I've been living/cooking for myself for a few years now, and still struggle to not waste food. Do you have any tips/suggestions for how to minimize wasted food, as well as trips to the grocery store? Maybe some of your favorite recipes that recycle ingredients/taste great as leftovers. Thank you!
Stick to meals that freeze well. You can freeze them and eat them a few days later rather than eat the same thing two days in a row. When you buy a pound of meat, divide it into meals and freeze part of it for later. If it's ground beef, you can make patties and store them in individual freezer bags. You can eat them as burgers or brown it for something else. Things like spaghetti sauce and chili always seem to taste better the next day. You can put the spaghetti sauce over chicken and sprinkle some mozzarella on top the next day. You can make mini pizzas with the sauce. You can freeze the sauce. If you cook a flank steak or pork steak, save the leftovers for stir fry or Quesadillas. You could cut it into strips and toss it into salad. Add elbow noodles to chili. Freeze chili. Plan meals that share ingredients. For example: Plan burgers for one night and tacos for the next. You'll already have the meat, lettuce and tomatoes for both meals.
I think it takes a while to find out what your exact needs are if you are living by yourself. When I am on my own, I usually only buy for one or two days ahead, so that all fresh food will be used up and I don't have to throw anything away. When I prepare a substantial meal for myself, I make sure I cook in such a way that there is only a little bit extra left over, in case I am still hungry later on. It all comes with experience. My advice would be, buy a little less and see how far it takes you, rather than getting too much and having to throw it away. Well, don't throw it away, there might be someone in your neighbourhood who might really appreciate it... if not a human, than perhaps an animal.
I already do the portioning out of meat, but I really like your other suggestions! Thank you! I'm always bored with my chicken recipes, and spaghetti sauce over top is so simple and delicious! Thanks again!
I have been trying to buy less each time I go, but the problem is I don't currently have a car on campus, so I rely on when my friends go. Which means that I have currently been living off of frozen veggies and pasta for a little over a week!! I am bringing my car here soon, though, so hopefully that changes very soon. Thanks for your response!
Some of my biggest wastes of money come from buying fresh produce that I don't normally cook with, just to try some one-off recipe that sounded interesting. Specialty cheeses, sauces and spices are another sore spot - since I will waste money on all of these and never end up using them all up before they go bad. I try to just stick with the basics and the staples, like onions, garlic, peppers, and parsley - and steer clear of produce like bean sprouts, celery root, radicchio, watercress, star fruits, and other items I almost never eat. Same goes for sauces, I steer clear of all the specialty asian sauces for stir fry, all the thai cooking oils and sauces, different varieties of hot sauces, and all that stuff - and instead just buy a nice bottle of a high quality soy sauce, a bottle of ketchup, or my favorite BBQ sauce. I can often make all those other sauces from scratch, such as teriyaki sauce. I never buy entire bricks of specialty cheeses any more. I only grab some parmesan or romano, along with a pack of either my favorite cheddar or smoked provolone - since I can use them on just about anything. Spices are also a huge waste of money, so no more exotic spices that I will never use again, such as star anise, curry powder, sage, etc... I pretty much only buy spices that I can get for $1 each at the discount stores.
