So, how much food do you chuck out?

[2sugars]

Have to say, if I - for examply - buy strawberries for dds one day and they don't want them, they're rank/soft the next. I could make an eton mess from them, but they'd still detect the softness. Or a smoothie. But nine times out of ten I don't.

I think - as I shop every day anyway - I've just got to get into the mindset of shopping for just that day.

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I don't throw out as much as I thought I did, it's mainly things like you say, strawberies, fruit the odd slices of bread.
I have got tougher on myself with the menu planning, and went through my Asda online list and it comes to £44.50 including delivery.

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We have got so much better at this. We do meal plan now, and usually have a shepherds pie (that uses up any random leftover veg) once a week... I made a carrot and lentil soup from very on-the-edge carrots, and a delicious crumble with some just-about-to-go pears and apples.

I quite like ready steady cook style cooking - find it quite fun to go 'ooh, what can we make with half a pint of cream, a courgette and some potatoes'...

Pruners, you have reminded me, we do have a pot of houmous thats nearly a week out of date though - will have to persuade dp and his iron stomach to take to work...

not much at all - it all gets eaten either by us or the dog [fat emoticon]

Ah, what it must be like to have children that eat most things

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That your strawberries get a chance to turn! My two (4 and 1) can polish off a whole box of strawberries in a day.

I used to throw away way too much food. Now as money is tighter I am much more careful. It is very easy to overbuy though. On the weeks that I try to plan meals there is not so much waste.

Bread is the main problem in here. It seems to go mouldy very quickly. Need to start freezing some.

we throw very little away, we happily eat veg/fruit that's past its best and compost what goes off, keep it in th firdge until its needed, always eat yoghurt beyond the sell by, I only shop once a week at most

I chuck out loads of veg. Ds (9 with AS) has lots of food issues and what he'll eat one day will be inedible the next, so it's hard to plan.

Have just dug out some soup recipes and plan to get sensible in using up our waste veg. Could do with losing a few pounds too .

We throw away heaps - children who are fussy eaters, me making mammoth portions, over buying etc.

The worst throw away expense here is my Dh and eldest daughter who ask me to buy them ready meals for when they don't want what the rest are eating. I buy them and then they are both too lazy to cook them and have cereal instead I have to be on alert every day to ensure I give my 'thrifty' friend the food before it's past it's sell by date.

We throw out lots of bread as everyone likes different types and quite a bit of fruit - no one will eat ripe bananas or pears.

When I was growing up money was tight and I often had to eat things that I would have rather not, now we have the money to spend and don't have worry, I feel that I don't need the stress of having to meal plan in order to not throw away too much.

If I did have to economise, it would kill me, my PIL use up everything and won't waste a thing. My kids and I can't even bear to eat there.

From reading these type of posts before, I have been awestruck by the recipes and ideas people have come up with for leftovers when needs must.

We don't throw away that much.
That 'past its sell by date' programme the other day, confirmed what I think. I think we throw away too much through paranoia. If a youghurt's date was yesterday, I still eat it.
I do plan for 2-3 days at a time. But I also regularly look look in the fridge and say, tonight we are having 3 sausages, a chicken breast , a few new potatoes, a bit of ... and some of that ... becasue thats what needs to be used up. Dh and ds don't seem to mind my 'bits and pieces dinners'. I think dh just likes the fact that a dinner is put infont of him.
Why don't others do that ?

I used to throw out loads, Me making too much dinner and family not wanting same meal 2 days running.

Now meal and portion plan, and freze all leftovers for DH's lunch, if small portion or as a second meal for the family.

Main stuff that is thrown away is inedible, Badly bruised potatoes, veg peelings, stalks etc.

All stale bread is now frozen for breadcrumbs.
Veg is made into soup.

Actually noticed yesterday my freezer used to be full of prepared meals/ convienience food.
Now its all these little bits and bobs to use up.
Definate change in attitude on my part

IMO very little
hummus does tend to go, doesn't it? I wonder why? I really fancy it but then not enough to eat the whole tub

we have so much fruit that I need to do a cull every week for manky bits left at bottom of fruit bowl (usually citrus) - probably a few pieces a week

and the odd bit of mystery veg or things like beetroot that we haven't got around to faffing with
usually do at least one meal a week using up stuff though, as mentioned already

Minding Mum, buy ready meals that are / can be frozen and then it doesn't matter if they don't get round to them

We have started meal planning again and it's great.
Every Monday is Sausage,
Tuesday is mince
Wednesday pasta
Thursday Jacket potato
Friday Fish
Saturday 'freezer' day
Sunday joint or corned beef

Then we plan the meal for the month and write it on a spreadsheet which we can keep and refer back to for ideas for the next month. We then do the monthly shop and know exactly what we need to buy.
It sounds anal, but it works for us

Tues for example is mince, so it could be burgers, meatloaf, spag bol, Shepherds pie chilli etc.
Any left overs are frozen for Jacket potato fillings or lunch boxes.

We buy mostly frozen veg so we don't have any wastage.

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Oh we waste a bit. Its very annoying.

I cannot menu plan. Its too organised for me. Unfortunately.

we don't freeze bread
we make it fresh when we need it

ok I say 'we'
it is dp

hehee

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Not boring for us, we just know where we are.
So ok, we don't have to have the same thing on set days of the week, we could change it round, but there are so many recipes and things to make it doesn't get boring.