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

[SundayFunday555]

Intrigued as to what is deemed as a good amount and how people get to zero.

We can’t afford to waste food. We’re just really careful. Check dates, store food properly, plan meals around what needs eating soonest. Save leftovers and store properly. Have nights when we eat all the leftovers. The main things in our food recycling bin are tea bags, coffee, egg shells, hardened fat from meat, fruit and veg peels and (annoyingly to me) the ends of a loaf of bread. I’ll often slice the end thinner and then eat that too to stop that being wasted.

if things are on the “way out” I’ll look up if there’s a way to refresh them or will find a way to eat them.

we plan ahead for shopping based on what we already have and what needs used first.

Very little. I meal plan to avoid having too much, but obviously it happens, then I either freeze, eat or make soup from anything getting a bit old. I buy frozen veg if I think fresh won’t last or get used quickly enough.

I had to find this out the hard way because DH is laid off for 2 months at the beginning of the year so only one income coming into the house.
Leftover overcooked rice or risotto - make arancini. Put a tiny bit of mozzarella or a cube of any cheese in the middle. Roll in flour then egg then breadcrumbs (honestly cheap supermarket breadcrumbs are best) fry and eat with salad and garlic bread.
if you have an air fryer it’s fantastic for making croutons, cube stale bread and pop in for 5-10 minutes. You can freeze them and refresh in the air fryer again.
carrots - carrot cake! Freeze if uniced.
bananas - the best banana bread is with brown bananas as the sugars come out.
bits of leftover chill, put in wraps with some veg and that half tin of beans, cover with cheese sauce and bake.
I’ve got some dodgy potatoes that need using up, will make fishcakes for DD and probably put the rest in a soup.
also some peppers, cherry tomatoes and red onions so might make shakshuka (sp?) with that, just needs some eggs cracked in towards the end, will serve with warm bread (from the freezer, DD works in a bakery). We actually have way too much bread and I need to think of more ways to use it!

@HoraceCope , not really. You can keep it going by chopping ends rather than stalks. If you stand the base in a tiny bit of water it doesn't go off as quickly.
Same with spring onions and leeks

bits of leftover chilli, put in wraps with some veg and that half tin of beans, cover with cheese sauce and bake.
This. Own brand beans are fine for this.

Chop finely and freeze. Then use in bolognese, soups, etc.

Always surprised how many people on here don't have a freezer.

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have one and my friends/family are generally less affluent than the MN demographic.

Also going back to the post about baked beans, Ive got some pots in the freezer at the moment of black beans that I cooked up with herbs and spices, peppers, onions etc, froze them in portions

They're perfect, very tasty

So I dont see why you couldnt freeze left over baked beans.

I freeze leftover baked beans, also tinned tomatoes and chopped up peppers and put them in a 'use up' chilli when I'm trying to clear the freezer out.

Veg that is fruit - courgettes, tomatoes,peppers, aubergines etc - keep for longer in a veg rack in a cool dry place.

It's not always about money. We didn't have a freezer when we lived in a flat in Bath due to space. It was a long thin kitchen with an under-counter fridge with a (tiny) freezer drawer that could fit ice cubes and a box of lollies.

Forgot to mention, you can cook lentils/beans with the 'bottom of the fridge' veg. Follow the instructions, then add the veg according to how much time they need.
My 'go to's are green or brown lentils or mung beans.

Same except we only shop once a week. I only buy what we need and freeze anything left over. If vegetables start getting past their best I'll make soup and freeze it. I parboil potatoes, roll them in oil and freeze them. Peelings etc in the compost bin. If, for some reason, we're left with more bread than we're going to eat I'll slice it and freeze it for toast.

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

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

The greengrocers where I am are good.

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.

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

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.

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

DC have flown the nest, @TheWineoftheChicken .

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.

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.

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

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.

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.