What to you buy at the grocery, with every intention of eating, but end up throwing away?

[antmaril]

Produce and salad kits. I have Brussels sprouts and asparagus that I should eat, but I am not feeling either one of them. They won’t be good much longer. And, I very rarely finish a salad kit.

 

[DLgal]

We do eat the stuff, but not always before it goes bad.

The foods I have to throw away the most often are:

Fresh bread (although refrigerating prolongs it, we don't always have room in there)

Grapes (hard to buy a small amount and they end up mushy quickly)

Broccoli

Cucumbers

Lettuce

Deli meats

Cheese

 

[fla4fun]

The freezer is my friend. Living solo, I just don’t go through food quickly, so if I buy a bag of onions on sale, I chop up most of them (I leave one or two fresh) and they get frozen. Bread and bagels get frozen. Meat is parceled into individual serving sizes, and frozen. Most cheese is frozen. I buy frozen veggies instead of fresh. I buy canned milk for cooking, and if I need fresh milk my grocery sells pints and quarts. Eggs I buy by the half dozen instead of the dozen. I only buy fresh produce for a specific meal, like thanksgiving. Since I started doing this, I haven’t had to throw food away.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Produce and salad kits. I have Brussels sprouts and asparagus that I should eat, but I am not feeling either one of them. They won’t be good much longer. And, I very rarely finish a salad kit.

If you don't feel like eating those veg, a "cream of" veg soup or a veg broth would be a savable way to eat them later...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Cilantro. I also struggle with the bagged salad mixes. From my upcoming book "First World Problems"

For cilantro, I make homemade (allergy-safe) pesto for pasta salad. If you have a lemon (juice and zest), some parm cheese (or nutritional yeast for me), some olive oil, s&p and green herbs of any type, you can make a great healthy sauce for a cold pasta salad...

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Put a paper towel in the bag of lettuce and leave the bag open. It will keep for an extra day or two before going bad.

Thank you for the tip, I will try that!

 

[AndreaDM]

Produce, mostly lettuce and celery. Also lunch meat, we have good intentions of packing work lunches then we are running behind and don't take anything. I HATE food waste so I do anything I can to avoid it.

I tip I saw mentioned earlier that seems to help is putting a paper towel into the container of greens, it draws out the moisture and keeps it from getting slimy.

 

[Moliphino]

The freezer is my friend. Living solo, I just don’t go through food quickly, so if I buy a bag of onions on sale, I chop up most of them (I leave one or two fresh) and they get frozen.

I have no idea why it never occurred to me to do this. Does celery freeze well, too?

 

[Meriweather]

lettuce.....mean to eat it in salads and on sandwiches, but then things changed or I don't feel like making a salad and the last ends up thrown out

 

[LuvOrlando]

It used to be bananas but now old super sweet bananas become the base for an amazing smoothie with frozen fruit.

Lettuce is the hardest because it just can't be salvaged & this irks me so much.
If it is getting close there will be side salads for dinner or tacos if it is wilted because the hot meat wilts it a bit anyway.

Lately, I usually prefer spinach for salads, or arugula because those can be tossed into an omelette or quiche, even into chicken soup base so it is rarely actually thrown out,

 

[tasha99]

Not really anything. I'm pretty good at produce management and won't go shopping until we clear out the old. I also move food to the freezer (blanching if necessary) before it goes bad.

My tip for using up cilantro is store it well (I put them in produce storage containers, but it also works to treat it like a flower in water in the fridge, or to put it in a ziplock with paper towels) but then, if you have too much, make cilantro chutney! We eat Indian food once a week minimum, so there's always a meal to use it at.

 

[fla4fun]

I have no idea why it never occurred to me to do this. Does celery freeze well, too?

If you are using it for cooking, yes. I always buy it on sale for making my thanksgiving stuffing, and I chop and freeze it ahead of time. It works just fine in the stuffing, and in the turkey soup I make with leftovers.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Cantaloupe. I love the idea of it, but never quite get around to cutting it.

 

[cayennews]

Mostly produce. If I don't get the time to cut up a pineapple it will just sit in my fridge and turn gray. Cucumbers and cantaloupe are often other casualties.

 

[RamblingMad]

Groceries cost too much to waste anything.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Bagged salad. I have good intentions but it almost never gets eaten before it gets gross.