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.

What get's left on plates which varies from day to day. Nothing else. We have a compost bin to take anything that is past it's best in the veg and fruit dept but there isn't much of that either.

Not much i don't menu plan as such but tend to do a shop based around what we have in already.

I could fed another family with the stuff we throw out when I don't meal plan.

And I only meal plan occasionally when I remember.

Am v "busy" (aka disorgainised)

We don't throw out much because we never go by use/sell by dates but by whiff test.

Most of the fruit we buy is tinned and the veg frozen.

I never menu plan.

I know the governments studies say British people throw out too much food but I think it's fucking rich of Brown to again go after the little guy and tell them off for throwing out food whilst a) making NO mention of the waste from supermarkets and restaurants and other businesses b) using that as a stick to beat individuals with, as if they're somehow to blame for his monumental fuck ups. Just goes to show how far he's got his head up his backside.

This is a great web site.

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

expat - that's just what i was thinking, the absolutely sinful amounts of food that supermarkets act as though they have to waste in order to avoid poisoning hte lot of us. makes me want to cry.

We always eat strawberries on the day I buy them, they don't last very long in this house.

I can't afford to be flippant about food. I had heard that there was a ridiculous amount of ready meals being thrown out which I don't understand. Fair enough if you have a bruised peach (madam!) or squished courgette but a ready meal? That is beyond lazy.

I plan a week worth of menus and it isn't so much today is Tuesday so it must be x. I have easy ready in minute meals and ones I can take my time over and sort it out like that. I was brought up never to waste food, I would imagine that this idea of Scots being mean has something to do with our distaste for throwing things away but then, who has been proven right?

What is it with the houmous? We always seem to be throwing out houmous, even though DD would happily inhale it. The other thing that I'm always throwing out is the houmous's natural companion, the cucumber. Squishy cucumber, .

Other than that, it does tend to be fruit and veg round here. Don't think I've ever thrown out a tin* or a jar, and ready meals have only gone that way when I've really screwed up and misread a use-by date.

• except that tin of Chicken & Garlic soup which seemed like a good idea until the moment I paid for it, then went off the idea and carried it around for several years and several house moves

Hummus is made from chickpeas. The bean family. they are high in carbs and proteins. Add the olive oil (?) and bacteria find it a perfect medium in which to grow.

The way i make this sort of stuff last longer is to always use clean utensils when dipping out some. they are quite prone to cross contamination.

I throw out a bit as sadly we don't have a composter or even a garden.

I try and meal plan which usually works really well, but often don't find the time/inclination. I d freeze lots of things though, including bread crumbs, and I usually make extra portions of things like curry or stew for freezing or the next day. And for the first time last weekend I made chicken stock myself!

The stuff we throw away is usually DDs food that she has picked as, irretrievable after she has thrown her water cup everywhere!

I'm fairly lax about use by dates though, I can make houmous last a while, scrape mould off cheese, and my cartons of natural yogurt stick around longer than they should . Potatoes are something we throw away quite often. There usually aren't individual ones in the supermarkets and we never get through a whole bag. I did read they they can be quite dangerous to eat once green, and they go spongy.

DH hates reheated leftovers, but I will often take them into work. On the whole I think we are pretty good. I get pretty upset if I have to throw things away, Such a waste and gutted I can't compost.

I think learning to eat reheated lefotvers is critical.

It really is.

DH hated them at first, but we really can't afford to throw food away.

He just had to adjust.

When I first got here I didn't know the first thing about hanging washing outside to dry but I had to get with it because we can't afford to run the dryer.

Now, we make a large batch of a meal and then use it for lunches during the week - more filling than a sandwich, too, and you're less inclined to eat out at work, which will up your food bill PDQ.

some foods taste better as left overs don't they?

I make a massive pot of kidney beans for example and as long as it is looked after, tastes better on day 2 and 3. Chilli con carne, refried beans with cheese or bacon for breakfast, burritos or just on its own with tortillas.... Jalapenos, yum.

I also make curry by cutting up a whole chicken. I love chewing on the bones on day 2 and onwards as the gravy penetrates the bones by then.

table manners are optionalwhen you come to mine.

for sandwich fillings for picnics, i blitz pieces of cold roast chicken in the food processor with celery and onion.

add in mayo, a spoonful or two of curry paste and a spoonful or two of apricot jam.

scrummy rolled into a tortilla, too and cut into wheels, to fill a wee pitta, or on bagels.

i was also brought up in a home where food wasn't wasted - my parents were children during WWII rationing and on top of that my father's family were quite poor so food was always precious.

i will be stealing that recipe and calling it mine to my friends expat. sounds like my kind of cooking.

ahem, can i brag here that i make my tortillas from scratch?

where do you find the maize in bulk, kis?

my mother makes all hers, but she lives in Houston where maize in bulk abounds.

i tried to make flour ones, but they were AWFUL!

I had 10 lbs of maize in bulk brought from the US the last time a friend visited. I am down to my last pound at the moment.

come to mine expat, i'll teach you how to make flour ones.

in fact, wanna start a thread in cooking and we can maybe thrash out the details online. the store bought ones are so rubbish in comparison. Actually, the best store bought ones i have ever has was from.....Lidl! I was [shocked]. A german shop of all places.

should i start it in food or recipes?

yes! i want to master hte art of tortilla making!

my mother's an awful teacher because she does this pinch of this, pinch of that business that she learned from my dad's mother, who only rarely used recipes.

she gets those big bags of maiz from a big Latin American supermarket called Fiesta and uses the lid to an old wooden stove burner as what we call a 'comal'.

my flour ones come out like little hockey pucks. even my sister laughs at them.

tortillas

fishnet - if you're reading this freeze some of the fruit. Prepare and wash it, pat dry, put on tray in freezer. When frozen put in bag. I've been doing this with fruit from the garden because we have had a good crop this year. I use a tupperware like container for the tray but with strawberries an ice cube tray might do it

Mumsnet has changed my life.

A few weeks ago I thought people who did menu plans were freaks. I mean, who would want to decide a week in advance what they were going to eat?

Now I MENU PLAN, I am spending £50 -£60 on an online shop instead of over £100. And I hardly throw anything away because it all has a purpose lol. Anything I do throw away goes into my super cool green cone in the garden.

I am a convert and I hate to say this but...

Thanks cod.

Having posted smugly on this yesterday, I now discover I have a whole packet of soup mix which is slightly out of date! So please bombard me with soup recipes, or alternatively tell me not to be so smug in future .