K’Rene (Karen) Kos

No “Alligator Pears” left behind

June 17, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

The sunshine season has finally arrived here in the Mid-Willamette Valley, and with it the bursting cornucopias of fresh colorful fruits and veggies in our local gardens and Farmers’ Markets — from strawberries, beans and broccoli to cherries, peaches and snap peas. Hooray for our local growers and harvesters!

One “fruit” I particularly enjoy that is not grown locally is avocado — also known as the “alligator pear” because of its shape and mottled, reptilian-like skin. Botanically speaking, it is a fruit (actually a berry)! It’s also a nutritional superstar, containing healthy fats, fiber, potassium and an impressive profile of other vitamins that make it a staple of healthy and specialized diets like keto.

Many of the avocados consumed in the U.S. are grown in California, so they are plentiful in Oregon. I love ’em stuffed and on toast, in guacamole, sushi, fresh salads, dressing, salsa and many other dishes. Avocado is also a prime ingredient in high quality cooking oil, skin care and cosmetic products.

But as I have experienced — and I bet you have too — avocados are highly perishable! How often do you need more than one and bring home a discounted mesh bag of avocados, intending to make a big dish of guacamole (we love this recipe from First Alternative Co-op)… only to find yourself stuck with a batch of mushy, shriveled or off-tasting avos several days later?

For sure it happens, and I CONFESS: I’m still working on “no alligator pears left behind”! I tend to waste 1-2 a month, for varying reasons (more on that below).

HOW TO RIPEN & STORE YOUR “ALLIGATOR PEARS”

The first thing to remember about avocados after you get them home is that they emit ethylene, a naturally-occurring gas given off by certain fruits (such as bananas, apples and tomatoes) as part of their maturation cycle.

This off-gassing will speed up the ripening (and potential waste) of nearby fruit or veggies. If you want to help those rock-hard avocados along in that process, place them in a paper bag (not plastic), labeled, with the date.

Check these tips from the experts in the avocado industry. (They do NOT recommend consuming the pits!)
As advised in our handy A-Z Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide, store them separately from other fruits or veggies on the counter and check often for ripeness, before transferring to a visible/accessible spot in the fridge (your “Eat First” area). (Keep separate.)
One of our regular Kitchen Confessions readers has discovered the egg rack in the refrigerator door is perfect for storing avocados!
To prevent browning on cut avocados, spritz on some lemon or lime juice and store in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic.
Check Still Tasty.com for more details about storing fresh avocados.

WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE OVER-RIPE “ALLIGATOR PEARS”

PUREE ‘EM and stick ’em in puddings or smoothies! BigOven.com has lots of recipes for Chocolate Avocado mousse.
BAKE WITH ‘EM: Make avocado chocolate chip brownies or muffins! Check your favorite foodie website or blog.
FREEZE ‘EM (after slicing or pureeing) and transfer to freezer-safe containers for later use (don’t forget to make a note on your handy Freezer Inventory!)
DON’T MAKE GUAC WITH ‘EM! In my experience, bad avos ruin the taste.
GROW AN AVOCADO HOUSEPLANT with the pit.

*****

Now for this edition’s Kitchen Confessions!

Half eaten, not enjoyed; the other half went into a smoothie

KAREN CONFESSES:

I love avocados, but can never eat a whole one at one time. Even when I buy just one at a time and try to carefully monitor its ripening, I frequently end up with the other half becoming inedible!

At left, an avo that was at the appropriate stage of ripeness. But during a recent roadtrip, it had spent some time in and out of the cooler, and had begun to spoil. After a couple of off-tasting spoonfuls, I made a shake with the rest.

At right, a dead avo that I put in a paper bag on the counter to ripen, then forgot that it was in there! (It was an unlabeled, nondescript paper bag that I managed to ignore.)

$$$ WASTED: Around $5-$6/month

LESSONS LEARNED: Mark the bag or put an “Eat First” label on my brown bagged avocados. Also I will probably start buying two avocados at a time, use one right away, and follow my own advice to puree/freeze one avocado for later!

Avocado sticker by local company, Plant Posse

NO FOOD LEFT BEHIND IN THE MEDIA
Did you see our spread in the Summer 2021 issue of the Co-op Thymes? Many thanks to Editor Adam Payson for this wonderful feature!

Carrot Top Pesto & other “zero waste” ideas

May 12, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

We’re still giddy over the response to our first-ever Leftovers Recipes Contest (Drawing), in which local Conscientious Chefs shared creative methods for wasting less food and money at home, one meal at a time! Thanks again to all who participated.

We’re pleased to highlight in this blog some of our Recipe Contest chefs who are tossing fewer items into the compost and making more soups, casseroles, pesto, curry and muffins — thus demonstrating a “zero waste” kind of mindset. Be sure to check out our new Recipes for Leftovers section, which we hope will provide you with some fresh inspiration as well as more $aving$ for your grocery budget!

Remarkably, one of our original drawing winners donated her gift card — so we were delighted to be able to do a second drawing. Congrats to our “Runner Up” drawing winner Emily S. of Philomath, whose leftover Spaghetti Pie has also been uploaded to our new Recipes section.

(Note: you’ll see quotes around the term “zero waste” because I’m using it rather loosely.)

FROM LESS WASTED FOOD TO “ZERO WASTE”

For many of us, even if we’re actively pursuing a more sustainable lifestyle, “zero waste” may sound a little intimidating.

You’re already being more conscious about wasting less food at home. You’re already working the 3R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. What more can you do? You can step it up and place added focus on “Reduce,” which means preventing waste in the first place. With everything we use and consume — especially in our own kitchens — we can all develop a “zero waste” mindset that asks:

- “What can I do with this before it becomes part of the waste stream?
- Can I eat it/reuse it/compost it/recycle it first?”

In Kitchen Confessions terms: how can you do more with the food you already have? How can you use parts of the food you don’t typically think of as edible, like cheese rinds? Produce peels, rinds, stalks, tops and bottoms? Bones and coffee grounds? Keep scrolling, Conscientious Food Consumers!

COMPOSTING VERSUS ZERO WASTE

Most of the time, we on the NFLB staff downplay composting in our messaging and outreach, even though we do actively support the practice. Why downplay it? Composting can make it easy for us to excuse our wasting habits. If the food that got composted was edible in the first place, then technically it was still wasted! See our page: “What About Composting?”

Given the scale of the food waste problem, composting is “inextricably linked” with zero waste. But the real goal with “zero waste” is to maximize, as much as possible, the resources represented in every part of our food.

Producing soil amendment from spoiled and/or undesirable food is certainly better than sending that inedible organic waste to the landfill. In Corvallis and Philomath, residents have the option of curbside composting through Republic Services, while OSU’s Extension Service offers advice on getting started with backyard composting.

SOME “ZERO WASTE” CONTEST RECIPES

Donna T.’s Carrot Top Pesto (shown as handy frozen single portions) and Watermelon Rind Pickles, using those parts that typically go to waste.
“I haven’t paid for vegetable stock in years,” boasts Sarah B. when introducing her Vegetable Scrap Soup Stock. Her family’s stock-from-scratch doesn’t need aseptic packaging and uses veggies and trimmings that others might toss: “any sad and wilted individuals from the bottom of your veggie crisper,” carrot or parsnip ends/peels, onion skins/ends, mushroom stems, cauliflower/cabbage cores/leaves, kale stems, or celery stumps.
“Almost anything goes!” says Rebecka W. of her One Pot Adaptable Curry — a recipe she “adapts” with odds and ends from her spice cabinet as well as whatever she finds at fridge clean-out time.
Mali G. blends up random fruits/veggies, and found a great new way to use the byproduct with her Juice Pulp Muffins!
Donna P. prepares her Everything Ramen Soup with random leftovers and stock from “scraps that I am cutting off of the produce, like onion butts, carrot tops, chard stems, mushroom stems, bits of ginger that have gotten tough, meat bones — pretty much anything that isn’t funky or rotten…”

www.eatyourselfskinny.com/juice-pulp-muffins/

TODAY’S KITCHEN CONFESSION:

I CONFESS that I am still learning what “zero waste” means!

I must also FRANKLY CONFESS that in this blog, I’ve been using the term rather loosely to describe recipes with ingredients that would normally get tossed or composted. Assuming these dishes were completely consumed (either by people or people food-loving animals), they might then qualify as truly “zero waste” recipes!

In the waste management and recycling industries, “zero waste” is a complex topic. It’s also a growing global movement that is fundamentally altering human attitudes and practices regarding our relationship to natural resources, consumption and waste disposal. Learn more about the “zero waste” movement!

A few recommended resources:

The Zero Waste Home Guide;
The Corvallis/Albany Zero Waste Group on Facebook;
“Waste Free Kitchen Handbook” by Dana Gunders (Chronicle Books, 2015);
“My Zero Waste Kitchen: Easy Ways to Eat Waste Free” (DK Books, 2017);
Food Preservation how-to (our great-grandparents’ zero food waste approach that’s now back in style), by OSU Extension Service; and
Zero Waste USA, founded in 1996 as the GrassRoots Recycling Network.

As a project of the Waste Prevention Action Team of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, the NFLB campaign and Kitchen Confessions are here to help you (and ourselves) “step it up” along the path to zero waste!

Leftover Recipe Contest Winners!

April 21, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Happy Earth Day/Week, Conscientious Food Consumers!

Our first-ever Recipe Contest featuring YOUR LEFTOVERS is a big success! Many thanks to everyone who participated. You ALL are winners in the No Food Left Behind movement!

We received 25 submissions for tasty, homey and creative meals, including ethnic and zero-waste-inspired dishes. Our contest chefs reported saving anywhere from $3-$20 with their recipes and prevented at-risk items like these from going into their compost bins or garbage carts:

Carrot tops, cauliflower stems/leaves, wrinkly tomatoes, squash, kale, greens and other past-prime veggies;
Leftover turkey, chicken, chicken bones and canned tuna fish;
Leftover spaghetti, mashed potatoes, beans, macaroni, takeout rice;
Bruised peaches, overripe bananas, even veggie pulp from the juicer;
Year-old Valentine’s chocolates!
Past “Use By” and “Best By” dated cans of tuna, packaged pancake mix, packaged shredded coconut. (Note: see “Check before you chuck it,” about those dates on food containers and packaging.)

We had a lot of fun reviewing your wonderful submissions, and wished we could have doubled the number of Co-op gift cards for our drawing! Reminder: although we called it a “contest,” it was actually a random drawing — from a real straw hat.

Marvel’s sheetpan roasted veggies & feta made enough for *two* leftover dinners!

Virginia’s mac-n-leftover squash-n-cheese

CONGRATULATIONS to our Drawing Winners:

AMY B., Leftover Chicken with Indian Spices
MARVEL V., Sheetpan Noodle Soup
VIRGINIA N., Mac-N-Leftover Squash-N-Cheese

Again, HUGE thanks to everyone who submitted! Your recipes will be listed on our NEW Leftover Recipes compilation page (under construction) and may also be shared on our NFLB Facebook page (“NFLBCorvallis”).

A FEW FAVES:

Sue’s Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Soup), combining the divine flavors of lemongrass, curry paste, coconut milk with leftover meat/veggies, served over leftover takeout rice;
Sarah’s Always-Homemade Soup Stock from veggie scraps stored in the freezer;
Leigh Ann’s Grits & Greens, making Southern comfort food with polenta and aging greens;
Olin’s Olde Valentine Choco-Coco Cookies; and
Donna’s Watermelon Rind Pickles and Carrot Top Pesto

NFLB STAFF RECIPES: Unbeknownst to one another, we both did something with tuna fish! (Note: staff recipes were not included in the drawing.)

Many of us have made nachos before, but what about Tuna Nachos? That’s what Jeanette, NFLB’s Director, was inspired to do. She says they were just as tasty as the conventional kind!

I was inspired by a childhood memory of “Fish Fridays” to make Tuna Patties with Picklejuice Crema, using a couple of “expired” cans of tuna in my pantry. Instead of standard tartar sauce, I used some juice from my favorite dill pickles that was left over in the jar after all the pickles were gone. (I’ll never throw pickle juice out again!)

CONGRATULATIONS again to our contest winners!

In our next Kitchen Confessions, we’ll highlight several zero-waste recipes from our drawing. The zero-waste approach in the kitchen utilizes even more parts of food and thus prevents more greenhouse gases. HAPPY EARTH DAY 2021!

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

March 31, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

With spring unfolding soon 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.

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!

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.

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!

$$$ 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 (2021) DEADLINE EXTENSION!

(UPDATE/NOTE: CONTEST HAS ENDED!)

We’re extending the deadline for our Leftovers Recipe Contest an extra week to Sunday, APRIL 11th, 2021! 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!

March 11, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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!

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.)

What’s the name of your dish? Is it for vegans, vegetarians or omnivores? Is it kid-friendly?
What was the inspiration for your dish?
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!
Estimate how much $$ you saved by not wasting those leftover items.
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!

February 18, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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

January 26, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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:

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.
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!
For the best flavor retention, BUY WHOLE SPICE/HERB products (for example, nutmeg), then grind or grate them just before usage.
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.
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

January 7, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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!

December 21, 2020 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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.

K’RENE 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:

Shop your fridge/freezer and pantry first! Be sure to make notes as appropriate on your Freezer Inventory.
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.
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!
Use a shopping list app like Big Oven (if you don’t already have one).
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!
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

December 4, 2020 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

– 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:

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!

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