Senior Guide for Saving Food

Using ideas from this senior guide for saving food has become a regular part of my life since my kids moved up and out. When my family revolved around 5 mouths and not 2 there seldom was a problem of food going to waste. Not only did my kids eat almost anything but they also traveled with friends who also had never met a snack they didn't like or wouldn't try. The result in those days was that the food issue was always about filling the refrigerator not emptying it. How things change when your family is reduced to just you or you and your spouse.

If you are in that position and still have a healthy abhorrence of throwing food away. You might want to pick up on a few of these suggestions. Nothing wild, mostly common sense, this senior guide for saving food can help to reduce both your food bill and your feeling of remorse as you throw yet another dish of leftovers in the disposal or the refuse container.

Begin with some serious planning. Too often as we get older we like the idea of visiting the store almost everyday. Some seniors think of it as their exercise. For me and maybe for you too, these frequent trips to the grocery store can be both costly and also add to the pile up of unneeded and eventually unwanted or unusable food items that have to be discarded. If at all possible it may be a wiser move to plan to shop once or at the most twice a week - once for the major purchases of the week and then about half way through the week for replacements items like milk and bread. Knowing that you are only going to the store once or twice each week will help you to discipline your purchases to what you will actually use and direct you to the second step in this senior guide for saving food - planning your meals.

When you had kids in the house planning was necessary. There were too many mouths to feed to take a chance that everything would simply work out . When you are living in a household of just one or two, such concerns seem to vanish and sometimes with those concerns we also throw out the need to plan sensibly. Begin by sitting down once a week to go through the circulars, review what you have prepared recently to avoid boring repetitions and consider your budget allowance for food . Then take pen in hand and actually write down first what you want to eat at each meal and then the purchases needed to bring that plan to fulfillment. Include snacks and desserts in this planning as well. Leave as little to chance as possible by writing down everything.

When you actually get to the store don't just stick to the list but also buy in sizes that meet your needs. Cutting back from the sizes you used when you had a full house is an important first step. The old lore about the way Indians hunted is instructive. They only killed game to survive and they used every part of what they killed in some way. No one is suggesting a buffalo hunt here, just a little Native American common sense. Buy what is suitable to your household as it is now, not as it was. Make sure that our meal plan and your purchases are a match .

The huge gallon of ice cream may look great but don't buy it if you know you will be throwing a third of it away because you'll have it so long it will get freezer burns. Don't be tempted to buy large quantities of perishable items just because they are on sale. It's not a good value if you really can only eat about half of what you purchased before the goods go bad. You'll end up feeling foolish and upset because of the new waste you have just created.

No matter how carefully you shop you honestly can't account for every turn of events in your weekly eating schedule. You can miss a meal here or there because you went out with friends. Or maybe your appetite or taste for something you prepared reduced your consumption and as a result leftovers make their way into your fridge. To address the possibility of leftovers I have worked a "leftovers feast" into my weekly menu. Towards the end of the shopping week I gather up everything, and i mean everything that is left in my fridge and see how many compatible items I can arrange into a mini buffet for lunch or dinner. Sure it might be more fun to just go out to dinner and just throw out all that stuff, but then you would be out the amount of the meal check and if you are at all like me would feel tremendous guilt at the utter waste of food.

For items that don't fit conveniently into the mega leftovers meal, I usually pursue one of three options. The easiest is to add as many items as possible into a soup or casserole. Second I make use of my freezer knowing that what I don't want at the moment may look wonderful two or three weeks from now. Finally I keep in mind relatives and neighbors who could really benefit from the leftover lasagna, chicken or rolls that otherwise would go to waste. A neighboring senior, a young family with a baby, a recovering relative are all likely candidates to be on the receiving end of my leftovers. Rule of thumb of course: never deliver something to anyone else's table that you would not want on your own. Sharing food because you can't possibly conceive of eating any more of that meal yourself is different than handing out tasteless or poorly cooked food.

I have to believe that there are lots of seniors out there like me who really are squeamish about throwing out food. Hopefully this senior guide for saving food will help you to make the best possible use of the food you buy. There is a great movement in this country today to "Go Green" . Central to the movement is the idea that we have a responsibility to the rest of the world's inhabitants now and in the future to make the best possible use of all our resources, this includes food. Following this senior guide for saving food will allow you to take a serious step towards fulfilling your responsibility.