4 Easy Solutions to reduce food waste At Home that saves money
Take these Simple Steps to be better organized and stop wasting Cash
Most people who buy groceries and cook at home tend to struggle with the race against time.
Food waste is a big issue. It’s frustrating, because throwing away moldy, gross food costs money. It’s like burning up cash. Nobody likes that.
Perishable food like fresh fruits & vegetables and prepared meals can ‘go bad’ in a matter of days because it doesn’t get used or eaten quickly enough. Fresh produce often gets moldy if not stored properly or used soon enough. Prepared foods and meals only keep for so long on the counter, pantry or refrigerator.
If you’ve ever bought avocados or bananas, you know exactly what I mean! It seems in a blink of an eye they ripen, but you might not be ready to eat them yet!
If you’ve ever made meals that got stuffed into the back of the refrigerator, or cookies that sat in a box in the pantry forgotten about, then I’m singing your tune!
Stop the madness!
Below are 4 simple solutions to being prepared and organized so food doesn’t go to waste.
Wasted food is costly. Put these easy solutions into place today, and stop the frustration.
Hint: To make it easy to find, I’ve hyperlinked my favorite solutions below, or you can see many more of my favorites on the Best Gadgets page.
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My grocery store haul!
Stop wasting food and money (and being frustrated) by keeping produce and meals fresh longer!
Use specially designed produce bags & Boxes: Keep produce fresh
Food science is amazing. Not the kind of food science that created packaged quick-fix ‘Helper’ meals of yesteryear (if you remember the talking ‘helping hand’ you know what I’m talking about).
Food science has moved into food preservation science. If we can keep stored food fresher longer then that’s a major win!
My favorite solutions for storing fresh produce are green bags designed especially for produce and vented produce boxes like these or these with internal baskets.
The green bags seem low-tech, but they really work! I LOVE using them for bulky produce like large lettuce or cabbage heads or lots of bell peppers. The bags can be rinsed after use if needed, and reused over and over again.
Bonus… They’re SO easy to store because they take up virtually no space in the cabinet!
Either of the types of boxes mentioned here work great! They’re vented which makes the produce happy. I have all kinds of sizes from small ones for little things like ginger root or turmeric root, medium ones for berries or cut veggie sticks to large ones for kale, spinach or cucumbers and zucchini.
2. Use clear storage boxes: see what you have
This solution works for both the pantry and the refrigerator.
Out of sight, out of mind. If you can’t see what you have to eat, it’s likely you’ll not ‘know’ you have, and it goes to waste!
Food kept in opaque storage containers is a mystery. Don’t ‘hide’ what you have and forget about it!
Dry Pantry or Cupboard storage:
I LOVE these ‘pop-top’ clear plastic containers to store my baking ingredients in! I’ve used them for YEARS. They keep bugs out, air out and keep my ingredients fresher longer. Plus they’re great for coffee too!
I like the newest style that has scoops for baking ingredients. Or check out this multi-sized set - I use all kinds of sizes in my pantry. So handy!
Pro Tip: If I don’t use an ingredient all up for a long time (like chickpea flour), then you can put the filled ‘pop-top’ boxes in the fridge, like an overflow extra garage fridge.
Fridge storage:
This brand has been around for years. I remember it as a little girl. Today, I enjoy their modern-day food storage that stacks easily in the fridge and nests with each other in my cabinets, saving valuable storage space.
I like to use the flat rectangle version for left-over meals and large items, and the round, taller version are great for soups.
You can use these glass storage containers in the fridge or freezer (just be sure to label frozen food because when it freezes, it often ends up looking unrecognizable). Bonus: they’re microwave and dishwasher safe too!
Pro tip: If you’re concerned about using plastic containers, these glass storage solutions are perfect. They do have flexible plastic lids, but the food doesn’t touch the lids so no worries there
3. label it
If we can’t see the food, or read what’s inside a container, we don’t eat it or use it up. Is that how it goes in your house too? Argh! The food goes bad and frustration galore ensues!
You could write on a zip-top bag with a permanent marker, stick some masking tape on it and use a marker, or for longer-term storing, I like to label it with a fancy label maker.
We’ve had our label maker for a long time and it’s so handy for lots of uses! Because ours is so old it’s not available anymore so I found a handheld one just like it here. Be sure to get extra tape if you’re re-doing a whole pantry!
4. Cook at home more often (this Solution has a Triple Benefit!)
Cooking at home more often means you’ll be using up the food you buy at the grocery store. This isn’t calculus. Totally makes easy sense. When you cook meals, you eat the food, and it doesn’t go moldy.
Dining out is more costly than cooking at home. Again, not calculus.
It’s no secret that prices are going up, especially at restaurants. Restauranteurs and staff need to make a living for sure. So we want to support them when we can. Dining out is a great form of entertainment while also supporting hard-working men and women!
Pro Tip: Plan ahead for when you'll be dining out, and be sure to either consume the food at home or freeze it to enjoy later. Not all food freezes well (ah-hem, lettuce), so consider what’s freezable and what’s not and eat the non-freezable food first if possible.
Benefit #1: Cooking at home more often saves you money. Groceries are cheaper than restaurant meals (plus tips!)
Benefit #2: Cooking at home reduces food waster, and thus wasted money.
Benefit #3: Cooking at home more often improves your health. Restaurants often use LOTS of salt, sugar and oil, which all do human health no favor.
> When you control the quantity, quality and method of cooking, you also control the impact on your health. Of course, I always advocate for a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet, but even small consistent changes toward a WFPB eating pattern make significant improvements in health.
> Check out this client testimonial video of Anne, whose husband also started changing his diet in small ways that made a BIG impact. Their stories are powerful!
Cooking classes are empowering!
Learn how to cook health-promoting WFPB recipes at home!
categories: #organization #storage #cook-at-home #savemoney