Food waste: how to cut down

[Lentilweaver]

How much food do you waste? I am trying to reduce mine. A number of factors. We are vegetarian and eat a lot of fruit as well, and these days I find fruit or veg goes off really fast. ( Tesco or Sainsburys shop) Then unforeseeable factors, like this week DD had norovirus and couldn't eat much. Then next week, DH is out a lot but didn't tell me so I ordered the usual veggies he likes. Sometimes bread or cheese also goes to waste despite my best planning efforts.

Strategies I have thought of:
(1) Turn the old fruit into smoothies
(2) Buy frozen veg ( we have limited freezer space though so can't do too much of this).
(3) Batchcook and freeze ( again see above though).
Other tips?

Bread, cheese, herbs, garlic, (grated) ginger etc - buy frozen or bung in freezer when going off.

if you are routinely left with food at the end of the week, buy/make/plan for one less meal a week and have a leftovers meal on the last day instead.

Bananas - you can freeze them while (in skin) or peeled & sliced. Can be used in smoothies, ice cream, pancakes, banana bread etc. You can even make double banana bread & freeze that.

Berries - not really in season now, so probably best avoided unless frozen. Focus on apples, oranges, grapes etc which keep longer.

Okra/eggplant - don't eat it, so can't comment

mushrooms - should keep for 2wks if stored properly. Make sure they're not kept wrapped in plastic, either remove plastic wrapper or store in a paper bag

coriander/mint - buy a plant & keep on window sill? Or chop & freeze.

spring onions - these don't go off for several weeks, the outer layer may dry out, but just peel down

Herbs, buy the living plants, they do just fine on a windowsill.

My biggest tip is to meal plan for 6 nights out of 7. This allows for those nights when the plan changes and you eat out, don't fancy more than cheese and crackers etc and if none of those things happen gives you a great opportunity to use up odds and end or left overs. Having a good store cupboard helps. I can always manage to rustle up something from the store cupboard or freezer if needed.

Also, what do you usually have for lunch? Lunch is my go to for using up the odds and ends.

I usually do a main shop and then at least one top up for fresh salad stuff and veg. However, in lockdown I had to minimise the number of shops so had to find ways to use longer lasting veg. Root veg were usefully as they last well, but I also used things like butternut squash, leeks, tinned sweetcorn, tinned bamboo shoots and water chestnuts for stir fries, I also used hard fruit like apples in salads as well as pickled veg.

Thanks so much for all these tips. A lot of them are things I used to do but I think my brain has broken in the pandemic, and I needed to remind myself.Am doing better this week and hoping to meal plan more effectively.

How are you buying mint and coriander - in a cut bunch? Try storing it in a cup of water in the fridge. Or if it is a small bunch in a plastic packet, open it up and put some kitchen roll inside. Are you shopping yourself, or getting delivery? If shopping, are you looking for the best/latest use by dates?

I freeze a lot of left over/old fruit and veg:
Bananas - for smoothies or banana cake
Apples, pears, plums, berries - for pies, crumble - even jam
Left over cooked veg, old veg, left over tinned veg and baked beans, brocolli stalks - all in a freezer bag, then turned into soup at some point. Served with crumble from left over fruit, this feels like a free meal.