Nico did a science fair project on food waste last year, and it confirmed what I suspected: my family throws away $1500 each year. Better stated, studies show that for the average family of four, food waste amounts to roughly $1500 annually. I calculated our number was closer to $2000, given my proclivity for trying new things and buying food that “looks interesting.” That number was enough to inspire a commitment to decreasing waste. I also bought a composter. The same person who bought Umami Seasoning Blend on a whim wasn’t going to solve her family’s food waste issues overnight.
I didn’t solve our food waste issues overnight.
We did well for a while, but now that California is opening up, we are grabbing more takeout. Takeout is frequently spontaneous, which means more waste; I’m still buying groceries as if I am cooking at home every night. I haven’t made any changes to my farm box, either.
There was one way to decrease the amount of food we were wasting, and the solution was obvious and painful. I had to start doing the thing I hate the most: meal planning. Yes, some people love it, and there is no denying you save time and money, but I would rather darn socks. I don’t want to spend my Saturday or Sunday creating a meal plan. I don’t want to spend it grocery shopping, either. Honestly, I don’t want to meal plan, grocery shop, or darn socks on my weekends but of the three–give me socks.
I spent my Sunday meal planning, yay! One day maybe I will have fun doing this! I don’t think so! Oh well. I’m going into this weekly and am treating it as an offshoot of The William Morris Project. Have nothing in your house that you do not find to be tasty or is rotting.
Menu Plan | 4.11-4.17
I started this post on Sunday and have tweaked and edited it as I cooked my way through the plan. I will continue to update the post with my notes.
Sunday: Shredded Pork & Jackfruit with Orange & Chile de árbol, Roasted potatoes, salad
The shredded pork is a recipe from Julia Turshen’s latest cookbook, Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food. It called for two oranges! I have so many oranges in the fridge I need to use up (20+ from our trees already went to orange juice), and really wanted to use at least some of them in savory meals. This recipe was also an easy one for me to make alongside a vegetarian option (jackfruit) for Nico.
ETA: This was delicious and was an opportunity to try Chile de árbol and annatto paste for the first time. Both ingredients added a lot of flavor without as much heat as I feared!
Monday: Kale and Shitaki Mushroom Alfredo Bucatini
I’m not sure how I ended up with a large container of heavy cream in my refrigerator, but I did. I used it to make an Alfredo sauce in the same pan I used to sauté the mushrooms and kale I got in my farm box. The bucatini I bought after everyone declared this was the best pasta shape and pasta recipe, ever. Spoiler: no on both.
ETA: I can make Alfredo sauce with my eyes closed and do it often–too often. I used up food before it spoiled and shopped the pantry so that was an accomplishment, but overall this was a pretty boring meal. We have leftovers in the fridge that we may or may not finish.
Tuesday: Beyond Sausage Pizza with Roasted Broccoli
Tuesdays are my staff meeting days, so my husband does the cooking. We buy Sonoma Flatbread pizza at Costco, and he roasts vegetables to go with it. He makes the best roasted vegetables.
ETA: Fast and easy but even with two pizzas it wasn’t enough food for two teenagers. I’m glad I added roasted vegetables to the meal plan. A side of vegetables or a big salad is a must.
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Black Beans with Coconut Rice and Corn
Like the rest of the world, I bought all the beans in 2020. Time to use them! I’m using this recipe for black beans. My coconut rice is a family favorite and heavily adapted from this recipe. My plan is to make Chipotle-inspired bowls.
ETA: The Chipotle bowls were delicious! The meal gave me heartburn, but it was filling and tasty (more on how aging has really changed how and what I eat in another post). As I predicted when I wrote this earlier in the week, there is enough left over to make burritos on Thursday.
Thursday: Tacos or Burritos, Salad
I planned to use leftover jackfruit and pork from Monday here, but we enjoyed both so much that we don’t have enough to make a second meal. I do have enough to make quesadillas, and I bet we will have leftover beans from Wednesday to round it out or make burritos.
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Last week I made a homemade pear and gorgonzola pizza with arugula on top, and it was so good. I don’t have all the ingredients to make it again, but I am sure I will have plenty of other stuff to use up.
Saturday: Sushi with the Saints!
This is our favorite night of the week and is as nerdy as it sounds, but I will write about another day. This post is long enough as it is!
I also dread meal planning, but it is so much less bad than last minute panic about what we’re going to eat, especially since 2 of my kids have been diagnosed with celiac since Christmas. Not so easy to do takeout safely anymore. One thing that has made it easier for me is that 5 years ago we started using Cozi as our family calendar. There is a recipe box in there, and I add recipes I find on the internet all the time. I browse the recipe box as I’m meal planning and click a button to add the ingredients to my shopping list. I have to then check off the items I already have, but it’s easier than writing the list manually. All of us can add to the shopping list from our phone apps or call up the list when we’re at the store so it isn’t all on me to do the shopping. The really great benefit that I didn’t consider when I started is that my 2 college kids use the recipes to cook for themselves in their college apartments!
I will look into Cozi! Thank you! You are right, as much as I hate meal planning, it was nice to not have to think about dinner this week.
I also hate meal planning, even more without teenagers than I did with. But I also hate wasting food, and I agree that planning is the way to avoid it. Sucks that as adults we have to make ourselves eat our own vegetables (literally and metaphorically).
That is so funny you should say that because as I was meal planning I did think how much harder it would be in a few years when it’s just my husband and I. When it was just the two of us the first 5 years of marriage, all we did was eat out!
One thing that has helped me with planning is to not force myself into a hard schedule. I make a list of about 10-12 meals we’ll try or we already like and make sure I have the indredients for them. I even try to label some “easy” so I know what I can pull out and make on a busy day and then it gives me OPTIONS. I need options. I need to be able to go “I feel like __” today. And then I know we have what I need…but I also need a list of specific ideas and then make a choice the night before or the morning of, or I get really stressed out throughout the day when 4 kids ask me 10 times “What’s for supper?” at the worst possible times.
Those are all great tips. I think I am somewhere in the middle. If I give myself too many options, I can talk my way out of doing it or I resort to the backup meals too easily (hence our collective meh with the fettuccine Alfredo this week). Another little habit I picked up is buying all these backup meals for the freezer. Guess who isn’t using her backup meals? Hmmm. Now that I think of it, that is what I should do on Tuesdays so that I can clear them out of my freezer!
As someone who knits socks (and has darning a pair that have begun to show their wear after 5 years on my weekend to do list), I agree fully that sock darning is a preferable chore. (I actually ENJOY darning – especially if I get to use clashing and brighten colors to make the repairs!) and that shows in my family’s food waste. I hope you’ll share more posts like these as time allows. One of the things I struggle most with is reusing and reimagining leftovers and it seems like something you’re doing well!