Friday, August 9, 2013

Food Waste Friday

We have been in serious money-saving mode.  We've stopped all eating out, and we'll be cutting DirecTV next month when our contract is up.  I've also been trying to keep our food costs as low as possible, without sacrificing quality.  This means stretching meals, being creative with food, and no waste.  To keep myself accountable, I'm taking inspiration from The Frugal Girl and am taking pictures of my wasted food every Friday.  She started this back in 2008 when she got sick of food waste - what a great idea!  So, without further ado...

FoodWasteFriday
This week, we cleaned out the pantry. The fridge gets cleaned out every Wednesday night in preparation for Thursday grocery shopping, so there wasn't much waste in there. The pantry was another story. 



Ok, from the pantry:

Cornstarch.  Huge box, don't use much.
CousCous.  Don't even remember buying this.  I'm not a big "box mix" person.
Honey.  It isn't expired, it's just all crystals and there's barely any in there.
Cream of Chicken Soup.  Ick.  Why do I have this?  I don't use it.
Fruit Cocktail.  Another mystery.
Minced Clams.  These I would have used, but they got pushed to the back.
Coffee.  Not a coffee drinker.  Don't even own a coffee pot.
Rice blend.  Again, got pushed to the back.

Fridge:

Couple of different chili sauces.  A little bit goes a long way.
Balsamic vinegar dressing.  Too many dressing choices means they go bad.
Salsa.  Not past the expiration date, but it got...weird.
Smucker's caramel sauce.  Ask the hubby, he's the reason we have it.
Pizza sauce.  Just used a little.
Tupperware under the caramel.  It's a booze mix that didn't keep well.

I guess it's not too bad for a big clean-out.

I pulled some stuff out of the pantry that's close to expiring.  It's in a tub on one of the open shelves of my kitchen so that I see it and use it.  Some of it went into lunch yesterday - a Nasi Goreng packet and a can of peas.  The rest of it will get used, I'm on a mission!