How I meal-prep to avoid food waste!
Do you find yourself throwing out rotten produce every few weeks? Florence has been there! Let her show you how she plans her weekly meals and give you some tips on reducing food waste!
Have you done the walk of shame? The monthly one to your compost bin. I’ve done it many times, and it never feels good watching spoiled produce or meals go into that green bin. But what are you to do? You’re a busy person who means well. Every week you go to the grocery store to do a big shop like a real adult. Then, the week picks up and you get side-tracked, you get takeout more often than not, and whoops! The herbs you bought already went bad and you have to throw them out in the cover of the night. I admit, I’ve been there too. But that stops now! Here is how I plan to end this frustrating habit of throwing out food.
1. Have a plan.
I use this spreadsheet to help plan my meals. I am perfectly fine and even happy to eat leftovers. If you’re not, you might have to adjust your planning. Can you cook components of your meals ahead of time to discourage you from defaulting to takeout? Things like rice, legumes, and sauces can be prepared ahead of time. You can also chop your fruits and veggies ahead of time to make cooking easier during the week!
2. Hack your meal-prep
Things like herbs go bad so quickly, so try to find solutions to the cilantro wilting in your fridge. Experiment with how you store these easy to spoil items! I’ve seen people freeze chopped up herbs in olive oil for cooking, or I've actually seen herbs chopped up and stored in the freezer ready to go. Have you tried any of these hacks? Let us know what's worked for you by submitting a photo to our March challenge! More information on our Instagram.
3. When in doubt- soup!
This only really works for vegetables. Whenever I see some of my vegetables going bad, I like to turn them into a soup. Then, I freeze them for a day when I can’t or don’t want to cook! This drastically increases the life span of your produce- you can even throw some fresh herbs into your soup! Done, problem solved!
What do you do to reduce your food waste? You can tag us in your photo or reel @stoptrashingit to enter our March low-waste challenge!
Florence is currently finishing up her work-term with Stop Trashing It. When she's not writing reports about her reusable mug project, you can find her enjoying the warm spring weather with her friends in Nova Scotia, or obsessing over her senior cat, Lucy. Follow along with Florence @nightingale.gal!