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Reducing waste & eating well for less
Posted on March 26th, 2009 11 comments
I realized that until my Fresh Box arrived, we had only spent $155 on the last four weeks of groceries (less than $39 a week). Now granted, I had been absent for one week while on vacation. Josh also bought his lunch quite a number of times. But apart from that, we ate really healthy, delicious meals at home and almost never went for out to a restaurant.
How did I manage to feed two people on $155 a month? I chalk it up to stocking up on basic and versatile ingredients, being creative in the kitchen, cooking with inexpensive foods, and reducing waste. I have been aiming to produce zero edible food waste since writing What Are You Wasting on February 25. Apart from a few cilantro leaves and half a baby eggplant that got tossed against my will (after which I promptly listed of all ways I was planning on using that eggplant) I achieved my goal.
Here are some ways I reduced waste during the last several weeks:
- Froze parmesan rinds, basil roots and even cauliflower greens for vegetable stock
- Used up cilantro stems in a cilantro chutney
- Made a chicken and vegetable stock
- Used up stale pitas by making them into pita chips
- Discovered that shriveled ginger is fine, when the edges are peeled off
Because I want to eat really delicious, nutritious food, I worked hard to come up with great meal ideas using only the ingredients we had. This led me to try some new tasty recipes, like curried cauliflower soup, green lentil and vegetable curry, vegetable barley and red bean soup, homemade pizza from scratch (with a variety of delicious toppings) quiche with goat cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and bacon, whole-wheat pasta with vegetables and parmesan, salmon-potato cakes, carrot-ginger soup (I doubled the ginger and doubled the flavour this time) and deserts such as eggless oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, lemon loaf and apple crisp. Although I was pleased with how much I saved, I was actually even happier about the fact that I am learning how to cook good food and am experimenting in the kitchen.
Other ways I reduced waste:
- Rewashed ziploc bags (thanks for my readers’ tips on how to dry them)
- Repurposed an empty tea box into a cute gift box
- Discovered that you need far less dish-detergent when your water is soft; I have reduced the amount of dish-detergent I use in the dishwasher by almost half
- Cut the amount of laundry detergent I use by about half, upon realizing that it really does not make a difference
- Learned how to put our Drobo to sleep during the day, so it doesn’t use so much energy when not in use (I’m convinced this thing wastes a ton of energy, since it’s constantly whirring and is always lit up.)
- Reused tea bags (I found that each tea bag is good for at least 2 cups of tea.)
- Josh fixed our dryer (it was taking forever to dry the clothes) and he cleaned out our vacuum cleaner too, resulting in less energy waste
- Used the dishwasher for small items and handwashed large items, to avoid excessive use of the dishwasher
What is your favourite tip for reducing the waste of food, electricity or other resources?
11 responses to “Reducing waste & eating well for less”
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First, that picture is making me hungry! That looks delish.
I admit we waste more food than I would like. What’s my #1 tip, get dogs. They get a lot of the leftovers or food that is about to spoil. I’ll have to try a few of your ideas, you’ve inspired me.
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psychsarah March 27th, 2009 at 09:29
I use a drying rack for almost all my laundry. The towels go in the dryer though, I must admit, because otherwise they are too scratchy. If I do three loads of wash, I usually only have one run of the dryer, if that.
I love your tip about reducing the amount of laundry soap you use. It also helps if you have sensitive skin, because you don’t get as many irritants on your clothes. That’s why my mom started doing it, as I was always itchy as a kid, and this helped. Then she realized that the clothes were just as clean, and the soap lasted twice as long!
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A Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Yeah, it’s expensive, but no need to buy filters or bags. There’s a filter built in that the company says to rinse out every 6 months. So more enviro-friendly than typical vacuums. I got lucky I got mine cheap, but I probably would have bought it anyways.Did you know that with caffeniated teas (green, black, etc) if you steep for 30 seconds, and then dump, you remove most of the caffeine? Just replenish with water and you have naturally decaf tea. But yeah, you can typically reuse tea bags. Been doing this for a while, although I wonder if the taste is worse off for it? I’ve become a bit of tea connoisseur and it is said that the tannins (the bitter taste) kick in if you leave steeping too long. So on the second round, you may be getting more bitterness. *shrugs*
To reduce veggie waste, make sure to place cilantro, parsley, celery, etc in water. Seems like this would make sense, but then again, according to Gail, there are people who don’t know how much they take home as hard as that is to believe.
I also read about taking less showers and using a hand towel to clean the bits in between shower days. Savings in water usage, although I’m not one to do that. I’m still a sucker for my warm, wake-me-up morning showers.
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Actually, almost five times the amount of water is used when washing dishes in the sink than in the dishwasher.
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I’m making a habit of not buying groceries until I have used up nearly everything I have. I have discovered the same result - you have to try to new recipes sometimes and it wastes far less! I just feel plain bad wasting food. I guess I was raised with the “clean up your plate, there are starving people out there” mentality!
Glad to see you tried the Curried Cauliflower soup! Did you like it?
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Wow, I hate to tell you how much we spend for a family of four for a month. I’m very impressed that you can stick to it. I wish we had that much power to do it too.
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That is very inspiring Saver Queen! Not having as much food waste is something we are working on as well…although we sometimes don’t do so great we are definately getting better!
We are really good at using all of our leftovers from meals for lunches the next day!
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I see you put my cilantro stems tip to use - you were very excited about that!
This is inspiring…I love to make new dishes based on leftovers… You really are becoming quite the cook! Sounds delish!
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You are such an inspiration for frugal living because even though I don’t subscribe to that super frugal end of the PF spectrum, it makes me want to do more with what I’ve got instead of wasting it.
That meal looks wonderful!
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Congrats on reducing food waste! To reduce it even more, consider using loose tea instead of bagged. You can use a regular mesh strainer to make pots of it, or use a smaller strainer for cups.
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It’s good to read about other people making the most of food with no wastage. I’m not sure how you manage to spend $39 a week though - unless this is not your average expenditure - when I see the food you’re eating. Spices and things like goat cheese and parmesan are not cheap! And even pantry staples need to be replaced en masse from time to time.
To be sure, I have managed on as little money from time to time, but eventually there always comes a point when I need to do a BIG shop - especially since I have two kids in diapers and one on the bottle.
I guess we can only do the best we can with what we’ve got. I definitely agree that cooking with inexpensive (but healthy) ingredients makes a big difference. The clearance racks in No Frills are a big help to me!
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