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No Food Left Behind – Corvallis

Prevent Wasted Food

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recipe contest

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.

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 (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!

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: composting, DIY Wasted Food Discovery, Eat First sign, Eat First smart strategy, leftovers, recipe contest, Semana Para Descubrir Alimentos Arruinados, smart strategies, StillTasty.com, wasted food home audit

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!

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!

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: BigOven.com, Dana Gunders, Eat First sign, Eat First smart strategy, First Alternative Co-op, food hero, FoodHero.org, leftovers, recipe contest, recipes, Waste Free Kitchen Handbook

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