How to cut your grocery bill in half (Part two)

In my last entry, I noted that a great way to reduce your grocery bill is to simply reduce your intake of highly processed foods. The second most important thing that you can do is reduce the amount of food waste you produce.

If I want to know how much I am really spending on food, I calculate the cost on a per-serving basis.  If you make sure to use every bit of what you buy, your per-serving cost lowers dramatically.

In general, I have a few tips for reducing edible food waste:

Learn about the best ways to store and preserve your foods. For example, herbs and salads last much longer if they are washed, dried, and then stored in the crisper, in-between pieces of paper-towel. 

Plan meals around what you have in the fridge.  Even if you feel like you can’t possibly pull together a meal based on what you’ve got, forage through your freezer, pantry and refrigerator and think about what you might be able to make with those ingredients.  Look at it like a fun challenge.  By planning meals based on what you’ve already got, you will reduce the number of trips you take to the store. For example, usually find carrots, potatoes and baking supplies are still hanging around when almost everything else has been eaten - this means a hearty supper of soup and dumplings can still be arranged.

Check your fridge frequently to see what is on its way out.  By monitoring expiration dates and checking your fruits and veggies regularly, you will catch foods before they go bad.  I recommend doing this before you decide what’s for dinner.  In other words, do this every day or as often as possible. 

Use any foods that are past their prime, but still edible, in soups, stocks, stews, casseroles or in other creative ways you can think of.  

An example: On Friday, before I left the city for a weekend to go to a wedding, I surveyed my kitchen.  There were three beautiful tomatoes that had already ripened and were unlikely to last the weekend.  Similarly, I had a full bag of mushrooms that were just started to go bad.  I decided to turn the tomatoes into a really lovely bowl of tomato soup (pictured above) and use the mushrooms in a mushroom and barley soup I had been wanting to make.  Neither was difficult to make, and they provided a meal before we left and upon our return.

For more suggestions on how to reduce your edible food waste, check out my earlier posts:

How much should your food really cost?

Reducing waste and eating well for less

And now for the tomato soup recipe:

(Please keep in mind, this was just done on a whim, without a recipe.  So please feel free to improvise, taste and modify as you go along.)

Ingredients

12 vine-ripened or roma tomatoes, seeded and cut in halves or quarters

4 cloves garlic

2 red peppers, cut into strips

2 onions, sliced

4 cups water (approx)

1/2 cup cream

olive oil 

s&p

parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Cut the tomatoes into halves, or quarters if larger tomatoes, and scoop out their seeds. Then place in a large roasting pan, along with the garlic, onions and red peppers.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Put in 400 degree oven and roast until the tomatoes start to caramelize and turn colour (approximately 30 minutes.) When done, empty contents in blender and puree until smooth. Then add to a large pot at low-medium heat and simmer.  Thin with water, adding slowly and stirring to get the consistency right.  Simmer gently until heated through and flavours have melded together.  Remove from heat, add cream and stir.  Add more s&p if necessary.  You may also want to add a little extra olive oil and parmesan cheese, and/or parsley if you desire.  (The picture above shows all three.)

This tomato soup was unbelievably delicious.  And while it’s not the cheapest recipe (tomatoes can certainly be expensive, especially when out of season) it is an example of how to use up ingredients around the house.  This soup can also be used with imperfect or bruised tomatoes.

How have you prevented food waste this week?