Planning, Saving, and Wasting

Hey Guys!

It's cold out there today. BRR. This is going to be a quick post, but today I wanted to chat about wasting. I have  a major issue with wasting food. PJ teases me because I will leave three rice particles in a container and save it. Three bites of salmon? It's getting wrapped. Something I made for dinner that wasn't that good? Save it just in case.



Exhibit A: The three brussel sprouts I saved from dinner last night. Now, in my own defense- I do  LOVE roasted brussel sprouts so much, and I did put them on my salad for lunch today!

The whole "can't throw it out" until it's spoiled habit started when I moved out on my own and was responsible for purchasing my own groceries. I never realized how much money it costs to purchase good, quality, food! It was much easier to rationalize waste when Mom was footing the bill (haha sorry, Mom!)



While I admit that I may occasionally be a bit of a nut for saving  some of the items that I do , I will say that I have gotten quite skillful at re purposing ingredients in my fridge and creating new meals out of them. There is a huge food waste problem in the U.S., and I figure why not do my part to practice a bit more mindfulness when it comes to what I purchase/dispose of?



Last night's dinner: Baked chicken thighs/legs, quinoa polenta w/ cheese, roasted brussels!

So, how does this re purposing thing work? It's all in the planning, my friends! I'm not a detail oriented person, so my weekly meal "plans" are not detail oriented either. I typically sit down every Saturday or Sunday and choose 3 or 4 recipes that I want to make for the week. I have a job and a life, so these recipes are rarely complicated. I stick my dinner meal "plans" in my iphone notes, and I purchase the ingredients I need on a Sunday so that I have no excuse not to whip up something delicious and healthy during the week.  Sometimes I go to the store, and sometimes I use Freshdirect. While Freshdirect does cost me about 7 buck to have delivered, in the end I am saving money because I would probably spend 30 bucks ordering out for PJ and I on a night that I didn't have the ingredients to make something. On a lazy day, I would rather online shop for my groceries and have them as opposed to flying by the seat of my pants for the week. You know what I mean?



Also, just because I have a full fridge doesn't mean that I'll cook something. If I don't have some options already in my head, I'll stare into that full fridge and then pick up the takeout menu.  That's why I figure it out on the weekend. The beauty of ordering groceries is that I can plan my meals and order my food from anywhere! If I'm out of town, I can order the groceries and have them at my door when I get home!  The quote I have above actually fits me perfectly. I plan for 3-4 meals a week, but I listen to my body and cook each meal on the night that I want that particular food. Since I have all the ingredients and ideas in my head, I can give myself what I want and still have all the ingredients/ directions at the tips of my fingers!  What if I decide to go out to dinner one night? That's fine, I just switch the 3-4 meals around. I do LOVE eating out and ordering in with PJ, so I leave some room for that, too! Also, when you buy food according to a "plan" you don't waste. You buy what you need instead of getting wrapped up in all the options. There will be other options to choose next time, ya know?



Also, the freezer is your friend. If you aren't going to eat everything that you make, or you won't be re purposing it-Date it, Label it, Freeze it! For freezing, purchase Tupperware, or save restaurant takeout containers. I used to hate freezing until I realized that just because you freeze it doesn't mean you have to eat it the exact same way in a month. For example, I made butternut squash and black bean enchiladas on Sunday night. The filling was delish, but once I put it in the tortilla and baked it, the whole thing was kind of tasteless.  The recipe made a ton, so I froze the additional filling, and I'm going to make butternut beans and rice in the next couple of weeks. I think the flavor of the filling will stand up better against the rice.

I must be going, but I will be back tomorrow with more on planning, saving, and re purposing!



Random pic. PJ and I decided to stay in our current apartment, and I'm pretty happy to keep this view for another year!

xo

Sarah