Stop Wasting Food: Tips to Preserve Your Eats

We've all done it. Forgotten that broccoli or head of lettuce in the back of the fridge. By the time we see it, it's too gross to eat! Wasting food costs us $165 BILLION dollars a year, as a nation.  Are you kidding me?

According to the National Defense Council it averages out to 20 pounds of food being thrown out per person each month.

I scouted around for tips on how to waste less. Here are some good ones AND some common sense ideas from my own little head.

1.  Before you shop, plan your meals and snacks.  If you plan, you eat everything on the list. This can be tough if there are kids in the family or your work schedule is out of norm.

2. When you cut up and prepare vegetables, save the scraps.  There are recipes online for many vegetable soups using odd veggie parts.

3. Use it before it spoils!  My Gram used to take leftover meats and add them to salads for lunch.  If a meat is close to getting bad or has been in the freezer too long, cook it up !  Make a pot luck dinner out of it.

4.  Fruits.  Along with veggies, we waste these most.  Make a fruit salad for a snack, add them as a side dish with dinner, or with cereal.

5. Use that dairy before it expires. Cheese can be melted to make dips, sauces or macaroni and cheese.  Milk, yogurt, cottage cheeses; well be creative.

That's the key: creativity!  I think most of us get lazy about cooking and that's why we waste food.  I know I do.

Knowledge is power and now that you know...........happy saving!