How does everyone deal with this dilemma?
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Yeah ...
Strategies against this include cooking for several people (well, that ain't happening), doing meal prep several days in advance / cooking larger portions that you can eat over a couple of days, and buying frozen ingredients (still better than buying entire frozen meals). Some non-frozen ingredients keep for a long time, too, e.g. dried rice or noodles, onions, pickled vegetables.
Something that worked for me is always shopping for a specific meal. Instead of buying ground beef because I might want burgers or tacos or chili, I instead buy everything for a chili. It’s lead to less “oh I forgot I had this beef in here” and more “I better use this nice, fresh beef to make chili because otherwise I’ll go hungry.
It’s not a perfect system, and seems really obvious in hindsight, but has been a paradigm shift for me.
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Consider cooking it, then you have something to eat.
I love cooking, just can't ever get motivated to do it
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I only buy packages, containers, or cartons that will sit within my nutritional budget to eat all of in a single sitting. One, maybe two of those = one meal. Especially those wonderful single-course entrees I can buy at ALDI for like six bucks a pop. That's actually a day's worth of food. Especially because I tend to eat one meal a day (when i am behaving).
Costco rotisserie chickens rock my fucking world too. Those things can be more than one meal!
I will also buy packages of "salad mix"--mixed greens with a few other veggies in it,
and then I'll add a nice dash of salt, and either a splash of apple cider vinegar or a liberal dusting of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then shake it all up and just GO TO TOWN on the whole container.The only perishables I buy are things of this sort that I will most certainly eat RIGHT AWAY.
Everything else is either
a: canned goods where i'll use the whole can at once adding to one of the above items
or,
b: non-perishable usually dry goods with which i can augment other things with pinches and dashes at a time (there are some things like vinegar or certain hot sauces that age and develop more flavor over time). -
I only buy packages, containers, or cartons that will sit within my nutritional budget to eat all of in a single sitting. One, maybe two of those = one meal. Especially those wonderful single-course entrees I can buy at ALDI for like six bucks a pop. That's actually a day's worth of food. Especially because I tend to eat one meal a day (when i am behaving).
Costco rotisserie chickens rock my fucking world too. Those things can be more than one meal!
I will also buy packages of "salad mix"--mixed greens with a few other veggies in it,
and then I'll add a nice dash of salt, and either a splash of apple cider vinegar or a liberal dusting of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then shake it all up and just GO TO TOWN on the whole container.The only perishables I buy are things of this sort that I will most certainly eat RIGHT AWAY.
Everything else is either
a: canned goods where i'll use the whole can at once adding to one of the above items
or,
b: non-perishable usually dry goods with which i can augment other things with pinches and dashes at a time (there are some things like vinegar or certain hot sauces that age and develop more flavor over time).I tend to eat one meal a day
Now you're speaking my language. 1 meal a day + snacks so I don't starve to death
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I solved this by planning out all my dinners for the week and then buying only what I needed for those plus topping up any thing I need for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Any perishables get used because i mostly only have what I've planned for that week. I can recommend Recipe Tin Eats as a good resource for easy to cook meals.
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I love cooking, just can't ever get motivated to do it
If your problem is you buy ingredients but can't be arsed to turn them into food? Resist those beautiful fresh veggies and go get the frozen bag of the same thing. Not only will it keep until you really want to cook, it's already washed and cut, and it has all the same vitamins. Since you're already saving money, splurge on the better brand.
Also, go ahead and get some prepared food for no-cook days that are still cheaper than delivery. If you're inspired to cook that very day by a particular ingredient, make it a simple way, because shopping and stowing is also a whole chore.
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I love cooking, just can't ever get motivated to do it
Then stop buying it.
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I only buy packages, containers, or cartons that will sit within my nutritional budget to eat all of in a single sitting. One, maybe two of those = one meal. Especially those wonderful single-course entrees I can buy at ALDI for like six bucks a pop. That's actually a day's worth of food. Especially because I tend to eat one meal a day (when i am behaving).
Costco rotisserie chickens rock my fucking world too. Those things can be more than one meal!
I will also buy packages of "salad mix"--mixed greens with a few other veggies in it,
and then I'll add a nice dash of salt, and either a splash of apple cider vinegar or a liberal dusting of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then shake it all up and just GO TO TOWN on the whole container.The only perishables I buy are things of this sort that I will most certainly eat RIGHT AWAY.
Everything else is either
a: canned goods where i'll use the whole can at once adding to one of the above items
or,
b: non-perishable usually dry goods with which i can augment other things with pinches and dashes at a time (there are some things like vinegar or certain hot sauces that age and develop more flavor over time).Costco rotisserie chickens rock my fucking world too. Those things can be more than one meal!
CAN be? That chicken is larger than a human baby.
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I tend to eat one meal a day
Now you're speaking my language. 1 meal a day + snacks so I don't starve to death
If you're doing 1-a-day, a rice cooker can be a great simplifier. Throw a measure of rice & your protein into the cooker, some rough chopped veg if you like. 2 minutes prep. While it cooks, make some kind of a sauce - yogurt or mayo make great bases, just add whatever spices you like; gochujang or miso thinned out with some soy sauce, citrus, or vinegar. When the rice & protein is done, pour on the sauce, add some pickled veg if you like. 800-1000 calories, depending on how much fat is in your sauce, one cooking pot, one eating bowl. 20 minutes start to finish.
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Then stop buying it.
But then they have nothing to eat.
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I solved this by planning out all my dinners for the week and then buying only what I needed for those plus topping up any thing I need for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Any perishables get used because i mostly only have what I've planned for that week. I can recommend Recipe Tin Eats as a good resource for easy to cook meals.
yeah i don't go as hard as this but this is essentially my method too
buy food by the meal, then make those meals
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yeah i don't go as hard as this but this is essentially my method too
buy food by the meal, then make those meals
When I find recipes I like I make an ingredients list so I can easily add it to my shopping list when I want to make it again. My lists are setup so I can just copy the whole meal with ingredients over to the day I want to cook it then copy the ingredients list straight from there and work it into my shopping list. I include all the herbs, spices, oils etc so I can check whether I have enough of everything while I'm refining the list.
I used to just wing it in the shops and during the week but I found it hard to make new things and ended up wasting so much food. This takes a bit more time planning but everything is fresh/defrosted when I need it, theres no stress with working out what I'm making each day, and I waste significantly less.
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When I find recipes I like I make an ingredients list so I can easily add it to my shopping list when I want to make it again. My lists are setup so I can just copy the whole meal with ingredients over to the day I want to cook it then copy the ingredients list straight from there and work it into my shopping list. I include all the herbs, spices, oils etc so I can check whether I have enough of everything while I'm refining the list.
I used to just wing it in the shops and during the week but I found it hard to make new things and ended up wasting so much food. This takes a bit more time planning but everything is fresh/defrosted when I need it, theres no stress with working out what I'm making each day, and I waste significantly less.
yes shopping list is necessity, people are not capable of hide-and-seeking a 20+ item list without at least pen and paper
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I got a chest freezer for $200. I freeze everything before or on its expiration date.
Sometimes if its mushy veggies I make a stock and freeze it for the next meal.
If its too far gone i have a compost jar in the kitchen and a bin outside.I started a garden and an edible native hedge this year. I have tea herbs and squash for free now and working on a seed propagation.
I started a coop mushroom grow with my neighbors since he felled some hardwood and I had the plan. The leftover mushrooms we dont eat will be either sold at market or made into liquid cultures.
Were talking about going in on a local half cow or pig. He says if my garden keeps growing we can buy the plot behind us together and start a farm. Would cut grocery costs a lot.
My wife and I have pantry weeks where we dont go grocery shopping, we eat whats in reserve, soak dry beans, thaw last weeks on sale chicken breast and pressure Cook em, make a flatbread and have some curry.
Instant pot helps too. Thinking about getting coturnix quail to feed good scraps to and get eggs out of. I can plant cover crops for em on the last strip of lawn I have.
It doesn't have to be wasteful forever.
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But then they have nothing to eat.
They're not eating it either way.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
A freezer and a pantry full of canned and dried foods.
Only buy fresh meats and veggies when you are actually gonna cook.
Freeze leftovers in single portion sizes.
Eventually you’ll have a bunch of homemade frozen dinners to choose from.
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I cook the food
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I cook the food
Then eat the food
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Then eat the food
Then poop the shit
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I plan on escaping the cycle by ceasing existence tbh
