The benefits of Food Waste Friday

Happy Friday!  Today is special for two reasons:  it’s my husband’s 31st birthday, and Orange is the New Black is released on Netflix!  Woo hoo!

Every Friday I link up with The Frugal Girl and/ or Simply Being Mum 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.

Usually  I do a recap of what I wasted and what I was able to salvage.  I call them food losses or successes.  Somehow, I have no clue how, we have no losses or successes this week.  I guess you could call that a success, right?  I take it back, I did have one success.  I cooked a real dinner (as opposed to something frozen or harder to cook than a hotdog) for the first time in months.  I was even able to use some spinach and artichoke dip that would have gone bad.  But I didn’t take a picture.  Life is just too hard with an infant to manage food pictures these days!

I think the reason that I’ve done so well with food waste during these busy weeks with a newborn is because I started the food waste awareness habit years ago.  I assumed that it would be difficult to keep tabs on all the food in our house while I was attending to a toddler and a newborn.  While it hasn’t been easy, it certainly hasn’t been as hard as I thought.  I can only attribute this to the good habits I’ve acquired since becoming aware of my food waste.  There are so many benefits to food waste awareness.  Here are four of my favorite benefits of Food Waste Friday.

1.  It quickly becomes a habit.  If you do it right each week and truly document your food waste, you’ll pick up the good habits in no time.

2.  It saves money.  I no longer buy food just because I want it, I buy it because I have a plan for it.  If I can’t incorporate a food item into a meal or snack for the week, I don’t buy it.  This has saved me tons of money.

3.  My fridge is organized.  Before starting Food Waste Friday I had no idea what was in the depths of my fridge.  Food would get lost in the back and I’d only find it because I’d sense a foul odor.

4.  Cooking is simple.  Have you ever been overwhelmed by too many options?  With less food in the house, I get less overwhelmed.  I also have more staple dishes that I can whip up easily (when the stars align and the kids don’t need me).

I’m sure I could go on and on!  But alas, I am sleep deprived and behind on all household chores.  No more time for blogging today.  Please add more benefits in the comments!

How did you do this week?