eat every fruit and vegetable that I buy - BEFORE it goes bad

This is a lot harder now that I don’t have a proper fridge, just a half-sized fridge that doesn’t even have a vegetable crisper. (Gr.) So I try not to buy vegetables that I don’t have a specific purpose for. I’m only cooking for myself most days now that I’m on my own, and if I really need something, there are several grocery stores less than a mile from where I live.

And I’m buying a lot of frozen veggies, or learning how to freeze my unused leftovers. So far that seems to be working out okay. This is still is a work in progress, but I still think it’s a worthwhile goal, so I’m going to keep working at it.

I’m still not completely successful at this, but I’m getting better about preparing meals with leftover ingredients. Fried rice and stir-fry are good for this. Last week I made two meals with things that were going to go to waste otherwise – a delicious chicken stir-fry and a faux-Mexican dish with veggies, scrambled eggs, salsa, refried beans, tortillas and pepperjack cheese.

Had to throw out some mushrooms yesterday – I have a really hard time using an entire container before they go bad, but the grocery store doesn’t have bulk baby bellas :( I used up the last of my shredded carrots in last night’s fried rice, though, so I was proud of that.

I had to throw out a purple potato this morning because I didn’t use it in time. I’m not even sure why i bought the purple potato. What did I think I was going to do with it? Purple french fries? Purple mashed potatoes? Ew!

Now that I’m buying food for two, this should be easier. My husband eats a lot more than I do, and he agrees that we should try not to let anything go bad. Right now we have three bananas, a half dozen tomatoes, a red pepper, some jalapeños, an onion, some potatoes, scallions, mushrooms, apples, and some leftover chopped veggies from the pot roast we made on Tuesday. It sounds like an awful lot… but we shall see!

Maybe this will be easier now that I’m married. Two people to eat all the food we buy before it goes bad, as well as two people to remind each other that the food is there, and to help make the decision of whether to buy it in the first place.

We shall see. So far I’m getting better, but not nearly enough. The banana I forgot about that went rotten while we were out on the honeymoon was kinda gross…. and the fruit flies won’t go away now. :(

Last night I used up some turnips I had bought for a soup by making scalloped potatoes and turnips. I was also able to use up a shallot I had lying around for this.

I don’t think I like the recipe very much for myself – too buttery for my tastes – but I think it came out very well, and is something my parents would probably like. It would go well with steak (I don’t eat a lot of steak myself). Something to keep in mind if I ever cook for them.

I think that part of the trick with this goal is to become more creative with my leftover vegetables. Sometimes I buy veggies for a particular recipe but buy too much, and then don’t use the extras before they go bad. I need to start being more proactive about using the leftovers in interesting ways.

I live with a roommate and only buy food for myself, so it’s my responsibility to eat whatever I buy. I vary between buying too few fresh veggies and needing to go shopping more often (which means I spend more money on impulse purchases, since the store is on my way home from work and I thus do my grocery shopping on an empty stomach) and buying things that I don’t use quickly enough and end up throwing out too much.

I think I need to learn to plan meals a few days in advance and only buy what I think I’ll use for those meals.

After today’s lunch I will have used up all my leftovers, so it’s probably time to clean out the fridge and use some of the vegetables that haven’t already gone bad – I’m terrible about making sure that old food doesn’t stay in the fridge forever, too.