It's been a while since I've done a Food Waste Friday post but a couple of months ago I reached a serious level of self-annoyance at still not getting back into the habit of cooking properly on a regular basis and, having gotten rid of a shocking amount of yoghurt and anything else lurking mouldily in the fridge, I gave it a good clean out and declared I wasn't buying anything else until I was sure I was going to be cooking it.
And so I have mostly been eating bread or toast with butter and jam or cereal when I have actually eaten at home. And I think I'll continue to do the same for a while but slowly introducing the cooking again rather than trying to go at it full tilt when I just don't have the energy or mental capacity at the moment.
Having said all that, I did buy a pumpkin a couple of weeks ago, intending to make soup so that I would have lunches for the entire week. It didn't happen and then I was away for a week but I am happy to report that I actually did take it out of the fridge (I wouldn't normally keep pumpkin in the fridge but because I was going away I figured there might as well be something in there) yesterday before going to work. And a good thing to because I noticed that a tiny bit of mould was starting to develop on the bottom. Luckily it hadn't even penetrated the skin but the thought of it was enough to make sure that even though I didn't really feel like it (again!), I did get into the kitchen yesterday and peeled and chopped it and threw it all into a pot which had a chopped up sauteed onion and some garlic, plenty of freshly ground pepper and water. Left that to cook until tender and then gently mashed most of it, just very roughly leaving plenty of intact bits too. I threw a few handfuls of lentils in next, let them cook and finally added the four mettwurst (sausages) that I had bought on my way home from work. And this morning I got up early enough to heat up a portion for my widemouth flask and had it in work for lunch. It was delicious.
This evening I boiled some potatoes and ate them along with the ball of mozzarella that was only a few days away from its best before date, the end of a jar of chutney and the last slice of ham. Actually, I had put the potatoes on to boil because I couldn't remember what it was I was going to make instead and it was only when I saw the ham I remembered I've been having a longing for ham and cheese pancakes for weeks and that was why I had bought it. Just as well I had already put the potatoes on since I don't have an egg in the house so making pancakes might have been challenging.
So this week, I am very pleased that I have prevented lots of food waste happening next week. And the only real waste I had was the small tupperware container full of popcorn that I had to throw out. I made some the other night, only had olive oil on hand so just used that and tried to convince myself that was why it tasted a bit funny but I know it was just gone off. I definitely brought that with me when I moved here (which makes it nearly three years old) and I actually think it may have experienced my previous house move as well (which would make it at least five years it had been in that tupperware). For a really long time I didn't have a pot with a tight-fitting lid so I had gotten out of the habit of ever making popcorn. Having had some in my brother's when I was there a couple of weeks ago, I may be hooked again so there will be a new packet of popcorn making its way into my cupboard soon, which I will be more conscientious about using, I promise!
As always, Food Waste Friday is hosted by The Frugal Girl
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