When was the last time, you threw away some spoiled leftovers from the refrigerator that you forgot to consume?
We are all guity of this kind of food waste.
We as Homemakers don't like to waste food, I know that, but still, we end up wasting food inadvertently.
Well, it's never too late to stop doing that because the world needs us to play our part in solving this biiiig problem of food waste.
You know, More food is being wasted each year than is needed to feed all humans on this planet?
And food waste is as much responsible for the greenhouse damage as Transport is. This one was new for me as well.
Basically this food waste actually begins at our homes and this is where it needs to be addressed first, yes we have to change our lifestyles, our shopping and consuming habits. This is better for ourselves,our planet and for raising sensible, responsible and mature children.
We as mums and homemakers have on one hand, a great responsibility to train ourselves and our families to reduce food waste; and on the other hand we have a huge opportunity to train some responsible human beings.
Today I will share with you, some simple and useful ways to reduce food waste. I hope through implementing all or atleast some of these ways, we can play our part in reducing food waste and saving our planet.
1. Look what you already have before shopping for more and make a list:
Look what you already have, in your fridge,freezer and pantry, before going for shopping. And make a list of what you need to buy. And how much you need. This will help you spend sensibly and buy sensible amount of food that you can consume easily.
2.Stick to your list:
yes, i know super markets make it very easy to buy stuff we don't need, or buying more than we need. Most of the times we buy extra food and either it goes bad before being consumed or it's forgotten and sits in our pantries for ages. But we should try to shop sensibly. Spending on what we don't actually need is extravagance no matter what your budget is, if you are buying more than needed, you are wasting money and this practice is also teaching wrong lessons to your kids, please remember this.
3.Cook just enough:
It's hard, mums know this best, Everyday we have to solve this puzzle, what to cook and how much And sometimes we end up cooking more than we'd actually eat and the leftovers end up sitting in the fridge for days before being rotten and thrown away.
What your family's eating habits and patterns are, you learn them overtime and so you are the one responsible for, cooking only what can be consumed easily. It's hard sometimes but we can atleast try.
A Tip: Ask your family members to inform you in the morning if they won't have lunch or dinner at home. Post a reminder where everyone can see it before leaving the house, for instance near the exit door.
4. Consume leftovers as soon as possible:
Store your leftovers properly. Whatever needs to be done with the leftovers, depending on them, store, refrigerate or freeze them properly so you can consume them the next day.
Keep leftovers in the front of the fridge so everyone can see them.
If possible date them and indicate, in how many days they should be consumed.
Eg. 29th June, and eat before 3rd July.
5. Remind the adults and kids in family to eat leftovers:
You can simply let the family know that you have kept the leftover food in the fridge or freezer and they can eat it if they want, or even better if all family takes part in cleaning after eating so they will already know what is left and stored away. Or you can post a reminder on the refrigerator to encourage them to eat leftovers.
And this circle one , I designed these simple magnets, so they are easy to read in a quick glance whenever someone comes to the refrigerator, check them out and tell me how do you like them :)
6. Or use in other recipes if possible:
Yes, you can use some leftovers in other recipes. For instance boiled rice can be used again in making fried rice. You can find many recipes on the internet about using leftovers in different recipes. Try to make something out of the leftovers with a little help from your kids, this will make them feel that they are not forced to eat leftovers rather they will feel creative like they are actually helping you out in crafting something, it will also make kids love leftovers.
7. Donate:
If possible donate the leftovers, while still fresh, to someone who needs food. Look for any place in your locality that takes food to donate to poor and the needy.
And if there is some place like that near you then you can also donate fresh food every now and then. Because in the pace of our busy lives we forget about the essence of charity that means to give something we actually love for ourselves. And we keep donating old clothes,old food and every thing discarded,that we won't use ourselves.
8. Compost:
And lastly if despite doing whatever you can, there is some food gone bad, check if it can be composted and if it's possible, do it. In this way we are returning it to the soil and that's good for the soil.
There are many online resources where you can learn about composting.
9. Bonus tip; Eat leftovers for breakfast: while I am writing this post, I am eating the leftovers for breakfast.
This will save me some time to blog which my baby doesn't allow me during the day or even the night.
So, here is the bonus tip,eat your leftovers for breakfast and gain yourself some time to do your favorite thing. Don't forget to add any missing food group, for instance if rice are left then they are carbs,you will need to add proteins, dairy, fats, and fruits or vergetables, so boil an egg (2 medium eggs make 1 portion of protein), add some butter, olive oil or cheese or some nuts, (1 tablespoon makes 1portion of fats)
I don't say you should eat leftovers for breakfast everyday and not treat yourself to a proper breakfast ; but once in a while if leftovers are something that can be eaten as a breakfast then it's okay to eat them and also on days when you want to save yourself some extra time to do something else instead of preparing breakfast.
So, these were my 9 tips for training your family and your kids how to reduce food waste. I hope you find them useful and what are your tips, do share with us in the comments.
If you find this post helpful, please share with others or pin for later.
Peace,
Umekulsoom