As always, on a Friday I take part in Food Waste Friday over at The Frugal Girl

I thought I would share my Friday routine this week as I try to be one organised lady when it comes to the kitchen and food!

Each week I allocate about 1-2 hours after the school run to do the following:

1. Firstly I clean the counter tops
2. Secondly I grab a dry marker and my ceramic notepad (less clutter and waste)
3. Then I empty the contents of the fridge and my perishables cupboard onto the counter
4. Next I clean my fridge with bicarbonate of soda, and wipe out my cupboard with a damp cloth and a little washing up liquid (not too much)
5. Once the fridge is ready to go I do an inventory of my foodstuffs.  My aim each week is to purchase for the week and not to carry over perishable items. Fruit and Veg deteriorate if not frozen, so I do try to use up within 7 days maximum.   I also only have a small fridge and do not like food clutter – so I purchase just what is needed and very rarely bulk buy – there is an argument that this isn’t very frugal but I find it reduces waste for my family.

Fridge/Perishables Inventory

• Firstly I identify all items that can go back in the fridge – so this week I have cheese and some bacon – I note these on my ceramic pad so as not to repurchase and to ensure I include a meal that uses them up ASAP
• Secondly I make a note of any items that need replenishing – these are the ‘add in/on’ ingredients that I frequently use – so this week it’s garlic, onions, orange juice, milk and some ketchup for my Daughter!
• A bit of a treat was lurking in the fridge… I have an open carton of cream and half a Bailey’s bread and butter pud that I made last night to use up some bread, so that will get eaten tonight.
• Finally I leave on the counter what needs using up and then it’s time to get creative!

So do I have anything this week to contribute to  Food Waste Friday and what am I going to do about it?? Or do the Hubby and I get a takeaway?

No takeaway for us tonight!

I have a confession – this week I skipped one of the meals (pan-fried salmon) from my meal plan and instead rustled up some omelets.  I fortunately had frozen the salmon, but still had the veggies that would have accompanied it and there were also had some veggies left over from the Vegetable Curry…

So on my counter sitting in anticipation were:

• 1 x Red Onion
• Small Bunch of Spring Onions
• 1 x Courgette/Zucchini
• 5 x Peppers
• 12 x Small Mushrooms
• 1 x Aubergine
• A Punnet of  Cherry Tomatoes
• 2/3rds Tub of Soft Cheese

All of the above I decided to prep and experiment with a mediterranean lasagne in Big Ben my Extra Large Slow Cooker – and it smells amazing already.  There is so much lasagne that after we have eaten it for dinner I will freeze the remainder and we will finish it off on Meat-Free Monday.

Also sitting on my counter (oops!!):

• 5 x Parsnips
• 3 x Apples
• 4 x Celery Sticks

Which I quickly peeled and chopped (adding an onion, garlic and boiling water) and placed in Brenda my Vegetarian/Pudding Slow Cooker – to make a soup which I will freeze later and then have for lunch on Meat Free Monday.

Just 1 thing left…. a Lime! Which was sliced and placed in a bag in the freezer to use as a tasty alternative to ice cubes…

So I have no food waste to confess to on Food Waste Friday 26th November apart from a Tupperware box full of peelings that are off to the recycling bin – Hurrah!  I also have two meals cooking away in Bill and Brenda!

So here we are, 1 hour and 20 minutes later, Bill and Brenda are cooking away.  I have cleaned the counter tops, loaded the dishwasher, made myself a cup of tea and started writing this post – a lovely productive non-wasteful morning.

So instead of Food Waste Friday it’s Feel Good Friday

I’d like to wish all readers over in the US a Happy Belated Thanksgiving. I had planned a post yesterday and would have wished you well then but I have delayed the post as I need to do a little more research.

What I would like to do in advance of my planned post is to point you toward Katy’s post ‘Be Thankful Not Wasteful’ written by Jonathan Bloom from Wasted Food yesterday over at Non-Consumer Advocate – it’s worth a look if you don’t like to see food go to waste

Have a good day y’all