memes

Stop buying so much food then.

Please don't waste food.

I solved this by planning out all my dinners for the week and then buying only what I needed for those plus topping up any thing I need for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Any perishables get used because i mostly only have what I've planned for that week. I can recommend Recipe Tin Eats as a good resource for easy to cook meals.

Start with just one recipe. When I first was getting into cooking I was buying too much making it overwhelming to open the fridge and decide what to cook. As someone else mention shoot for having leftovers. One recipe scaled for 3-4 meals that you can split into containers and throw in the microwave when you are hungry.

Do y'all need some recipes for simple and quick homemade meals? These are for one person or 2 meals.

• Potato - get the gold/yellow kind. Nuke for 5 minutes and top with whatever. If you want to spend 5 more minutes, put butter in a pan, smash it and cook on upper low for 4 or 5 more minutes with scallions, cheese, or whatever. If it's too dry, add milk.
• Frozen hamburger-put it in a large skillet with cut veggies over butter. Add herbs and/or onion flakes to taste. Let cook on medium heat with the lid on for 20 minutes. Add water and break up the meat, let cook for 10 more minutes with the lid off.
• Fresh or frozen chicken in the air fryer. Take a cup of flour and add some salt, garlic and/or any other herbs that sound good. Sometimes I add oregano or basil. Shake the 4 pieces in the flour. Air fry for 30 minutes (fresh) and 40 minutes (frozen). Take out and brush on butter. If there is flour left over, sprinkle on if necessary. Cook another 20 minutes (fresh) or 30 minutes frozen. This one is more easy than quick.

There are tons more, but I'm hungry and need to eat now.

It comes down to planning meals and a certain amount of acceptance that what you've got in the house is what you eat, period, even if the specific food isn't what you're in the mood for at the moment. Fast food, doordash etc are difficult habits to break. They reward your desire to have what you want when you want it, which is a big reward, and can make living on your own food feel like a punishment by comparison. But that feeling is just part of the habit. Eventually it goes away.

I found that visitng shop frequently and buying a little each time helps with this. Also, knowing what you have and planning what to cook with stock in mind. Also, one might find better to buy at small grocery stores (turkish in my area). These have ability to buy as an example 10 or less potatoes instead of fixed 2.5kg of potatoes. That way you're not bound to swiftly eat potatoes before they rot.

This is actually a real issue for a lot of people. The solution that I found is that you should sit down and write out a meal plan for the upcoming week. Like actually sit down and plan out your every meal and include snacks as well. Then write down the things you need to buy for those meals and snacks. Make sure you only put down things that you actually like eating.

When you go shopping take that list with you, and only buy the things you wrote on there and only buy amounts for the meals you're planning for. If by the end of the week, you bought too much, then that means there are meals in your planner that you don't really like. From there, you can refine your list and make improvements every week.

Bulk make your food. I find that making cooking an "event" you do every week or so is much more manageable than trying to cook your own food each night.

I'm a big fan of soups, stews and chili. I have a large stock pot and I'll basically make one of those to where it's almost full. It can take a long time to cook that much food, but it makes tons of servings. Then I'll freeze 1/2 to 2/3 of it for future meals. I actually find these types of dishes are even better once you thaw them out. Nutrition wise it's basically a ton of veggies/beans and some meat, so fairly cheap per meal made and super nutritious.

Bodybuilder style "meal prep" is also awesome if you don't mind having the same meals multiple times a week. I like bulk making brown rice in a rice cooker along with some kind meat or fish and finally then adding in a microwave steam pack of veggies. If you have an Aldi available to you their California blend is awesome and fairly affordable for the convenience of just popping it in the microwave. Shout out to Sam's Club and Costco who both have bulk packs of frozen meat and veggies to help on cost.

It can get more complicated if you live with others who have different tastes and preferences from yourself. Another hurdle is having the ability to freeze all the excess foods. But when I was single living in my own apartment I don't think I ever ate more simply and affordably than that. Sprinkle in the occasional "treat" of some kind of takeout and you're living the good life!

E: This is obviously from a US perspective, but I'm sure my non-us counterparts can substitute in their equivalents where needed.

A slow cooker helps. You can use random ingredients before they go bad easily enough, and you will have left overs so cooking one time results in not having to cook for multiple meals.

I buy stuff that lasts. For bread, I find that rye takes weeks longer than white or wheat to start going bad, and bagels last ages too. I make smoothies with mostly frozen fruit. For dinner stuff, if I'm not feeling like cooking I either buy things I'm going to eat in the next few days or I get these sealed precooked things from Aldi that are great and keep well. Coconut milk also tends to keep better than cow milk and lately I've realized I greatly prefer it.

About the only things that are super perishable that I keep around are bananas and avocados, and I just tend to eat these a lot. I also keep spinach or kale around for my smoothies, but I rebag them into separate smaller bags as soon as I get them. If my bananas are getting overripe, they get frozen for smoothies.

I also tend to buy canned soups, which last ages.

When I was cooking regularly I'd make a lot of chilis and pasta sauces. They're good to freeze and they keep well on their own. Chili is arguably better after freezing and having more time to develop.

You can definitely eat pretty healthy and keep plenty of food in the house without constantly chasing waste.

My problem isn't that I don't use what I buy, the problem is that I buy too much. Like the recipe I need calls for one stalk of celery, but I can only buy an entire celery plant, like 11 stalks in a bundle because that's all the store offers. What do I do with the remaining 10 stalks?

My SO has ADHD and used to do this. I just cook for the both of us now so it's less food waste. The only issue is sometimes he doesn't like what I make :/

Freeze your fresh bread and only defrost the amount that you're going to eat.

I only wish I could buy half loaves of the breads I like.

I can't get through a whole loaf alone to save my life unless I eat the same thing for 3 meals a day and I'd prefer not to.

No. I wait until the fridge is absolutely fucking empty and I eat every goddamn thing. You ain't gonna find no expired food in my household. And I don't buy things for the hell of it, and I don't buy shit in boxes. Cook in a pan. Buy whole food. Prioritize which expires or rots the quickest. I used a cast iron that I found in the trash. I don't understand how or why people have this issue. But I guess I've been poor for all of my adult life, so. If they drafted me, I'd say take me to prison bitch, because I ain't gonna fucking die for this place. I kinda wish I was never born. People throwing away food. Gawd I hate this country.

Go to store every day and only buy what I will start using that day.

Eventually, I extended the time, but I had to learn what I will actually use.

We waste less by often making small trips to a local market to get just what we intend to cook for one day or evening. That may not work for everyone, but it works for us.

This is probably intended to be tongue-in-cheek, but meal planning is the answer. Block off some time (Sunday evenings are popular), to figure out all your meals for the week, make a list of everything you need to make all the dishes on the menu, go to the store and buy all that stuff and nothing else, make ahead and freeze any meals that you can and do any prep work ahead of time that you can.

Viola: intentional eating, less waste, and always something on hand to eat.

It changed my life in a lot of positive ways.