How much food do you waste,if none how do you manage that?

Oh I do. My DD is not fussy but her appetite varies hugely. One day she will eat a huge bowl of pasta, next practically nothing in comparison. I co-parent so she can have 5 days away from me so I often can’t keep her leftovers.

Tonight she ate half her usual pizza quantity as she’s been ill. But we’re not eating at home again until Monday so it will be thrown. It is what it is. Next month she’ll eat all the pizza- I can’t predict it.

Sometimes she will eat 3 portions of fruit in a sitting, another less than half. I live a 40 min round trip from shops so have to buy plenty in but i rarely have “just enough”, it’s always too much or not enough.

It was far easier when cooking for 2 adults and a child somehow.

It depends what you mean by food waste OP.

Technically banana skins can be made into chutney, so is it a waste to throw them away?

If so, then yes I do waste food. But as little as possible.

Bread crusts get saved and left to dry out for days and even weeks in a bowl on top of the bread bin. When the bowl is full I whizz them onto breadcrumbs and freeze them to be used for meatballs, breaded chicken, fish cakes etc.

Cauliflower and broccoli leaves and stems are used to make soups.

I make pesto from wilting salad leaves.

I peel and freeze black bananas and any other squidgy fruits for smoothies or jam.

I try not to peel veggies but if I do peel them (eg my kids prefer mash with no bits of peel in it - fine) I sometimes turn the peels into crisps by popping them in the oven with some oil, salt and pepper.

If something is about to go off, I cook it and freeze it if I can’t eat it that day. I’m pretty free and easy with best before and use by dates. If it smells fine it probably is fine.

Our fridge is always full of tupperwares of leftovers. Somehow we always get through them all.

I am pretty organised with meal planning. I love cooking and I love the creative challenge of finding ways to use up leftovers. And after I’ve spent so long making something (and it’s delicious) that’s inventive not to throw it away.

We meal plan so are pretty good, but always end up with bread out for the birds. I only ever eat it at the weekend - bacon sandwich! - and it tends to get stale before DP finishes a loaf. (I know we could freeze it but we don’t usually have space.) I make a lot of soups with suspect veg, and we freeze leftovers or take them for lunches to work.

We definitely fill the green caddy with teabags though.

Yeah I once spent 2 years living in a flat (in Paris) where we didn’t have space for a freezer or a washing machine or tumble dryer. The kitchen was 1m by 1m, and other than I just had a tiny bathroom and a bedroom/living room/everything else! We had a tiny freezer section at the top of the fridge.

My dinners are often based around what needs eating first; I decide what to cook around whatever is approaching the end of its life. If there are leftovers, they are eaten for lunch within a day or two. The only stuff in our food waste bin is used teabags, cofffee grouts and fruit and veg peel.

Yes I was giving my view, sometimes its not possible but if it is, then personally I would try to prioritise.

Like another poster, we havent got a tumbledrier but have a fridge freezer out the back and an undercounter fridge and undercounter freezer in the kitchen. Both full to the brim.

There wasn't "somewhere else". It was the upstairs of a tiny Georgian house. No hallway even. People tend to just accept what's there for a 1 year rental contract. It's not that uncommon here in Georgian buildings to have very small appliances.

Our kitchen caddy food waste bin is always full before weekly bin day, but only with fruit and veg peelings, eggshells, etc., and if I’ve boiled up a chicken carcass for stock, there‘ll be even more.

Peppers I find last ages in the fridge but you're right about courgettes

Tomatoes I find go mouldy in their stalky bits if they're not in the fridge but like you, I do not like fridged toms, a crime.

@likelysuspect , You'll be surprised. Peppers and courgettes go slimy in the fridge quickly. Toms taste better not refrigerated.

I do have a wire fruit basket actually, rarely any fruit in there as I dont really eat fruit. I have lemons and limes and oranges for cooking, and the cleaner throws them away regularly if she spots they've been there for a few weeks, nothing worng with them at all. Shes another one!

I will try out the cucumbers and report back in a few weeks, Im not convinced they'll survive out of the fridge but we'll see. Our kitchen is very cold.

Get a wire fruit bowl/basket and put it somewhere cool and dry.
e.g.
Fruit Bowls - Kitchen Storage | The Range

Don't keep bananas in the same bowl.

I dont have a veg rack!!!

They're a bit better if I keep them in the door, the door is the warmest part of any fridge.

@likelysuspect , keep cucumbers in the veg rack not the fridge.

I spoke too soon about how my personal food waste is very low, the dreaded slimy cucumber has struck

Got my mini cucumbers out and they've gone mushy and slimy. There was only 3 left in the tray, so now they're in the bin

I think my fridge is too cold and it freezes cucumbers and Ive noticed it happens with spinach too, which I dont buy any more as too much bother

Its on the lowest setting but still does it.

Virtually none. I meal plan so only buy stuff I know I'm going to need/use. I religiously make shopping lists so never buy anything random which I find is where waste often arises. For meat, fruit and veg, I buy "loose" rather than in pre-packs, so tend not to have any surplus to throw away - i.e. I eat an orange every day, so only buy 7 per week rather than a bag of maybe 8/10, some of which may go off if not eaten within the week.

If I've a couple of eggs left over from a box, I'll have scrambled egg or an omelette for breakfast to use them up before they go off. When making meals, I "plate up" rather than use serving dishes, and only put the "right" amount of food on each plate, so work backwards, i.e. if I think we all need 3 small roast potatoes and there are 4 of us, I only cook 12!

I think the only thing we regularly throw away is the odd slice of bread from the loaf when it starts to go stale or an inch or two from the milk container when it starts to acquire a faint smell.

I "rotate" everything with use by/sell by dates whether fresh, frozen, tinned or packets, by putting anything new I buy behind them on the shelf etc., so can't remember the last time I came across a packet/tin that had gone out of date and needed throwing away.

Our food waste "caddy" is literally just fruit/veg peelings, egg shells, the odd crust from the loaf of bread, fat/skin from meat I cook, etc. Maybe, there's the odd "left over" from the plate at a meal time where someone hasn't eaten everything, but it's usually minimal as I tend to cook smaller portions rather than larger ones.

DC have flown the nest, @TheWineoftheChicken .

I do the potato hack too so I can have quick air fryer roast potatoes.

Our council has food waste caddies. Mine always has banana skins, peelings, eggshells, teabags etc.

Some actual food is wasted each week thanks to very picky autistic teens who suddenly hate whatever they were devouring the week before. I try not to waste food, and put leftovers in soup.

I’m massively impressed that no one else on MN has kids who leave food on their plates! Even if I serve a standard size portion of a food I know they like, one of my kids will invariably leave something. I’ve never insisted on clearing plates so we will have some food waste.
I also often get an uneaten quarter of a cheese sandwich (for example) come home in a packed lunch box.

If I have half a tin of coconut milk left I'll freeze that.

You can also freeze cheese including feta and cream cheese. I usually grate a whole block of cheddar and freeze it for use in cooking.

We have two freezers but no tumble dryer.

The greengrocers where I am are good.

I would have put a fridge freezer somewhere else if Im honest

These days, you simply cannot access portions of food in the supermarkets which allow for single or small portions.

I have one greengrocer here and its extortionate so I dont go there.

Its difficult to buy what you actually need and no more so a freezer is a priority

Always surprised how many people on here don't have a freezer.
They use a lot of electricity and my kitchen isn't big.