View Full Version : Ideas for zero waste food/meals
Aqua Blue
11-19-14, 10:28am
I have wanted for sometime to come up with a menu for 2-4 weeks for meals that would be zero waste. Where there would be variety and at the end of the month all the food would be gone.
I usually try to work on some goal during the winter months and this year I was thinking of making this my goal. A long time ago I remember seeing something similar but have no idea(many computers later) where I saw it.
I am a single woman in my early 60's and cook for just me. Anyone have ideas/recipes etc?
I'm probably not answering you exact question, but I live alone and really don't have much waste food. Probably close to zero. I have one or two "cook days" a week where I fix a full recipe of something and freeze several portions. Out of a standard recipe I get 1 meal fresh and 3 or so single portions to freeze. There are obviously things that don't freeze well which I either avoid or cut down the recipe. Right now I have bean burritos, eggplant parmesan, navy bean soup, chicken rice soup, spaghetti sauce, banana bread, lentil sloppy joes, roast chicken, and I don't know what all else in the freezer in single portions. Fresh fruit seems to keep pretty well and doesn't present a problem, but fresh veggies is sometimes a challenge.
Love the idea of wasteless meal planning. It is the storage that becomes a problem for too many portions that need to be frozen. I am eating the volume down that I have in the freezer at present but variety is somewhat limited. I need to think smaller batches to get variety when I do my weekly cooking.
Looking forward to see what others say.
catherine
11-19-14, 12:52pm
In thinking about this, I'm more inclined to think it's easier to manage waste if you have shorter timeframes you're trying to manage. Sometimes I don't know how long stuff is going to last, and I find it much easier to improvise with what's there rather than plan for what actually gets eaten over the course of 4 weeks.
One technique I have for less waste is to monitor my fridge and write down on my kitchen whiteboard perishables that are in danger of begin past their prime and then incorporating them somehow. So, if I have had mushrooms in there for a few days, I might write that on board and then I know to make mushroom omelets the next day.
DH and I do not mind leftovers at all, so that helps. We always do the Roaster chicken to sandwich to soup route, and the soup always is an opportunity to look at my board and make sure I throw in whatever is in the fridge not earmarked for something else.
Maybe just have 5-6 main recipes/proteins planned over a two week period, and leave a couple of days at the end of each week to regroup and see what bits and pieces are available for a soup/salad/taco night.
Perhaps like weight loss, it might be useful to start with a December Food Diary and write down exactly what you buy, what you eat and what you throw away, and then try to tweak what you've learned for the New Year Project. Oh, at least here, NPR is in the middle of a week-long series on food waste, and one of their suggestions was that if you have anything which needs to be eaten soon, you put it on a designated shelf (preferably top where you'll see it.) I can see that working; if you've got anything on the shelf, well, that's what you're having for dinner.
Teacher Terry
11-19-14, 2:07pm
One thing that I do is if I am planning to make a meal that will not freeze well I invite others over to enjoy it & also send some leftovers home. I also have a few friends that are too disabled to cook so I drop leftovers at their homes which they appreciate.
lessisbest
11-19-14, 5:05pm
As a long-time meal planner, I bet you mean you want meals planned so that you don't have produce dying of loneliness in the crisper drawer, or repeated meals - you make a pot of chili or soup and you have it for lunch and dinner for the next 4-days, or you never bake a whole chicken because you didn't think about it being used for at least 4 (or more) meals -- rather than "zero waste".
As others have shared, your freezer is your friend.... I freeze chili in 1/2-cup and 1-cup portions, pop them out of the plastic containers (freeing them up for other storage uses) and stack the chili "cubes" and vacuum-seal them in a FoodSaver bag. I use the 1/2-cup amounts on baked potatoes or in a taco salad, and the 1-cup portions for a meal. I make ahead and freeze things for breakfast (muffins, quick bread, scones, waffles/pancakes), lunch (using leftovers, frozen soup, etc.) and dinner in the freezer. Cook once and enjoy for many meals. I also freeze portions of cooked beans, rice, quinoa....
Even as thrifty as I am (I have a $125/monthly food budget for 2 adults), the only thing I can think to do with a banana peel is to toss it into the composter (which would be against "zero waste" rules), and my frugal way to cut an apple still leaves less than a teaspoon of the seed pod and stem that I toss, and I have (seemingly) a million-and-one ways to use food most people waste -- from making brownies or pancakes with bread crumbs, to making apple jelly OR vinegar with the apple cores and peelings when I make dehydrated apples, but there is still going to be some waste after you strain the solids from the jelly or vinegar. So I'm going to assume that's not what you are calling "zero waste".
When I purchased a head of lettuce on sale today for 99-cents (an unexpected purchase), I know in my meal plans I will need to use it as the topping on some kind of Mexican entrée on "International Night" (Thursday), as a lettuce wrap (instead of having a sandwich with bread) on Saturday, and a green salad with homemade Pizza on Sunday, and plan to use if for up to two weeks when considering my menu plans because that's how large this particular head of leaf lettuce was. Is that what you mean by "zero waste"? Using what you purchase in a timely manner so you don't waste it.
Helpful tip: If I need some toppings for a pizza, without purchasing a lot of produce I'll have trouble using, or I need 2 T. of chopped bell pepper or chopped green onions for a recipe, OR, I'd like a little fresh spinach or shredded cabbage for a salad without buying a whole bag of spinach or head of cabbage, I'll get small portions at the grocery store salad bar rather than risk wasting produce. I understand some stores will sell you celery by-the-stalk, or will even divide other large portions of produce. Might be worth asking. I never buy the whole bag of grapes they have pre-packaged, I take out what I need and put it in a produce bag.
Back to zero waste meal planning.... I make what we call the "Big Meal" on Monday. That is usually a large cut of meat (beef or pork roast, ham, whole chicken/turkey, etc.) or cuts of meat (chicken thighs, boneless ribs, etc.), meatloaf - these can be used in other meals, possibly used for sandwiches, maybe a portion in the freezer, and if there is a bony carcass it will be used for soup. As an example, Monday I made a copycat recipe for Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenders. There were enough leftover for lunch the next day (hubby had his shredded with bbq sauce and I had mine on a green salad), and tonight I will be using the remainder in stir-fry, and that's how I planned it.
My weekly plans look like this.
Monday - Big Meal
Tuesday - Leftovers (may or may not take on a different look - roast beef may become a hot beef sandwich)
Wednesday - Stir-fry (a good way to use fresh produce in the refrigerator and/or frozen veggies, and any kind of meat will work for stir-fry)
Thursday - International Night - usually something with a tortilla or pasta. If I there would have been more chicken tenders left from Monday, I might have shredded them for tacos or in a quesadilla. I keep meat (seasoned or unseasoned) for Mexican meals in the freezer. I also keep meaty spaghetti sauce in user-friendly amounts in the freezer.
Friday - Vegetarian (a good time for breakfast for dinner, egg dishes, bean-based dishes, I keep a stack of homemade bean burgers in the freezer, vegetarian chili - from the freezer - on a baked potato)
Saturday - Soup and/or Sandwiches (most soup is frozen in FoodSaver bags in individual servings, sandwiches are made with nearly any kind of leftover meat, homemade sloppy joe mix, grilled cheese, etc., - in the freezer you'll find, grilled steak/chicken, shredded and ground meat that can be used for sandwiches, wraps...)
Sunday - Homemade Pizza (a good way to use up veggies, bits of leftover meat, almost any kind of cheese). When it's hot weather, we have a nice dinner salad using many of the same things we would have used on the pizza.
Maybe what you need is a written plan based on something like my "big meal", or based on loss leaders you find on shopping day. Then be sure to stock your freezer, have a well-stocked pantry, and keep your options open. If I'm out of lettuce, or it's expensive, I'll grow alfalfa sprouts for sandwiches, and we even use shredded cabbage on sandwiches.
I was toying with a future class about 10 foods and 10 things you can make with them. That's essentially what meal planning is all about so you don't waste food. Take one whole chicken, roast it, and how many different ways it can be used. Or cutting the chicken up and it's different uses. I'm an expert at uses for lentils (tacos, bar cookies, waffles, sprouted in salads and stir-fry, soup, casseroles...), they are one of my favorite foods. I boil ground beef and put it in 1-cup portions in the freezer. It's amazing how many things I can make with 1-cup of cooked ground beef. I've been buying more ground turkey (with the price of beef going up), and I brown it and package it the same way and for many of the same uses. I also use fresh ground turkey to make breakfast sausage, as another use for it.
ApatheticNoMore
11-19-14, 5:17pm
As a long-time meal planner, I bet you mean you want meals planned so that you don't have produce dying of loneliness in the crisper drawer
the celery and the parsley come specifically to mind ... do those two ever get all used up?
or repeated meals - you make a pot of chili or soup and you have it for lunch and dinner for the next 4-days
I think some of that is kind of unavoidable if cooking for one person.
the celery and the parsley come specifically to mind ... do those two ever get all used up?
I throw tired parsley into the stock bag (my freezer ziplock with broth-to-be ingredients.) Yes, there's always tired parsley, so I've mostly taking to growing my own.
My way of doing celery is to cut off the ends and base as soon as I get it home and throw that in the stock bag as well, then cut the stalks in half and submerge them in water in a casserole dish, and put in fridge. change out water every few days. This might be leaching some nutrients but it can stay crunchy for 2 weeks this way.
ETA - lessisbest, do you really feel like throwing banana peels in the compost is waste? I draw a line with something I actually can't eat from the get-go. but just in case, the internet is our friend, lol. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Banana-Peels
lessisbest
11-19-14, 5:45pm
the celery and the parsley come specifically to mind ... do those two ever get all used up?
Celery can be blanched and frozen OR dehydrated, and parsley can be dried in the oven with the oven light on or in a dehydrator. I use both fresh and dried parsley as a tea. I also dehydrate celery leaves. Monday I cut several stalks of celery and several carrots (and any other fresh veggies I have on hand) and store them in the refrigerator. They can be quickly added to any meal, eaten as-is as a snack, added to tuna/chicken salad, chopped for soup, added to a green salad.....
I think some of that is kind of unavoidable if cooking for one person.
It does take some creative cooking and occasionally creative storage methods, but there's not all that much I can think of that I haven't frozen (exception is things you just shouldn't/can't freeze - like cream pies, meringue, egg salad, etc. But I make my own pudding mix and can make pudding for one. I make a lot of mixes (my frugal homemade "convenience" foods) so I don't need to purchase large amounts. We have home food storage (including lots of freeze-dried foods in #10 cans). I thought freeze-dried food would be difficult to use, but has turned into one of the BEST things I use. If I have a cup of leftover rice, I will add some tomato powder, taco sauce, or even ketchup to the rice, then rehydrate 1-2 T. of freeze-dried peas and another 1-2 T. of freeze-dried corn, and make Spanish Rice with it. With freeze-dried fruits and vegetables (as well as meat) you can make quick meals in amounts needed. It's also surprising what things can be frozen. I often freeze leftover canned tuna or salmon after I use enough to make one sandwich with it, rather than have to eat tuna sandwiches made with the entire can for several days. I can make single servings of chicken pot pies, pasta entrees, and many other things by making them in a muffin tin (6 or 12 servings, as needed). Occasionally necessity is still the mother of invention ;).
frugal-one
11-19-14, 5:53pm
I would get these books and see what recipes I like and shop accordingly (ie sales, etc). I think it would be fun to experiment!
http://www.linkcat.info/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1030849
http://www.linkcat.info/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=875362
Blackdog Lin
11-19-14, 9:00pm
I also heavily utilize the freezer in trying to reduce waste - anything that doesn't get eaten by the end of day 2 goes into the freezer. And then every 6 weeks or so I spend a week devising dishes/menus to clear it all out. I generally have little food waste.
Float On
11-20-14, 12:36pm
I was toying with a future class about 10 foods and 10 things you can make with them. That's essentially what meal planning is all about so you don't waste food. Take one whole chicken, roast it, and how many different ways it can be used. Or cutting the chicken up and it's different uses. I'm an expert at uses for lentils (tacos, bar cookies, waffles, sprouted in salads and stir-fry, soup, casseroles...), they are one of my favorite foods. I boil ground beef and put it in 1-cup portions in the freezer. It's amazing how many things I can make with 1-cup of cooked ground beef. I've been buying more ground turkey (with the price of beef going up), and I brown it and package it the same way and for many of the same uses. I also use fresh ground turkey to make breakfast sausage, as another use for it.
What a wonderful post you had lessisbest...I'm going to read it more completely but am interested in these "classes" you talk about and would love to see what your list is of things you make with 1 cup ground beef. Sometimes I look at a package of ground beef and all I can think of is tacos (again), chili (again), meatloaf (again), spaghetti sauce (again)....I need more ideas because I get a lot of ground beef out of 1/2 a beef my parents give me every year.
frugal-one
11-20-14, 5:34pm
What a wonderful post you had lessisbest...I'm going to read it more completely but am interested in these "classes" you talk about and would love to see what your list is of things you make with 1 cup ground beef. Sometimes I look at a package of ground beef and all I can think of is tacos (again), chili (again), meatloaf (again), spaghetti sauce (again)....I need more ideas because I get a lot of ground beef out of 1/2 a beef my parents give me every year.
I love Taste of Home Ground Beef Cookbook. I have made NUMEROUS things (sometimes use ground turkey instead) such as refried bean pizza, spanish rice enchiladas, fast minestrone....+ many more.
Aqua Blue
11-20-14, 6:31pm
Thanks for the thoughts and ideas.
Sorry I used the words zero waste, lessisbest, I didn't realize those two words when used together had rules. I wasn't worried about composting banana peels(which I wouldn't eat anyway) as ending up composting 1/2 an onion that I could have used. I was thinking more along the lines of "using what I purchased in a timely manor"' I am impressed that you can feed two people for $135 a month.
At this point I am seeing my freezer more as an enemy than a friend. Things tend to go in and not come out until they are freezer burned and need to be thrown out. One of my problems is I really don't care to cook and plan so I need to decide if $$ wasting is more important than planning. :thankyou:
Blackdog Lin
11-20-14, 8:37pm
If you don't like to "cook and plan".....I don't think there IS any way to reduce your food wastage Aqua.
Not being snarky. We all have different talents and interests. It's just that the very nature of reducing food wastage demands.....cooking and planning.
I don't think there IS any way to reduce your food wastage Aqua.
The only alternative I can think of, is just purchasing exactly enough for one meal. But THAT is pricey, because to do that you'd likely be going to a salad bar (much more $$/lb than buying in bulk) or going to a specialty butcher where you could buy just one chicken leg or 1/4 lb of hamburger.
You get to trade off either time or money. Planning is time, and purchasing just enough for one meal is money.
Miss Cellane
11-20-14, 10:28pm
the celery and the parsley come specifically to mind ... do those two ever get all used up?
I used to throw out a lot of fresh produce that went bad, because I couldn't use it up before it turned to slime.
Finally, I realized I had to plan more than one meal for certain types of produce.
I bought a big bunch of celery on Tuesday. Some of it got cut up for celery sticks for work lunches. Tonight, I used 4 stalks in a casserole, and tomorrow I'm making another casserole that uses celery. And some of it will go in tuna salad on Saturday. The rest will be in next week's work lunches.
Parsley was tough until I learned how to make tabouli. And if I have some in the fridge, I've just started throwing some in sandwiches, or casseroles, or green salads.
The only alternative I can think of, is just purchasing exactly enough for one meal. But THAT is pricey, because to do that you'd likely be going to a salad bar (much more $$/lb than buying in bulk) or going to a specialty butcher where you could buy just one chicken leg or 1/4 lb of hamburger.
You get to trade off either time or money. Planning is time, and purchasing just enough for one meal is money.Just have to say, I worked as a secret shopper for a grocery chain for a while, and one of the things I always had to do was ask for special services like double grinding meat or repackaging in a smaller size. I could be wrong, but I believe a store that does packaging on site, even if it's not chi-chi, will package up what you want. Personally I think daily shopping would be a lot more work than a little planning, but each to his own!
ETA: one thought, shopping at the grocery store deli for sandwiches, salads or chicken etc., while more expensive than traditional home cooking, allows for small/single portions, no cooking, and cheaper prices than going to a restaurant.
ApatheticNoMore
11-21-14, 12:10am
But THAT is pricey, because to do that you'd likely be going to a salad bar (much more $$/lb than buying in bulk) or going to a specialty butcher where you could buy just one chicken leg or 1/4 lb of hamburger.
I buy small quantities of meat like that, a lot.
At this point I am seeing my freezer more as an enemy than a friend.
Yea I get that. I don't think it works well for that many things for me either really (having tried it). It works ok for me for tomato paste, jarred tomatoes, pesto, roasted red pepper salad dressing, always having frozen fish handy, freezing butter or cheese sometimes, sometime meats (if a meat is going to go bad I'll put it in) - it often gets used but even in the last one I sometimes forget about it. No it's not a particularly spacious freezer anyway of course (it's on an apartment sized fridge, not mini but apartment sized). So it's very easy to just have it crammed to the busting point with stuff that gets forgotten about. I guess it's possible if I got a separate freezer and had boatloads of space, I might be much more methodical about it, but I really don't' want to go down that road either (such an energy suck for one thing).
lessisbest
11-21-14, 7:17am
Aqua Blue, sorry -- I misunderstood the meaning of "zero waste". I did some searching on the subject of "zero waste" yesterday and found what we learned in high school Home Economics class in the late 60's, and what my WWII mother, who experienced food rationing, admonished - "waste not, want not" - is now a food (and packaging) trend know as Zero Food Waste. And yes, that's another new idea for a class....(LOL).
It still requires all the things shared by everyone on this thread - planning and cooking, or relying on the freezer section at the grocery store. Although I did see another option, Emergency Essentials (http://beprepared.com/) have just introduced breakfast, lunch, and dinner buckets. Each bucket holds a one-month supply in single serving pouches and are on sale just now. That would be the perfect answer to meal planning. The drawback is the cost -- each bucket costs more than my $125/month budget for groceries for 2 adults, so that proves the economy of cooking from scratch over prepared meals.
There are also a wide variety of Food Storage books that might help. You could trim it to the numbers you want to have prepared. In Mary Wilde’s book, A Year’s Supply In “Seven Days”, she figures a group of menus and breaks them down to the amount of ingredients needed and fills her storage based on a set of menus. She notes, for her family of six, her grocery list consisted of less than 50 items, which I found impressive. I have nearly that many different grains/seeds/beans in our home storage alone....
It’s In the Bag by Michelle & Trent Snow, you place all the ingredients needed for a meal in a bag and their food storage is completed that way. You take down a bag and all the ingredients to make the meal are already assembled. It may be a plan that proves to be a simple and convenient method, but it requires a lot of highly processed foods and items very high in sodium, which are generally more expensive and not as healthy. When I teach meal planning classes it always starts with a food budget amount.
Jan Jackson’s 100-Day Pantry is another interesting method, and I like many of her ideas, but they also require foods I don’t consider “healthy”, but that too is why my meal plans wouldn't work for others because we all don't eat the same things. I prefer whole foods as much as possible. I find whole foods are really Nature's original "fast food" and why I can have a meal on the table in 30-minutes or less. I've found the more ingredients there are in a recipe, the more time it will take to prepare and often cost more.
Miss Cellane
11-21-14, 7:41am
The only alternative I can think of, is just purchasing exactly enough for one meal. But THAT is pricey, because to do that you'd likely be going to a salad bar (much more $$/lb than buying in bulk) or going to a specialty butcher where you could buy just one chicken leg or 1/4 lb of hamburger.
You get to trade off either time or money. Planning is time, and purchasing just enough for one meal is money.
At least where I live, buying food meal by meal is time-consuming, too. There's a good supermarket near my job. But to get there after work, fighting rush hour traffic, takes about 10 minutes. Then at least 20 minutes, but more likely half an hour, to navigate the store and wait for people who are blocking the aisles, or blocking the food you want to buy as they make their selections, and 5 minutes to check out. Then another 15 minutes to get home, when it usually just takes me 10. So an added half hour or more to get food. And then I arrive home tired and stressed from dealing with food shopping and the crowds and my job, and I have to cook.
That's time I'd like to spend doing something else. And I'm still going to come home with more food than can be used up in one meal--there are no bulk sections at the supermarkets in town. I have to buy a whole bunch of celery, not 2 or 3 stalks, for example.
I really like the idea of buying just a day or two worth of perishable food at a time, but it doesn't work with the way supermarkets are set up in the US.
What a wonderful post you had lessisbest...I'm going to read it more completely but am interested in these "classes" you talk about and would love to see what your list is of things you make with 1 cup ground beef. Sometimes I look at a package of ground beef and all I can think of is tacos (again), chili (again), meatloaf (again), spaghetti sauce (again)....I need more ideas because I get a lot of ground beef out of 1/2 a beef my parents give me every year. Pizza. I suggest you eat lockered-beef Hamburger Pizza, everyday. Make sure it's piled HIGH with Oooey-gooey Mozzzzerrrelllie cheeeese. It's Whats Fer Dinner.
lessisbest, I loved your post in this thread. Much food for thought here from everyone. Thanks all.
I have been thinking of over-hauling my entire food buying/recipes for this year to see if I can't shave off some $s. The price of groceries are going up monthly around here and I am the first to admit that I do waste! I'm not happy about it, either. I am just tired of cooking every meal and am really getting into cooking once and eating two or three times from it.
Today, on TV, they used a waffle iron to cook up crispy golden brown hash browns. After shredding the potatoes, just soak in cold water to remove some of the starch and drain. Season to taste and add about 1/2 cup to the heated, buttered waffle iron and cook about 5 min.
I can't wait to try this. When your cooking for two as I am, I want simple, quick, healthy things like this.
Thanks again to everyone for great ideas!
lessisbest
1-12-15, 10:04am
lessisbest, I loved your post in this thread. Much food for thought here from everyone. Thanks all.
I have been thinking of over-hauling my entire food buying/recipes for this year to see if I can't shave off some $s. The price of groceries are going up monthly around here and I am the first to admit that I do waste! I'm not happy about it, either. I am just tired of cooking every meal and am really getting into cooking once and eating two or three times from it.
Today, on TV, they used a waffle iron to cook up crispy golden brown hash browns. After shredding the potatoes, just soak in cold water to remove some of the starch and drain. Season to taste and add about 1/2 cup to the heated, buttered waffle iron and cook about 5 min.
I can't wait to try this. When your cooking for two as I am, I want simple, quick, healthy things like this.
Thanks again to everyone for great ideas!
jody-
Many thanks for your kind words....
There are all kinds of recipes you can make in a waffle iron when you take a look on-line. This is one of the recipes I teach in one of my classes. At the time, the recipe cost about 98-cents each serving and serves 4 people.
HAM AND CHEDDAR SUPPER WAFFLES
Waffle batter for 4 waffles (I make Quinoa Protein Power Waffles - http://abakerswife.com/2014/06/quinoa-protein-power-waffle.html)
2 oz. thinly sliced ham (deli ham or finely chopped ham)
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
Blend ingredients and use 3/4 c. batter per waffle. Serve with carrot and celery sticks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of my favorite "convenience" foods are dehydrated hashbrown potatoes. These are also a part of my home food storage. I normally use Golden Grill Premium Hashbrown Potatoes (Sam's Club - $5.98 for 50-servings - http://www.samsclub.com/sams/golden-grill-premium-hashbrown-potatoes/prod3170020.ip?navAction=).
lessisbest, I think you should write a book on this. I would stand in line to buy it!
I'm off to check out more waffle iron recipes online. Thanks.
seedycharacter
2-8-15, 11:41pm
I would say to try to figure out what foods tend to spoil for you and avoid those. I started buying romaine rather than red lettuce and wrapping it loosely in a paper towel inside the plastic bag. It lasts so much longer. When I know I'm going to be crazy busy for a while, I stock up on onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, celery, mushrooms (stored in paper bag in fridge)--all stuff that lasts a long time. I work so many hours I have figured out how to make super quick healthy meals with these basic veggies. e.g. veggie fritattas (20 mins to prep and can last for 3 meals), black beans with salsa microwaving while a whole grain tortilla heats on the stovetop--avocado, cheese, salsa make for a tasty quesadilla (under 15 min), veggie burger with the other half of the avocado on it and with baked beans (TJ's brand--yum!) and quickly chopped lettuce (15 min) salad. Easy peasy and almost no food waste.
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