tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3180886024251289372.post7083385500673333910..comments2023-05-07T04:59:10.504-07:00Comments on Parent to Parent: Food Waster/Kitchen Inefficiencyanniemetcalfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02336179118362029433noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3180886024251289372.post-62153582090287210332011-03-07T09:34:30.341-08:002011-03-07T09:34:30.341-08:00I, too, am all about a weekly menu and a leftover ...I, too, am all about a weekly menu and a leftover night. Pretty much if it doesn't smell bad or have mold on it, we'll use it! LOL I try to plan meals that go together, too. If I'm buying lettuce and tomato for tacos one night, I'll plan burgers or sanwiches the next night to use up the leftover veggies. And I freeze as much as I can, over ripe fruit for smoothies or baking... even milk! And I try to rotate my pantry every 4-6 months, so use all the canned goods/cereal/pasta, etc within the expiration dates.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17613228075582543060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3180886024251289372.post-39370403318263989962011-03-07T06:53:20.473-08:002011-03-07T06:53:20.473-08:00I try to meal plan but like you said it sometimes ...I try to meal plan but like you said it sometimes gets difficult with adam's changing schedule. I Have found that I only food shop 3 times a month and then the last week or so at the end of each month I have to use whats left in my fridge, freezer or cabients. I try to make meals with what I have and then when I absolutly cant make a full meal I go food shopping. ( I go to the farmers market for fuits an veggies and milk that week). I see that it helps a lot we are forced to rotate our freezer stash. We have a giant freezer in the basement because we bought half a cow this year and this is really helping. ( Meat can be frozen for a year if properly stored).Meghannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3180886024251289372.post-68760334358874365532011-03-07T06:45:30.037-08:002011-03-07T06:45:30.037-08:00OK first thing is get a food saver- this helps kee...OK first thing is get a food saver- this helps keep those meats longer. We also have a list on the outside of the freezer with tally marks for each item that is in there so when I take a chicken breast out I just scribble out a tally and I always know what is in there. We also hvae a 2 week menu posted on our corkboard. This helps with several things- knowing what to buy at the store, what needs to be taken out in the morning or evening before to defrost and it always answers the question of what's for dinner tonight. Big meals are on Saturdays and Sundays, pasta is always our meal on Wednesday and left over day is every Thursday (this way I don't have food sitting for more than a week- big things like meat loaf Gene takes a few sandwiches during the week too).<br />My favorite freezer meal is Turkey Stoup by Rachel Ray- I make it with chicken however cause who has turkey in their house besides at Thanksgiving. <br />As for food in my fridge I tend to just go by the expiration date- I never knew there was something that told me to use it within a certain number of days...well at least I haven't killed my family yet on that one.<br /><br />YES more couponing tips. I tried using couponsense but got so fustrated with the fact that I needed to shop at 12 places just to get all the best deals. I guess my problem is that we tend to just buy the same things every week- varying little for simple things like salad dressing, cereal, cleaning products.Bouchard Familyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03276730069468840334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3180886024251289372.post-85936622827148264002011-03-07T06:19:09.516-08:002011-03-07T06:19:09.516-08:00might sound silly - but I have found that by watch...might sound silly - but I have found that by watching portions more closely we have cut down a lot on food waste. We also make sauce and freeze it (or Sharpie store sauce so we know the date). if there is no expiration date (or if it's leftover food) I give it a week and then toss it. We used to waste so much food because we would hardly eat the leftovers so the portions and freezing has really helped a lot. Also, meal planning was key.Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00919876274370002751noreply@blogger.com