Every Friday I link up with The Frugal Girl for Food Waste Friday. I’ve been environmentally conscious about food waste since I was in college and this is a great way for me to keep tabs on what we waste in our house.

Go big or go home, right?  Well, I went big this week and cleaned out my fridge.  I wasted a ton.  I try so hard to waste as little as possible, but it still happens.  Things get forgotten and pushed to the back.  Or I’ll buy an ingredient for one recipe and can’t find a way to use the rest.  I’m not proud of my waste this week.  However, it happened.

1.

trash after cleaning out the fridge

You can see a few things from the picture.  Here is the complete list:  a block of cheddar cheese, half a can of blue icing, half a container of cheese dip, a quarter full container of buttermilk and a Tupperware of frozen soup that didn’t thaw right.  The noodles in the soup did not freeze well.  Normally I would have cleaned out the Tupperware, but my gag reflexes told me that was a bad idea.  How is it that I can change poopy diapers but old food makes me want to throw up?  These are all things I’d been holding onto for the perfect recipe until I realized that they had all gone bad.

2.

clean fridge

This was the perfect opportunity to clean out my fridge!  I actually took everything out and cleaned each shelve with vinegar.  It feels so clean now!  I wonder how long it will stay that way.  Probably not too long.  Side note:  I don’t buy bottled water because I think it is a waste of money and plastic.  Someone gave us that water which is why it is in our fridge.  I’m not going to lie, I’m enjoying the convenience of perfectly chilled water!

I didn’t get around to cleaning the fridge shelves.  This is what they still look like:

I’m willing to bet that some of those condiments have gone bad too.  I need to set aside some time in the future to go through those and toss the ones with old expiration dates.  Am I the only one that has a thing for Asian sauces?  Can you see my sriracha, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and yum yum sauces?  I think I need to explore some new flavors in my cooking after looking at this picture.

3.

zombie apple

Has anyone else seen the news about apples being sold for up to a year after they are picked?   The article really freaked me out because I usually split an apple with Robert every afternoon.  I found an apple that had gotten lost in the back of the fridge while I was cleaning it and decided to eat it anyway.  I figured I didn’t have much to lose since the article said apples could stay good for up to a year anyway.  Turns out I was wrong.  My zombie apple felt nice on the outside and was gross and brown on the inside.  I think it was rotting from the inside out.  I threw it away after a couple bites when I realized it was not a normal color.  It tasted fine though, which scares me even more.

How did you do this week? Please share!