6 Tips for Reducing Food Waste

I like to keep it real on here and the fact of the matter is, sometimes Chris and I waste food. We don’t always pay attention to expiration dates or we eat out when we have food that is perishable in the fridge. 

In 2020 we’ve made more of an effort to reduce food waste because we were growing tired of throwing away food and ultimately throwing away money. I’d also like to mention that there are tons of food-insecure people in the world and it was weighing on my conscious that we couldn’t seem to be good stewards of the blessings we had. So we started implementing small changes to ensure that we waste less food. Here are my top tips for eliminating food waste. 

Meal plan/prep- 

Meal planning and/or prepping is a popular way to ensure you are only buying food you know you will eat. I used to be the queen of meal prep but I gave it up in favor of meal planning for a variety of reasons. Now, we meal plan. We make note of exactly what we will eat and only buy the ingredients necessary to eat those meals. This also takes the guesswork out of “what do you want to eat tonight.”

Make meals with similar ingredients-

When planning your meals, try to make meals with similar ingredients. This is especially helpful with perishable or obscure ingredients. For example, if I know that I will be making a dish with kale, but it only uses half the bag, I aim to find other dishes that include kale so that I don’t waste it.

 Freeze that ish-

 You will be surprised by how many things can be frozen. If you have a dish or ingredient that you haven’t used, consider freezing it. The key is to label the container or bag with exactly what is in there, what date you put it in there, and when it should be eaten by. I tend to freeze things with my reusable Ziploc bags but in a pinch, a regular freezer bag will do. 

Keep an organized fridge-

I can’t stress this enough. Keeping an organized fridge allows you to know exactly what you have. I try to put items that need to be eaten  ASAP towards the front of the fridge so we can reach for those first.  I’ve even seen some people have a refrigerator bin that says “Eat Me” or “Eat First.”

Multiple trips to the store- 

This isn’t feasible for everyone but this has significantly cut down on our food waste. We are privileged to live fairly close to multiple grocery stores with multiple price points and we both pass a few grocery stores on our way home from work. It takes us only a few minutes to pop in the store and grab what we may need for a few days vs. trying to meal plan and grocery shop for an entire week. 

Learn tips and tricks to keep perishable items fresh-

Utilize Google or Pinterest to find ways to keep perishable items fresh longer. Some herbs last longer in water, some root vegetables do better in your pantry vs. the fridge. I don’t pretend to be an expert in any of this, I just utilize the little computer in my hand to gain knowledge. A little bit of research can go a long way.

I hope these tips help you as you aim to eliminate food waste!

Stay Sassy,

Stephanie