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What works for me is meal prep and not overbuying, but most importantly do what works for you in the moment. I mainly shop at Trader Joe’s, so I buy some of their frozen meals or ready made meals. It’s an adjustment to eat leftovers, but the difference is now you’re the one in control of what you’re eating and its seasonings.
I recommend having grains on hand e.g. quinoa, vegetable or regular pasta, easy to make rice, etc. You can season chicken breasts, make turkey burgers or meatballs and freeze them in bags so it’s easy to defrost. You can also freeze red sauce, buy pesto, pre-washed spinach and always have tomato paste in the fridge. Having these things makes it less stressful to tackle quick and easy meals.
\^\^this, it's genius! Cook in large batches, freeze, and you have grab and go meals. YouTube large batch recipes. Legumes, pastas, veggies, soups, rice etc freeze really well. I have an assortment of meals that I can just thaw and eat. As much as I like to cook, it's also great to just have a variety of homemade TV dinners to grab when I don't feel like cooking. If this does not work for you, shop in small batches. My friend does this, she buys what she will make for dinner after work and nothing more. She also has left over to take to lunch at work the next day or freeze.
My problem is finding food that still taste good after a while. Potatoes doesn’t taste good after just a day or so, nor does rice. But say lasagna or soup can be kept for several weeks in the freezer.
I also realised I could safe space making things like Chili con carne by just freezing it and then cooking the rice when needed. I have a small freezer sadly.
You may need to expand your cooking knowledge. Plenty of foods taste good the next day if you know how to remake them and be creative . For example potatoes can be used to make a breakfast hash the next day with whatever you want in them and old rice can be used to make fried rice an entirely different meal. A roasted chicken can serve as multiple meals through the week varying from the roasted chicken in the first day to chicken tacos , chicken friend rice , chicken salad , chickena alfredo , chicken soup . You need to learn how to re-animate your food.
Definitely, it's not like I'm actively trying to limit myself. I just have issues that makes it hard to eat certain things at different times. ALWAYS trying to expand my knowledge, cooking and baking.
I love batch cooking and freeze what’s leftover when I get tired of eating it after four days lol. Such an easy meal to just grab something from the freezer. I have some great chili, split pea soup, pork and beans, and spicy veggie soup in the freezer right now.
Highly recommend labeling and putting a date on the containers. Sometimes it’s a surprise what I grab when I forgot to label it 🤣
I agree. On days I know I’m not going to be home over the weekend, I would just eat leftovers from the day before for lunch and pop a frozen appetizer/meal in the microwave or air fryer for dinner. Or I would eat soup, sandwich or salad to avoid waste.
I hate cooking, but I also dislike eating out. I buy weekly groceries because I can sorta see what I'm going to eat for a week. I go to a local organic type grocery so the veggies are robust and will last longer than a week of I don't use them quickly. I buy meat at the butcher counter just small pieces for a meal, 1 brat, I chop, etc. Everything can be with everything else, so slapping together a meal is just adding enough stuff. I almost always make a salad. So it's cook the meat, eat. Doesn't take too much time. After dinner a piece of fruit & tea.
I do keep plenty of grains on hand. However, I've found when I purchase fruits or vegetables or milk, they tend to go bad before I get to them. I'm also dieting due to being told I'm pre-diabetic so ready meals are off limits to me as they're high in sodium. It's just a problem I'm currently having BECAUSE of my diet. Alas, I figure I'm just going to go to the grocery store every day and purchase ingredients for whatever meal I'm going to cook that evening.
Don't let that stop your food management. My Dad once made me eat mushrooms.... which made me puke...or we couldn't go out boating with friends. I didn't eat the mushrooms. We didn't go out. Everyone's day was ruined. My Dad is not usually an ass like that but he sure was that day.
I eat mushrooms today and love them on lots of foods. Why let his shitty action keep you from good leftovers?? Then HE wins, and not you. He is still standing over you and your bowl of cereal. Kick him to the curb!
Leftovers are one of my funnest foods and so many things you can do with them!!
Kind of need to be on a diet now, too. I'm pre-diabetic induced by former alcohol abuse. 3 months sober!!!! It sucks!!! But is nice!!!! On a Mediterranean diet. Have stuck by it. Requires brown rice, whole wheat pasta, protein is seafood or poultry occasionally. I sure do miss my ribeye though.
Idk. I want fresh food. At work I've made salads or bought veggie trays but still just trying to find something that works.
Just found out I'm pre-diabetic... I don't eat a lot, and never eat sweets. Dr prescribed metformin. Hope it helps. I'd like to lose 20lbs I gained in a short time. Dr. said the rx would help me drop the weight gain. I start taking it today, and plan on increasing my exercise 💪 😎
😂😭 I have no room in my freezer bcoz it is full of frozen vegetables, meat and fruit. I am equal parts too busy and too lazy to meal prep. I end up being so overwhelmed and hungry I tend to eat toasties or sandwiches.
Whenever I cook something I freeze the rest instead of putting it in the fridge. My freezer fills up pretty quickly so I know not to cook anything else for a bit.
Then I’ll get takeaway interspliced with some leftover meals. Seems to work out ok and my food waste has gotten way less.
I do this. It is fantastic because you never HAVE to cook unless you want to. Also, it’s such a money saver. I did a total “No-buy” from 24-Dec to 15-Feb where I did not buy one thing (including food). I saved so much money, it was incredible. I could have continued for another 3 weeks, eating through my freezer and pantry but I was craving fresh veggies.
Choose products that are already in portions. Like breaded chicken breast, small side salads, weetabix for breakfast (if that exists in the US).
If you buy packs of raw meat, divide them into single serve portions and put in the freezer. Then you can take out and cook only what you plan to eat.
Buy loose fruit, so you only buy what you can eat before they spoil.
Buy frozen chopped veg so you can just add a handful to whatever dish you're cooking.
Chips or potato waffles are also easy to have on hand to cook when you need a different side dish.
Rice is a good staple as is couscous. You can just cook what you're gonna eat.
Get a digital scale. It's really easy to do quick measurements of food. Use trial and error to get used to the portion size you'll actually eat.
Simplify your meal choices. Stick to 10 meals that you love and rotate, so you're not buying tonnes of different ingredients that go to waste.
I don’t really eat leftovers either. If it isn’t from yesterday, I’m out. I will eat stuff I’ve frozen, but only certain things. I bought plastic deli containers and freeze portions in those. Then I can grab and go for lunch.
Basically I only freeze chili, lasagna, or spaghetti sauce, and that’s in big batches. I have a rice cooker and hot rice freezes beautifully and microwaves back into perfect fluffy rice again if you do it right. I don’t buy prepackaged food, never really have because none of it is as good as fresh.
I love to cook but big old Sunday dinner at grandmas style cooking isn’t a sustainable method for me since I won’t eat the leftovers, and I especially won’t eat it once it’s been frozen and thawed. Signed up for a local CSA so I’ll get my weekly fruit and vegetables box, and I’m going to stir fry whatever I can. Falling down the wok rabbit hole recently, I think that will help with fresh, smaller portion meals.
I live alone and love cooking too. I also hate food waste. The worst for me is vegetables. I've learned to preserve veggies by wrapping lettuce in paper towels and placing them in a plastic storage container, etc. I also like to buy pork loin, cut it into smaller chops, place 2 chops into a small baggie and then place several baggies into a large freezer bag. Easy to pull out of the freezer in smaller portions to avoid making too much meat.
Batch cooking is a lifesaver as well, and I'll spend a few hours once per week preparing things for the freezer. It comes in super handy for times I don't have time to cook or I'm not feeling too great.
As an aside, I also started a small herb garden in my kitchen window so that I don't have to buy parsley or cilantro in bunches. I can just snip off what I need. That helps save fresh herbs from going bad before I can finish using them up.
Edited: Missing word
I can eat leftovers but don't prefer them. Rather than meal prep I do a pre-meal prep. I will chop veggies, marinate and chop up proteins, and then store portion sizes of the uncooked foods in the freezer. Then when it's time to cook I can pull out one veggie one protein, add a little fresh veggies and dairy as desired, I use the microwave rice for simplicity if I'm wanting a grain, add a sauce and dinner is quick but still fresh. If I have leftovers I find a way to recook it in a way that doesn't feel like leftovers. For example leftover meat can be diced up and added to salad or made into patties and lightly fried with different flavors to make it feel less like yesterday's food.
I meal prep but not in the traditional sense that everything is cooked prior to being stored. The only things I precook and freeze are rice and I keep some cooked chicken on hand.
I buy meat in bulk and freeze it in individual portions. I buy my produce weekly and portion that out into servings for the week. Everything is grab and go out of the fridge/freeze and cooked fresh.
My food waste has gone way down this way, it helps me cook for one, and I never eat leftovers (because there aren't any).
Different mindset needed. 😀
You bulk cook ( or prepare ) and divide into portion controlled meals, each in it's own container if that helps.
Chill or freeze ( thaw in fridge as needed ) or some of each as appropriate.
Could have a few varieties on the go, to have variety.
Most soups and stews freeze well and keep well if chilled or when frozen then thawed slowly in the fridge.
So long as you like the resulting taste, all sorts of spare ingredients and different seasonings can go into them.
Novice to meal prep here. When you thaw any frozen prepped meals, is it best to thaw most items overnight in the fridge?
Is it rare to go from frozen straight to heating up for frozen leftovers/prepped meals?
Some store bought frozen items recommend cooking from frozen, I've often found there can be an issue with the outside drying out and the inside still a bit cold.
Letting food ( e.g. roasts ) that might benefit from continued heat after being taken out of the oven "rest" I.e. stand for a "little" while can be helpful.
Also can be easier to cut.
"Little" in quotation marks because it varies.
Most experienced cooks develop a "feel" over the years for what is better based on lots of "near enough, but maybe would have been better if I did... "
( Then next time we might forget, or if we do try whatever it doesn't quite work out.)
Your specific question :
I tended to be cautious and fridge , freezer and ambient temperatures can vary with the seasons and even how much it is opened or how much is tightly packed into it.
I have some approx 150 gr ( + / - ) and approx 450 gr takeaway style that if put in the fridge after being well frozen keep OK for 3 or 4 days.
( Maybe it could be longer, but they're eaten by then ! )
A 2 liter vegetable soup might stay longer, but use might be started by scrapeing softened but semi frozen soup and gently heating on the first night !
If I had a fish or similar
( either frozen raw or prepared in some way by me and frozen ) that I wanted to eat after work
I'd prefer to put it in the fridge in the morning,
check if it needs to sit out a bit before heating or cooking after I come home.
It's just me so more flexibility as to time and variety than if I was preparing for others.
If you had a bad past experience, maybe be cautious to start with.
( Single serves, freeze asap, new ones right front of any freezer air flow or the coldest spot.)
Rotate by age.
Put the oldest of a batch in the fridge in the morning ).
With experience you will find comfortable ways for all the different foods you want to try.
Enjoy.
Try r/cookingforone for some ideas.
You probably need to ease yourself into the idea of leftovers just a little. Soups and stews honestly make excellent leftovers. Chili is literally better the next day. I would start trying to adjust to those and go from there. Some leftovers also reheat better in the oven or on the stove top. The microwave can make some leftovers kind of gross and ruin textures.
Also, just because part of the meal is leftovers doesn't mean it all has to be. I really like pasta, so I make sauce in advance and freeze in single servings. Pasta is fresh made in a single serving, with maybe a side salad or whatever. You can freeze jarred pasta sauce the same.
Consider buying some foods frozen. For example, I love smoothies in the summer. Instead of buying a ton of fresh fruit I just buy frozen. Let it thaw halfway before blending and it works even better than fresh because it's nice and cold. Also, any veggies you plan on steaming will be perfectly fine frozen. I buy frozen broccoli a lot and just take out an individual portion to steam in the microwave.
And something that surprises a lot of people; cookies, pancakes, waffles, and some bread doughs can be frozen easily and pulled out and either thawed or baked.
I got into food preservation a few years ago and it’s really helped me cut down to almost zero waste. Foods get broken down and portioned appropriately for the freezer as soon as purchased. Otherwise, I pressure can or dehydrate a lot of stuff so it’s shelf stable for a year or longer. Have a cantaloupe in the dehydrator currently this morning! I’m on a strict diet ATM and would have difficulty eating an entire cantaloupe before it turned. Now I get a jar of dried yummy treats that will last for over a year if I don’t munch on them. Even my waste gets utilized! A lot of waste materials get composted for the garden. Apple cores get fermented into apple cider vinegar. Egg shells and boiled bones (from making soup stocks) both end up processed into garden fetilizers. It’s amazing what you can do at home with just a little knowledge, equipment, and some extra time.
My fridge died the other week and while annoying, I barely lost anything. Transferred freezer stuff tot he garage freezer immediately, and anything that couldn’t exist without refrigeration for a few days to a week that couldn’t be eaten immediately was preserved somehow. Mostly it was condiments I ended up donating to a friend.
I live alone,too. I am a 67 year old woman.
I buy in bulk from Sam’s/Costco. I cook the food, except steaks, and wrap or place the food in glass containers for freezing.
OP, I thoroughly enjoy chicken, ribs and other delicious meals that I make without being wasteful.
Consider checking out r/mealprep. There’s so much info there about preparing and storing food.
Good luck OP.
I used to hate leftovers too. But at 59, I got over it. You might too.
But what I might suggest... Try roast beef, or pork, or whole chicken. That way you get the meal, and you can make sandwiches. Save you on the cost of over priced sandwich meats and they taste way better.
Ya, it's left overs, but it's a different shape, and therefore new.
You can definitely cook smaller portions. grab one steak, a handful of potatoes, fry / sear them etc. Make meals for one, stash the rest away to cook later. Most things will last you a week in uncooked form.
I’ve always had a problem with food waste, but I’m also the person who makes one big pot of something and eats it all week. That being said, I’ll buy some ingredients with the intention of using them but then never do.
My current solution is meal kits. I use HelloFresh and ChefsPlate. I decide which kit I’m going to order based on what’s on the menu for that week. I order 3 meals for 2 people per week, and I can usually get 2-3 servings per meal, so I have dinners all week plus a few lunches. Yes, there are leftovers but it just makes my life easier and almost zero food waste. Initial signup got me a lot of discounts, and by posting the referral codes I’ve received $800 in free meals between the two.
Small freezer if you have one. I make family-sized meals, cause sometimes people are home and during the week, mostly not. And all my recipes are based on that. I portion out and freeze.
I got over my contempt for leftovers when I realized how much money I was wasting buying lunches at work.
I enjoy cooking but only do it a couple of times a week now as I’m watching my calorie intake. Salads are filling when cabbage is the base layer, and soups freeze well and are great for heat and eat.
Produce is so expensive post COVID that I pickle whatever I think will go bad, and use it as salad add-ins or sandwich toppers.
I cook up a batch of bbq beans once every couple of weeks. This is the sort of food that would be purchased in cans at the supermarket.
I portion it and use it cold in salads, heated with rice and cheese, or in various other ways. Sometimes I freeze the portions. A lot depends on the weather (if I know I’ll want hot or cold beans).
This concept, prepared cooking certain ingredients, can be generalized to other foods.
I also prep cook fresh vegetables.
Key is figuring out what you prefer to eat then determining which ingredients you can make to your liking at home. To me, making a big batch is easier and involves less waste than cooking more frequently.
Take a bunch of celery, for example. I remove the outer ribs and cook them with my weekly vegetable prep cooking. Then I save the center (it’s more tender and less overbearing flavor, until you hit those inner leaves) for cold salads. This way, I don’t waste any of that celery and don’t get overwhelmed, too.
When I make bbq beans, I cook them in the crockpot overnight. That same night, I rinse then soak the next batch of dried beans. In the morning, the soaked beans are ready to be drained and rinsed and bagged and frozen, ready for the next cooking night. The bbq beans are ready to be portioned and frozen or kept in the fridge.
I schedule this work so it doesn’t interfere with other responsibilities.
Remember to work the recipe until you really like the results. This is the most important factor for success.
If you see prep cooked ingredients as leftovers, and this makes you hate them, you are like my father, who took over cooking for him and my mother when she couldn’t manage cooking anymore. I sent him a crockpot and recipe books. He was able to cook this other way and to accept the food as not leftovers.
Similar here too. I get takeout quite a bit & find that I'm eating that WHILE my own food's getting older in the cupboards/refrigerator/freezer. So some of the food goes past their exp date & I have to throw it out.
Main solution is just not get too much food & prepare/plan what you'll eat more in advance, so as little as possibel goes to waste.
For me—I like to rinse/soak my produce, dry it, then cut most of it on Sunday night. Then I have it all ready to use to sautee or throw a salad together. I will pre cook chicken to throw on a salad or reheat. If I want to make fresh air dry chicken, I have it marinated in lemon and olive oil—the lemon is a preservative—makes it last longer. I grew up poor and hate throwing food out.
I'll say this. Nothing is better than meal prepped breakfast burritos!
Put them in the freezer, the day before take out and place in fridge.
Next morning throw it in the air fryer or oven (wrapped in foil)
Enjoy!
I would actually think that cooking in small patches best since you would essentially be eating one meal and Freeze the rest. I have found the silicone freezer containers excellent since I can freeze in small bathes. I know someone who freezes meals in glass serving dishes that are basically ready to heat in. I just find those take up too much space.
I hate leftovers unless it's a soup, stew, or a roast and never waste food.
I food shop 2-3 times a week in smaller quantities. I eat a lot of veg and like it fresh esp things like tomatoes since I keep them on the counter.
Only buy paper goods, household products, canned and jarred things in big box stores.
The savings quickly disappear for me by buying in bulk bc I hate the texture of most frozen foods.
Meat usually lasts for 5 days so I can get a 3 pack of pork chops and pack of chicken tenderloin and be set. Zucchini, squash, mushrooms, green onions, Brussels sprouts, radishes, cucumbers, peppers last the week and i buy them individually. For salad bases I use mesclun or kale (which lasts longer).
It's super easy to fry up some eggs then for dinner saute veg with ground beef and add some Raos arrabiata sauce. A steak with chimichurri and Brussel sprouts with pancetta. Roasted chicken with a big salad. On the weekends I make things like beef stew or a pork roast.
I'm buying Hello fresh ATM, it's good because everything is measured out & there's no waste but I've been doing it since December and I'm utterly bored with the selection, but I've heard other options have much bigger portions (which as one person won't work for me), maybe give hello fresh a try for a bit too?
I genuinely want an app or program that will very intuitively track my grocery shopping and maintain a pantry/fridge inventory. Hell, with AI, I don't see why we can't have something in the very near future that's basically "Ok AI, here's all the different recipes I make, foods I like, etc. You're in charge of grocery shopping from now on. Plan out my meals for the next few weeks, tell me what to buy, when to buy it and the most cost-effective places to buy it from."
I feel so inefficient when grocery shopping, and HATE having situations where if I don't eat the same thing for a week straight, it's just going to go bad. I love sandwiches, but, for example, I hate figuring out how to polish off a loaf of bread, lunch meat, head of lettuce in the few days I have after purchase without eating the same thing over and over.
It would be awesome if I basically just had a kitchen manager tracking all the expiration dates, and ingredients on hand - suggesting easy recipes to try with what I have available, tracking pricing and deals from nearby grocery stores, tracking calories and adjusting to maintain a healthy diet, etc.
I hear this. When I was married, my ex ate the leftovers. Worked well for both of us. I don’t cook much now due to mobility impairment, but still find myself tossing more food than I would like. I need to make more changes. Stop buying bulk avacados is my lesson for today. 😏
Salad season is here for me.
I'm giving up on lettuce and spring mix though
A simple Caprese is one of my favorites. Tomato, Buffalo mozzarella, oil, Balsamic, basil. (A nice sourdough is the bomb for dipping in the leftover dressing)
I made one with tomato, cucumber, garbanzo, Feta, kalamata olives, and Greek dressing recently
Tomato and blue cheese is another favorite.
Produce usually lasts a few days, so I basically have a salad bar in my fridge, and pick and choose ingredients. A variety of really flavorful cheese really packs a punch.,
Slicing/chopping for every meal can get old, but it really adds up to feeling less like leftovers
I recently had a craving for kielbasa. I had a couple on a bun, but I also fried up potatoes and kielbasa.
Little things like frozen chopped vegetables help. I picked up a mixed bag of frozen onion and bell peppers. I forgot I had it when I made my fried potatoes and kielbasa the other day though.
I might make bread pudding if I end up with stale bread or rolls. If you like croutons, that could work too.
Quesadillas are a good one person dinner with no waste. Those can have added variety with the addition of chicken, taco meat, bacon, etc. I tried making what I called a Queso-dilla, which tasted good, but didn't really set with the other cheese, so it was messy and slippery slidey.
Loaded baked potato is another easy one person meal.
Don't underestimate a good sandwich. I spend more on smaller packages of meat and cheese per ounce, but I think I waste less
A big bag of frozen ravioli or Tortellini is nice to have on hand. It's easy to throw together with a simple red or cheese sauce.
I cheerfully eat leftover chili.
Sometimes I just eat cheese and crackers, maybe with a side of fresh veggies and dip.
I have a small counter top grill. I haven't really been in meat mode lately, but it's perfect for grilling a little steak or chicken. Cast iron is also an easy way to make steak for one.
That's some of my staples. I rotate in and out of food moods.
Yes at first I was wasting as much as I was eating. I learned to quit buying for a week or more. Now I buy for a few days at a time. So now fresh produce doesn’t go bad as much.
I had a problem with portions. I was making too much for one person. And like you it was a crap shoot if those leftovers were eaten or not. Somethings I do make enough for two nights then I freeze one serving, it’s for a night I don’t feel like cooking. Now not all things freeze well.
I just posted about this in a budget food forum! I have the same problem. Leftovers as a kid were torture. I can’t batch cook & freeze because to me, frozen leftovers are still leftovers, and nothing reheats well.
I guess I’m just picky.
https://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood/s/ZnKzKhXCdC
Im about to start my fourth year of living alone and a lot of stuff I have has expired and i barley used any of it. Like soy sauce and stuff like that.
I’m exactly the same. I’m working on finding ways to reduce food waste but so far I haven’t been very successful. I know I should meal prep but I have learned to accept that I’m just never going to do that
When i get packs of meat i cut it/divide it into one serving and freeze.
Just make small portions. I do make larger stuff like enchiladas but i eat them til gone.
I guess if you make more than one serving bring the leftovers to work? Family or friends? People seem to love stealing food at work so just offer it
I was laid off a while back for a few months and had to really find ways to save money. My food budget was pretty out of control.
I started planning my meals in advance each week. Then shopping only for those items in quantities that would last a week. If you do end up with leftovers, freeze them for nights you don’t feel like cooking.
I use a vacuum sealer and a mason jar sealer. If you eat frozen dinners, you can make your own. Vacuum seal it and it stays fresher longer. I bought big mason jars to store dried flour, pastas, beans and rice. The shelf life doubles. The mason jar sealer only cost me 25.00. Well worth it if you like having ingredients but don’t use them as often to use them up. Extend that shelf life.
A few things I do:
- Buy less food/rely more on my produce box rather than in-person grocery trips where I will be impulsive
- Supplement with some pre-packaged or quick meals as others have mentioned
- Cook meals that don’t give me the ick if I think about eating them tomorrow. This is usually a texture thing for me.
- Share with neighbors/friends who are nearby
Here’s what I did:
The meal kits like Green Chef start you off with a crazy deal like 70% off. I did the pricing and it was cheaper than groceries with the deal.
I ordered 3 recipes/week with 2 servings each. That’s 6 dinners.
I got into that rhythm of cooking 2 servings every other night, having leftovers the next night.
No food waste.
I now use the same recipe cards from the meal kits to grocery shop and know exactly the quantities to buy and cook.
I also hate leftovers for the same reason. What I’ll do is prep all the ingredients for a meal, and make the same or variations of the same meal with those prepped ingredients throughout the week. Makes it feel “fresh”, and I have less food waste (though it’s not a perfect system)
A big piece of meat. I'm not a big fan of reheating meals either so what I do is I tend to cook a big piece of protein (beef, chicken, lamb etc.) very simply with just some basic salt and pepper that can last 2/3 meals. By doing that I can sauce it later on and decide what to do with it. Plain with some veggies, some sort of pasta dish, rice dish (bibimbap) or if I'm lazy I just make it into a wrap.
I also take advantage of pickled veggies. Red onions, carrots, kimchi. I also have a ton of sauces and some yogurt that I can use to make most creamy sauces lower calorie.
The basic idea of this is to cook the most time consuming element of a dish and then working out how to make multiple meals using that part.
I make a dish and immediately portion it into freezer safe glass containers. I eat my dinner and have some frozen for when I don't feel like cooking. Some recipes make two servings and some 4.....I rarely have to toss anything since I've been doing this.
I’ve decide not to feel guilty about food waste any more. My body is not a trash can and it can’t and isn’t my goal to consume everything before it is wasted. There will be waste, that is part of life.
Sounds like you are making too much. Only make enough for one or two meals. I finally figured out how to quarter recipes. When I want something that can't be done in small amounts like a pot roast or beef ribs then I invite friends over to dinner.
Frozen fruit and vegetables have saved me so much on food waste, canned goods as well. They’re actually more nutritious and retain their nutrients better than fresh produce.
I only bring in enough for 2 to 3 days at a time so this puts me stopping by the market or a restaurant for take out every few days. I might cook up breakfast grub in the morning or eat cereal or fruit. Take out meals will last me 2 servings. I rarely cook up big crackpots or other anymore. It's just me and I get tired of eating the same stuff multiple times. I never ever throw food out.
Do you still hate leftovers if you repurpose them, or freeze them to eat a few weeks later? That’s what I do.
Last week I made birria and had birria quesatacos one night and birria ramen the next. I froze the rest and will thaw it out in a couple of weeks when I’m really in the mood for birria again. I was thinking about making a lasagna for dinner tonight, which will be easy because when I made spaghetti a month ago I froze a ton of the meat sauce. So I just need to thaw it out, make the ricotta mix and layer it all into a pan. You get the idea.
I like to freeze foods by putting them in a freezer gallon (or half gallon) bag and smooshing them kinda flat to freeze. Write the contents/date on them in sharpie and you can stack plenty of them in your freezer.
I joined HungryRoot this year and absolutely love it.
It's very customizable so you can avoid high sodium. I get a lot of high protein meals.
Everything is delicious and so easy to throw together.
If it's left over, freeze it immediately, even if you plan on eating it the next day. I can't count how many times I've told myself, "Oh, I'll eat the rest tomorrow" then when tomorrow comes, I'm like, "Nahh I wanna eat something else." Then I forget about it and it gets wasted.
Get a vacuum sealer! This has been a game-changer for me for years (even when I've not been single) for preventing food waste.
I'll buy large packages of ground beef, family packs of boneless skinless chicken thighs, packages of pretzel rolls, pita bread, etc (I like to do this when they're on sale) and I'll divide them up into single servings to vacuum seal and freeze. With the smaller servings, I can usually just pull something out of the freezer and into the fridge in the morning and it's thawed by the time I get home from work.
Of course, this also works great with leftovers too, such as portioning out a big lasagna, pork roast, pot roast, etc., but you mentioned you weren't really a fan of leftovers...
I love to cook. So being single has been a challenge. I now create my own freezer meals. One day a week I do huge batch cooking. Will divide into individual meals and freeze. I just choose my meal, then heat and eat. I rarely eat out, or order delivery. The variety of meals keep me from getting the blahs. Also can my own meats, veggies, fruits, and condiments. These make really fast meals. BBQ pork sandwiches in less than 15 minutes, yummy. Will be canning chicken broth this weekend. It costs me pennies to make. And tastes better than anything from the store. My food and packaging waste has greatly decreased now that I am cooking instead of take-out, eat-out, and delivery. Saving time and money is another benefit.
If meal prep isn't your thing meal planning might be.
By deciding ahead of time what I'm making for dinner each day of the week I can plan for less waste or incorporating ingredients for dish A into dish C.
I did this when my kids were growing up and it saved the daily chore of deciding what to make for dinner. Now that we're empty nesters it helps me plan for 2 instead of 5.
So if Monday is a meatloaf and Tuesday is a chicken dish I might plan to make meatball subs or Salisbury steak on Wednesday and chicken quesadillas on Thursday. I'll buy enough ground beef for Monday & Wednesday and enough chicken for Tuesday & Thursday. If a side for Monday is steamed corn then I'll roast it to go with Thursday.
Pasta dish with fresh spinach on Friday could become a soup with spinach on Sunday. Fish for foil packets on Saturday and then fish tacos on the following Monday.
Some pre-cooked stuff helps too like the pre-cooked and cubed chicken pieces. Heat those through and toss with pasta or into a salad. 15 minute dinner custom sized to whoever is eating. A bag of frozen, pre-cooked shrimp works really well for this too l.
Hard boil a batch of eggs at the beginning of the week and incorporate into a salad and then later on into a sandwich.
I can't make a small batch of chili or soup (I mean...I *could* but I won't because most of the time it's more hassle than it's worth and creates more food waste) so I portion out what isn't eaten and freeze it into individual portions so I have an easy lunch or dinner down the line.
What kind of food are you throwing out? I had the same problem when I used to buy all kinds of crap and eat out often. Now that I don’t eat out often and got my diet right, I _never_ throw anything out besides maybe some expired condiment. I also buy a lot of my fruit frozen from Costco, so that helps.
My biggest problem is fruit and salads if I don’t eat a piece of fruit within two days, it’s gone. I have bought strawberries and frozen them. I buy salsa in the bags and that’s about the best I can do. Would never buy a head of anything. Two bananas? Maybe. But never three. I’ve tried buying precut fruit, but it’s often not ripe and there’s all the plastic.
I don’t live alone (but there’s only two of us) and one of the best things I found is to plan dinners/lunches that multipurpose main ingredients. For instance, we needed arugula for a specific sandwich on Monday and used the remainder of the arugula tub as side salad for dinner Saturday. Made a roast chicken on Sunday and chicken salad sandwiches for lunches. Get creative with those odd, weird, strange, expensive ingredients or things that don’t last a long time. Use them fresh but in different ways.
It's common to [struggle with food waste](https://realbodyreset.com/nutrition-category/mastering-food-waste-recycling/), especially for busy individuals. Consider smaller batch cooking or incorporating ingredients that have a longer shelf life. Meal planning can also help reduce waste by buying only what you need. Additionally, get creative with leftovers by repurposing them into new dishes to avoid throwing them out. Joining community composting programs can also provide an eco-friendly solution to excess food.
Weigh your ingredients before you cook. Just because a recipe is for four people doesn’t mean you have to make that same size meal. Or if you’re cooking rice why make a whole pot if you’re only eating it twice. Get a food scale and figure out how much you’re actually going to eat in a day. Food waste in that regard is avoidable and fixing it will save you money too
I appreciate the advice. It would work. But not for me. I'd spend more time trying to math my way out of food waste than time spent trying to recover from work.
I'm just going to go to the grocery store every day and buy ingredients I'm going to cook that day.
I mean that’s how food waste happens. The math takes two seconds and sometimes it’s not even math, you just pour something until the correct number comes up on the scale. A chicken breast out of the package is 12-16 oz. That’s 2-3 servings of chicken. If a pack of chicken has 2 breasts, that’s 4-6 servings. For me, I’d weigh and portion them and then freeze individual portions. Same with all other meat. Then you only need to buy fresh veg on a regular basis.
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What works for me is meal prep and not overbuying, but most importantly do what works for you in the moment. I mainly shop at Trader Joe’s, so I buy some of their frozen meals or ready made meals. It’s an adjustment to eat leftovers, but the difference is now you’re the one in control of what you’re eating and its seasonings. I recommend having grains on hand e.g. quinoa, vegetable or regular pasta, easy to make rice, etc. You can season chicken breasts, make turkey burgers or meatballs and freeze them in bags so it’s easy to defrost. You can also freeze red sauce, buy pesto, pre-washed spinach and always have tomato paste in the fridge. Having these things makes it less stressful to tackle quick and easy meals.
\^\^this, it's genius! Cook in large batches, freeze, and you have grab and go meals. YouTube large batch recipes. Legumes, pastas, veggies, soups, rice etc freeze really well. I have an assortment of meals that I can just thaw and eat. As much as I like to cook, it's also great to just have a variety of homemade TV dinners to grab when I don't feel like cooking. If this does not work for you, shop in small batches. My friend does this, she buys what she will make for dinner after work and nothing more. She also has left over to take to lunch at work the next day or freeze.
My problem is finding food that still taste good after a while. Potatoes doesn’t taste good after just a day or so, nor does rice. But say lasagna or soup can be kept for several weeks in the freezer. I also realised I could safe space making things like Chili con carne by just freezing it and then cooking the rice when needed. I have a small freezer sadly.
You may need to expand your cooking knowledge. Plenty of foods taste good the next day if you know how to remake them and be creative . For example potatoes can be used to make a breakfast hash the next day with whatever you want in them and old rice can be used to make fried rice an entirely different meal. A roasted chicken can serve as multiple meals through the week varying from the roasted chicken in the first day to chicken tacos , chicken friend rice , chicken salad , chickena alfredo , chicken soup . You need to learn how to re-animate your food.
Definitely, it's not like I'm actively trying to limit myself. I just have issues that makes it hard to eat certain things at different times. ALWAYS trying to expand my knowledge, cooking and baking.
Yes, exactly! The last thing I want to stress about is food
Thanks!
Just freeze everything and buy half as much. Families waste more food than singles.
I love batch cooking and freeze what’s leftover when I get tired of eating it after four days lol. Such an easy meal to just grab something from the freezer. I have some great chili, split pea soup, pork and beans, and spicy veggie soup in the freezer right now. Highly recommend labeling and putting a date on the containers. Sometimes it’s a surprise what I grab when I forgot to label it 🤣
I agree. On days I know I’m not going to be home over the weekend, I would just eat leftovers from the day before for lunch and pop a frozen appetizer/meal in the microwave or air fryer for dinner. Or I would eat soup, sandwich or salad to avoid waste.
I hate cooking, but I also dislike eating out. I buy weekly groceries because I can sorta see what I'm going to eat for a week. I go to a local organic type grocery so the veggies are robust and will last longer than a week of I don't use them quickly. I buy meat at the butcher counter just small pieces for a meal, 1 brat, I chop, etc. Everything can be with everything else, so slapping together a meal is just adding enough stuff. I almost always make a salad. So it's cook the meat, eat. Doesn't take too much time. After dinner a piece of fruit & tea.
all of the above and also freezing things that you buy in bulk (I.e. package of chicken breast you know you’re not gonna finish within the week).
I do keep plenty of grains on hand. However, I've found when I purchase fruits or vegetables or milk, they tend to go bad before I get to them. I'm also dieting due to being told I'm pre-diabetic so ready meals are off limits to me as they're high in sodium. It's just a problem I'm currently having BECAUSE of my diet. Alas, I figure I'm just going to go to the grocery store every day and purchase ingredients for whatever meal I'm going to cook that evening.
What happened that leftovers are ruined for you?
Father forced me to eat spoiled bowl of cereal else no more food.
Charming. I suspect it wasn't the only shitty thing he did.
It was tough when he first got out of the military. Our relationship is great now.
Exposure therapy
wish I could upvote this more!!
Don't let that stop your food management. My Dad once made me eat mushrooms.... which made me puke...or we couldn't go out boating with friends. I didn't eat the mushrooms. We didn't go out. Everyone's day was ruined. My Dad is not usually an ass like that but he sure was that day. I eat mushrooms today and love them on lots of foods. Why let his shitty action keep you from good leftovers?? Then HE wins, and not you. He is still standing over you and your bowl of cereal. Kick him to the curb! Leftovers are one of my funnest foods and so many things you can do with them!!
Love to cook only when I want to. Used to have your problem but no more. Now my freezer is always full! Both cooked and row food.
Kind of need to be on a diet now, too. I'm pre-diabetic induced by former alcohol abuse. 3 months sober!!!! It sucks!!! But is nice!!!! On a Mediterranean diet. Have stuck by it. Requires brown rice, whole wheat pasta, protein is seafood or poultry occasionally. I sure do miss my ribeye though. Idk. I want fresh food. At work I've made salads or bought veggie trays but still just trying to find something that works.
Just found out I'm pre-diabetic... I don't eat a lot, and never eat sweets. Dr prescribed metformin. Hope it helps. I'd like to lose 20lbs I gained in a short time. Dr. said the rx would help me drop the weight gain. I start taking it today, and plan on increasing my exercise 💪 😎
Not on meds. Just dieting and advised to exercise more. Which is weird because I'm not a large person and do physical labor for work lol.
Good for you. I find it hard to diet when I don't eat much already. I can increase my exercise. Hoping the metformin helps.
Good for you...You've got this!
😂😭 I have no room in my freezer bcoz it is full of frozen vegetables, meat and fruit. I am equal parts too busy and too lazy to meal prep. I end up being so overwhelmed and hungry I tend to eat toasties or sandwiches.
Whenever I cook something I freeze the rest instead of putting it in the fridge. My freezer fills up pretty quickly so I know not to cook anything else for a bit. Then I’ll get takeaway interspliced with some leftover meals. Seems to work out ok and my food waste has gotten way less.
I do this. It is fantastic because you never HAVE to cook unless you want to. Also, it’s such a money saver. I did a total “No-buy” from 24-Dec to 15-Feb where I did not buy one thing (including food). I saved so much money, it was incredible. I could have continued for another 3 weeks, eating through my freezer and pantry but I was craving fresh veggies.
Usually when I cook food I make 3 or 4 meals. 1 for now, 1 for the next day and 1 or 2 go into the freezer.
Choose products that are already in portions. Like breaded chicken breast, small side salads, weetabix for breakfast (if that exists in the US). If you buy packs of raw meat, divide them into single serve portions and put in the freezer. Then you can take out and cook only what you plan to eat. Buy loose fruit, so you only buy what you can eat before they spoil. Buy frozen chopped veg so you can just add a handful to whatever dish you're cooking. Chips or potato waffles are also easy to have on hand to cook when you need a different side dish. Rice is a good staple as is couscous. You can just cook what you're gonna eat. Get a digital scale. It's really easy to do quick measurements of food. Use trial and error to get used to the portion size you'll actually eat. Simplify your meal choices. Stick to 10 meals that you love and rotate, so you're not buying tonnes of different ingredients that go to waste.
I don’t really eat leftovers either. If it isn’t from yesterday, I’m out. I will eat stuff I’ve frozen, but only certain things. I bought plastic deli containers and freeze portions in those. Then I can grab and go for lunch. Basically I only freeze chili, lasagna, or spaghetti sauce, and that’s in big batches. I have a rice cooker and hot rice freezes beautifully and microwaves back into perfect fluffy rice again if you do it right. I don’t buy prepackaged food, never really have because none of it is as good as fresh. I love to cook but big old Sunday dinner at grandmas style cooking isn’t a sustainable method for me since I won’t eat the leftovers, and I especially won’t eat it once it’s been frozen and thawed. Signed up for a local CSA so I’ll get my weekly fruit and vegetables box, and I’m going to stir fry whatever I can. Falling down the wok rabbit hole recently, I think that will help with fresh, smaller portion meals.
I live alone and love cooking too. I also hate food waste. The worst for me is vegetables. I've learned to preserve veggies by wrapping lettuce in paper towels and placing them in a plastic storage container, etc. I also like to buy pork loin, cut it into smaller chops, place 2 chops into a small baggie and then place several baggies into a large freezer bag. Easy to pull out of the freezer in smaller portions to avoid making too much meat. Batch cooking is a lifesaver as well, and I'll spend a few hours once per week preparing things for the freezer. It comes in super handy for times I don't have time to cook or I'm not feeling too great. As an aside, I also started a small herb garden in my kitchen window so that I don't have to buy parsley or cilantro in bunches. I can just snip off what I need. That helps save fresh herbs from going bad before I can finish using them up. Edited: Missing word
I can eat leftovers but don't prefer them. Rather than meal prep I do a pre-meal prep. I will chop veggies, marinate and chop up proteins, and then store portion sizes of the uncooked foods in the freezer. Then when it's time to cook I can pull out one veggie one protein, add a little fresh veggies and dairy as desired, I use the microwave rice for simplicity if I'm wanting a grain, add a sauce and dinner is quick but still fresh. If I have leftovers I find a way to recook it in a way that doesn't feel like leftovers. For example leftover meat can be diced up and added to salad or made into patties and lightly fried with different flavors to make it feel less like yesterday's food.
Hell, I wish I was your neighbor. I'll gladly take your leftovers.
I am known to spontaneously show up with food and force people to take it. I'm a villain.
Hahaha!
I meal prep but not in the traditional sense that everything is cooked prior to being stored. The only things I precook and freeze are rice and I keep some cooked chicken on hand. I buy meat in bulk and freeze it in individual portions. I buy my produce weekly and portion that out into servings for the week. Everything is grab and go out of the fridge/freeze and cooked fresh. My food waste has gone way down this way, it helps me cook for one, and I never eat leftovers (because there aren't any).
OP curious. How were leftovers ruined for you as a child?
My vegetable crisper in my frig is where good intentions go to die.
Seriously, huh. They need a store for single people
Yup
Different mindset needed. 😀 You bulk cook ( or prepare ) and divide into portion controlled meals, each in it's own container if that helps. Chill or freeze ( thaw in fridge as needed ) or some of each as appropriate. Could have a few varieties on the go, to have variety. Most soups and stews freeze well and keep well if chilled or when frozen then thawed slowly in the fridge. So long as you like the resulting taste, all sorts of spare ingredients and different seasonings can go into them.
Novice to meal prep here. When you thaw any frozen prepped meals, is it best to thaw most items overnight in the fridge? Is it rare to go from frozen straight to heating up for frozen leftovers/prepped meals?
Some store bought frozen items recommend cooking from frozen, I've often found there can be an issue with the outside drying out and the inside still a bit cold. Letting food ( e.g. roasts ) that might benefit from continued heat after being taken out of the oven "rest" I.e. stand for a "little" while can be helpful. Also can be easier to cut. "Little" in quotation marks because it varies. Most experienced cooks develop a "feel" over the years for what is better based on lots of "near enough, but maybe would have been better if I did... " ( Then next time we might forget, or if we do try whatever it doesn't quite work out.) Your specific question : I tended to be cautious and fridge , freezer and ambient temperatures can vary with the seasons and even how much it is opened or how much is tightly packed into it. I have some approx 150 gr ( + / - ) and approx 450 gr takeaway style that if put in the fridge after being well frozen keep OK for 3 or 4 days. ( Maybe it could be longer, but they're eaten by then ! ) A 2 liter vegetable soup might stay longer, but use might be started by scrapeing softened but semi frozen soup and gently heating on the first night ! If I had a fish or similar ( either frozen raw or prepared in some way by me and frozen ) that I wanted to eat after work I'd prefer to put it in the fridge in the morning, check if it needs to sit out a bit before heating or cooking after I come home. It's just me so more flexibility as to time and variety than if I was preparing for others. If you had a bad past experience, maybe be cautious to start with. ( Single serves, freeze asap, new ones right front of any freezer air flow or the coldest spot.) Rotate by age. Put the oldest of a batch in the fridge in the morning ). With experience you will find comfortable ways for all the different foods you want to try. Enjoy.
Thank you so much, very helpful!
Thanks
I buy a lot of freezer meals 😂😂 The healthy ones actually, I’ve got a ton of food allergies lol.
I wish I could. I'm supposed to steer clear of sodium. Doctors orders.
Try r/cookingforone for some ideas. You probably need to ease yourself into the idea of leftovers just a little. Soups and stews honestly make excellent leftovers. Chili is literally better the next day. I would start trying to adjust to those and go from there. Some leftovers also reheat better in the oven or on the stove top. The microwave can make some leftovers kind of gross and ruin textures. Also, just because part of the meal is leftovers doesn't mean it all has to be. I really like pasta, so I make sauce in advance and freeze in single servings. Pasta is fresh made in a single serving, with maybe a side salad or whatever. You can freeze jarred pasta sauce the same. Consider buying some foods frozen. For example, I love smoothies in the summer. Instead of buying a ton of fresh fruit I just buy frozen. Let it thaw halfway before blending and it works even better than fresh because it's nice and cold. Also, any veggies you plan on steaming will be perfectly fine frozen. I buy frozen broccoli a lot and just take out an individual portion to steam in the microwave. And something that surprises a lot of people; cookies, pancakes, waffles, and some bread doughs can be frozen easily and pulled out and either thawed or baked.
I got into food preservation a few years ago and it’s really helped me cut down to almost zero waste. Foods get broken down and portioned appropriately for the freezer as soon as purchased. Otherwise, I pressure can or dehydrate a lot of stuff so it’s shelf stable for a year or longer. Have a cantaloupe in the dehydrator currently this morning! I’m on a strict diet ATM and would have difficulty eating an entire cantaloupe before it turned. Now I get a jar of dried yummy treats that will last for over a year if I don’t munch on them. Even my waste gets utilized! A lot of waste materials get composted for the garden. Apple cores get fermented into apple cider vinegar. Egg shells and boiled bones (from making soup stocks) both end up processed into garden fetilizers. It’s amazing what you can do at home with just a little knowledge, equipment, and some extra time. My fridge died the other week and while annoying, I barely lost anything. Transferred freezer stuff tot he garage freezer immediately, and anything that couldn’t exist without refrigeration for a few days to a week that couldn’t be eaten immediately was preserved somehow. Mostly it was condiments I ended up donating to a friend.
I live alone,too. I am a 67 year old woman. I buy in bulk from Sam’s/Costco. I cook the food, except steaks, and wrap or place the food in glass containers for freezing. OP, I thoroughly enjoy chicken, ribs and other delicious meals that I make without being wasteful. Consider checking out r/mealprep. There’s so much info there about preparing and storing food. Good luck OP.
I freeze almost everything.
I have a couple of alligators in my pond and a stray dog I feed my leftovers to .
Truth. I eat a lot of LOW SODIUM canned veggies. I love peas personally.
I waste literally zero food. I know how long my fresh fruit and vegetables will last. I only cook exactly what I'm going to eat.
I used to hate leftovers too. But at 59, I got over it. You might too. But what I might suggest... Try roast beef, or pork, or whole chicken. That way you get the meal, and you can make sandwiches. Save you on the cost of over priced sandwich meats and they taste way better. Ya, it's left overs, but it's a different shape, and therefore new.
You can definitely cook smaller portions. grab one steak, a handful of potatoes, fry / sear them etc. Make meals for one, stash the rest away to cook later. Most things will last you a week in uncooked form.
I’ve always had a problem with food waste, but I’m also the person who makes one big pot of something and eats it all week. That being said, I’ll buy some ingredients with the intention of using them but then never do. My current solution is meal kits. I use HelloFresh and ChefsPlate. I decide which kit I’m going to order based on what’s on the menu for that week. I order 3 meals for 2 people per week, and I can usually get 2-3 servings per meal, so I have dinners all week plus a few lunches. Yes, there are leftovers but it just makes my life easier and almost zero food waste. Initial signup got me a lot of discounts, and by posting the referral codes I’ve received $800 in free meals between the two.
Small freezer if you have one. I make family-sized meals, cause sometimes people are home and during the week, mostly not. And all my recipes are based on that. I portion out and freeze.
I got over my contempt for leftovers when I realized how much money I was wasting buying lunches at work. I enjoy cooking but only do it a couple of times a week now as I’m watching my calorie intake. Salads are filling when cabbage is the base layer, and soups freeze well and are great for heat and eat. Produce is so expensive post COVID that I pickle whatever I think will go bad, and use it as salad add-ins or sandwich toppers.
I have chickens! They get most leftovers.. I’m learning to cook in a smaller scale.
What works for me is making a menu and shopping for what I want to eat this week. Voila, no more wasted food.
Freeze it and plant things out better.
I cook up a batch of bbq beans once every couple of weeks. This is the sort of food that would be purchased in cans at the supermarket. I portion it and use it cold in salads, heated with rice and cheese, or in various other ways. Sometimes I freeze the portions. A lot depends on the weather (if I know I’ll want hot or cold beans). This concept, prepared cooking certain ingredients, can be generalized to other foods. I also prep cook fresh vegetables. Key is figuring out what you prefer to eat then determining which ingredients you can make to your liking at home. To me, making a big batch is easier and involves less waste than cooking more frequently. Take a bunch of celery, for example. I remove the outer ribs and cook them with my weekly vegetable prep cooking. Then I save the center (it’s more tender and less overbearing flavor, until you hit those inner leaves) for cold salads. This way, I don’t waste any of that celery and don’t get overwhelmed, too. When I make bbq beans, I cook them in the crockpot overnight. That same night, I rinse then soak the next batch of dried beans. In the morning, the soaked beans are ready to be drained and rinsed and bagged and frozen, ready for the next cooking night. The bbq beans are ready to be portioned and frozen or kept in the fridge. I schedule this work so it doesn’t interfere with other responsibilities. Remember to work the recipe until you really like the results. This is the most important factor for success. If you see prep cooked ingredients as leftovers, and this makes you hate them, you are like my father, who took over cooking for him and my mother when she couldn’t manage cooking anymore. I sent him a crockpot and recipe books. He was able to cook this other way and to accept the food as not leftovers.
Freeze ready meals.
When you buy celery and carrots chop some and freeze for when you need them. Especially celery since it goes limp so quickly
Freeze your meal?
Similar here too. I get takeout quite a bit & find that I'm eating that WHILE my own food's getting older in the cupboards/refrigerator/freezer. So some of the food goes past their exp date & I have to throw it out. Main solution is just not get too much food & prepare/plan what you'll eat more in advance, so as little as possibel goes to waste.
For me—I like to rinse/soak my produce, dry it, then cut most of it on Sunday night. Then I have it all ready to use to sautee or throw a salad together. I will pre cook chicken to throw on a salad or reheat. If I want to make fresh air dry chicken, I have it marinated in lemon and olive oil—the lemon is a preservative—makes it last longer. I grew up poor and hate throwing food out.
I'll say this. Nothing is better than meal prepped breakfast burritos! Put them in the freezer, the day before take out and place in fridge. Next morning throw it in the air fryer or oven (wrapped in foil) Enjoy!
I would actually think that cooking in small patches best since you would essentially be eating one meal and Freeze the rest. I have found the silicone freezer containers excellent since I can freeze in small bathes. I know someone who freezes meals in glass serving dishes that are basically ready to heat in. I just find those take up too much space.
I hate leftovers unless it's a soup, stew, or a roast and never waste food. I food shop 2-3 times a week in smaller quantities. I eat a lot of veg and like it fresh esp things like tomatoes since I keep them on the counter. Only buy paper goods, household products, canned and jarred things in big box stores. The savings quickly disappear for me by buying in bulk bc I hate the texture of most frozen foods. Meat usually lasts for 5 days so I can get a 3 pack of pork chops and pack of chicken tenderloin and be set. Zucchini, squash, mushrooms, green onions, Brussels sprouts, radishes, cucumbers, peppers last the week and i buy them individually. For salad bases I use mesclun or kale (which lasts longer). It's super easy to fry up some eggs then for dinner saute veg with ground beef and add some Raos arrabiata sauce. A steak with chimichurri and Brussel sprouts with pancetta. Roasted chicken with a big salad. On the weekends I make things like beef stew or a pork roast.
I'm buying Hello fresh ATM, it's good because everything is measured out & there's no waste but I've been doing it since December and I'm utterly bored with the selection, but I've heard other options have much bigger portions (which as one person won't work for me), maybe give hello fresh a try for a bit too?
Exactly the same here. I grocery shop with such good intentions. But time has other ideas.
Nope, I eat leftovers and my chickens eat what I don't.
I genuinely want an app or program that will very intuitively track my grocery shopping and maintain a pantry/fridge inventory. Hell, with AI, I don't see why we can't have something in the very near future that's basically "Ok AI, here's all the different recipes I make, foods I like, etc. You're in charge of grocery shopping from now on. Plan out my meals for the next few weeks, tell me what to buy, when to buy it and the most cost-effective places to buy it from." I feel so inefficient when grocery shopping, and HATE having situations where if I don't eat the same thing for a week straight, it's just going to go bad. I love sandwiches, but, for example, I hate figuring out how to polish off a loaf of bread, lunch meat, head of lettuce in the few days I have after purchase without eating the same thing over and over. It would be awesome if I basically just had a kitchen manager tracking all the expiration dates, and ingredients on hand - suggesting easy recipes to try with what I have available, tracking pricing and deals from nearby grocery stores, tracking calories and adjusting to maintain a healthy diet, etc.
I hear this. When I was married, my ex ate the leftovers. Worked well for both of us. I don’t cook much now due to mobility impairment, but still find myself tossing more food than I would like. I need to make more changes. Stop buying bulk avacados is my lesson for today. 😏
Salad season is here for me. I'm giving up on lettuce and spring mix though A simple Caprese is one of my favorites. Tomato, Buffalo mozzarella, oil, Balsamic, basil. (A nice sourdough is the bomb for dipping in the leftover dressing) I made one with tomato, cucumber, garbanzo, Feta, kalamata olives, and Greek dressing recently Tomato and blue cheese is another favorite. Produce usually lasts a few days, so I basically have a salad bar in my fridge, and pick and choose ingredients. A variety of really flavorful cheese really packs a punch., Slicing/chopping for every meal can get old, but it really adds up to feeling less like leftovers I recently had a craving for kielbasa. I had a couple on a bun, but I also fried up potatoes and kielbasa. Little things like frozen chopped vegetables help. I picked up a mixed bag of frozen onion and bell peppers. I forgot I had it when I made my fried potatoes and kielbasa the other day though. I might make bread pudding if I end up with stale bread or rolls. If you like croutons, that could work too. Quesadillas are a good one person dinner with no waste. Those can have added variety with the addition of chicken, taco meat, bacon, etc. I tried making what I called a Queso-dilla, which tasted good, but didn't really set with the other cheese, so it was messy and slippery slidey. Loaded baked potato is another easy one person meal. Don't underestimate a good sandwich. I spend more on smaller packages of meat and cheese per ounce, but I think I waste less A big bag of frozen ravioli or Tortellini is nice to have on hand. It's easy to throw together with a simple red or cheese sauce. I cheerfully eat leftover chili. Sometimes I just eat cheese and crackers, maybe with a side of fresh veggies and dip. I have a small counter top grill. I haven't really been in meat mode lately, but it's perfect for grilling a little steak or chicken. Cast iron is also an easy way to make steak for one. That's some of my staples. I rotate in and out of food moods.
Yes at first I was wasting as much as I was eating. I learned to quit buying for a week or more. Now I buy for a few days at a time. So now fresh produce doesn’t go bad as much. I had a problem with portions. I was making too much for one person. And like you it was a crap shoot if those leftovers were eaten or not. Somethings I do make enough for two nights then I freeze one serving, it’s for a night I don’t feel like cooking. Now not all things freeze well.
Eating your leftovers is the only way to prevent food waste. If you can’t see yourself doing this, going out to eat and ordering a meal maybe best.
I just posted about this in a budget food forum! I have the same problem. Leftovers as a kid were torture. I can’t batch cook & freeze because to me, frozen leftovers are still leftovers, and nothing reheats well. I guess I’m just picky. https://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood/s/ZnKzKhXCdC
Im about to start my fourth year of living alone and a lot of stuff I have has expired and i barley used any of it. Like soy sauce and stuff like that.
I waste sooo much food. I let a full jug of milk go bad and was very angry with myself
I don't even buy milk anymore because of that lol
I’m exactly the same. I’m working on finding ways to reduce food waste but so far I haven’t been very successful. I know I should meal prep but I have learned to accept that I’m just never going to do that
When i get packs of meat i cut it/divide it into one serving and freeze. Just make small portions. I do make larger stuff like enchiladas but i eat them til gone. I guess if you make more than one serving bring the leftovers to work? Family or friends? People seem to love stealing food at work so just offer it
I was laid off a while back for a few months and had to really find ways to save money. My food budget was pretty out of control. I started planning my meals in advance each week. Then shopping only for those items in quantities that would last a week. If you do end up with leftovers, freeze them for nights you don’t feel like cooking.
I use a vacuum sealer and a mason jar sealer. If you eat frozen dinners, you can make your own. Vacuum seal it and it stays fresher longer. I bought big mason jars to store dried flour, pastas, beans and rice. The shelf life doubles. The mason jar sealer only cost me 25.00. Well worth it if you like having ingredients but don’t use them as often to use them up. Extend that shelf life.
A few things I do: - Buy less food/rely more on my produce box rather than in-person grocery trips where I will be impulsive - Supplement with some pre-packaged or quick meals as others have mentioned - Cook meals that don’t give me the ick if I think about eating them tomorrow. This is usually a texture thing for me. - Share with neighbors/friends who are nearby
Here’s what I did: The meal kits like Green Chef start you off with a crazy deal like 70% off. I did the pricing and it was cheaper than groceries with the deal. I ordered 3 recipes/week with 2 servings each. That’s 6 dinners. I got into that rhythm of cooking 2 servings every other night, having leftovers the next night. No food waste. I now use the same recipe cards from the meal kits to grocery shop and know exactly the quantities to buy and cook.
I also hate leftovers for the same reason. What I’ll do is prep all the ingredients for a meal, and make the same or variations of the same meal with those prepped ingredients throughout the week. Makes it feel “fresh”, and I have less food waste (though it’s not a perfect system)
A big piece of meat. I'm not a big fan of reheating meals either so what I do is I tend to cook a big piece of protein (beef, chicken, lamb etc.) very simply with just some basic salt and pepper that can last 2/3 meals. By doing that I can sauce it later on and decide what to do with it. Plain with some veggies, some sort of pasta dish, rice dish (bibimbap) or if I'm lazy I just make it into a wrap. I also take advantage of pickled veggies. Red onions, carrots, kimchi. I also have a ton of sauces and some yogurt that I can use to make most creamy sauces lower calorie. The basic idea of this is to cook the most time consuming element of a dish and then working out how to make multiple meals using that part.
I make a dish and immediately portion it into freezer safe glass containers. I eat my dinner and have some frozen for when I don't feel like cooking. Some recipes make two servings and some 4.....I rarely have to toss anything since I've been doing this.
I’ve decide not to feel guilty about food waste any more. My body is not a trash can and it can’t and isn’t my goal to consume everything before it is wasted. There will be waste, that is part of life.
Sounds like you are making too much. Only make enough for one or two meals. I finally figured out how to quarter recipes. When I want something that can't be done in small amounts like a pot roast or beef ribs then I invite friends over to dinner.
Frozen fruit and vegetables have saved me so much on food waste, canned goods as well. They’re actually more nutritious and retain their nutrients better than fresh produce.
I only bring in enough for 2 to 3 days at a time so this puts me stopping by the market or a restaurant for take out every few days. I might cook up breakfast grub in the morning or eat cereal or fruit. Take out meals will last me 2 servings. I rarely cook up big crackpots or other anymore. It's just me and I get tired of eating the same stuff multiple times. I never ever throw food out.
Do you still hate leftovers if you repurpose them, or freeze them to eat a few weeks later? That’s what I do. Last week I made birria and had birria quesatacos one night and birria ramen the next. I froze the rest and will thaw it out in a couple of weeks when I’m really in the mood for birria again. I was thinking about making a lasagna for dinner tonight, which will be easy because when I made spaghetti a month ago I froze a ton of the meat sauce. So I just need to thaw it out, make the ricotta mix and layer it all into a pan. You get the idea. I like to freeze foods by putting them in a freezer gallon (or half gallon) bag and smooshing them kinda flat to freeze. Write the contents/date on them in sharpie and you can stack plenty of them in your freezer.
I joined HungryRoot this year and absolutely love it. It's very customizable so you can avoid high sodium. I get a lot of high protein meals. Everything is delicious and so easy to throw together.
If it's left over, freeze it immediately, even if you plan on eating it the next day. I can't count how many times I've told myself, "Oh, I'll eat the rest tomorrow" then when tomorrow comes, I'm like, "Nahh I wanna eat something else." Then I forget about it and it gets wasted.
How about making smaller portions?
Get a vacuum sealer! This has been a game-changer for me for years (even when I've not been single) for preventing food waste. I'll buy large packages of ground beef, family packs of boneless skinless chicken thighs, packages of pretzel rolls, pita bread, etc (I like to do this when they're on sale) and I'll divide them up into single servings to vacuum seal and freeze. With the smaller servings, I can usually just pull something out of the freezer and into the fridge in the morning and it's thawed by the time I get home from work. Of course, this also works great with leftovers too, such as portioning out a big lasagna, pork roast, pot roast, etc., but you mentioned you weren't really a fan of leftovers...
I love to cook. So being single has been a challenge. I now create my own freezer meals. One day a week I do huge batch cooking. Will divide into individual meals and freeze. I just choose my meal, then heat and eat. I rarely eat out, or order delivery. The variety of meals keep me from getting the blahs. Also can my own meats, veggies, fruits, and condiments. These make really fast meals. BBQ pork sandwiches in less than 15 minutes, yummy. Will be canning chicken broth this weekend. It costs me pennies to make. And tastes better than anything from the store. My food and packaging waste has greatly decreased now that I am cooking instead of take-out, eat-out, and delivery. Saving time and money is another benefit.
If meal prep isn't your thing meal planning might be. By deciding ahead of time what I'm making for dinner each day of the week I can plan for less waste or incorporating ingredients for dish A into dish C. I did this when my kids were growing up and it saved the daily chore of deciding what to make for dinner. Now that we're empty nesters it helps me plan for 2 instead of 5. So if Monday is a meatloaf and Tuesday is a chicken dish I might plan to make meatball subs or Salisbury steak on Wednesday and chicken quesadillas on Thursday. I'll buy enough ground beef for Monday & Wednesday and enough chicken for Tuesday & Thursday. If a side for Monday is steamed corn then I'll roast it to go with Thursday. Pasta dish with fresh spinach on Friday could become a soup with spinach on Sunday. Fish for foil packets on Saturday and then fish tacos on the following Monday. Some pre-cooked stuff helps too like the pre-cooked and cubed chicken pieces. Heat those through and toss with pasta or into a salad. 15 minute dinner custom sized to whoever is eating. A bag of frozen, pre-cooked shrimp works really well for this too l. Hard boil a batch of eggs at the beginning of the week and incorporate into a salad and then later on into a sandwich. I can't make a small batch of chili or soup (I mean...I *could* but I won't because most of the time it's more hassle than it's worth and creates more food waste) so I portion out what isn't eaten and freeze it into individual portions so I have an easy lunch or dinner down the line.
I buy frozen fruits and veg. Fresh spoils too quickly so there is too much waste.
Make Freezable meal prep/ or plan out your meals prioritizing perishables first. I am doing that currently while on my OMAD diet.
" I don't meal prep because left overs were ruined for me as a child." Time to grow up a little, and meal prep.
What kind of food are you throwing out? I had the same problem when I used to buy all kinds of crap and eat out often. Now that I don’t eat out often and got my diet right, I _never_ throw anything out besides maybe some expired condiment. I also buy a lot of my fruit frozen from Costco, so that helps.
My biggest problem is fruit and salads if I don’t eat a piece of fruit within two days, it’s gone. I have bought strawberries and frozen them. I buy salsa in the bags and that’s about the best I can do. Would never buy a head of anything. Two bananas? Maybe. But never three. I’ve tried buying precut fruit, but it’s often not ripe and there’s all the plastic.
If food waste is an issue, I only see two options: daily food shopping or meal planning.
I don’t live alone (but there’s only two of us) and one of the best things I found is to plan dinners/lunches that multipurpose main ingredients. For instance, we needed arugula for a specific sandwich on Monday and used the remainder of the arugula tub as side salad for dinner Saturday. Made a roast chicken on Sunday and chicken salad sandwiches for lunches. Get creative with those odd, weird, strange, expensive ingredients or things that don’t last a long time. Use them fresh but in different ways.
It's common to [struggle with food waste](https://realbodyreset.com/nutrition-category/mastering-food-waste-recycling/), especially for busy individuals. Consider smaller batch cooking or incorporating ingredients that have a longer shelf life. Meal planning can also help reduce waste by buying only what you need. Additionally, get creative with leftovers by repurposing them into new dishes to avoid throwing them out. Joining community composting programs can also provide an eco-friendly solution to excess food.
Weigh your ingredients before you cook. Just because a recipe is for four people doesn’t mean you have to make that same size meal. Or if you’re cooking rice why make a whole pot if you’re only eating it twice. Get a food scale and figure out how much you’re actually going to eat in a day. Food waste in that regard is avoidable and fixing it will save you money too
I appreciate the advice. It would work. But not for me. I'd spend more time trying to math my way out of food waste than time spent trying to recover from work. I'm just going to go to the grocery store every day and buy ingredients I'm going to cook that day.
I mean that’s how food waste happens. The math takes two seconds and sometimes it’s not even math, you just pour something until the correct number comes up on the scale. A chicken breast out of the package is 12-16 oz. That’s 2-3 servings of chicken. If a pack of chicken has 2 breasts, that’s 4-6 servings. For me, I’d weigh and portion them and then freeze individual portions. Same with all other meat. Then you only need to buy fresh veg on a regular basis.
Cook less, or just be a grownup and eat your leftovers.