I feel like I'm wasting food when I buy too many fruits and veggies...?!
I feel like meals have to be more planned out, less room for unplanned changes. I buy fresh fruits and veggies and then say our plans get altered or whatever and then we end up wasting something because it goes bad before I have a chance to cook it. Same with fruit... you can only eat so many bananas before you want something different, and they all go bad at the same time...
I know I can buy less, but then the opposite happens and I don't have enough later in the week...
I know this is a lifestyle change, but it seems harder, I guess thats why I fight it so much. Prepared food can sit in your cabinet for awhile and you can pull it out and make it whenever you need, no matter how your plans change. (I'm not saying its better, just easier...)
How do you not waste fresh fruits and veggies?
Answers: (In combination with my other question about beginning to have more of a vegetarian lifestyle.)
I feel like meals have to be more planned out, less room for unplanned changes. I buy fresh fruits and veggies and then say our plans get altered or whatever and then we end up wasting something because it goes bad before I have a chance to cook it. Same with fruit... you can only eat so many bananas before you want something different, and they all go bad at the same time...
I know I can buy less, but then the opposite happens and I don't have enough later in the week...
I know this is a lifestyle change, but it seems harder, I guess thats why I fight it so much. Prepared food can sit in your cabinet for awhile and you can pull it out and make it whenever you need, no matter how your plans change. (I'm not saying its better, just easier...)
How do you not waste fresh fruits and veggies?
Well, there are several things you can do to create less waste:
1. Some fruits and veggies can be frozen and thawed and used later.
2. Make banana bread and other breads or other baked items
3. Learn how to preserve by canning
4. Bring them to work and share if you know they are going to go bad.
5. Compost! This is the easiest one. Instead of throwing them away, put them in a compost bin or pile and let them nurture the garden.
Just buy a few and pop over to the store if you run out later in the week.
eat all u buy
buy a rabbit, he will love the veg. not too sure about fruit. maybe you could make smoothies with them when you notice there are loads left to be eaten in one day.
I force myself to use ingredients when they are fresh. Sometimes I spend a whole day cooking just to use up "inventory" and prepare dishes that I freeze for later. If I have lots of fruit, I make a fruit salad. That usually goes pretty quick in my house (4 of us).
Focus most on the perishable veggies since the root vegetables and the winter squash can live until the next ice age.
How about cooking them well and inviting some people ?
just because you don't buy it, doesn't guarantee that someone else will buy it, so it might go bad anyway.
in any case, it just seems that you need to better manage your situation, which requires discipline on your part.
My staples for fruits and veggies are the ones that have a longer shelf life (apples instead of bananas, celery instead of cucumbers). I will buy more perishable fruits and veggies, but only when I know that I will be using them.
Also, if I notice that something is about to go (not already) bad then I make a little something out of it. I'll mix strawberries and bananas and then freeze them for a yummy (and healthy) treat later. Or I'll cut up my tomatoes and then seal them in Gladware to toss into a sauce the next day or to turn into salsa.
Hope this helps!! Good luck with your healthier lifestyle!
Why dont you use your fruits by combining them to make delicious smoothies- you could mix strawberries with kiwi or bananas with papaya and oranges and add yoghurt to it- its ideal for breakfast! As for your veggies- use them to make a variety of soups, which you can freeze and re-heat as you need it. That way it wont go to waste and you could make as much or as little as you want. Good luck! :-)
Buy less fresh and more frozen and canned fruits/veggies. I know they aren't as good as fresh, but at least they'll last! Use up your fresh earlier in the week.
As for bananas - they aren't ruined when they turn black! You can peel them and put them in the freezer indefinately and use them for banana bread. They may look nasty but they make the best banana bread ever when they are black and mushy. :)
When the bananas get a bit brown, you can still use them for making banana bread. It freezes well. In many countries where refrigeration is a problem, they buy daily. However, with our busy schedules, this would be a problem. Just buy a bit less of the fruits and veges that tend to spoil more quickly, and eat what you have of the others. You can also buy the bananas while they are still green. They will last a while longer.
What i do is i take frequent quick trips to the grocery store instead of one big cart filling trip the way most people do. Its really the best way to keep the freshest fruits and veggies around.
I used to be vegetarian untill my doctor made me stop, I dont like meat but because of my rare blood type I must eat it, (dont worry unless chances are less than 1 in a million on this) Anyways I was veggetarian and didnt have the headache you seem to be having either, when I made meals Id make them big and tuperware the rest for later on, I bought fruit that would last a while in bulk and only a few fastly perishable foods, I got alot of fruits and veggies in jars that were good too (I dont mean like del monte btw -althought you could go that route, I used to shop around and you can find stores that sell fresh in house made veggies or fruits in bottles that will last a couple weeks (I know this is alot of shopping around but once you know your options you wont have this problem later on
Everyone wastes at some point, no avoiding it. You could give away uneaten fruit to the birds or squirrels outside, and cook the veg and then store it after it's cold in the fridge. Cooked veg in a plastic bag will last a little while and can be added to soup. As soon as you notice the food is going to waste, do something about it.
First of all, welcome to the modern world. Where you cannot just stop at the market on the way home and get everything fresh like they do in other countries.
My wife is from China and she found it very odd that people only go shopping for food every week or two -- yuck, old food!! She lived in the city, but everything was bought fresh that day... the chicken killed and plucked right in front of you in about 30 seconds, veggies straight from the farm etc. They only had a very small fridge for condiments I think.
So, for us, our priority is with our garden. Fruit and veggies from the store is WAY over priced, imported, old, low quality, and of few varieties. Our garden is packed full of all sorts of great stuff that cannot even be bought at the stores. Varieties of carrots, beets, beans, etc. that taste so much better than those bland ones at the store. So, I say, get into gardening. Backyard, community garden, rooftop, balcony, can be done anywhere. Masanobu Fukuoka's book One Straw Revolution is a good book to get you started. It will put you in the right frame of mind.
Keeping veggies in the fridge for a week can be a pain. When we were buying veggies we used these veggie bags:
American website: http://www.evertfresh.com/
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/evertf...
As you can see, they are expensive!! Marketed to health crowd they jack up the price. We were in the Japanese store and saw the same thing with a Japanese lady on the front instead a of a Caucasian and the were only $3 a pack!!! These bags work great and you can just wash them and reuse. Get the largest size -- other sizes useless. Put a bag on both ends of your vegetables, such as bunch of kale. You can likely find them cheap at other Asian stores too.
There are other veggie bags that just have little holes in the plastic... doesn't work. Use the above mentioned ones. Bananas can be peeled and frozen.
Once per week I inventory what is going bad or about to turn, then I cook.
Leftover fruit can be made into breads, tarts, or muffins perfect for lunches and snacks.
Many left over veggies will be roaster or grilled and turned into soups (which freeze well, and are perfect for a dinner in a pinch), home made hummus, pasta sauce or a vegetable strata,
Another tip I find useful is instead of buying veggies which do not cook or save well, switch over to a more versatile fruit or veggie. Lettuce is a culprit. I still have no idea what to do with left over lettuce, however by switching to a more versatile leafy green like spinach I can use it many ways both cooked and raw.
when bananas get browner than i like them, i freeze them for banana bread, i also freeze most all of my fresh produce. they're mushy when you defrost them, but if you use them in recipes, then they're not wasted. like, frozen raspberries in a cake, or frozen berries in a smoothie. i freeze peppers slices up to use in sauces. i dont think tomatoes freeze well tho.