Food Waste Friday and Groceries

Every Friday we are going to join the “Food Waste Friday” Blogger’s and post what food is inedible.  I feel frustrated when food goes bad.  We work really hard to pay for food; we have a combustion engine transportation system that gets it to our stores, and wonderful grocers who work hard on supplying the food.  It takes a lot of energy to get food from the ground to our plates, and it bothers me that at the last link on the chain of command that I have failed to get it to our family. 

The Frugal Girl invites us to share our waste, so we will be motivated not to waste it.  Please share your gripes, so that you will be motivated to eat those leftovers, cook appropriate sized meals, and not let those veggies get ignored in the bottom drawer.

            Here is the last two weeks of food waste, we had an extremely busy week the week before last and had the grandparent’s baby-sit for us during Hannah’s winter holiday.  When Grandma comes to visit she brings along lots of treats for Hannah and Jillian, and made us dinner all week!  Adam was in heaven, his mom asked him what he wanted each night before she left and brought it the next day.  We were so thankful for the help, but did have all the accompanying garbage from convenience food and lots of leftovers.  It was a much needed trade off.

Hannah gets a hot lunch once in awhile at school, and one day she decided not to eat it.  They come in either recyclable or compostable containers...the popcorn bag was courtesy of my mom when she babysat one night

fuzzy muffins

I always forget to put the eggs shells in the composter.  Hannah

                                                                                                           

Fruit brought over by Grandma that got forgotten about in the bottom drawer.

An avocado I had big plans for...I had never bought one before and didn't realize how quickly they go bad

As for groceries, we finally found La Trappe De Fromage store near Hannah’s gymnastic centre.  It is so much cheaper to purchase cheese right from the source rather than the grocery store, plus we found a butcher across the street.  I had to warn Adam that his favorite cheese needs to last at least 3 weeks...lets see if he can curb his snack addiction.   It seems like we are buying groceries everyday from different sources to reduce our garbage.  The main problem we have right now is although Bulk Barn does not have garbage plastic bags and are recyclable, I still feel guilty.  I know that there are bulk stores that have compostable bags, but they don’t have enough selection.  My favorite bulk store is a place called La Foret in Wakefield, where we pick up our laundry soap, dish detergent, tea, olive oil and maple syrup.  We can use our own containers, mesh bags or their compostable ones.  Bulk Barn won’t allow you to use anything but their bags.  There is also a bakery that has pizza sticks and they are delicious! (Hannah) 

the most expensive item is the powdered milk, a staple out here
without a convenience store for miles.

We have to be really careful right now with our budget so I am going to have to get Adam to do even more stopping at grocery stores in the city for fruit.  It is getting a little out of hand but don't want to discourage the children from choosing an expensive apple vs a couple of cheap cookies.  I found out this week that we have a budget for food the same amount that people can get for food stamps based on an article Katy at the Non Consumer Advocate passed on.  I wish that I was more organized with a list and weekly menu when I head into a store to stay on budget..but I am just happy to sometimes find the motivation to go into a store!