their noses and say disdainfully, "I don't eat leftovers." Why the hell not? It's ridiculous, and I give a facepunch to every one of them right now.

[latinlover77]

As a person who lives in a single household, wasting food definitely sucks. I usually will buy meat and cook it for a few days worth of meals. Ultimate goal is to avoid eating out as much as possible.

[use2betrix]

Here's my current diet right now. It is so organized and measured there's really no chance of waste unless there's poor planning, which doesn't happen. I've been eat similar to this for years, with toying around different variations of protein, carbs, etc. I usually have more variation, but with carbs this low it limits a lot. My fiancé eats half of what I do, and she does all the cooking lol.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3 egg whites, 3 slices of bacon 
9am: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Lunch: 8 oz. steak, 2 cups chopped broccoli
3pm: 6 wings, 6 celery sticks + "zero everything" ranch 
Pre workout: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Post workout: 1 scoop Whey Protein, 1 scoop BSN Protein
Dinner: 8 oz. burger, 2 cups salad + 2 Tbsp "zero everything" ranch, 1 scoop Whey Protein
Night snack: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Calories- 2,574
Protein- 358.92 g
Carbs- 68.24 g
Fat- 115.97 g

Tuesday/Thursday
Breakfast: 3 eggs, 3 egg whites, 3 slices of bacon
9am: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Lunch: 8 oz. Salmon, 2 cups spinach
3pm: 6 wings, 6 celery sticks + "zero everything" ranch
Pre workout: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Post workout: 1 scoop Whey Protein, 1 BSN Protein
Dinner: 8 oz. Parmesan Almond chicken, 2 cups salad + 2 Tbsp. "zero everything" ranch
Nighttime: 1 scoop Whey Protein
Calories- 2,585
Protein- 338.4 g
Carbs- 52.1g
Fat- 109.16 g

Monday/Wednesday/Saturday (non-workout day)

Eliminate Post-Workout and add an extra scoop of Whey Protein to Pre-Workout. 

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

The Frugal Girl blogger takes pictures of her wasted food and posts it--I think every OTHER Friday--to keep herself honest.

We used to live at a boarding school and they would have these cookouts near the dorms. A student who had come on scholarship from Africa was suuuuuper upset when he saw them throwing away the leftovers afterward. Would have fed his whole family for a week.

[patrickza]

I can't waste. I work in the development world. 800 million people need food, and there's more than enough food to feed everyone on the planet, it's just not where it's needed. I almost never throw anything out, but my used to do it with abandon. She's getting better lately, but I still need to get her over buying bulk "health" ready meals, never eating them and then tossing them.

If I didn't think they would be bad for my health, I'd eat them, but they're always loaded with carbs or fructose. Now I try catch them early enough to give to the homeless we often see at the traffic lights.

[Cwadda]

It really irks me the amount of food people waste.

Especially when they have plenty in the fridge but want to eat out instead, or buy something else. Whilst the stuff in the fridge goes off.

I also notice people try to eat healthy by buying fruits and vegetables, but end up wasting half of it. Almost like it is the thought that counts when buying healthy!

This happens with my apartment roommates nearly every day. They order out, eat part of it, leave the rest out, and it goes bad. All the while there is still food in the fridge.

[mohawkbrah]

i will admit i've wasted food before. it's hard to consume all the fruit and vegetables before it goes off. I even eat them a week after the use before date. i make sure i cook them well and hope i don't get the squits

[alleykat]

Ugh, this is something I do and am not proud of it. I think it is part good intentions (thinking I am going to do all this cooking) and part compulsive shopping when I am in the stores. I do try and go when I am not hungry but that doesn't always happen.  However, the waste just gets to me now and I am doing better at controlling it.  I have really made an effort in the last few weeks. I now also don't throw anything out by the use by date, I use my judgment. This last round of greens, I did not toss.  Some were past due but I froze most of it and am using it for smoothies.  Going forward, I need to limit how much I buy.   I am a work in progress.  But, I do think this is an important thing and am working on it.   

[jacksonvasey]

I have found that the more consistently we plan our meals out, the less food we waste.  The less variability we introduce into meal planning, the lower the waste.  The biggest source of variability for us is how much our toddler will deign to eat any given time.  Otherwise we're fairly good at not buying things we don't need; the hard part for us is buying the correct amount.

[GreenSheep]

My other sister does not eat leftovers. Everything they prepare or buy gets thrown away after a meal. How am I related to these women?

This drives me effing nuts. I know people like this, who turn up their noses and say disdainfully, "I don't eat leftovers." Why the hell not? It's ridiculous, and I give a facepunch to every one of them right now.

+1 These people should be forced to go without food for several meals until leftovers sound like a great idea. And do they not realize that a lot of what restaurants serve is leftover? (Yesterday's carrots in today's soup, etc.)

I have a friend who not only throws away spoiled food but also the (usually Rubbermaid or whatever, not just a disposable takeout type of thing) container it's in because she doesn't want to bother to wash it. :-o

[MrsPete]

Ways to avoid waste:

Make 1/2 a steak or one chicken breast into hash:

- Melt a bit of butter in a pan.  Add in a small onion and green pepper (diced finely).  Add a bit of salt and pepper and some smoked paprika.  Add in 1-2 diced potatoes and cook through.  Add last night's leftover meat, diced small.  Cook everything through.  Add hot sauce, if you choose. 
- Poach an egg and serve it over the hash. 

Make a bit of leftover meat and vegetable into Chicken-a-la-King:

- Melt a bit of butter in a pan.  Add an equal amount of flour, cook.  Add a cup or so of milk, and after the mixture thickens up, stir in your leftover meat and vegetable. 
- Serve over toast or biscuits. 

Serve your left overs chopped small over a big, fat baked potato. 

Freeze your bits of leftover meat and vegetable in a ziplock.  When the ziplock's full, cook it into soup. 

Freeze your bits of leftover bread in a different ziplock.  When it's full, chop it small and make it into stuffing. 

[redbird]

Because there's only 2 people in my house, most meals make leftovers. Many recipes seem to feed a family of 4-5 at least. I love leftovers. Then you can have a quicker meal next time and less cleanup issues. Happily, my husband is also not picky and so is happy to eat them too.

There's always ways to use leftovers, even if you don't want exactly the same thing again. You can freeze it, you can make sandwiches or soups, you can put it into other foods, etc.

One of my strategies I use sometimes is the donburi. A donburi is a Japanese rice bowl dish that can be made out of anything and it's quick and easy. Have a small bit of leftover chicken that wouldn't be great for a meal by itself? Some leftover veggies? Throw them in a bowl by itself. Then mix those together with a small amount of sauce, to coat the meat and veggies. The sauce can be ANYTHING you like. It doesn't have to be Asian, though that's what I use most of the time. Then dump the sauce covered meat and veggies on top of a bowl of cooked rice.

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

We don't have guilt over throwing food away, since most of it came out of a dumpster to begin with. :D

[clarkfan1979]

The only thing I struggle with is lettuce. However, I am feeling optimistic because I have found an organic romaine lettuce at Costco that seems to last 2 weeks.

Over the last 2 months I have thrown out 1 overripe avocado. The rest of them went in the freezer and were savable.

[daymare]

I used to waste food too much when I lived on my own ... similar pattern of optimism/buying fruits/veggies that spoil quickly, then having stuff come up, going out to eat instead, and not cooking the food in time. (I also don't enjoy cooking, so that didn't help.)

Now, my husband and I have gotten into a good groove where we hardly ever eat out, and waste very little food.  Every week, we buy stuff for salads (lettuce, veggies, & bacon), and stuff for sandwiches (cold cuts, sliced cheese, bread).  We buy apples, clementines (aka fruits that keep well), heartier veggies for snacking like heirloom tomatoes and snow peas, I buy frozen raspberries (since they're ripe year round and delicious).  We buy some stuff that lasts a long time - granola bars, nuts, tortilla chips, etc.  Lots of frozen veggies, and bulk-buy meat at Costco and freeze.  I'll make soup or some similar dish, and he'll do something with rice/quinoa/pasta and veggies and spices.  He's really excellent at combining things we have around, which I suck at.  We don't have so much stuff in the fridge that it goes bad because we forgot about it.

WTF @ people who don't do leftovers ... I like my free time, and would never want to cook/prepare food every day.  Leftovers are where it's at!  Since I have no issue eating the same thing many days in a row, I've never had any aversion to leftovers.

[MVal]

The only thing I struggle with is lettuce. However, I am feeling optimistic because I have found an organic romaine lettuce at Costco that seems to last 2 weeks.

Over the last 2 months I have thrown out 1 overripe avocado. The rest of them went in the freezer and were savable.

How do you freeze avocado? Can you just chuck the whole fruit in there, or do you have to peel and slice it first?

[Chris22]

WTF @ people who don't do leftovers ... I like my free time, and would never want to cook/prepare food every day.  Leftovers are where it's at!  Since I have no issue eating the same thing many days in a row, I've never had any aversion to leftovers.

For me, it's not about the time, it's the variety.  I bring lunch 4 days a week, and it's almost always a ham or turkey sandwich, and some chips.  So any day I get to bring leftovers, it means a break from the sandwich, which is awesome. 

For the time aspect, most big meals can be made to be split in half, so instead of a lasagna in a 9x13, I make it in 2 8x8 dishes and eat 1 and freeze the other.  Each 8x8 is good for 2 dinners, and probably a lunch or two. 

[druth]

As others have said - dogs help a lot.  He will eat any veggie scraps or things that are starting to turn that we dont want(over-ripe bananas for example), and makes a great mini hoover when I drop something on the floor.

I also save all my veggie tops in a bin in the freezer to use when I make chicken stock.

Another hint I learned recently is to make "mystery marinade".  Whenever you have a jar of 'empty' salad dressing/jam/sauce swish the jar with a little bit of apple cider vinagar and add it to the mystery container.  Once you have enough you can use it for a marinade!

[GuitarStv]

The only thing I struggle with is lettuce. However, I am feeling optimistic because I have found an organic romaine lettuce at Costco that seems to last 2 weeks.

Just don't eat lettuce.  It's worse for the environment than eating bacon, and there are better foods that you can eat that will cover any of the benefits of consuming lettuce.

[druth]

The only thing I struggle with is lettuce. However, I am feeling optimistic because I have found an organic romaine lettuce at Costco that seems to last 2 weeks.

Just don't eat lettuce.  It's worse for the environment than eating bacon, and there are better foods that you can eat that will cover any of the benefits of consuming lettuce.

Elaborate?

[GuitarStv]

If you're eating lettuce, at best you're getting folate, vitamin A, beta carotene and some vitamin C . . . so eating a couple extra carrots and some chickpeas will cover the nutrients.

Lettuce is more difficult and expensive to transport (since it's coming from California most of the time), requires a butt ton of water, and an awful lot of it goes to waste just trying to get it to your table.  Because bacon is calorie dense (about 2-3 strips of bacon equal the calories from a head of lettuce), the amount of it you need to eat is less.  It therefore packs and ships a lot easier.  There's also less waste since it isn't as easily damaged by handling.

My understanding is that many fresh, water-heavy calorie-light foods (cucumber, celery, lettuce, etc.) tend to be pretty bad for the environment for similar reasons.

[Chris22]

Lettuce is still the healthiest way to get ranch dressing into my belly though.  Ranch dressing > the environment.  Sorry brah.

[gt7152b]

I don't know man. Lettuce doesn't lead to toxic waste piling up in our waterways.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/feb/pig-poop-fouling-north-carolina-streams-state-permitting-questioned

Raising meat requires lots of water as well.

It's a good point though. There are higher nutrient greens out there.

[GuitarStv]

I don't know man. Lettuce doesn't lead to toxic waste piling up in our waterways.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/feb/pig-poop-fouling-north-carolina-streams-state-permitting-questioned

Raising meat requires lots of water as well.

It's a good point though. There are higher nutrient greens out there.

http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/december/diet-and-environment.html

It was a kinda cool concept for me to read about . . . that you couldn't automatically apply a blanket statement like 'vegetables are better for the environment' which I had previously been thinking.

[elaine amj]

I also save all my veggie tops in a bin in the freezer to use when I make chicken stock.

Another hint I learned recently is to make "mystery marinade".  Whenever you have a jar of 'empty' salad dressing/jam/sauce swish the jar with a little bit of apple cider vinagar and add it to the mystery container.  Once you have enough you can use it for a marinade!

Hmm...mystery marinade.....I'll have to think about that one :)

[MustachianKentuckian]

Lettuce is still the healthiest way to get ranch dressing into my belly though.  Ranch dressing > the environment.  Sorry brah.

  = AWESOME!

I used to be "that" person...didn't eat leftovers, threw food out right and left.  Drove DH crazy.  Then I discovered MMM. It's amazing how many aspects of my life were impacted by discovering MMM, not just my finances.  Now, I meal plan so that alone reduces waste.  I now LOVE leftovers, cheerfully take them to work or have them for another dinner.  We waste SO much less food now. Still working on not wasting so much lettuce and milk.

[Kaspian]

I also save all my veggie tops in a bin in the freezer to use when I make chicken stock.

Another hint I learned recently is to make "mystery marinade".  Whenever you have a jar of 'empty' salad dressing/jam/sauce swish the jar with a little bit of apple cider vinagar and add it to the mystery container.  Once you have enough you can use it for a marinade!

Hmm...mystery marinade.....I'll have to think about that one :)

I've noticed at the very end of summer BBQ season marinades tend to go on sale--a bottle of that is cheaper than salad dressing of equal volume.    Therefore marinades become by salad dressings for the next few months.  While you have to keep an eye on the salt/fat content, they make a really nice, tangy dressing.  A honey/Dijon marinade packs a way better punch on salad than the dressing of the same name.

[Wilson Hall]

In the interest of saving money and calories, we've gotten in the habit of stocking lentils, beans, and peas in the pantry. Cook up a batch of one of those, add any leftover veggies or chicken plus spices, and voila!  Tasty, healthy soup for 2-3 days and no waste.

Our dogs and the compost bin take care of any inedible (to us) scraps.

[golden1]

My mother had a true gift of making exactly enough food at meals.  It is uncanny.  SO I grew up almost never eating leftovers except at thanksgiving.  It took me awhile to get into the habit of making the proper amount of food and eating the leftovers there are.  I am getting much better, not perfect, but a lot better. 

[partgypsy]

Growing up our family did not waste much food, the food was home cooked/made, and we rarely ate out.
I in college and grad school and maybe first job I was "that" person who would show up to the functions for free food, and take anything leftover home.

My husband comes from a family where the "normal" is plentiful food. they had the regular fridge/freezer, a deep freezer filled with both frozen meats for meals and snack type foods, shelves with canned/jarred food AND the family had a running tab at a local deli so whenever DH wanted to, after school could go over there and get a sub or something to eat. When MIL prepares a meal that means a meat, multiple sides, fresh bread and dessert with plenty left over (good for us because we can take some home!).  You would think they would all be overweight but no, in fact all their kids are athletic in some way or another. 

Our kids, especially will preferentially eat all the favored items (even the snacks reserved for making their lunches) and then say there is "nothing" to eat. Vegetables or anything difficult to cook or prepare experiences some loss. So for the kids I buy carrots and celery, vegetables that do not need to be cooked, frozen vegetables which I don't have to worry about going bad. And for our vegetables, enough for just the two adults to eat. Fruit going bad is not a problem. It is one of the preferential foods. We used to run out after the first couple days after a grocery trip. So in addition to the fruit that gets eaten immediately, I've been buying a pineapple, mango or other fruit that needs to ripen so the fruit will get stretched out. Plus frozen fruit that the kids use as snacks. I am buying less bread because that is another thing that goes bad or stale before it is eaten. 

our kids are bad about eating leftovers. So we make meals that get finished that day or the next. This is more expensive than batch cooking : (.

[SeanMC]

I've been trying to get better about food waste as a single person/household of one.

Things that have helped:

No food shopping or eating out for <x> amount of time. So you have to eat down the fridge or pantry and get really creative at the end.

Less variety in diet - better at estimating what I'll use or need & buying accordingly; no more "aspirational" food purchases, only fruits & veggies that are cheaper, hardier or consumed daily

Having the "right" staples and spices/seasoning on hand - things that are not perishable and can help turn those rice, beans, lentils, etc. into something I'll actually eat with what's about to go bad

Keeping an updated list on the outside of the fridge of the perishables that flags what needs to be eaten first

Tracking the things that I routinely was throwing out and when patterns emerged, NOT BUYING THESE THINGS

Things that have not helped me:

menu planning - doesn't work for my schedule with work/home because I can't predict in advance; also leads to too much wishful thinking ("future me" has more adventurous tastes than actual me)

cooking large batches in advance - this works for me for having food to eat, it doesn't work as well for me for reducing food waste since things still can go bad if I don't freeze them (which doesn't help my cycle of saving/eating/throwing out much)


In sum: Eliminating food waste requires a certain amount of self-reflection and honesty, on top of the tips and tricks of the trade!

[honeybbq]

The other thing I do is a pureed 'vegetable surprise' soup where I clean out my fridge of the stumps and remains of meals from the week.

Sometimes veggies go a little off, like a zucchini or carrot is a little too bendy to eat raw. Brown onions, brown the rest of the veggies, then zip in my immersion blender. Works best if there is a starchy veg somewhere like potatoes or cauliflower. Then the soup is thick and creamy. Then add a can of tomatoes, and some beans and Italian seasoning --done.  Or a TBSP of curry powder and serve with Naan. Yummy and a good way to zip up stuff that might be leftover.

I <3 my immersion blender and it's a relatively cheap kitchen tool.

[plainjane]

Sometimes veggies go a little off, like a zucchini or carrot is a little too bendy to eat raw.

Bendy carrots can sometimes be saved by soaking in some room-temperature water.  Otherwise, I do the immersion blender too. :)

[GreenSheep]

To answer a couple of questions/issues raised above:

Before freezing an avocado, remove the peel and pit. It helps to freeze in the amounts you'll use. I just leave it in two halves, since my blender will handle a piece that big. (And don't plan on using a frozen avocado to just eat... it will need to be blended into a smoothie or something.)

I store carrots in a plastic container (Ziplock bag, Tupperware, whatever) full of water, in the fridge. They'll last ages that way and stay nice and crispy.

[dilinger]

If you think individual people waste a lot of food, you should see what grocery stores throw away.

One of the things I really miss about pre-kid life is being able to dumpster dive.  My wife, friends and I would rent a zip truck at 11pm, fill up the back with tons of dumpstered food, and then have a huge dinner for 20 people the next day.  Good times!  We'd also have leftovers for the rest of the week.  Grocery shopping still feels a bit weird..

[Chris22]

If you think individual people waste a lot of food, you should see what grocery stores throw away.

One of the things I really miss about pre-kid life is being able to dumpster dive.  My wife, friends and I would rent a zip truck at 11pm, fill up the back with tons of dumpstered food, and then have a huge dinner for 20 people the next day.  Good times!  We'd also have leftovers for the rest of the week.  Grocery shopping still feels a bit weird..

Dumpster diving is, IMO, disgusting, but my grandpa's "get out of the house" retirement job was in the storeroom of a grocery, and he used to get himself and us all kinds of free food.  Meat that was at it's "eat or freeze" date (we'd freeze it, had a big chest freezer), stuff that had the packaging screwed up, etc.  We also got lots of promo items, which was cool (inflatable store display stuff, that sort of thing).

[Melissa]

We used to be bad about wasting food but have gotten much better in the last year. I plan out meals ahead of time. We often don't have a ton of leftovers with three teenagers in the house, but there are always small amounts. We always work in one 'fend for yourself' meals each week. I mix up a salad and everyone cleans out the refrigerator of leftovers. The meals are sometimes unusual....leftover chicken breast with pasta sauce or smoothies with overly ripened produce and leftover yogurt. If my son gets too hungry and desperate he makes fried rice since we always have some cooked rice. Just throw in eggs, whatever veggies you can find and some seasoning and you have a meal.

[APowers]

I had to throw out a whole cucumber yesterday. I was very sad. Normally, we're very good about eating everything. That cuke would have been good with dinner, too. :(