I’ve been doing some activism in my kitchen lately — by launching a war on waste. After a few months of trying to waste as little as possible – my conclusion is that not wasting requires a pretty involved effort at first but now that I have developed a culture of not wasting, I can safely say that I’ve cut down kitchen waste by at least 60% …if not more. Woot!
I did 3 simple things. They’re so simple, I wonder why I didn’t do them before.
- Started planning meals: Earlier I would go to the supermarket, randomly buy veg and fruit, chuck it all in the fridge back home and then forget about them — till a strange, rather rotten odour could then be traced back to a month old carrot. I’d try to scramble meals together with whatever I had. I now do the exact opposite — decide what we are going to eat and then go out and buy exactly and only that. It also keeps me fitter having to walk to the grocery store every other day.
- New recipes: I’ve discovered and even invented a few recipes where I literally chuck all the leftover veg in the fridge and turn it into something delicious. The pressure cooker and hand blender are particularly good aids in this war on waste — pressure cook and then blitz all the remaining bits and bobs of veggies, top it up with a blob of cream and voila — dinner. Yet another benefit is that bubby has no idea I’m cunningly making him eat his 5 a day.
- And finally, I changed my personal culture: Earlier, I’d throw away tiny bits of leftover food. Now unless I absolutely loathe what I’ve made, I save every last morsel or send it straight to the freezer to retrieve a few weeks later.
Some Travel Some Trivia 