So many people struggle to find enough cash to feed their families well. According to Gallup, Americans spend $151 per week on their groceries. That figure may seem quite high to you, and you may even wonder where it all goes. Sadly, a lot of it ends up in the bin. Many of the foods we buy have a short shelf life. They spoil or become unsavory after just a few days. Food waste is a big problem, and it costs us money!
So how you can you avoid food waste, and will it really cut down your weekly food bill? Yes, you can, and yes, it will. All it takes is a little conscientious planning and a few tweaks to your lifestyle. You may find you can eat healthier too.
Menu
Planning your meals for the week ahead can help you to list your shopping items more carefully. If you know what you’ll eat each day, you can head to the supermarket or grocery store with a clear list of ingredients. Recipes usually detail the amounts or weight required of each ingredient too. However, it’s rare that you’ll find all of those ingredients packaged precisely in the amount you need! With some clever planning, you can choose two meals to use up the leftover food. Perhaps you can freeze the excess to use another time?
Batch Cooking
Batch cooking has become very popular with busy Moms. Cooking twice as much as you’ll eat in a single meal means you can freeze the extra portions to reheat quickly and easily another day. It’s cheaper on the gas as well as the food, because you can buy in bulk. It takes virtually no extra time cooking for 10 meals instead of 5 either. Best of all, it means those fresh ingredients can be cooked before their sell-by date.
Frozen Foods
Buying frozen vegetables is usually cheaper than grabbing from the fresh produce aisle. It is claimed that the vegetables are fresher when frozen too. After all, it can take several days for crops to arrive at the grocery store from the farm, but only minutes to freeze them there. When you buy frozen, the vegetables are often prepared, saving you time washing, peeling, and chopping. Best of all, you can dispense only what you need, without having to waste the rest. It won’t go off for months!
Use The Whole Fruit or Vegetable
We often chop fruits and vegetables and toss away the ends and peels. Our kitchen sinks have seen a fair share of wasted produce! A sink that chomps up the wasted veg could be a handy way of disposing of it. Another is to use that excess for composting. This could be a great way to feed your soil for growing your own vegetables!
Set up your kitchen to recycle or reuse your waste. You might go for a second sink bowl to wash your garden vegetables. An extending tap can be helpful here. Excess fruit flesh and vegetables can also be blended to make nutritious smoothies. Enjoy.
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