One of my saddest areas of waste is food. I hate wasting food. I grew up in a home where food was precious- it just was not wasted. I remember going out after school in the spring to pick strawberries- oh, I was such a lucky girl, usually having all the strawberries I could possibly eat! For about 4 weeks anyway. My kids have not experienced such luxury- we tried, but Austin was not prime strawberry climate. Now we're in KC and hoping to dig in some strawberries as ground cover...
Back to wasting food. Did you know that the most nutritious part of the strawberry is its green top? And it's perfectly edible? I didn't either! Strawberries are just so good for you, so plant plenty. And try the tops. They count for leafy greens! My friend who passed on this tidbit of info says it's easy to incorporate the tops into a green smoothie. She also blogged about food waste, so check her out.
Now what was I talking about? Wasting food. Some of my tips:
1. Don't make tons more than you need. I'll stick to a main dish and not overdo it, but fill in with bread and butter, and veggies, to fill their tummies. I don't want leftovers to waste, so I try not to have many.
2. Do plan. A meal plan helps so much. But plan smart- a whole chicken on day 1, then boil the carcass to make soup on day 2, and use leftover bits to make a chicken salad or chicken nachos for lunch. If you don't plan to use everything, more will be wasted. Keep leftover veggies in a container to make free soup.
3. Serve the kids SMALL portions on their plates. I rarely give my kids more than a dollop of anything, and just a tablespoon of veggies. They aren't overwhelmed by "all those veggies" and I can convince them to "just eat them first!" They won't scrape their plate into the trash if their plate wasn't over-full. They will also only eat what they NEED, rather than finishing a plate just because you piled it high.
4. Seriously- cook what they like. Why bother spending time and money on food that they aren't going to eat? I have things I like to eat that they don't- I save those things for girl dates, since it's usually girl food. Let them have their kid food and man food, and treat yourself to girl dates for girl food.
2 comments:
Well said friend!
With this warmer weather, I'm hoping to eat more raw as well, which I know my clan isn't totally down with... so as I start working in raw meals, I'll be walking (!) some down to you! I know winter isn't over yet, but spring has teased me so; I can't help but hope.
I agree with you about wasting food. I really do.
But, I do just about the opposite of what you do in that quest.
I'm a big fan of planned-overs. Yet I'm not a big fan of making a meal plan well in advance of when we'll actually be eating, although I do usually have a few ideas in mind.
I'm not going to disagree with giving kids small portions, because that really is a good idea, but I think my idea of small portions is larger than yours.
Cook what they like...I do this, often, I cook in my husband and son's preferred style. But, as the cook I reserve the right to cook what I want, when I want, and how I want. Really, their preferred style is less expensive than mine, and easier to maintain with fewer shopping trips so it's more practical for us right now. But, I'm a member of the family, too! And, if I'm the one doing the cooking...
Really, it's all about finding what works for us.
P.S. I have fond memories of picking, and eating, strawberries from my grandmother's strawberry patch in IL.
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