To feel sad about food waste

[Heckneck]

Do I just buy frozen from now on? Use by dates are so short, I've just had to chuck prawns, two pizzas and a pack of sausages in the bin because they've gone two days past their use by and I daren't risk it. How do you all prevent this? If I spot something I usually freeze it but I've completely forgotten to do that this time.

I just ignore dates, and if it smells OK, is use it.

I always take the use by dates with a pinch of salt. Smell it.

Don’t buy as much?

I find meal planning very much helps to reduce waste.

Meal plan. I get my shopping delivered and either freeze or eat within a couple of days anything with short use by dates.

I only buy for the week. I just daren't risk my kids getting poorly. Think I'll just buy frozen from now on or freeze on day of purchase.

Meal planning is your friend. I waste far less when I know I can use what food what day.

Don't you check when you buy/ unpack? E.g., if sausages are for Friday night and you buy them on Monday, either pick up a long dated pack in store, or freeze when you get in? I don't see how the dates are a surprise to you!

Why don't you just put things in the freezer yourself if you think they're not going to get used in time? Meantime, have a rough plan for when good that you buy would get eaten instead of just filling your trolley.

You don't need to risk your kids getting poorly, you just need to be more organised.

You can't do a weeks food shop and shove a weeks worth of meat in the fridge - some stuff is bound to have use by dates less than 7 days.

Do your shop, unpack, put meat for the next 2 days in the fridge and freeze the rest.

Unloading your shopping into either the fridge or the freezer is a pretty fundamental thing. You might be feeling sad, but this is something you can very easily remedy.

I'd have chucked the prawns, cooked the sausages and had them cold in sandwiches and had the pizzas for tea tonight (unless they had seafood on them).

As pps have said, meal planning is the way to go, and if for some reason you don't manage to eat what you were planning on a certain evening put it straight in the freezer.

I hate food waste too. I felt really bad this week as I threw out 3 yoghurts. I'd have been devastated to throw out as much as you had to but I agree with you that you don't want to risk your children being sick.
I freeze what I can, obviously meal plan (who doesn't as what is the alternative), and I have the shopping delivered every other week. Both Morrisons and Ocado give you your shopping list in date order so it lists what goes off first at the top. I put it on the fridge door. I also only plan and order 3 meals a week, as I find leftovers are enough for the rest of the week, otherwise I find myself with a never emptying fridge as it is perpetually refilled with leftovers. Today I am making cheese pie as the cheese is best before yesterday.

Yogurts are off milk though?

Yeah I don't know why I didn't freeze them to be honest. Lesson learnt though.

You don't have to "take a chance" with feeding yogurt past its sell by date to children. That's one thing where it's obvious if it's off or not. We've eaten yogurts way past their sell by dates. Or best before or whatever the relevant one is.

Food is very short dated I have but why don't you bung it in the freezer I think most people do that meat lasts for months.

I meal plan and waste very little. The chickens get all the crusts and left over cereal from my wasteful babies.

My mum agonises about short dates and sometimes goes back to the supermarket later on in the week. Her freezer is bigger than mine and she keeps chips ,veg and maybe a frozen pizza in it 😕

The pizza and sausages would've been more than likely fine to still use. The prawns not so much.

I guess I combat this by freezing things. My shopping was delivered yesterday and first thing I do is portion my chicken into freezer bags and write what dishes they are for with a sharpe, mince is also frozen straight away as those are always the first to go bad. I'll keep an eye on sausages, bacon etc and if it's not used a day before use by dates then it's popped in the freezer. If I do lax a bit I will go by smell, I've eaten plenty of meat products after use by date, the more processed or cured meats last a little longer I've found.

Veg is also chopped and frozen into bags if it's looking a little wilted. My biggest food waste is probably bread.

Yeah, an expensive lesson learnt there.

Easily avoided with a bit of meal planning, and a freezer.

And pizzas can always be cooked, and cut up cold for packed lunches.

It’s very annoying! I’ve found food isn’t lasting as long anymore (could be because of my bargain shopping) and have to be more careful with checking dates as a guide and the. meal planning mentally when I unpack the shopping.

Have a food waste bin is great for seeing where you are wasting food and cutting back on the waste

But please ignore the dates written on packets and go by sight/smell/common sense. You are more likely to get ill eating something like chicken/prawns that’s in date that’s gone off because it’s been out the fridge too long or not unpacked properly in the supermarket than you are eating a burger that’s two days “out of date” and that’s been looked after well.

AIBU to feel sad about food waste
I've just had to chuck prawns, two pizzas and a pack of sausages in the bin because they've gone two days past their use by and I daren't risk it.

Well, yes YABU if you're not checking the food properly and just throwing it out anyway. Dates are a relatively new phenomenon and you can tell if things are actually off by smell and feel. If you're chucking out food that you've not even opened to investigate YABU

Yoghurt lasts for bloody ages. You can tell if it's gone yucky because it swells up. The rest of the stuff is fine if it look and smells fine. It's the people chucking stuff out as soon as it hits the use by date that are a huge part of the waste problem

I'd have only chucked the prawns the sausages and pizza would have likely been fine you can tell by looking and smelling.
I only ever use dates as a rough guide.

Ready meals!