We all need to buy groceries to survive, that is unless you live off the grid and provide for yourself all your daily nourishment. For the rest of us, we’re inclined to go to our favorite grocery store. Sadly, most of us waste a lot of the food we buy. It sits in the drawer or on the shelf and is used maybe once before it’s tossed.
How many times did we buy avocados only to throw most of them away? Or the tomatoes that went bad before we got a chance to use them? And don’t get us started on all the leftovers we stick in the fridge and rather than eating them, order out the next night. How many condiments, sauces, and seasons do we buy that will sit up in the cupboard unused for the next decade?
Americans waste a lot of food. In fact, the average American household throws away 43% of the food it buys! That’s a crazy number! Imagine going shopping and spending all the money we do while realizing that almost half of it will rot or be thrown away. Here are 5 tips for preventing food waste:
1) Shop with All Your Meals in Mind
When you’re considering what to buy, plan out your meals. Look at common ingredients. For example, if you’re going to buy celery for a meal, then you might not use up all the stalks. Rather than letting them go to waste, find multi uses for them. Plan meals that will use the ingredients more than once so nothing is unused.
2) Don’t Be Afraid to Use Your Freezer
You can freeze almost anything and use it again later. From veggies, butter, cheese, meat, onions, pasta, sauces, beans, and on and on, everything can be reused. Why let it go back? If you buy a loaf of bread and only use a few slices, you can put your bread in the freezer. It only takes about 5 minutes to thaw.
3) Improve Your Storing Ability
Many people invest in machines that will allow you to properly store foods by wrapping them in plastic and sucking the air out of the plastic so foods last longer and stay fresher. Simply wrapping your veggies in foil to keep in the fridge will allow them to stay crisp for longer. Don’t just expose your food to the elements.
4) Don’t Cook as Much
How many times per week do you end up with leftovers? More times than not, those leftovers are tossed away. The easy solution to this is to make less food. When you get into the habit of making less, you will both start saving money on groceries and will be forced to throw out less. Stick to proper portion sizes per person you’re cooking for.
5) Stick a List on Your Fridge
One way to keep track of food is to post an inventory, maybe on a sticky note, so you can remember what you have in there. It’s a good reminder rather than just forgetting you have some celery in the veggie bin. You might decide it will make a good snack.
