Food Storage Friday - Fresh Food Waste

Have you been finding yourself throwing out a lot of fresh fruits or vegetables lately? I have, and it frustrates me. The other day I threw out some celery, half a bag of salad, some kale the rabbit didn't care for, and some cherries. (oh, and some chicken that went bad too - argh!) I was MAD - alright, so it was less than $5 worth that ended up in the trash, but that's $5 that could have been put into my food storage!

In my case, it was mostly the change in my DH's schedule that had caused me to end up tossing things out. (Our meal times are WAY off) If you're finding yourself throwing out a lot too, sit back and try to see why it's happening. Was someone in the family ill? If it's something like that, that's not a common occurrence, then while it can be frustrating, it happens. If week in and week out, you are finding yourself tossing and tossing, you need to change your shopping habits. If you don't already menu plan, many times this can help curb most of your waste. Some fruits and vegetables can be prepared ahead of time - such as dicing green peppers. If you already have them diced, and then don't end up making the planned meal, the peppers can easily be thrown into the freezer so you don't end up throwing them out.

If you're ending up wasting the $5 each week too, that's $20 extra at the end of the month that you could have used towards your shelf stable food storage! It can add up fast!

Try to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that have a longer "shelf" life - apples, oranges, etc. Use the appropriate drawers in your fridge to store veggies and fruits that need to be refrigerated. Take items such as parsley, kale, etc out of the plastic bag you used to bring them home, and store them with a piece of paper towel to keep them separated. Don't forget to wash down that crisper drawer once a week with soap and water - it helps cut down on bacteria that can cause food to go bad faster.

By the way if you're feeling frisky, you don't need to have a food dehydrator to dehydrate your fruits and veggies to help save them longer. You can use your oven. I've never done it myself, but if you Google it, you should find more information.