Just make sure you are not buying to much because of a sale. I bought enough for 2 or 3 weeks when it was on sale, never more than a month. Things like hominy that I ate and no one else did I bought one or two cans. It may sound mean, but my children ate supper at home. Dinner was the only time we all sat down together and relaxed and talked about the day. No arguments or even heated discussions. During summers they could eat lunch at a friends.

I live alone so my situation is different from yours so some of what I do won't apply. One day a few years ago, I realized that I was wasting way too much food.

Cooked foods: I bought lock n lock containers, and purposely cook for planned leftovers. I have a calendar in a kitchen drawer where I write down the date of each item that I cook. That way I know how long it will last in the fridge. If it's not getting eaten up, I freeze it in individual portions.

Pantry/cupboard foods: I like well stocked cupboards, but if not careful, it can be a big money waste. I take the extra time of pulling old stock to the front and placing just bought items to the back. Often, I use a marker to write the exp date large enough to be seen at a glance.

I have a Foodsaver that I use to freeze leftovers and I always mark the dates on them. And I rotate the freezer items to make sure the meats/leftovers get used.

I'll be following this post to get additional ideas. Food's just too expensive to waste.

Shirley

our family always ate left overs. Some days we had 4 different left overs to choose from. We called is smorgasbord dinner.

The person that got first choice rotated, thus, everyone had first choice at least once a month.

I freeze left overs in single serving size. Really easy to pull out and nuke, and call it a TV dinner. :) Makes it simple for a home cooked meal, when someone came in late.

If fruit gets ripe to quickly, make a fruit salad.

Upon filling your pantry always put the new package in the back.

I am by myself now, and thus, the expiration date thing seems to be no problem, as I buy so much less.

But somewhere, either here or at the cooking forum someone suggested to use a sharpie pen and mark the date with big numbers, or circle the date for easier finding.

Good luck!

Moni

I also number my freezer containers. Then the number is written in a notebook, with the explanation on what food is contained, and the date.

When I take something out, it gets marked out. I try to eat the oldest first, which is easy to find in the notebook.. and in the freezer, as I rotate the new stuff to the back.

An idea that only works if you have a good store fairly close by. Stop trying to shop for a whole week, and concentrate on shopping for meals. Say, on Tuesday, you make sure that everyone will be home to eat dinner, and then you plan that meal. Don't buy more than what you need for that dinner.

Another thing, no one gets the choice of cereal at dinner. No way. They eat what you put on the table.

Shop more often, don't stock up, and shop for specific meals. And put your foot down a little... you're being treated shabbily and you should enact a couple of simple rules in the house.

I have a well stocked pantry and two freezers... and now with my husband gone, I am virtually living out of them. I haven't spent more than $20 this month and that was for milk and salad fixins. I always take a large marker and put the expiration date on the front of the cans and when I restock, the new items go to the back. I also froze all the "on sale" cake mixes that I had along with the Ramen Noodles and any grain items and flour is kept in the freezer...

I think that for a family, dinner should be with everyone present and eating at the same time... as it is a great time to share what is going on in everyone's day...

Carolyn (tsaho)

I don't like most leftovers and those will go to waste. I try to cook enough for one meal unless it is something we like as left overs, like meatloaf and pot roast. I love sandwiches made from those left overs. I never encourage my children to clean their plates because I myself get to the point enough is enough and at that point I leave food on my plate.

I throw out a lot too, unless I happen to make something that they will eat up, like lasagna. I made a roast pork/stew for dinner the other night and although I've been taking it to work the last two days and some of the kids have been eating some of it, most of it still is left in the fridge. I only keep it in there for 3 days before I throw it out. We're eating it for dinner tonight and that will be it.

I have a bad habit of making a big huge pot of whatever I make, like my mom used to do. Sometimes it works out especially if the kids eat it after the first night, sometimes it doesn't and it gets thrown out.

I say stop cooking. PERIOD! Just don't cook for say, two weeks. They can eat cereal every night if they want. Not your problem. You may or may not like this idea, but I don't think they appreciate you enough. After the two weeks, insist that everyone eat together at least two times a week and cereal is not an option. Good luck to you, hon.

Here is this house, leftover is a good thing. We both like leftovers and while I might not serve them the next day, they always come to the table in another form. I cooked a sirloin a few nights ago and served it, last night we had leftover Italian sausage from two nights ago and tonight we will have the left over steak. It comes to the table tonight as fajitas. My husband loves to eat and loves food but he isn't a picky eater...He for the most part wouldn't even know it was leftovers unless it was something like chili or soup or stew and then you can bet your sweet bippy that there are leftover and some of them will go to the freezer........I love not having to cook for every meal....I've even taken the meat out of a stew that was not being eaten, washed the liquid off it and used it in another way.

To answer your question, my suggestion would be to try to just start cooking as much as you think you will need. Save only those things that you know will get eaten. You can also freeze almost anything without any consequences in taste. If you have milk going to waste.....put half of what you buy into a container and freeze it......with stuff getting out of date...the solution is just to quit buying so much and try to lose the idea that you have to have everything they might want on hand.....depending on what it is though, the date is just a guideline so not anything to get paranoid about......especially things like rice and cereal etc etc...save freezer space for that type thing..You have just picked up some bad habits along the way and need to qet rid of them. My husband was buying bananas every time we went to the market and eating maybe one before the went bad.....now I make sure that he only buys a few and that they are in stages from ripe to almost green.

Don't forget too that eggs take forever to get stale......I have heard of people tossing eggs that were left unrefrigerated overnight but that's so wrong. An egg just sitting on the counter is still plenty fresh enough to set to hatch in 7 to 9 days.....they may not be as fresh as the day bought but they last a long long time in the fridge....If I have some that are getting old, I use them for cooking and the fresher ones for breakfast....

And you mentioned bread..do it like milk, freeze it and take the slices out as needed.....if it is less than fresh, toss it in a bag in the freezer until you have a stash and then make bread crumbs. I always have a stash of home made bread crumbs.

I am finding that I waste way too much food also now that it is just me here. Today I threw out celery, apples (was going to make a pie, but never got around to it) cabbage, grapes, and some spices. I need to stay out of the grocery store for a while and live out of the freezer and pantry! Good tips on here!

One thing I noticed is that your kids are eating over at friends house. As it seems that you are throwing out alot of food, insist that the kids eat home at least 3 days a week, and encourage them to cook the meals--boys or girls-sit down and have a family conference and find out what the problem is. Is there a real reason why your husband has to work late every night? Own business, overtime? Could the friends eat/cook at your home at least once a week? Years ago we had this problem where neighbor and I exchange kids because of what we served, but we seem to always have family/friends. I just plain refused to let kids go where they wanted to go as often as they wanted to go. Family is too important. If they seem to do this, just buy less food.

Thanks for the ideas. I think using a marker to mark the expiration dates may help a lot and I need to focus on trying to utilize freezer space better too. I probably don't need to save 3 bags of frozen corn!

Don't get the wrong idea... my kids maybe only eat at a friend's house once every other week, and maybe my husband only works late once every other week, but then there may be a hockey game he gets invited to or a meeting I have, or a kid's basketball practice..it just all adds up and I find I just can't really count on everyone always being home. Last night, I had to help my mom with something so I left the minute my husband came home. Life happens... Those of us who are home do eat together at the table.

I think patti43 may have a good idea too... I do often feel my cooking and the meals are undervalued. I love cooking but my family really doesn't like eating. (and I am a decent cook). I need to probably focus on limiting afternoon and evening snacks so they know they have to fill up at dinner. The food thing is just frustrating for me on many levels...

Mary, waste is why I eat lunch out 4 or 5 days a week. The only meal I cook is breakfast 2 times a week. An occasional egg sandwich or pizza instead of lunch out on the off days. I not only saves waste, saves a lot of work.

I'm sick of cold cuts spoiling. I try to buy only a little at a time, maybe a quarter or half pound. Try to use leftovers within 2 days. Last nights dinner = tomorrow's lunch. Eating out, even fast food, is just too expensive!

Of course a family can't afford to eat out every day and I think growing children need home cooked foods and well balanced meals and quiet time together. When you figure up the waste a single person has it takes a lot off the price of a restaurant meal. I talk to many single women and they say the same. I can't even use up a head of lettuce before it gets yucky unless I eat salads every day until it is gone. I can't find lunch meat is small packages so I eat sandwiches a couple of days in a row, then cut some of the ham up in my scrambled eggs and I also divide it and put some in the freezer if it is a large package. It often goes to waste in the also.

Sunday night is "CLEAR OUT THE FRIDGE" night!! That helps with the larger amounts of leftovers -- cook some rice or noodles or have it over a baked potato, roll it into a burreito? Make some soup! That and grilled cheese sandwiches is a great supper!

I only cook for the two of us and I try to plan on whatever I cook Sunday night as having enough for leftovers on Monday. It might not be served the same way - leftover steak might be sauteed with onions and served with melted cheese as a philly sandwich, leftover baked chicken will be used as chicken and rice. I PLAN it that way so I know to have whatever else I need on hand to fix it. I do the same with one other meal a week so that makes 4 dinners for the week. We do eat out on Friday nights so that just leaves 2 nights to fix an individual meals worth. One is generally fish and the other might be pork - cause my hubby doesn't eat much pork. Although last night I took a leftover piece of tenderloin and make pork fried rice. Most of the time, I use it for BBQ sandwiches or Cubans.

Guess what I am saying is that I plan the meals so that I buy enough for two meals and have the dishes picked out so it doesn't seem like "leftovers" to us.

I am worse about wasting veggies - I don't like brown or wilted lettuce or strong smelling spinach so I end up throwing some away. I am getting better about fruits since my grandson eats it alot so there isn't as much left if he is around. I use up what I can on cereals and throw small amounts together in cups for fruit salads. We eat fruit nearly every night with dinner in some form or fashion. Most fruits go well together so apples, bananas, grapes and strawberries make a pretty dessert cup. For kids, add a dabble of cool whip or yogurt.

When I decided I needed to watch my caloric intake and especially my carbs last June, I made up my mind to find new recipes and to try new veggies, etc. I tore the recipes out of magazines and put them in the clear binder sheets and made my own cookbook. I get it out before I go shopping and try at least one new recipe each week. We are now eating more types of veggies than we ever did and enjoying the variety.

I spent two months just recently, living with a couple who live in the same golf community my parents lived at in Las Vegas. Man, can that woman cook.... she taught me so much while I was there. (my Mother was not the best cook :-)so I didn't learn much from her in the cooking department) This lady used to own a deli and she makes 3 meals a day at their house. Sometimes lunch was leftovers from the night before but she always added soup or a salad or changed it in some way to make it a bit different. If anything was then leftover, she put a little on the dogs kibble that evening to get rid of it. Anyway, one thing she did was to line a baking pan with leftover lettuce (a neat way to get rid of it) and baked fish on top. It keeps the fish moist and it gets rid of the leftover lettuce that would get tossed. I'm eating much better since I visited there. I had lost 11 pounds when my Mom got sick two years ago and I'm small to begin with. I looked gaunt and not healthy at all but I'm gaining some weight back since I stayed there. Another thing she did was buy bagettes frequently. The french loaves in a paper bag. I always bought them too but after cutting off the first bit for dinner or whatever....the rest would be hard as a rock the next day. I always thought that they came in a paper bag....so they must stay in that bag. WRONG....DUH! She put the remainer in a ziplock bag and it was just as fresh for the next couple of meals as it was for the first one. I can't believe that I was so stupid and tossed so much bread away. I also just cook for two but now instead of leaving the leftovers in the fridge to basically go bad.....I freeze them right away into individual meals. It's working much better for me now. We also have a new Farmers Market in our town on Sundays and I'm getting fresh veggies much cheaper than I do at the grocery store. We've been eating pretty good here and my food waste is much less than it was.

Singles and couples face different challenges on food waste than does a family of say 4-6. If you're constantly having (unplanned) leftovers, you're making too much. Solution? Make less. If someone is still "starving", that's the time for some cereal or extra veggies, a sandwich or something. They won't starve.

Sounds to me like the family just plain doesn't like the cooking. Working late and eating on the way home? (Red flag #1) Eating at friends? (Red flag #2) When they are there, they turn up their noses and eat cereal? (Red flag sized like Perkins' waving in the wind.) Uh, I could take a hint! When we were having meals we really liked it didn't matter if it got late, we looked forward to eating when we'd get home. Call and let Ma know we were going to be late and there'd be a meal when we got home.

Find out what's wrong and modify the recipes, cook something else or have someone else cook would be my first step.

Then for the leftovers you do have, I'd try to aim for things that can be reincarnated. For example, meatloaf, sausage, steak, pork chops, hamburgers, etc are all excellent makings for soup, stew, hotdish or chili. Potatoes, veggies and meats make a fine hash. Meats & veggies with rice make a good stir-fry.

For things like spaghetti, don't mix the pasta with the noodles. The sauce can be frozen for another meal or be used with a different pasta or put in soup, stew, chili, meatloaf, meatball sauce, etc.

One night could be a "chef's salad" night. Empty out what you have in the frig into a salad.

Meal planning can be helpful to some, but won't be a help if you cook too much each time.

cynic,

I know people without families like this don't understand but it's really not my cooking ability. I've in fact won contests and cook very well. That may very well be the problem. My husband, for example doesn't like meatloaf, won't eat soup, stew or salads (all which I love to make and eat) anywhere (not just my versions). He generally doesn't like spices especially fresh stuff. He doesn't eat any vegetables (other than plain potatoes and corn) and only eats a few fruits.

He mainly gets by on meat and bread and c&ap (sweets). He likes his filet mignon butterflied and cooked extremely well done until it looks like shoe leather...at a friend's house he turned up his nose at homemade whipped topping for strawberries because it wasn't cool whip. He prefers boxed food to anything homemade. It's kind of sad but it's hard to deal with when you like to cook.

Your ideas are great but he won't eat the leftovers turned into anything because he just doesn't eat those type of foods. My oldest has eating habits similar to his. I'm not sure if he is a bad example or if it's genetic... but both would rather eat nothing than food they don't really like. They are both slim and don't really care for food in general. They don't care if they miss a meal. My oldest doesn't even like soda.

I have come to the conclusion that hot dogs, frozen pizza and boxed mac and cheese are the foods that go over well but I don't want to cook that way for my family. I don't think it's healthy and I don't think it's cooking. By the way, my husband has never stopped off for food on the way home from work... he has dinner type meetings or he gets home late after we've all eaten so he can't eat with us. He's not avoiding "my" food. And my kids aren't going to people's houses to avoid my cooking. They are going there to play or spend the night and just aren't home for every meal. My oldest general won't eat much at other people's houses either. Many have mentioned it and usually have to resort to feeding him frozen stuff (pizza rolls, etc) or cereal, or he just doesn't eat.

I really feel for you Carla. My daughter was a picky eater and still is. So's her DH and our GS. It's hard to find something to cook that they'll all eat when they come. She usually brings a Lean Cuisine frozen mac and cheese for GS, in case I fix something dreadful :-)

Harry's daughter and family are the same way and they are coming for a week. She doesn't eat anything with gluten (flour), dairy or sugar. DGD1 doesn't eat gluten or dairy and doesn't like seafood. SIL doesn't eat garlic and DGD2 doesn't eat anything.

So I know where you're coming from. I'm making mostly meat and vegetables with fruit if they want it. I have so many wonderful recipes--a lot of them from here--that I can't fix and it's a bummer. I've decided that they either eat it or eat out someplace. I didn't realize what a problem you had. You have my pity.

Harry, on the other hand, eats everything. I'm amazed at how so many of you disguise your leftovers. I just warm ours up and call it good.

I wish your DH could change his eating habits. It doesn't sound healthy at all, especially for a middle-aged man.

Most of my leftovers are planned. I'm not crazy about cooking so if I have to, I want to get at least 2 meals out of my efforts. Two money saving hints i use is, when we buy what I call 'good' bread, when I get down to the last few slices and the heels, I let them dry then use my little chopper to make bread crumbs. Another is, I buy boxes of chicken stock instead of broth. Most recipes I use calls for 1 -2 cups, then I freeze the rest in an ice cube tray and freeze it. Then when I need some, I just take what I need...3 cubes= abt 1/4 cup.