Prevent Wasted Food

Waste happens. Own it-Track it-$ave!

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Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

With spring unfolding here in the mid-Willamette Valley, it’s time for some cleaning, clearing out and… confessing!

We’ve been saying it here for almost a year now: WASTED FOOD = WASTED MONEY. But exactly how much, and why? That’s where our newly-updated D.I.Y. Wasted Food Discovery self-audit form, both in English and Spanish, comes in handy. Try it for a week, and you’ll gain some valuable insights about your household’s food-wasting habits. Behaviors change when we measure them.

Gautami, NFLB’s OSU intern (2019)

You may become inspired to keep doing it on a regular basis — especially after discovering how many grocery dollars you can keep from going down the drain, compost bin or garbage!

OWN IT: Waste happens!

Are you ready to admit that waste happens in your kitchen? It’s not about guilt (although that can be a motivator) — it’s being willing to get real, about how some items in your fridge, freezer and pantry that coulda/shoulda been prepared and eaten ended up wasted instead. Keep reading for a look at what I discovered!

WHAT GOT WASTED

TRACK IT: What got wasted, and why?

With our D.I.Y. Wasted Food Discovery Week form, tallying up the food items that went slimy, spoiled, freezer-burned or forgotten isn’t complicated. You’ll estimate:

  • The amounts and types of food (it’s okay to “guestimate” your leftover portions/servings, packages or containers — I used cups, ounces and servings for my calculations);
  • The full or proportional cost for each of those items;
  • If you have a kitchen scale, measure the weight of wasted items.

WHY IT GOT WASTED: Recall the circumstances or trail of events from the market to your compost pail or trash can for your listed items. This step is your key to change!

You know how it goes… * Ran out of time to cook or cooked too much?  * Fridge or freezer over-stuffed? * Too tired to get creative with leftovers? * Marked down/sale items go stale or moldy before you know it? * Bananas turned brown or avocados went bad because they were hanging out on the counter together? (Both emit ethylene gas, which hastens the ripening process.)

ADD IT UP. One week’s wasted $$ x 52 weeks in a year… Prepare to be shocked! (I certainly was.)

Here’s what I learned from my Wasted Food Discovery Week.

WHY IT WAS WASTED

Karen Confesses:

Despite blogging and becoming much more vigilant about my own kitchen habits during the past year, I still waste too much!

After a quick review, I discovered that my main problems are inadequate meal prep and managing the Eat First shelf of my fridge and pantry. I also still have issues with wasting avocados and bananas (two of my favorites).

Lessons Learned:

  • Check avocado(s) for ripeness every day! Use or transfer to fridge once ripe, or within 3 days of purchase.
  • Buy fewer of the items I’m eating less of (like sugar- and carb-heavy products).
  • Freeze leftover broth in cubes rather than letting an open carton spoil in the fridge.
  • Buy fewer bananas and just eat ’em — rather than sticking in freezer smoothie bags.
  • Check/update my Freezer Inventory every week!
$$ POTENTIALLY WASTED, 1 YEAR (Omg!)

$$$ Wasted:

This is my worst Kitchen Confession of all! Just one week’s waste in my little kitchen represented a potential loss of over $1,000 in one year! That’s a pretty significant chunk — and a HUGE motivation for me to walk the talk, follow my own advice more, and WASTE LESS.

WHAT TO DO. You’ll have some good ideas once you’ve completed your own Wasted Food Discovery Week. Let our Smart Strategies support your improved habits and behaviors for less future waste.

  • Do you need more meal planning? More prep after your groceries come home?
  • Do you need better storage? (we also recommend StillTasty.com)
  • Do you need to inventory what’s in your freezer or pantry?
  • Do you need more Eat First signs for your leftovers, and are they clearly date-labeled?

Also see our previous Kitchen Confessions for resources and tips you may have missed.

RECIPE CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENSION!

We’re extending the deadline for our Leftovers Recipe Contest an extra week to Sunday, APRIL 11th! What’s your latest hack or culinary inspiration for making use of those random items on the Eat First shelf of your fridge, freezer or pantry?

Here’s of a few of our entries so far: Spaghetti Pie, Mashed Potato Pancakes, Peach Pancake Mix Muffins, Olde Valentine Choco-Coco Bites, and Tuna Cakes with Pickle Cream.

Every recipe is an entry to win a $30 gift card from First Alternative Coop. We’d love to see yours!

Recipe contest for leftovers!

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Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

It’s time for something different with our Kitchen Confessions. We’re going to talk about recipes — and we’re going to ask for YOURS!

You could win one of three $30 gift cards to First Alternative Co-op!

We haven’t delved much into the topic of recipes before, but they are certainly key to achieving our goal of less wasted food in the home — because:

  • Recipes can provide both inspiration and how-to.
  • They can jump start your meal planning and shopping lists.
  • Whether your cooking approach is conventional or freestyle, recipes can help you feel creative when confronted with that assortment of random food items in your “Eat First” food storage areas.
  • Recipes can help you use what you have and make the most of those grocery $$ you already spent!

During the past 11 months, we’ve explored why wasted food matters and what you can do about it. We’ve reminded ourselves that 30-40% of edible food in the U.S. ends up in the trash or compost pail instead of being eaten, representing a deplorable amount of wasted water, energy, labor, and money. For an average American family of four, that’s at least $1600/year!

We’ve offered strategies and resources — like our handy “Eat First” signs, in English and Spanish — for helping you, Conscientious Food Consumers, take steps for preventing that waste from happening at home and for stretching your food dollars during this pandemic era. Check out Adventures in Leftovers Land and our previous Kitchen Confessions for topics you may have missed.

Now it’s your turn! We’d love to publicize your unique recipes made from leftovers.

Share those dishes that spring forth from the items in the “Eat First!” areas of your fridge, freezer or pantry before they spoiled, shriveled, freezer-burned or became otherwise inedible. It can be as simple as a short narrative of your list of leftovers and other ingredients you combine into a surprisingly delicious meal, OR a more traditional-style recipe listing of the ingredients and the step-by-step for your unique creation. 

Here’s how to submit your recipe — but please keep reading for important details!

HINT: We’re not looking for recipes from your favorite celebrity chef or America’s Test Kitchen! We prefer YOUR home-tested recipes that are a) relatively simple, b) don’t involve much prep time or specialized appliances, and c) DO involve using up leftover food items.

Here’s a few examples:

  • Stir-fried leftover pasta and veggies
  • Chunky veggie patty “meatball” soup
  • Whatever’s-in-the-fridge casserole or burritos
  • Brown Rice Breakfast Porridge
  • Dill cream sauce using leftover pickle juice — from the Waste Free Kitchen Handbook, by Dana Gunders (one of my favorite references while writing this blog)

So whether your approach to meal preparation is formal or freestyle, we’re interested in what you come up with. We also want to encourage kid-friendly recipe submissions. Maybe your young chef has a great recipe to share!

2019 Winter Farmers’ Market patrons

Qualified recipe submissions will be entered into a random drawing to win one of three $30 gift cards to First Alternative Co-op.

TO QUALIFY:

Recipes submitted must be appropriately attributed, either solely to you (family member, etc.), or otherwise identified as to its source. It’s fine if you build your creation around a recipe from a cookbook or website (like our favorites FoodHero.org and BigOven.com) then made it your own, but please tell us where you get it! (We cannot re-publish copyrighted material.)

  1. What’s the name of your dish? Is it for vegans, vegetarians or omnivores? Is it kid-friendly?
  2. What was the inspiration for your dish?
  3. Your recipe, identifying the leftover or Eat First! food items you used from your fridge, freezer or pantry as the primary ingredients. Use as many as you can!
  4. Estimate how much $$ you saved by not wasting those leftover items.
  5. Include 1-2 photos of what you made (and a selfie if you like).

Use our Recipe Submission page to send it by Sunday April 11th (deadline extended from April 4th).

We will randomly draw (3) winners and announce them in our Earth Day blog and Coalition email lists. We’ll also highlight a number of our favorite recipe entries, and may publish an online cookbook. Stay Tuned!

EVERY RECIPE is an entry to win a $30 GIFT CARD! Submit more than one if you like, but please no more than four.

We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Waste-less cooking for one can be fun!

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Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

Back in the pre-COVID era when we tabled regularly at the Corvallis winter and downtown Farmers’ Markets, I had interesting encounters with all kinds of folks who ventured over to our booth to pitch questions and comments, play our “Food Storage IQ” game, take the waste-less pledge (like our market patron below) or to share a favorite food memory or kitchen hack.

Many also shared their own “kitchen confessions,” including this one: “I live alone, and I can’t believe how much of my food gets wasted!” 

She was being a bit hard on herself. For years she’d prepared meals for several people, but now that she lived as both a widow and an empty-nester, our booth visitor was having trouble adjusting her food shopping and preparation habits.  And since many food products are packaged for family-sized meals, the leftovers tended to be more than she could handle.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also encountered singles establishing their first households as young adults. They too knew it was easy to let good food go bad — and they were eager to start out with good non-wasting habits in their own kitchens.

2019 Farmers’ Market patron (status: none of our business)

I was happy to provide these folks, and others to follow, with some of our Smart Strategies (in English and Spanish) and other tactics to try at home. (Keep scrolling!)

In recent years, online resources galore have sprung up to cater to the needs of small-batch and “cooking for one” audiences. A few examples: One Dish Kitchen: the simple pleasure of cooking for one (including meatless and many other recipes), the Kitchn’s meal plans, and 66 recipes from Tasty.co can get you started. You can also get help scaling down your recipes for one with this handy converter.

There’s also plenty of support through social media groups, recipes on Pinterest or Instagram, and a nearly-infinite variety of videos and cookbooks from celebrity chefs and everyday folks alike.

Whether single by circumstance or choice, people living alone in their own dwellings (no housemates or live-in companions) comprised 28% of all households in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Then came the pandemic and sheltering in place, magnifying the sense of isolation for many.

So let’s have fun with waste-less cooking for one! NOTE: Even if you’re living with family, a partner, housemates or other arrangement, there will still be times when you’re on your own for preparing a meal.

1. FIRST, THE FUN PART: it’s all your choice!  You know your own taste and appetite — so be as spontaneous, creative and adventuresome as you like. Browse some recipes from the links in this blog. Have an omelet for dinner! Dessert in a mug! Maybe your kids, your ex or late spouse didn’t like spicy food, but now you can wander freely through the wondrous world of herbs and spice. (I like cooking with and eating garlic almost every day, and no one complains.)

2. WASTE LESS, MEAL PLAN MORE. Build a week’s worth of menus after “shopping” your fridge, freezer and pantry first. (Here’s a more detailed example of a one-person meal plan.) Then make up your grocery shopping list. Keep in mind that many food products don’t come in single-serving packages, so you’ll need to find different ways to use those up to get your money’s worth. That’s pretty easy to do with a rotisserie chicken, but what about tortillas that only come in packages of 12? (Solution: freeze half of ’em!)

3. WASTE LESS, PREP MORE. You’re more likely to stick to your solo meal plan if substantial parts of it are ready to go. So just loop your favorite playlist and have fun cleaning, slicing, dicing, roasting/baking and packing some ready-to-use or freeze meal components like: proteins (meat/fish/poultry or grains), veggies (what’s not to like about easy sheet pan meals?) and fruits. It can take as little as a “power hour” or two over the weekend! 

“Eat First” Single Portion Meal #1 Salmon Scrambled Egg w/onion

4. NO-FAIL LEFTOVERS. Get creative with random food items (and keep them out of the compost bin) with apps like Big Oven! Example: My one baked salmon fillet (see photos) served as the anchor for two meals and a snack (salmon pate), using some cooked red rice, two types of onion, egg, fresh rosemary and packaged soup from my fridge’s “Eat First” shelf.

“Eat First” Single Portion Meal #2 Salmon Fried Rice w/curry soup

5. SHOP THE BULK and DELI SECTIONS at the grocery store or shop Farmers’ Markets to ensure you’re buying just what you can use. Try buying just one chicken breast instead of a package of four; a custom portion of cheese instead of a whole package; or maybe a couple ounces of those gourmet olives you’ve been secretly craving, instead of a whole can!

Example: Carrots from the bulk produce bin or a bag of pre-peeled minis?

Recently I gambled on whether I could use up a one-pound bag. It was a safe bet: carrots are a versatile veggie that stores well in the fridge (check our A-Z Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide for details). My plan called for carrots fresh, roasted and stewed — and I enjoyed every bit of them.

Kitchen Confession: In the past, I automatically purchased the bagged ones — and inevitably, two months later, they’d end up at the bottom of my crisper drawer as a partial-bag of dried-up or slimy baby carrots.

6. MAKE YOUR OWN FROZEN CONVENIENCE MEALS and save $$$ by investing a bit of freezer-prep time, creating ready-to-cook single meals and side dishes from the items you prepped in Tip #3 above (make sure to blanch the veggies first). Freeze small batches of bread, tortillas or baked goods before they get moldy on the counter. For a special treat, there’s frozen chocolate chip cookie dough in pre-portioned scoops (see tip #19 at Easy Single-Person Cooking Ideas)! Just don’t forget to keep track of what’s in there.

Finally — GO AHEAD, REWARD YOURSELF with some tasty takeout for wasting less during the week! (Restaurant portions can be generous, so you’ll probably get two meals out of it.)

Whether you’re stuck with it or thrilled to be your own chef, have fun cooking for one!

Keeping spices spicy with Smart Storage

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

After an unsettling start to this New Year, I’m finding a lot of comfort in the kitchen these days. (Not just while snacking!) And it’s in my spice cupboard.

When was the last time you savored the simple delight of homemade spiced apple cider (also known as wassail)? Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, simmering in a pan of apple juice with citrus and sweetener… The mixture diffuses a lovely aroma in the home, and a fragrant, soothing mug of the stuff will fix you up right on a winter’s day.

Oh, and I used up a half-bottle of apple juice from my fridge’s “Eat First!” shelf making it!

That’s how I recently developed a fresh interest in herbs and spices: those magical bits of berry, bark, leaf, flower and root — many from exotic, faraway places — that we humans have used since ancient times for food preparation and enjoyment, healing, cosmetics, trade and ceremony. The history of spice is epic!

Spices, Mapusa Market (Goa, India) https://www.flickr.com/photos/judepics/409841087/ (Creative Commons 2.0.)

The aromatics, colors and variety of herbs and spices are intrinsically comforting, don’t you think? Here’s a searchable, comprehensive list of herbs, spices and seasonings, along with their culinary properties and countries of origin.

Properly employed, the magic of spice and herbs — particularly when they’re fresh or well-preserved and stored — can help you waste less food and save $$$ every day, every meal! Spice magic can inspire you to raid your own pantry and use up everyday staples like rice, beans, pasta and canned goods, and whatever’s in your Eat First areas.

With inspiration from spice allies like cumin, ginger, garlic, curry, red chili oil and paprika, I’ve explored some delightful variations on fried rice.

One of Yeung Man Cooking’s Cantonese-inspired fried rice dishes  (YouTube)

Of course, this blog is not really about “the joy of cooking with spices”… it’s about not wasting what went into each one of those little bottles of flavor: all that agricultural water, energy and human labor; industrial packaging and transportation (fuel) in supply chains across multiple countries. Not to mention all the $$$ you spent stocking your herb and spice cabinet!

Depending on your tastes, using spice can be EXPENSIVE! So here’s a few tips for keeping those spices spicy and ready for use in your 2021 meal plans:

  1. HOW LONG DO SPICES LAST? It’s true spices don’t spoil like other types of food, but over time they will lose their fresh “flavor profile” (as I have discovered, see below!), and have less of an effect in a dish. So pay attention to those “Use By/Best By” dates on the containers. A variety of factors influence a seasoning’s potency, so check the details at StillTasty.com.
  2. BUY JUST WHAT YOU NEED for special dishes (or strictly-occasional use) by shopping the bulk spice and herb bins at the Co-op, Winco, or other stores in our area. You’ll find a great selection and save $$$ too!
  3. For the best flavor retention, BUY WHOLE SPICE/HERB products (for example, nutmeg), then grind or grate them just before usage.
  4. Follow the lead of most herb/spice manufacturers: store bulk-purchased or homegrown seasonings IN GLASS CONTAINERS to preserve the freshness, properly labeled, away from heat and light sources.
  5. DON’T FREEZE spices, but some herbs can be frozen in ice cube trays in water or oil.

Also keep in mind the global carbon footprint of spice. Many of our favorites come to our kitchens from far away, like India (a principal export country), the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. The nutmeg and cinnamon I used in my spiced cider probably came from Indonesia, Vietnam or Sri Lanka! So there’s a huge supply chain and expenditure of energy involved to get those flavors into our kitchens.

While many of our favorite herbs also originated on other continents, they’ve adapted to cultivation in North America. So your favorite packaged or fresh herbs are easily sourced locally and thus have a smaller carbon footprint: garlic, mint, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, to name just a few. Or you can grow your own!

*****

Now here’s our first Kitchen Confessions for 2021:

the joy of a well organized spice cabinet!

KAREN CONFESSES:

Now that I’m cooking more regularly, I’m noticing when my use of spice doesn’t have the intended effect (not as tasty, perhaps not spicy enough)!  Although I’m sometimes over-cautious with my use of seasoning, it’s more likely due to the condition of those spices.

Recently I discovered a few three year-old spice bottles whose powdered contents had turned to hard-cake or failed the smell test. Worse yet, I also had a jar of non-expired Japanese gomasio seasoning with what looked like cobwebs inside — eeeeww! 

I also found two near-full bottles of vanilla extract (oops!) that are still fine.

$$ WASTED: Around $10 (guessestimate based on current prices) for the wasted portions in three bottles.

LESSONS LEARNED:

  • Take my own advice above and buy bulk spices, storing them in glass containers.
  • No “clearance” spice purchases, unless I plan on cooking regularly with them!
  • Shop my pantry first! Use up the older bottle of vanilla asap by moving it to the front of the spice cabinet, or give it away to a friend, neighbor or family member who can make use of it.

JEANETTE CONFESSES:

Many times we have bought bulk spices like turmeric or nutmeg, only to come home and realize we already had some in the pantry. That bowl o’bagged spice magic makes it hard to “shop the pantry first” because it’s hard to identify what’s there.

LESSONS LEARNED: Start transferring these beautiful flavors into the glass jars pictured after shopping. Many of those jars need to be emptied into compost and started over because their contents are older and flavorless.

Come up with better labeling for the jars, too — clear tape with sharpie is barely noticeable and faded over time.

$$ WASTED: Probably around $10, once I sort and dump ye olde spices.

Here’s to all that good spicy-ness in 2021!

Our Top Takeaways of 2020, for 2021

Happy New Year, Conscientious Food Consumers!

We, the staff of Kitchen Confessions, would like to extend to you a virtual pat on the back for wasting less food at home during this historic past year. We know you did that because you’re reading this blog. And thanks, by the way!

You’re doing your part to address the ongoing and monumental problem of wasted food in the U.S. Unfortunately, there’s still much to be done.

Wasted food this past year totaled more than 40 million tons — about 219 pounds for every American!

Wasted Food = Wasted $$. As consumers, we wasted $5.6 billion in spending on food that was not eaten. Across all sectors (production, retail, and consumers) on a national scale, it represents a loss of $161 billion.

Thankfully, in 2015 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a goal to reduce food waste by half by 2030. Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown, through the Department of Environmental Quality, has also committed our state to that goal.

So we’re all for wasting less in 2021, aren’t we, Conscientious Food Consumers? In 2020, the Kitchen Confessions staff worked hard on our own wasteful habits around food. Please enjoy our Top Takeaways!

TAKEAWAY #1:  More time in our own kitchens can mean less waste!

When we launched “Kitchen Confessions” last April, the COVID-19 pandemic had gotten real, and most of us were forced to shelter at home. As it turns out (and one of the hidden blessings of this pandemic), spending more time in our own kitchens has helped many of us become more conscious of our everyday food habits!

We’ve learned more about proper food storage techniques — using tools like the A-Z Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide and the FDA’s Freezer Storage Chart and FoodKeeper app.

We’ve taken stock of what’s on hand and diligently done our record keeping of what’s in the fridge, freezer and pantry — using Smart Strategies like NFLB’s Freezer Inventory and Smart Shopping List. These are available in English and Spanish.

In that process, we’ve potentially wasted less of our planet’s precious resources, and saved more of our food dollars. Let’s keep it up!

TAKEAWAY #2:  Telling the truth to ourselves about how food gets wasted is a good thing.

Like we’ve done with our Kitchen Confessions this past year, you’ve become more observant about how once-edible food ended up in the compost bin or garbage can. But if you haven’t already done so, you can take your truth-telling to the next level with our downloadable DIY Wasted Food Discovery Week self-survey.

It’s not about guilt-tripping — just the bottom line. After this exercise, you may be amazed how much MORE you have to work with in your grocery budget in 2021, and how much LESS food goes to waste!

TAKEAWAY #3:  E.F.A.M. saves $$! (Karen’s Waste-Less Resolution)

That stands for Eat First Area(s) Management. Those handy little signs (like the one shown) are available in English and Spanish and they help. But I’ve realized the most important thing for me is keeping up with my new habits in the kitchen.

I’ve certainly had my share of guilt trips this past year, making public Kitchen Confessions! When I added up the $$ wasted from items described in this blog, it was nearly $100, and that doesn’t cover everything I wasted last year.

But that wasted $$ has been useful for motivating positive changes in my own kitchen. So more E.F.A.M. in my fridge and pantry in 2021!

TAKEAWAY #4:  Labeling, Labeling, Labeling! (Jeanette’s Waste-Less Resolution)

Marking the date food was prepped, opened, cooked or became leftovers… this new habit has been super helpful, before adding something to our Eat First! shelf. I also learned it works infinitely better in our fridge to label the front of those containers, not the top!

I also concur with Karen and plan to make a habit of  maintenance – it’s key! It’s way too easy for things to get buried, so, frequent check-ins with the shelf mean low-to-no waste.

TAKEAWAY #5:  It can be fun figuring out what to do with those items on your “Eat First” shelf!

If you’re like us, you’ve found some new mojo in “leftover land.”  You’ve whipped up some creative meals with those random leftovers and what-have-you items using your own inspiration, BigOven.com, or your favorite app.

Maybe your kids have even gotten into the spirit of “Freezer Fridays,” making Eat First rollups, or learning to stew up some of their own leftovers in a crockpot. Maybe you decided to start making your own bone or veggie broth with that rotisserie chicken bones and/or beet greens and carrot/celery tops!

Jeanette’s Joy of Cooking moment: I made some great soup stock out of a batch of soy/butter/garlic water left over from steaming organic broccoli, and my husband raved about it!

For continued inspiration during 2021, check out these great recipes for leftovers and zero kitchen waste from SaveTheFood.com.

BigOven.com

TAKEAWAY #6:  Those “best by/use by” labels on food packaging aren’t the final word.

As explained in our “Check before you chuck it” blog, even if it’s past its packing date or lost its “shop appeal,” it’s likely to still be edible and safe. Fave relevant resources: StillTasty.com and the USDA’s FoodKeeper app.

TAKEAWAY #7:  Old-fashioned methods of food preservation and storage are back in style.

Interest in home canning and preservation surged during the first months of the pandemic, and has continued.

Kitchen Confessions often refers to the OSU Extension Service for everything related to food safety and preservation. Another valuable Extension Service resource for introducing kids to nutrition, good habits in the kitchen and easy recipes is FoodHero.org.

TAKEAWAY #8:  Meal portions are key to wasting less.  

And thanks to tools like “the Guestimator” from Savethefood.com, there’s no more “guesswork”! We featured it in one of our Thanksgiving blogs as the holiday food season got rolling — but it’s handy for regular meal planning year round, not just when you anticipate having guests at the table. Which will hopefully be back in 2021!

THE BIGGER PICTURE: You, Conscientious Food Consumer and Shopper, are part of a national and global movement!

There’s an amazing array of research and resources underpinning the food waste reduction movement in the U.S., particularly in the nonprofit ReFED’s landmark 2016 analysis: the Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste.

In 2017, Project Drawdown named reduced wasted food as its number three existing solution for reducing greenhouse gases and addressing the global climate change crisis.

We’re also following LoveFoodHateWaste in the U.K., where the first-ever national Food Waste Action Week is happening in early March 2021.

Thanks again to all of you who have discovered, followed, and perhaps even recommended our blog during the past year. You can also share Kitchen Confessions through our Facebook page, “NFLBCorvallis.”

Here’s to a better and less wasteful 2021 for all!

 

Smart shopping and $aving — not just for the holidays!

Happy Holiday Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

As we head into the final stretch of this unprecedented year, we hope you are discovering some new and creative ways to experience holiday cheer this season. Not to mention good bargains (no matter which holiday you shop for)!

Those holiday sales at the grocery store can sure make it difficult to stick to a shopping list — especially with lures like “Buy one/Get one!” (BOGO) and “Rewards”! But we all know from experience what happens when we don’t… and then the bank card statements arrive. It also tends to result in wasted food and wasted money.

Shopping lists are certainly a lot more high-tech now than in the bygone era pictured above, but I still prefer an old-fashioned paper list (soon to become an antique as well?). There’s endless apps for your smart phone, or you can download and print out our “Smart Shopping with Meals in Mind” form.

Over $7 billion spent in 2020 online grocery shopping

Shopping sure looks different now than it did at the beginning of the year, doesn’t it? We’ve de-coupled socializing and shopping, and learned to keep our distance in the store aisles. We stand on colored circles on the floor as we wait for our turn at the checkout. Online grocery sales in the U.S. grew from $1.2 billion in August 2019 to an over $7 billion industry as of June 2020.

On the plus side of online grocery shopping —  we’re pretty much forced to use lists! Whether you’re ordering through a local supermarket chain, an independent market (like NFLB and Sustainability Coalition partner First Alternative Co-op), or a non-local supplier, you have to get organized and be very specific (quantity, brand and other attributes). With service fees and tips on top of that grocery bill, we are likely to be more careful with our ordering.

Another plus — when someone else is fulfilling your order, it’s easier to resist impulse buying and off-list purchases!

On the down side — the carbon footprint associated with online order fulfillment and delivery, including all that packaging! And don’t forget your vehicle emissions from picking up your own order. For more information on the environmental impacts of food packaging, check out NFLB’s links to Oregon DEQ’s Food Fact sheets.

One of Karen’s recent shopping lists

KAREN CONFESSES: There are definitely times when I don’t use a shopping list… and I always end up having to go back for the things I forgot or really needed!

Sometimes I find myself “pigging out” on spending for extra treats or costly specialty items. While I enjoy being spontaneous in the store on occasion, those indulgences certainly add up.

Stick To The List so you don’t “pig out” with your shopping cart!

At this stage of the 2020 holiday season, Conscientious Food Consumers and Shoppers, we realize you may have already completed the bulk of your holiday shopping. So consider how the following tips can facilitate your “Smart Shopping and $avings” heading into the New Year:

  1. Shop your fridge/freezer and pantry first! Be sure to make notes as appropriate on your Freezer Inventory.
  2. In the spirit of eating locally, keeping our shopping dollars in the community (at least some of them) — and potentially reducing the carbon footprint of your purchases — consciously decide which items you can Buy Local First, either in person or online.
  3. Skip those BOGO deals, “family sized” meals or quantity packages unless… you can realistically manage that influx of food products. Assess your household’s eating habits and the state of your pantry. Are you sure you can properly store, plan and prep it all before it loses its freshness and store appeal?
    — Maybe your two-person household hasn’t eaten its way through the Thanksgiving leftovers in the freezer yet.
    — Do your kids really like that brand of cereal enough to justify buying a big box or two?
    — Does your fridge really have room for most of that five-pound bag of tangerines? (They shouldn’t be kept outside of cold storage for more than a week.)
    Don’t be tempted to “save” a few dollars on food that will eventually go to waste!
  4. Use a shopping list app like Big Oven (if you don’t already have one).
  5. Take a “Shelfie”! If you want to make sure you’ve remembered everything for your list, take a quick picture of your fridge or pantry shelf for reference. Shout out to Love Food/Hate Waste and WRAP in the U.K. for this clever name and idea!
  6. For even more ideas (and your New Year’s resolutions), scan this list of 75 tips for saving $$ on food from TheKitchn. We don’t necessarily endorse all of these, and some are not that original or relevant to our region. But we’re pleased to see No Food Left Behind’s standard recommendations in the top five of the list!

Do you have some Smart Shopping tips you’d like to share? If so, please submit them in the comments section below.

Happy Safe Holidays, Conscientious Consumers!!

Happy fridges for happy holidays

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

We hope your first (and hopefully last) Pandemic Thanksgiving was safe, enjoyable, and as waste-free as possible! For myself, I’m happy to report this year’s experiment with a smaller dinner party, smaller menu/portions and long-distance well-wishing worked out fine. No Leftovers Left Behind, either:

Veggie Thanksgiving

– No leftover turkey-wrangling for me this vegetarian Thanksgiving.

– The chanterelle orzo/rice and glazed carrots went great with sausage a couple days later. (I’m an omnivore.)

– The remaining half-carton of veggie stock I used in cooking the rice blended happily with leftover butternut, sweet potato, ginger and coconut milk into a tasty soup.

– The leftover sparkling wine made great mimosas!

– Next on the menu: leftover cranberry relish-glazed chicken thighs. And time to start a fresh series of Meal Plans! You can download and print ours here.

Hopefully this year’s Thanksgiving aftermath has also been a bit easier to manage for you, Conscious Food Consumers! So let’s all pat ourselves on the back, take note of lessons learned (if applicable) and get up for this next round of holiday meal planning.

Of course, the next round of planning, shopping and prepping also depends on making sure your fridge is happy! A happy fridge is well-lit, running efficiently, not overloaded (so it can do its job), and not over-inflating your utility bill.  Here’s some simple things you can do that will also keep your pocketbook happy:

  • Does your utility provide a detailed energy usage report as part of its monthly billing statement? (Mine does.) If your fridge is consistently using more energy than it should, improving its efficiency might be as simple as dusting off the coils on the bottom or in the back.  Or it could mean it’s time to upgrade — many utilities offer incentives through partners like Energy Trust of Oregon for replacing older appliances with new, energy-efficient models.
  • Regularly check your refrigerator/freezer temperatures. An ideal fridge temperature is 33°F to 38°F, and your freezer should be kept between 0°F and 5°F. Make sure the door gaskets for each compartment are kept free of debris and have a tight seal.
  • Make sure the cold air is circulating properly in both the fridge and freezer by not overloading and blocking the fan.
  • Consider freezing items that would normally take up space in the fridge “Eat First” area — like cheese, cooked grains, portions of tomato paste, or even knobs of fresh ginger. If you’re like me and can’t use an entire can of tomato paste in one recipe, you’ll appreciate the suggestion for freezing it in tablespoon-sized portions!

Download and print our Eat First! signs below:

Download and print our Eat First! signs...
in English or Spanish!

KAREN CONFESSES: My fridge has NOT been very happy lately! Sometimes it made noisy clunky sounds. It wasn’t keeping my food cold enough, even when I adjusted the interior dial. And frankly, it was overloaded! It was stressful every time I tried to “get creative” with the items on my “Eat First” shelf.

It was kind of like what happened in this fun video from our colleagues at StopFoodWaste.org in Alameda County, CA, “Is Dinner Hiding in Your Fridge?”:

Screenshot of over-full fridge from video

KAREN ALSO CONFESSES: I didn’t take my own advice before Thanksgiving about clearing out my “Eat First” shelf! Even with just a few leftovers, I still didn’t have enough room — so it was time for a refrigerator “reality check.” It didn’t take that long, and it really made a difference when I could see what was in there!

$$ WASTED: Hard to determine — at least $30!

LESSONS LEARNED: Freeze more/waste less, and keep rotating that Eat First shelf!

*****

Is this before or after Karen's refrigerator "reality check"? After! It actually felt colder in there...

JEANETTE CONFESSES regarding her Eat First shelf:  After we went grocery shopping and were putting stuff into the fridge, we had to do a mini-cleanout/consolidation to make room for new items! We discovered some non-perishables had migrated into the Eat First shelf and blocked the visibility of perishables… which then went bad.

And it didn’t help that the light bulb on the right side of the compartment had burned out!

LESSONS LEARNED: Multiple!

  • LABEL EVERYTHING (even the obvious stuff) with sharpie and masking tape: What is it, and date placed on shelf. Maybe even label the front of the item instead of the lid for better visibility!
  • Replace fridge light bulbs promptly so you can see what’s in there.
  • Be more proactive about removing non-perishables that migrate onto Eat First shelf — unless we really want to eat them first.
  • Try creating a Freezer Inventory form for the fridge’s Eat First shelf OR just be a lot better about keeping it more sparsely populated so we can SEE everything!
  • Remember: food kept as leftovers but never eaten is the same thing as tossing it out in the first place. Wasted food is wasted MONEY!
Left: Jeanette's Eat First shelf: TOO FULL, not enough light!
Right: Jeanette's tasty salad from items discovered on her Eat First shelf!

We hope our “lessons learned” will help keep both you and your fridge happy this holiday season!

Counting our blessings and $avings this Thanksgiving

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

With Pandemic Thanksgiving 2020 just days away, we here at No Food Left Behind have already started counting our blessings:

  • We’ve settled into a homier lifestyle and avoided the virus (so far).
  • We’ve enjoyed launching and developing our “Kitchen Confessions” blog for you during the past eight months. (Tell us in the comments what you like/don’t like!)
  • We are part of such a wonderful, vibrant and sustainable community!
  • We’ve gotten better about practicing what we preach about wasting less food — and saving money, too.

In last week’s blog, we engaged in some reality-checking (“Talking turkey…”) about the challenges of preparing for and celebrating Thanksgiving this year. It’s likely many of us will be sharing our tables with fewer relatives and guests, and making some Thanksgiving toasts over Zoom!  But at least there will be fewer dishes to wash… and, ideally, less waste.

After all — wasting less and counting our blessings really go together, don’t they?

By now, many of us are well into our lists and logistics for the Special Feast. But before you begin that final sprint to the oven, check out these tips:

  • Be sure to “shop” your pantry, fridge and freezer first!
  • Check/clear space on your Eat First shelf in the fridge/freezer. Use ’em up asap or see if they are suitable for use next week in your holiday menu.
  • For each part of the meal (appetizers, main course, sides, desserts), brainstorm some ideas for creative after-Thanksgiving dishes. (How about leftover-stuffing soup dumplings? More below.)
  • Consider using smaller plates and serving dishes for this year’s feast. Your guests can still fill their plates, but probably won’t notice the smaller portions. And there’s a better chance the kids will clean their plates, too!

Serving proportional portions also ensures that less food ends up as plate scrapings, and leaves more edible food for subsequent meals.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Serving Your Guests (or Family)

Need help determining the right amount of food for the number of diners, dietary preferences and variable appetites at your table? There are probably dozens of apps out there that can help, but my newest fave is the cleverly-named “Guestimator” at Savethefood.com.

The Guestimator walks you through a simple series of questions to determine precise quantities of what you’ll need for a successful no-waste dinner party. It helps you build menus for each part of your meal with up to nine ingredients of your choice, with calculations for Leftovers included. Your results can even be printed out for easy reference.

The Menu (portion planner) even includes helpful no-wasting kitchen hacks, free of charge!

Counting on Leftovers  

Everyone knows Thanksgiving leftovers are as much of a tradition as the feast itself, so it makes a lot of sense to build those into your portion planning. Once again — how do you make sure they will not end up in the compost bin?

Hooray for Guestimator! It generates the numbers for the amounts you need, based on the number of leftover meals you’d like and your previous specifications. Leftover tips and hacks too, free of charge!

Leftover Mashers? Slap ’em on bread instead of cheese or mayo in a sandwich, or try making donuts with ’em! Throw your leftover turkey, stuffing, green beans, gravy — the works — all together in this recipe for turkey bone and stuffing-dumpling soup!

How long does it stay fresh? As you’re loading up your fridge, freezer or pantry with Thanksgiving bounty, it’s the perfect time to review this interactive guide from Savethefood.com and the National Resources Defense Council. There’s solid info on optimal storage, freezing and no-waste tips for items in all the major food categories.

*****

We’re “talking turkey” in this week’s Kitchen Confession… 

KAREN CONFESSES:

In 2018, I was gifted a nice frozen turkey that didn’t get cooked because I traveled out of town for Thanksgiving. It sat in my freezer during the following holidays, and it seemed like too much to cook for myself! Tragically, another year went by before I finally retrieved it and checked for freezer burn.

Sure enough, there were a few damage spots, but since the turkey had stayed frozen the whole time, I cooked it anyway. Despite seasonings and proper cooking in an oven bag (as I normally do), the result was a dry texture and slightly off-taste. We ended up using less than half the turkey and stock.

$$ WASTED: probably $12-15 (not my purchase)

LESSONS LEARNED: Don’t wait for a holiday or special occasion to cook a turkey! Next time, either re-gift the turkey or make a kitchen date with a friend or family member and share the bounty! Freeze drumsticks, drippings and other meal-sized portions and log in my Freezer Inventory.

I’m saving $$ and reducing my carbon footprint by going vegetarian this Thanksgiving!

*****

Photo: Theresa Hogue/ Creative Commons https://tinyurl.com/beavercarving

Honoring the Ampinefu Kalapuya People and Their Traditional Homelands

During this Native American Heritage Month and the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims, it’s important to acknowledge the First Nations of this country, and the ethnohistory of their ancestral lands.

This beaver carving is part of a unique collection of indigenous art at the Native American Longhouse “Eena Haws” (“Beaver House”) on the OSU campus, dedicated in 2013.

Excellent local resources include the Oregon Multicultural Archives for Native American People and Culture at Oregon State University’s Valley Library, and the Kalapuyan Tribal History provided by OSU Anthropology and Ethnic Studies faculty member, Dr. David Lewis.

Here in Benton County, we live upon the traditional homelands of the Ampinefu band of Kalapuya, who call this land Champinefu. Their territory encompasses the Marys River valley, present-day Wren, Philomath, and Corvallis. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855, they were forced to relocate to reservations in western Oregon, where their inheritors are now part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde or the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.

A formal statement of “land acknowledgment” is used to open all public gatherings of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition. The OSU student government also uses this Indigenous Land Recognition statement at its official events and activities, and encourages all student organizations to do so as well.

(Editor’s Note: “Kitchen Confessions” is taking next week off while we count our blessings and creatively manage our leftovers this Thanksgiving. Wishing you all a safe and satisfying holiday!)

Talking Turkey and wasting less

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

Only two weeks until our first Pandemic Thanksgiving! It’s time to “talk turkey” (even for vegans and vegetarians) about less wasted food.

Imagine sitting at bountiful Thanksgiving dinner table. You’ve just filled your plate with an appetizing assortment of your favorite dishes. Suddenly, someone comes over and scoops up a quarter of what’s on your plate, takes it over to the compost bin and dumps it.

Shocking, right? But it’s a good metaphor for how the average American family wastes at least 25 percent of its food purchases every year, at a cost of $1,600! What’s also wasted are the Earth’s precious resources — water, energy and soil — as well as the human labor that went into that food.

But we’re all about changing that. Right, Conscientious Food Consumers?

Turkeys roaming in Philomath (staff photo)

Let’s talk live turkeys first….

Wandering wild turkeys are not an uncommon sight in urban areas of Oregon, including certain neighborhoods of Corvallis and Philomath. Both comical and majestic, these birds are generally tolerated by their fellow urban dwellers. But the state Department of Fish and Wildlife stresses: Don’t feed the turkeys!  If your neighborhood flock (and their you-know-what) becomes too big of a nuisance, you might want to apply for an ODFW “turkey hazing” permit. (No hassling the turkeys without one!)

Here’s a few fun facts about our iconic Thanksgiving mascot from the Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District.

TALKING TURKEY: Celebrating Safely

Whether you’re planning and preparing a Thanksgiving meal for meat-eaters, vegetarians or vegans, this year’s celebration will be very different under the threat of COVID-19. Health safety guidelines from the CDC and the Oregon Health Authority advise avoiding travel, moving activities outdoors (where feasible) and limiting the number of people gathering ’round the Thanksgiving table.

TALKING TURKEY: Planning and Shopping Your Meal

A meatless “Tofurky” roast (WikiMedia Commons)

So let’s “talk turkey” about our Turkey Day logistics. That includes vegans and vegetarians who don’t eat actual turkeys! For many of us, based on what we already know about living through this pandemic, Thanksgiving 2020 may be unfolding as follows:

  1. A smaller dining group, which means smaller quantities of food will be needed (and potentially less wasted) compared to previous years; SO
  2. Your holiday Meal Plan and Shopping List may be less ambitious than in previous years; COINCIDENTALLY,
  3. Your holiday grocery budget may be smaller than previous years, depending on how COVID-19 has economically impacted you personally and/or your family; SO
  4. Your holiday Meal Plan may be based more on cooking with what you have on hand in the pantry and in your freezer (as listed on your Freezer Inventory), which you’ve been stocking and managing throughout the year; AND
  5. You’re already shopping strategically with Shopping Lists for those socially-distanced, in-and-out trips to the Farmer’s Market, the Co-op or other local markets, or for online grocery orders.

With our Kitchen Confessions this year, we hope we’ve helped you become familiar with these Smart Strategies (highlighted above in bold) to help you accomplish the above tasks. They’re all available in both English and Spanish from our Wasted Food Prevention Tool Box.

In addition to those at our own website, we love turning folks onto resources like these for Thanksgiving (and year-round) meal strategizing:

  • Make your own turkey bone broth and/or stock: Don’t let these nourishing and valuable parts of the turkey go to waste!
  • StillTasty.com, “Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide,” for getting clear before Thanksgiving about how to handle those leftover cooked turkey pieces, that leftover gravy and those cooked giblets your kid doesn’t like;
  • First Alternative Natural Foods Co-op’s “Budget Bites” – budget-minded meal plans for a week’s worth of meals for two adults;
  • BigOven.com, also has meal planning and shopping lists (and tons of recipes). Upload your own recipes! (They could use a lot more vegan/vegetarian ones!)

TALKING TURKEY:  Caring and Sharing

The 40th Annual Benton County Community Holiday Food Drive, in cooperation with local food pantry organizations like Linn Benton Food Share, will also be affected by this year’s pandemic. For 39 years, legions of caring volunteers assembled and delivered holiday meal food boxes throughout the county to thousands of low-income individuals and families experiencing food insecurity. These efforts are too risky this year with COVID-19.

Instead, the Food Drive is collecting only monetary donations for grocery gift cards, redeemable at the Corvallis Grocery Outlet, where recipients can shop for themselves this Thanksgiving. Food will continue to be available for distribution and pick up at Food Share’s warehouse and other local pantries, like the one in South Corvallis. All monetary donations to the Holiday Food Drive will be used to benefit Benton County residents in need, and are tax deductible.

Next week: Honoring this land and its Native peoples this Thanksgiving; Getting ready for loving those Thanksgiving leftovers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventures in Leftover Land

Greetings Conscientious Food Consumers!

With Thanksgiving not far off, we figured we’d get ahead of the game and talk leftovers in this installment of Kitchen Confessions. The topic’s not as sexy as last week’s carrots, but it’s one of those everyday challenges that we all face.

Those miscellaneous meal remnants, half-full containers, and portions of what-have-you, DO tend to get out of hand, don’t they?

Somehow they migrate to the most inconvenient recesses of your fridge. They get hijacked by microbes or neglected during busy times, like a tough week of homeschooling. They get abandoned in favor of preferred foods or convenience meals. Some might occasionally skip Leftovers Night on their weekly meal plan.

Let’s admit it — leftovers do get left behind sometimes!

Eat First! examples from Karen’s fridge shelf

KAREN CONFESSES right off the bat here: about half of the wasted food in my household once occupied the designated “Eat First” area of my fridge and cupboard. So what’s my issue? Keeping up with leftovers means keeping them accessible and safely stored, as well as keeping track of what’s in there!

It also takes a deliberate and creative effort to transform random food elements into a meal. I’m happy to report that it can be a pretty satisfying process! Maybe even a bit of an adventure…

KAREN ALSO CONFESSES: Two of the seven leftover items in the first photo (apple, sliced overripe pear, half a lime, a third of a packet of precooked rice, half a large roasted chile, a bit less than half a red onion, half-jar curry paste) got spoiled, wasted and composted. Fortunately, the rest found their way into oatmeal, stir fry and a pot of chili!

$$ WASTED: approximately $30 last month

LESSON LEARNED: I’m now a fan of BigOven.com and its inspirational three-ingredient search engine. It’s been both a delight and an Adventure to rummage for what I have on hand, plug it into the recipe search feature and see what comes up!

Big Oven is also available as an app for Android and iPhone/iPad (and is one of our featured downloadable “Apps!“). Big Oven’s massive recipe database contains more than 50,000 entries contributed by its members, including gluten-free, vegan/vegetarian, keto and low-carb dietary options.

In combination with NFLB’s downloadable Meal Planner, I’ve stepped up my diligence and am loving my leftovers more!

NO CORNBREAD LEFT OVERS LEFT BEHIND: These muffins were made from that “expired” cornbread mix featured in our “Check it before you chuck it” Kitchen Confessions a few weeks ago. The adventure began with a couple of chopped poblano chile peppers thrown in to jazz up the batter, which produced a baker’s dozen muffins. Half of them tasted good enough for outright scarfing and sharing with a friend! The “leftover” muffins were crumbled, seasoned and simmered with leeks and garlic for stuffing butternut squash, garnished with leftover feta cheese. No corn bread muffins left behind…

Karen’s everyday vs “company coffee” pots — drip vs perk (lower energy use) and fewer “cuppas” leftover/left behind

LEFTOVER COFFEE BUZZ: Turns out yesterday’s coffee brightens up lots of things besides brain cells — from milkshakes and smoothies to salad dressing, chili, brownies, bacon and BBQ sauce.

Coffee and bacon are staples of the typical American breakfast, but cooking the bacon in coffee is certainly a new idea to me!

NOTE: For my daily cuppa, I try to avoid “over-preparation” and waste of this global commodity by brewing small batches. Many days there’s nothing left in the pot, but it’s great to have ways to put it to good use on the days when there ‘s a half or full cup left over.

I also keep in mind the environmental costs and carbon footprint associated with my coffee enjoyment, as described in this Coffee Fact Sheet from the Oregon Department of Environment Quality.

A few other discoveries from my adventures in “Leftover Land”:

  • “LAST TWO BAGELS” BREAD PUDDING
  • LEFT OVER FETA, OLIVE & KALE FRITTATA (lots of variations on this one!)
  • GREEN SMOOTHIE, featuring RIPE AVOCADO and/or other past-their-prime fruits and veggies
  • SAUTEED WILTED LETTUCE  & GREENS — Great use of those partial-packages of mixed greens that might otherwise get dumped at the first sign of sliminess
  • YOGURT SUNDAE with LEFTOVER JAM and coconut flakes
  • FROZEN BERRY-BANANA “LYCOPENE SMOOTHIE” with — you guessed it — tomatoes left over from the last season. After all, tomato is a fruit!

JEANETTE CONFESSES:

Ugh! I’ve been doing the right things the wrong way. With teenager sleepovers, I never know how much batter we’ll need, and I always figure I’ll use it up in the next day or two. The leftover batters were properly placed onto our “Eat First!” shelf, and I even date-labeled them. A Smart Strategy, right?

However, other still-edible Eat First items ended up in front of them and, well, they aged out. Creatively using up sour milk is one thing, but with raw eggs involved, there’s no way my pancakes or French toast would have been safe to use.

Those wasted beets were a bummer – they also got left behind other leftovers. There were four cooked beets to a package, but I only needed one that night. Subsequently, I forgot the rest of them, despite my date label.

LESSONS LEARNED:

  • Be even more conscious about using up items on my Eat First! shelf.
  • Limit how much we put there so things don’t get buried (kind of the whole point of that area!).
  • Be more mindful about creating leftovers in the first place – make juuusst enough batter so there’s nothing to store.

$$ Wasted: About $2, for two organic eggs and those portions of gluten free pancake mix and almond milk. However, this lesson also presented a disposal issue, because we’re supposed to keep liquids out of the compost. Almost forgot my wasted beets — so ACTUALLY $4 in total.

Learning to waste less food is both a journey and an adventure!