My cousin has a blog about being frugal. She is "The Frugal Girl". She has taught me a lot as she goes about scrimping and saving with her family of six. One thing she does weekly (or sort of weekly) is post her menu for the week along with spending on groceries and a food waste photo. Being her cousin, I probably have some similar frugal gene in my DNA, so wanted to post some similar things, mostly for my own accountability (its more shocking to see it in print rather than bundled up in the garbage bag!). My cousin and I live very differently (she has a husband and four kids at home while I have just me), but we are both savers. Here are some of my frugal thoughts on food:
LUNCHES
Most mornings I wake up and try to figure out what to pack for lunch in my half-awake state. Usually, I opt for something not very exciting, something that is not a lunch, or nothing. All three of these situations lead me to a lunch of Wendy's, McDonald's, or Panera. All yummy, but none as healthy or inexpensive as a homemade lunch. Here is what I figured out. I thought through which lunches I actually eat, are easy to pack, quick to make, and leave few leftovers. I came up with four completely do-able lunches: Salad, Soup, Pasta, Meat, and eat out. I left one day to eat out because I have some friends at work who like to eat out and didn't want to completely ban the practice. Other weeks I figured I could use it as a leftover day (as will be the case tomorrow when I finish off the pizza I made tonight). Its week one and so far so good. I love having the simple options in the morning. Much more managable. It also helps me know what to buy at the store and keep my fridge stocked with things I know will get used.
FOOD WASTE
My camera disappeared so I can't post a photo (which is good, saves me the embarrassment). :-) I finally cleaned out my fridge (it has been a few weeks). I had a lot of molding/pre-molding food to throw out. I went grocery shopping and went through a cooking frenzy right before I got sick (the kind where you shouldn't eat for a while). Umm... So, lots of food waste. Fortunatly, I am now able to dump my compost at a friend's parent's house so some of it was composted:
.buns (living alone, I have a hard time finishing a pack of these, I really should just buy them individually at the bakery)
.peanut butter rice krispie bars
.noodles (I made too many for lunch one morning, they wouldn't fit in the container, and they got left out in the rush)
.2 remants of pasta sauce (I use the can stuff and it seems to sour after only a little time)
.2 remnants of soup
.rice (I cooked it wrong, so it was still hard, it never had a chance to be eaten)
.lunch meat (another thing I can never get through living alone)
.salad (this was my potluck item for small group. I ended up being sick and couldn't go)
.meatballs and noodles (remants from my pre-sickness cooking frenzy)
