Love Food Friday Tip #8: Donate!

Love Food Friday!

Love Food Friday Food Waste Elimination Tip #8:

DONATE!

Chef Chris Giegel

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we wind up with an excess of food—canned goods, perishables, meal leftovers. The best way to minimize waste is to SHARE!

• If you made too much for dinner and no one in your family wants to eat it anymore, bring it to work and share with co-workers. They often enjoy something new, especially if they don’t have to cook it themselves.
• If you find yourself with an excess of perishable and canned goods there are always food banks, homeless shelters, and other organizations that would be more than happy to take your excess and use it for a good cause. A simple internet search will help you find resources in your area. It’s always a great feeling to know that you’ve avoiding wasting food and used it to benefit someone in need.

*Anne’s note: My crew of guys at the feed yard LOVE it when I bring leftover food and baked goods to work with me.  It’s a great way to both reduce food waste and make someone’s day just a little bit brighter 🙂

Grilled Steak and Vegetable Salad!

This grilled steak and vegetable salad is a great way to use up leftover steak and vegetables for a tasty and healthy meal!

Love Food Friday #1: Get Organized and PLAN!

Love Food Friday

Food Waste Elimination Tip #1: Get organized and PLAN!

Chef Christopher Gigiel

One thing that sets professional chefs apart, as a group, is that we are planners. We don’t like flying by the seat of our pants. We have a plan, and a backup plan, and a backup plan for our back up plan.

When we’re talking about food, this means we plan a menu and shop for that menu. Most commercial food establishments operate on a very slim profit margin and food waste can make the different between profitability and loss. Therefore, food waste is often at the forefront of my mind.

I plan my menu and shop for what I need for that menu, and go to the store with a list. I do the same thing in my personal life – I’m much less likely to impulse buy or purchase things because they’re on sale if I have a list and stick to it. This also means that I’m not purchasing excess without a solid plan of what I’m going to do with it and what I buy is much less likely to go to waste.

I know in our busy lives it’s difficult to carve out the time to plan, and often the decision of what we’re eating for dinner is only made several hours before it needs to be on the table, but I promise you if you’ll start the habit you’ll waste a lot less, and save some money too.

Love Food Friday Recipe Share #1 : Asian Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Click here for the recipe!

Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner 🙂