Food waste is a huge problem. I read somewhere that 43% of the food waste comes from households. I have been more alert to what I am throwing away this year and, though I don’t throw away huge amounts of food, I do, in fact, dispose of some improperly.
To be honest, I am not sure if it is possible to not have any amount of food waste. Especially where I don’t compost. I rent a room in a house and am not even sure I would be allowed to grow a couple of tomato plants. Though I do plan to have a conversation with my landlord about growing a few things, I am sure a compost heap would be out of the question.
But I do want to be less wasteful. Not only for Mother Earth, but also as a means of saving money on groceries. My first step this year was to make it a habit to be sure that all the meal and prep leftovers get into the freezer if not eaten up within a few days. Now I am considering other ways to save food. For instance, I think celery and its leaves that don’t get eaten in time might be better dried into a powder. They might keep better that way. Frozen they will usually only last a few days longer. Sure, I could try liquifying them and freezing but, to be honest, I have a tiny freezer on top of my dorm size fridge. There is really not a lot of space in there. I have more shelf space.
There are other things I could be drying as well. Things I might not always get to in time. Berries, apples, bananas, and leafy greens, for instance. There isn’t always room in the freezer when I need to preserve some. Drying them would be helpful.
I could also be making fruit leathers, and I have this desire to experiment with fruit and vegetable combos with protein, fiber, and collagen. I also like kale chips crumbled over some of my meals, and I bet I could do that with other things as well. Drying kale was easy. I spend money on powders to make my smoothies healthy powerhouses. I could save quite a bit on things like beet root powder.
I have a toaster oven, not a full size one, so I am limited on the number of things I can do at once. Small batch drying would be perfect for me. If I am just drying my leftovers and a few other things, I should be fine.
Do you have any experience with this? If so, do you find that you are spending less on food? I’d love your tips. If you know of any websites with tried-and-true information on this that you have tried, could you please share links in the comments? Thanks!
~ Shannon
