 Linda Petty is an editor at CNN Living. She liked boxed mixes and tarted-up vegetables. Hi, my name is Linda and I am a compulsive shopper at membership big box stores. Right now I am composting several avocados, half a ginormous bag of baby carrots and some celery in my refrigerator - along with some shriveled up oranges and some garlic that is growing roots. I bought it all in bulk because it was SUCH A DEAL! And I must confess to using my refrigerator way too often for accidentally composting produce that was so pretty and sold at great prices at the store where I am a member. Here's why: A mango a day – doesn’t quite work the same healthy magic that an apple a day does. I have found that if you put the fresh fruit in the freezer it will slowly become freeze-dried. Very slowly. So slowly that it sucks all the flavor out of the fruit and just leaves the fiber behind. (OK so I didn’t re-wrap the frozen fruit every time I took a serving out of the bag. Sue me.) I know the problem is mine. But shouldn’t they ban single people from shopping at these places? However if they did, then I would just head over to my favorite farmer’s market in DeKalb County, Georgia, where I would buy smaller amounts of produce. But the variety and uniqueness of the produce would do me in there as well. I love, love, love everything I see – it just looks delicious. I buy stuff I have no idea how to cook or serve. Like the pretty star fruit. Or the strange greens. Or the root vegetables. I did actually make soup with a few of the dozens of parsnips I have brought home and it was delicious. And do you know what a nice, green bunch of cilantro looks like in a few weeks in my refrigerator? It looks like a plastic bag of green slime that I have to carefully remove like toxic waste before it contaminates any else that has survived neglect. But much of the produce gets lost in my refrigerator and oh the waste burns my middle-class, penny-pinching soul. So that is my excuse for buying the pre-fabbed, one-serving-sized, meals in a box that stay fresh for thousands of weeks before being popped into a microwave. And I know I am not alone because there is a line every day at the office of people waiting to put their food-sicles into the nuker. |
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I will admit, read the article not the comments, sorry no time, but those yellow green veggie saver baggie thingies really do work and you can wash and reuse them several times before you would need to discard. Don't know how, they just do, its been a life saver for me
I eat TV dinners often for the convenience/ cheap cost but those "meals" have been processed so much there is only a small percentage of nutrients left. I force myself to buy vegetables on each grocery trip and do my best to use them before spoilage but that is the risk I take for eating SOMETHING healthy during the week.
For those singles looking for recipes try Cooking For Two (or Just You) – it's a fantastic cookbook about making delicious food for one or two servings. She even goes into how to make bread, not that I'm that ambitious but I've used the soup recipes and they are delicious. Best thing my parents ever bought me when I moved out! And if you buy an ingredient that is too much, just search through the book until you find another recipe that uses the same thing.
Where I live, farmer's markets are only once a week, so running by every 2-3 days isn't an option. My husband & I are on different work schedules, so from the time I get home I literally have only about 30 minutes to cook dinner in order for him to be able to eat before he leaves. The produce at our local stores is pretty sad; no matter how well I try to care for that head of lettuce or lovely ear of corn, it will be icky within a day or two. I wish I could use more fresh produce, but between the lack of markets and the near-impossibility of finding anything tasty in the stores, it just doesn't work for me. I do try to grow what I can, but with a postage-stamp yard, that's not a lot!
I love to cook, but was tired of trying to crank out quick meals on weeknights, too. So I do the week's cooking on the weekend and portion it into containers in the fridge. That way you're "using" at least some of your produce before it has a chance to go bad. Takes a couple of hours on a Sunday, but frees up the weeknights. We also started eating those "main meals" at lunchtime, and just have a salad or smoothie in the evenings.
we do this too! I do two entrees and several different sides during the kids quiet time sunday afternoon and then most of our lunches and all of our dinners consist of leftovers from that mega session of cooking. :)
A great idea for a lot of fruits: Blender. I use the older strawberries and bannana's to make smoothies. Freeze them overnight(topped/skinned) and toss cup of strawberries or so in with a bannana or two and a cup of OJ, you have the worlds best smoothie! Vary it as you like. For apples, I do the same thing, but skin/core them and don't freeze...just blend/purree. Textures can get tricky, so be careful blending "grainy" types (apples) and strawberries together. It will taste great, but you might not be a fan of the texture. Safe bet? Start with the strawberry bannana smoothie and experiement! With these types of things, you need little or no extra sugar. Desert? Blend in a scoop of vanilla icecream! And, since its usually a larger portion when I make stuff, I just freeze the rest in a glass Ball jar or old (clean) other glass jar (spaggetti sause, etc).
So right about single people buying in bulk, seems we are virtually forbidden from taking advantage of bulk offers, I'm fortunate to have a market that sells individual produce at fair prices, however shopping daily is a burden.
Buy your produce a little at a time, think of shopping for your produce as something other than a chore, more as an adventure.
Another single householder here who shares Linda's "rotty" problem. I agree about learning not to buy in bulk, and freezing single searvings.
My Amana fridge produce drawers have slide thingies that're supposed to regulate humidity, but AFAICS, they are useless. Fridge manufacturers need to do better!
I have a trick for keeping some items from rotting so quickly. Cut bell peppers, many fruits, lettuce, celery and all onions: drain and dry off the pieces as much as possible, make a paper towel "nest" for them in bag or container. Press air out of any plastic bag. The towel will absorb condensation from produce. Replace towel when it gets damp.
Also, not veggie-related, but lactose free milk has a longer shelf life than regular milks and tastes the same to me.
I always feed any vegetables that we can not finish to my bunny :) Ever since we got a bunny we hardly ever have wasted vegetables!
I'm not understanding this article. You're telling people that eating 1 avocado everyday will make them fat? To not to put fruit in the freezer because you can't figure out the packaging?
And finally, instead of coming to a conclusion and learning a lesson to share with the world, you use your overbuying of fruits and vegetables to justify eating another Lean Pocket instead of real food. Congratulations on your accomplishment.
You got that right!
harsh but true
That's quite a conclusion you've jumped to. You went from "pre-fabbed, one-serving-sized, meals in a box" to Lean Pockets? Tell you what, give your mother a break & do your own grocery shopping. Then you can learn about ALL the options the stores have to offer. Not just what you watch on TV.
Careful with Farmer's Markets. Organically speaking most farmers there are not 3rd party certified...you may not be getting what you are paying for. Stick with certified grocers like Whole Foods Market. Prices are usually cheaper than Farmer's Markets and feature local produce! Happy hunting.
sure advocate for the chain store and warn us against the evil sneaky local farmers
So the chain store who is overseen by 3rd party certifiers as required by the government is sneaky? You're too skeptical friend. Though I doubt Mr. Farmer is misrepresenting that his product may be organically grown I do doubt that he transported it to the market without contaminating it. More important than the growing process is the method of getting the product from field to fork.
I would love to buy only organic, but I would much rather support small farmers who live/grow in a region than purchase food that has been shipped 2000 miles to WholeFoods. It amazes me that even in regions where there are 3rd party organic certified farms in a region, WF is still trucking stuff in from California.
Very busy schedule – kids, elderly care, bh, housework, full time job, church, grad school student and I like to sleep every now and again. I buy meats once a week and hit my local produce place for oranges, apples, carrots and other basics once every other week. stuff like fresh herbs and quick to rot fruits and veggies only are purchased when they can be used within a few days. Also buy those stay fresh veggie bags. I'm tossing less fruit and veggies. I HATE waste. As for cooking, I cook a large meal on weekends for Sunday and Monday. Sometimes grill up stuff for several days and bake a quick cake, brownies or cookies. Get kids involved too. Wed-thurs is catch can. i.e. turkey burgers, chcken over salad, meatball parms (from leftover spaghetti & meatballs), etc. Then pizza Fridays. Have it down to a science and it works without me going nuts over weeknite dinners. Once in a while a stop at Wendy's, but I don't believe in feeding kids a diet of fast food. We can make our own burgers and fries - healthier and cheaper.
Boring. Not clever, pithy, insightful, or entertaining.
The cure is to dehydrate, have zucchini from the garden drying now. Tomorrow is zucchini chips with various seasonings. They will not go to waste. They will not go to waste. They will not ... ;)
Anyone have a good recipe for carrots? I have a large Costco sized bag of em and I don't know what to do. They are already starting to mold on the outside a bit. I dislike carrot cake and carrot juice is just disgusting. I'd like to know of a better way to use up my veggies before they rot.
Slice them into circles and cook them in a little water, you can add parsnips to them also, you can eat them plain or glaze them with a little honey. Simple veggie dish.
Big, fat, lazy Americans.
You must not be Italian, German, French or Polish ugh? Well, when I lived in 'Europe' buying food/preserving and cooking was very enlightening. It was about family, friends and comfort. I never had to leave the 'village' and drive, waste gas, money and precious time after work and will always love the people that I have met while sitting at a table enjoying bread and cheese. I learned how to butcher a pig and wring a duck. America is a melting pot of all peoples and where ever one goes there is always someone that needs to learn how not to waste (as well as how to understand).
Yeah, food is an experience. From a southern African American family and the kitchen is where all the good conversation happens. I was a kid from the 70s and 80s and my Mom didn't "do" fast food. We cooked, even simple meals, and ate at the table - with a knife and fork. And we talked!
Geeze 'EE", you just pissed in my cheerios!!!
Honestly, I'm a 'BBB' and hoard when it comes to non-perishable foods (frozen meats included). Always a must is flour, pasta, rice, legumes and basic root vegas. I love to cook and can't live without spices. Also, I make certain herbs are readily available by freezing them. When it comes to fresh vegetables and fruit I'll go buy what the meal(s) may require. Should I not have an ingredient needed then my meal is announced as an 'experiment' which intrigues the family w/ conversation before 'ASBL'.
Where I live, the only place to shop within 50 miles is Walmart or some dinky regional grocery stores. Anything you buy from either place is guaranteed to be half-rotten within a day or two.
This is why I started using grocery delivery, and we have AmazonFresh here in Seattle. I still shop at a warehouse store, but I don't buy anything that is quickly perishable there. Instead I get weekly deliveries of all my produce and fruit, and things like milk, eggs, and bread. Interestingly, my monthly grocery bill has gone way down, even though I'm not getting those deals, because I'm not throwing things away!
I bought a vacuum sealer last year. best investment I ever made. can freeze in small or large quantities. then just pull out from freezer as needed. and it stays fresher with no "ice" buildup or freezer burn.
Donkeys don't rot.
Tupperware has a great product called FridgeSmarts which preserves produce 3 to 4x more than usual life of the produce. These containers are amazing – Once I tried them I loved them and ended up getting whole set. . . Then I joined as a consultant to get more for free!! Check them out!
blame the jews?
was that comment really necessary?
I buy fruits and veggies in good faith because I know they are required for good health. The only problem I have is that swill is so gross I can not eat it without a good chance of throwing up. As a result 90% goes to waste.
I find it effective to make a QUICK LIST of ALL PRODUCE (esp. Herbs and Vegetables) as I am putting it into the fridge and a dish or two in which I can use it. I check each off as I've used them. It saves you the hassle of brainstorming when tired each night coming home from work Here are some examples:
1) CILANTRO (tomato salsa, fruit salsa, spring rolls, black bean soup) ** Put Cilantro into cold water in fridge!
2) BASIL (bruschetta, tomato-basil salad, pesto)
3) MUSHROOMS (omelette, with burgers or on pizza, in grilled cheese, pickled with lemon zest)
4) ASPARAGUS (cream of asp. soup, steamed with parmesan, etc.)
I am guessing the price of fresh vegetables is far too low if so many of you can afford to get lazy enough to waste food. I've been on welfare and I can't tell you how many times I thought the no name mac and cheese dinner would go nice with a carrot . . . or a tomato or just about any vegetable at all. If you can afford to waste food you got 'er pretty good my friend . . .
The Dekalb Famers Market is not that great....check out the one on Buford Highway.
I have a hard time understanding this. I have two kids and the four of us here eat veggies constantly. I buy tons and I don't have nearly that kind of waste. It is the most basic planning–if you know you won't eat three pounds of baby carrots before they rot, you buy the little bag, not the huge one. If you know that your kids won't eat spaghetti squash more than once a week, get one, not three. If you see that something is going to rot soon, cook with it or do something to preserve it (blanch and freeze or can etc).
You hit the perfect note! A lot of people don't know what can be blanched and frozen let alone the canning process of bulk foods, the last does require some time with a hectic schedule. My grandma would come home with 'garbage vegas' for pennies from the farmers market and can. I learned from her. With family of 11 we loved left overs as well, they tasted better than before.
You (Linda Petty) are invited to dinner at Emory Cottage. If you're tough enough to deal with the hell-on-wheels denizens of the DeKalb Farmer's Market, I want to meet you. (A somewhat motley crew of people assemble here on Saturdays. The food is good; the bread is home-baked, and the vegetables are fresh.)
There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating an avocado a day! What is wrong with this lady?! Avocados are outrageously good for you and full of monounsaturated fats. An cup of avocado only has 235 calories and is LOADED with vitamins and minerals. There is no reason you can't plan for that many calories in, for example, a lunch salad. it is a hell of a lot better for you than a baked potato!
Here's a trick to keep fresh produce longer: Place sheets of paper towels in the produce bags. They'll absorb the moisture that leads to the rot. Check on the paper and change as needed. This works wonderfully for things like lettuce and mushrooms.
NOT good to do this with mushrooms. Mushrooms need to breathe when stored, which is why the packaging they come in is pourous or has holes punched in it. Mushrooms are a source of clostridium botulinum, an anaerobe. Your shrooms will stay dry enough if you let them breathe and they will rot more slowly. (Also good to keep shrooms away from leaf produce, as it will make them rot faster.)
The most wasteful country on earth..
Worthless post by a compulsive shop-a-holic, who can't control herself and advocates others to eat unhealthy. Total waste of time.
I tend to agree. So wasteful!
Just take 50.00 a month and go toss them on your compost pile. It will save time.
put that photo up on YummyWar lol, it's a winner!
In order to save your greens from wilting and turning bad, place them inside a plastic bag and blow carbon dioxide into the bag with your mouth before you tie it....the life span may not increase drastically, but hey, a day or two will do....
I definitely have to actively remind myself of the fresh fruit and veges. It helps to keep them in plain site in the fridge. Even if they are on the south side of going bad, you can juice pretty much anything and at least get some of the nutrients you paid for.
Frozen food is the way to go. You get a lot of the same nutrients and the risk of rot is reduced drastically!
Sometimes stuff goes bad but I'm getting better about it. I have 3 kids and I'm learning new ways to sneak fresh produce into meals. We also do this thing every Friday where we have fresh celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, apple slices, etc. with dipping sauce. It's a fun tradition and it's pretty healthy. (The sauces could be improved on.) But I have to say that over all we're pretty good about using our produce. And we compost as well.
We call our vegetable crisper "The Rotter". Luckily we have a compost bin.
My dad calls the crisper "the rotter" also. I find it funny since he doesn't allow anything to go bad.
I work in a grocery store and see a lot of compulsive shopping that just isn't feasible for a person to eat.
Just because it's a "good deal," it isn't a good deal until you've eaten. Buy what you need; buy what you'll
eat.
I find if I have the time, buying bulk garlic, peeling it and keeping it in a large jar with 1/2 veggie & 1/2 olive oil will keep garlic buds almost indefinatley in fridge.
........ and the oil can be used for extra flavour in dressings & cooking. Just keep topping the jar off with oils.
i almost always lose one or two bananas from the bunch.
certainly procrastination plays a big part in it, but something should be said for the shady way grocery stores advertise sales. everything is listed as X for $Y, but that price is almost always still good if you only buy 1 of that item. for example, if something is 5 for $5, you can get just get 1 for $1. but grocery stores are able to get away with misleading advertisements that make it sound like you need to buy 5 to get the special price. more money for them and more waste for consumers.
We try to make banana bread, or muffins with those. Often we're just too lazy and toss them though.
Once those bananas are past the optimum eating stage, make smoothies. You can put the whole banana in the freezer, too – the peel will turn ugly-brown, but then you have frozen bananas to put in your smoothie.
I give my left-overs to my squirrels. They love me for it.
If catch things like carrots/ celery in time – and I almost always do- it goes to our bunny. If not, it gets composted (worms, usually). Not much goes to waste here.
I **USED** to be the same way. When there's only one or 2 people in the household you can't shop like you have a family of 5. It definitely takes a lot more work to plan your meals and make sure you're using what you have, but if you do in the long run you'll save yourself a lot of money. I also bought a book (Going Solo in the Kitchen) that has quick small portion cooking and some great ideas on how to use ingredients and leftovers that you might otherwise throw away. I had never thought to freeze left over chicken broth into ice cubes (or chicken cubes I guess)- I'm no longer throwing away leftover broth because a recipe only calls for 1/4 cup and I didn't use the rest of it in time.
It takes a bit of thought to plan meals, but it completely worth it. Pre-packaged meals barely qualify as food and the majority of them loaded with preservatives, artificial ingredients, hydrogenated oil (trans fat) and other nasty chemicals while trying to pass themselves off as being "healthy" – take 20 min before you go to the store to plan your meals for the week and make a list of what you need and you'll curb impulse shopping and be wasting a lot less produce
Twice a week I take all the fruits and veggies that are looking less than fresh and juice them. I drink the juice as a snack during the day. No waste of good nutrients!
Take the time on the weekend to cookup something in the slow cooker or casserole or soup. then I take for lunch each day. good way to use up foods in the fridge or freezer. I also share. Take some to a neighbor or a friend that does not cook. they love it and ask for more!
I was tired of uneaten fruit and veggies going to waste, so I bought some Redfoot Tortoises and let the loose in my fenced in backyard. They are interesting to watch and all they eat is fruits and veggies, and they prefer them slightly rotten. Nothing goes to waste at my house anymore.
that is brilliant! Can you keep them indoors at all? I love this idea.
They like to be outside when it is warm. They are tropical, so depending on where you live they have to be inside for part of the year.
The problem is that in the US servings are so Fing huge that if its a one person household and you want to buy grocery more cost less than less quantity goods.
Everything is super-sized!
I agree – only buy what you need for the week, maybe frozen or canned for convenience. Been guilty of letting produce go to waste – esp. if I don't know what to do with it. But seriously – what does being slim have to do with the environment? Anyone can eat in moderation. Thin ppl can eat junk food like fat ppl can. And fat ppl can eat a moderate amount as well. The idea that fat ppl do nothing but eat all day? Sheer myth. They eat no more than anyone else. Then why are they fat, u may ask? 1 word: genetics. I bring this up only 'cuz of our tendency to think we know things about somebody based on ideas perpetuated by society that says it's not all right to be who u are. Other than that, eat right and exercise – and don't worry about trying to meet some ideal. Hope this helps all struggling w/ body hatred. Take care of yourself 'cuz you're worth it!
OMG, you can't be serious! 95% of people aren't fat because of "genetics"! They're fat because they eat too much junk and don't excercise! Stop blaming your obesity on genetics!
Incredible
genetics can play a role, my friend, in how the body processes food it takes in, but it does not make the fat jump onto the body. Most people in the US who are fat are fat not because of genetics but because they don't know how to cook and eat properly for their bodies. I will agree that it isn't so much a story of quantity eaten as it is the quality of what is eaten. Simple solution that would work for almost everyone in this country who is fat, whether or not they have a genetic predisposition:
Rule 1: completely eliminate from your diet three things: (a)high fructose corn syrup and juices from concentrate. (b) Trans fat. Eliminate all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats from the diet. (If a thing is labeled "zero trans fat," this is often a lie–you must read the ingredients list). (c) nonfermented forms of soy. Sorry vegetarians, soy is not all that good for you and it can actually do a lot more harm than good.
Rule 2: If it has sugar it is a rare treat eaten no more than once a month and in a reasonable quantity. The occasional cookie will not kill you, just make sure it is occasional.
Rule 3: When you are eating, your carbs should ONLY be coming from fruits, non-starchy vegetables, nuts. There is no grain requirement for the human body and protein sources/veggies should not be coated in flour or bread crumbs.
That's it–no avoidance of saturated fat necessary. No avoidance of meat necessary. No counting, as long as portion sizes aren't completely unreasonable. No worries about "comfort eating" or special tracking systems (although keeping a diary of what you eat helps).
Three rules that can change lives, prevent heart disease, reverse many medical conditions like fatty liver disease and control blood sugar, prevent diabetes....but people are as likely to follow them in the US as they are to die their hair purple and wear clown shoes. It requires commitment to step away from most processed food.
agreed! composting garlic is a great way to destroy the microbes you're trying to foster!
You sound like a dumb impulsive shopper. Thinking would probably solve a lot of your fresh food troubles. Why is this article on CNN's web site? Sorry, but wow....
Seems like a pretty ignorant article.....you don't compost garlic, and an avo a day is hardly the makings of a fat person
I read the the whole article article thinking I would learn something other than that the author of the article has psychological problems, is a poor planner, doesn't know how to use ingredients, and is wasteful.
I never seem to have any produce to throw out. The reason is we own three guinea pigs. When something looks a little wilted or spotty, it goes straight to Leo, Max and Gilbert. I don't even have any banana peels to throw out since the piggies love those also.
seriously?? I love this!!
Very seriously. They also love watermelon and cantalope rinds, apple cores, the green tops of strawberries, etc. When I need to edge grass in parts of my yard, I take them outside, sit them over the area and cover them with an upside down laundry with a brick on top. They make short work of the grass in the area. They also love fresh dandelions.
LOL that is hilarious! Edging your lawn with guinea pigs. Seriously awesome.
Are you for real? What a moronic article. Fess up? I have no problems eating my veggies. Why doesn't this article offer advice on how to save food? Sauces, pestos, soups, tupperware. HELLO!!!
oh man, do I relate. I have revolving guilt about how my fresh produce dies. I buy with such optimism and enthusiasm, but I am but one person and I don’t have a lot of time to constantly be shopping and cooking and eating veggies. My husband eschews most fresh vegetables so if I don’t eat it, it dies. And then he casts a scornful eye on me. So I love those insta-fresh bags – I buy pre-washed little bags of stuff and eat as much as I can before it dies. I buy pre-chopped veggies to help compliance – I know I’m more likely to use it if I don’t have to wash, peel, chop, etc.
Yup.. I've found that as a single person, it's easier to stop at the grocery store or farmer's market once a week for produce and buy it in small amounts. I buy meat, soda, nuts, cheese, frozen veggies, t.p. and other personal hygeine items at the membership big box store and fresh produce elsewhere.
So basically the author has a problem with self-control. Why does one person's mundane mental illness make it to CNN's front page? Booooring.
Impulse buying. It's the American way!
Lighten up Jack! It is NOT mandatory that you read these comments!
It may be that I'm pretty darn sick and tired of my nephew's mother cracking "single people" jokes since she's 20 and acts like an entitled brat – but seriously? "... shouldn’t they ban single people from shopping at these places?" How about they ban upper middle class twits who didn't have the common sense in the first place to know better?
First off, bulk buying perishable goods when you don't have a family big enough to fill a standard passenger van should give you plenty of pre-cautionary hints when you are tempted to do so. Are you going to eat all of that? Is your spouse? Your kids? Good luck force feeding it to them. In fact, I don't recall my parents ever bulk buying anything that wasn't an essential, or a culprit of running out quickly.
Secondly in these money crunching times, bulk buying anything that isn't going to stretch out for months, like paper goods and toiletry products, is a waste of money. Being a 'Single Person,' I caught on to that obvious fact when the economy was at the peak of it's boom. I buy produce and other quick-to-perish items a week at a time, or only enough I know I'll eat when considering a busy schedule of taking care of myself when I don't have another set of hands to help. Bulk buying does not always equate to a better deal and money saved. Also consider how much you pay in membership fees for all those club stores and break them down per visit. $50 a year for costco is over $4 added to your bill if you go once a month for their basic membership, over $8 for their premium. You can also tally in the cost of gas you use if the closest location is farther away than the nearest super market.
Best response yet. Cheers!
I agree. Common sense seems to have gone awry. I only buy large bulk when throwing a party or catering a small event for friends. But I usually go to the public market anyway for local produce when in season. Can't beat fresh local corn on the cob or tomatoes or asparagus. YUM. Corn, and peaches in now. Apples in late August. make applesauce when i have too many apples. Takes very little time and share with my neighbor who loves applesauce.
Throw all of those older veggies in a pot with water and some cheap chicken legs/thighs. You can get 7-8 quarts of awesome stock out of it!
how long does that last for?
if you freeze it stock will last a long time
When I buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, i cook up the left over carcas with various carrots, onions, celery, and herbs and make stock. then pour into ice cube trays and freeze it. Once froze, remove from trays and put into ziploc bags and freeze. i take out as needed. great way to have stock when needed. just pull out some cubes of it.
I often take any odds and ends of veggies and make soup or casserole to use up. Take 1 box of quick stuffing mix, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (or similar–chicken or celery soup)1 can of water, bunch of odds and ends of veggies you have in the fridge, chop up. Mix all together and bake it or microwave it till cooked. You can throw in leftover cooked chicken or other meat if you desire. makes a great casserole. Can also use some of those broth cubes from the freezer.
So I understand that my family isn't the norm, and that shopping at Costco isn't actually BULK enough for us, but rarely do I lose produce to the black-hole that is my refrigerator. More often, I'm grousing over the half eaten apples, or bowls of salad with a few bites eaten, and the rest left to wilt. This morning I found what must have been half a 5lb bag of half eaten carrots stashed under my sofa, gone shriveled and black.
I found it somewhat depressing discussing with my husband the merits of getting a business license solely so I can go grocery shopping at the local restaurant supply.
Such is the life of a family with 8 kids.
I do end up throwing alot of produce in the back yard composter every weekend. However much of it is organic tomatos which ive grown in my back yard. I love variety and color in my food so i tend to grow 3 or 4 types of tomatoes. Unfortunatly I cant seem to eat them fast enough and I never have enough at one time to can them. I tried sun dying them but now I have bags and bags of sun dried tomatos which I rarely use. On the + side by next spring I'll probably have 50 lbs of organic compost to start the cycle over again.
you can always stew them :D yum! Also, you might want to ask a local food pantry or shelter if they'll take whatever you can't eat... those places rarely get fresh anything and they might really appreciate it
excellent idea Katie :-)
Had a rough day today (Wed.) with a lot of issues. I logged on to CNN and clicked onto your report. I found it very humorous and it made my day. Good stuff.
Totally agree ... Ms. Petty is a humorous, astute, and adept writer.
For the better part of twenty years I have been a health food nut. But recently took on full time school in addition to full time work and I quickly found rotting food in my fridge. So I have grudgingly started buying frozen meals. I try to stick with the more healthful versions, but that can be hard if you want variety. I still buy fresh fruit to eat throughout the day, and I still end up throwing some of it out at the end of the week because I didn't have time to eat it, but it's better than throwing out a weeks worth of food like I did when I first started back to school. I also don't have time to grocery shop several times a week, jeez, I barely have time to shower everyday...LOL...but I do.
Eric, I am a full time worker (45+/week) and a full time student (18 hrs this summer session) too. I'm also a vegetarian, so most of what I purchase is fresh produce but I found that a lot of what I was buying was getting wasted, so here's what I did: I got a small group of coworkers together for lunch and began potlucking every day. This way, my carton of strawberries was finished in one day (whereas I would have had one serving and the rest would be growing rabbit-fur coats). The next day someone else would be strawberries, or bring their leftover blueberries. Basically, whatever we have gets pooled that way SOMEBODY is eating it, even if it's not me, and it's saved me a ton of money (not to mention cut out most of my previous Vietnamese take-out budget). Hope that helps!
Linda–I feel your pain as I too have needed to throw out those bags of goo that once used to be fruit or vegetables. I did read a really helpful hint a couple of years ago here on CNN about making some of the fruit and veggies we buy last longer in the fridge. After you've brought them home, rinse them in the hottest water possible (without ruining or cooking them) and it will inhibit the growth of bacteria/germs that can cause them to grow mold or start decaying early. It really does work. I've had strawberries, carrots, celery, grapes, etc. in my fridge that I've rinsed in pretty hot tap water that have lasted well over two weeks and are almost as good as fresh! Obviously it doesn't work on every type of produce but it can help. Here's to throwing away less produce/money!
We bought some of those green bags a couple of years ago to see if they worked, and they do! Lettuce lasts for weeks, and other veggies and fruit life are greatly extended. I wouldn't be without them now.
In my family, we call the refrigerator drawer for vegetables ... The Rotter.
lol!
poorly written article. The argument is at the end of the article? "So that is my excuse for buying the pre-fabbed, one-serving-sized, meals in a box that stay fresh for thousands of weeks before being popped into a microwave." ????? Boring.
If you were in my kitchen I'd throw rotten vegetables at you.
I don't think I can trust your judgment of poorly written, sorry.
haha I agree-it's like she threw that in at the last second to justify even writing the article in the first place. And GINORMOUS is NOT a word.
Oh you just wait. If Homer's "DOH!" and Rachel Ray's "EVOO" can make it into the dictionary, can "ginormous" be that far behind?
Produce two shopping list.
Shopping list# 1
- Should contain items that are kept frozen or stored in a dried space.
- Bring list #1 to the store once a week
Shopping list# 2
- Should contain items that should be bought fresh from the market
- Keep list number# 2 store in your phone, wallet, car or anywhere accessible
Guilty, guilty, guilty! I don't even buy in bulk – I just end up thinking I am going to get into a cooking spell and go fresh. Instead, I microwave a meal and eat a banana...if it isn't rotten yet. Pathetic.
A-choppa-broccolah!
a choppin brocolee
The people I know who overbuy sadden me. I know a certain family who has for years been addicted to buy 1 get 1 free type sales and let things rot. I just recently house sat with the invitation to use up what would go bad in the fridge. The day after they left town, most of their produce was almost unusable. They had more expired items in their fridge than in date ones (I understand they eat out a lot.). Every time I've come over to house sit, this happens. This house has served as an example to not follow. My partner and I buy only what we need for the week. Though almost half of our groceries are produce (sounds like a lot! We're vegetarians), the only thing that usually goes bad is a little lettuce the week after buying. We consider this sort of shopping as well as staying slim and keeping only two in the house until we get small pets to be better for the planet and our bank accounts. I highly recommend exercising such care.
To avoid this I try as much as possible to buy long-lasting but not overly processed stuff. Frozen veggies mostly, but fresh fruit, I can taste the difference more with fruit. Rice in place of bread or potatoes as a carbs. And frozen meat all the way. But I still end up with stuff going bad... mostly baby carrots and bananas.
Yes this solution always SOUNDS like a great plan. But I, like the author, am single. I want to make a great new recipe that calls for 1/4 of an avocado for 4 SERVINGS. I make the whole recipe and then I'm eating the same dish all week. And then I'm so sick of it I never want to make it again. And I'm STILL stuck with 3/4 of an avocado that is going bad in the fridge.
I feel her pain. Produce isn't sized for singles! Try buying just one stalk of celery.
So sorry!!! This was to the post above yours... my bad!
Hi Katie! :D Try looking for recipes that are small portion if you can. If not, when you have a special ingredient that won't keep long try to find another recipe that uses it and plan to make it that week as well... for example, avocado is great on burgers :D
I totally feel you. Most recipes results in 4 servings and I just get way sick of eating them. Often times instead of making a dinner I opt for raw veggies and snack food. I feel like I am always throwing out my produce. There is fruit I love but rarely buy like a whole watermelon. Buying the pre-cut portions seem like such a rip off but there's no way I can eat a whole one before it goes bad and I'm not totally disgusted by the sight of it.
try halving the recipe first, and then freeze half of what you make immediately.
Ive never seen a recipe that makes less than 6 servings, and those are american restaurant sized servings, meaning 12 normal person sized servings. Even halving the recipe produces WAY too much food, and I dont know "recipe math" so I cant do less than half without getting it completely wrong.
As a single person making things myself with recipes online is extremely expensive because of the massive amount of waste it produces. I cant afford to spend $14 on ingredients to make an insanely large batch of cookies that last 4 days before getting stale.
Banana bread! A great use for over ripe bananas!
Yes! Just after the bananas are too ripe to eat, stick them in the freezer. They turn horribly ugly, but just thaw them out and they are ready to go for a perfect banana bread!
Figure out your meals for the week before hand, and only buy those on the list. Look at what deals are at the local store and plan accordingly. I wasted food all the time, now if it isn't on my list I don't buy it and it won't get wasted.
That's what I do, too. Saves a lot of wasteage. Though, a trip to the farmers' market is fraught with the dangers described by the author – it all looks so yummy! That usually just means we double up on veggies some days, which is not a bad thing.
The things that do go bad, go to the compost, so at least it's being used in some manner.
I feel less guilty piling the lostovers to my compost pile instead of the trash bin.
My worms love it when I forget to use up the veggies!
I'm glad I'm not the only one! Here's a tip though – roasted parsnips are totally awesome! Little EVOO and seasonings, chuck 'em in a screaming hot oven (like 425F) and cook for around 30-45mins. Delicious!
do you watch Rachel Ray all day or what? Get your own vocabulary
I'm reformed. I used to toss out about a fifth of what was purchased. Now... So far this year I've only had to toss out a lemon or two. A large part of this is me just using more frozen and dried products. Previously, they made up about a tenth of the produce I ate. Now, they make up about half.
Quite a good portion of our veggies and fruits end up going bad.
If you're into canning, you would do well to can all that fresh produce so you can enjoy it in the winter time. Nothing like fresh strawberry jam in the middle of January!
That is such a good idea! It's a ton of work, but it's a lot of fun. My mom and I canned some spiced peaches for the first time last summer. It was such a treat at Christmas...even if my Grandma and our neighbor couldn't stop lauging that we only made 6 cans. She usually popped them out several dozen at a time back in the day. We're not experts yet, but practice makes perfect. Does anyone know what produce works the best for canning?
Apples, cherries, pears, peaches, cucumbers, beans, peas, corn... are all easy...
Peppers and onions and garlic and tomatoes can be canned as well, but be careful... if you do these ones wrong you could end up very sick!
That is what I do! I either pick my own get it at the farmers market and sometimes at Costco.. but I reserve out what I know my family will eat in the next few days and then preserve the rest. So far this year I have made apple sauce and canned cherries! If you do it right, Strawberries freez nicely too.. I have 2 gallon sized ziploc bags in my freezer with Oregon Strawberries! best in the world! As soon as they are ripe, I will get my wild balckberries too!
Learning to preseve food by canning is a MUST for me. This year I will be learning to can salmon too! My husband is a fisher man and my freezer is quite full!
I very much agree...I spend a huge portion of my summer evenings canning after my children go to bed. Jelly and green beans are being packed away right now.
I've switched to dried fruit mixes. I need fruit that waits patiently for me.
dried fruit is yummy... but is LOADED with extra sugar. Have you ever had dried strawberries? they're like eating fruit snacks! delicious and yet so bad for me :)
While I prefer fresh fruit, most dried friuts have the same amount of sugar as the fresh stuff. They can rack up calories if you eat the same volume based amount. If you eat 10 grapes or 10 raisin, you'd be getting the same thing.
PS. You can get freeze dried strawberries without added sugar.
a lot of the dried fruit I've had has quite a bit of added sugar (mangos, pineapple , strawberries etc) though you're right some fruit don't like rasins doesn't (I think apricots and prunes might not as well, unsure about that)
Farmers' Market all the way, baby! Crazy delicious organic produce delivered fresh from Mother Nature!!
I hate it when people misuse cliche terms like "organic" this or that. Like food bought in a grocery store isn't organic and it's made in some tomato factory in China.
Organic typically means chemical free. So yes, most of the produce you buy at big chains or discount stores is usually mass produced with with chemicals or hormones and it is usually in a foreign country. The grocery store 1/2 mile from my house clearly posts that most of their produce is from Mexico or South America.
At the Farmers Market, I have the option of going to with food that has not been chemically altered (pesticides) and can buy dairy products from animals that are not fed hormones. And once you go organic you can 100% tell the difference in the texture, color and taste of the food. My farm fresh eggs that I get free from a co-worker each week have a much better color and taste to them than the eggs I used to buy at the store.
Your story struck a cord with me, too. I learned to stop buying large quantities of fresh produce because I got fed up with throwing out, well, money! If I can't buy just one or two of what I'm looking for, I'll go without or I'll hit the store more often.
Linda, you're so hilarious!! But you basically covered me to a tee on this one. I feel for you!!
Me too! Thanks!
I shop about every two days or so and only buy what I plan to cook with in that span of time. I just prefer to buy fresh and only what I need rather than having food sitting around waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I like to make most things from scratch, salad dressing, sauces, etc. so I buy only what I need based on my menu plan.
You actually have time for that?
haha I second John's question. I am quite jealous if you do.
Sad you dont have time for that. Food is a basic need for living, and unfortunately it is the most neglected. We have gone overboard on clothing and shelter though.
If you don't spend you're time posting on CNN, you will have more time... :) just kidding :) I should shop every couple of days. It would only take 15 minutes.
If you don't have time for that you need to rearrange your priorities...
Many major cities allow for that - like San Francisco and New York. You just walk to your neighborhood grocery store on your way home :) It's one of the things I will miss if I ever move to a smaller, or less densely populated place.
I drive right by two markets on my way home from work. I make a list before I leave and stop on my way home. My mother did not shop that way when I was growing up, but it works for me! I just like buying what I need, when I need it and not having a lot of food sitting around rotting. It does take some menu planning though, but I love to cook!
yeah, shopping every few days is great. 3 farmers markets close and 3 grocery stores all within easy walking distance. but often, buy fresh, and we don't throw anything away.
Not all the produce at a farmers market is quality produce. It is a good place to take your kids and teach them the difference between good produce and poor produce and how to judge ripeness.
I do the same thing-I prepare meals good healthy meals all from scratch, including bread. If you take a few minutes to prep things ahead of time, home cooked meals are not difficult and are a great way for families to do things together.
So what's your solution when you are a "family" of one? Work 12 hour days straight without any lunch. Get home...walk and feed dog. Spend 0.5 hrs reading news. Spend 0.5 hrs trolling CNN posts. Spend 0.5 hrs catching up on personal emails. Leaves me with 1.5 hours of relaxation before bed. Try to eat healthy but seriously no time for cooking. Luckily I have a grocery store with a sushi bar across from work that I can pick something up from on the way home. Also buy organic frozen meals with no preservatives for dinners. I only have time to prepare a salad for dinner during the week. But at least I am not eating at the McDonalds or Wendy's across the street.
Great idea! A family at the kitchen looks so cute)
For a family of one, just do some cooking on the weekend and freeze portions. It's not that hard. Things that work well: meatloaf, lasagna, soups, stews. Or, roast a whole chicken and cut it up. Trust me, you can get a chicken in the oven in 15 minutes or less, then go out and walk the dog while it roasts.
@J3sus – sometimes I cook for one (hubby travels weekly and the kids are older). Last night I stopped and got some fabulous cherry tomatoes, a sweet onion, blue cheese and a baguette. When I got home, I cut the tomatoes up, sliced a little onion, drizzled with olive oil and white balsamic, sprinkle with blue cheese and add a little salt and pepper. Add one glass of wine and that was dinner. Now that won't work for everyone, but that's one of my summer go to recipes when I'm on my own. While everything was marinating, I changed clothes, took the dog out, fed the dog and then it was relax time. It's all about planning ahead!
I do the same as dnfromge posted. I will buy non-perishables and meat in bulk and freeze the meat. I separate out the 10 pack of steaks and chicken and whatever else into single-serving freezer bags. I hit the grocery store every other day and get my fresh produce. In the past I had easily thrown away thousands of dollars of rotting produce. I'd rather lose time going to the store and saving money making from scratch than tossing rotten food, losing money, and STILL having to figure out what I'm going to do for dinner.
I to buy only what I need for the week. I prefer to buy veges fresh. I.m single and have learned the hard way to only buy 2-4 apples or oranges, or what ever furit I like, at a time. Buying this way saves money and produves little or no "ROT"
I have to agree with everybody on this one. It's pretty sad if you can't take 15 minutes out of your day a couple times a week for fresh food. I can pretty much guarantee you that those people waste at least a couple hours every day watching TV.
It must be nice to have that kind of time! It sounds lovely, but is in no way doable for a lot of people. Most people.
You obviously don't have young children, or if you do, you don't have a job.
I do work full-time and my kids are older – 15 and 20 so it is easy for me. My husband travels Mon-Thur so sometimes it is just me and my 15 year old and I let her create the menu, she e-mails me the shopping list at work and I stop on my way home. Shopping every other day isn't for everyone, but it can be done. When hubby is home on weekends, we all shop together and cook together – part of family ti me. There is no right way or wrong way to shop – it's just my preference.