Waste Not, Want Not

So, in trying to get back to the Frugality/ Savings theme; I had thought I was finished with food subject but then it occurred to me; I had never gone over frugality of food itself and avoiding waste, which can be a huge cost to a lot of people.  I hope I'm not repeating myself on this one too much but if I am just overlook me.  I did a little research and the results were kinda sickening.  In the US, food is second only to paper products in the amounts of thrown away.  They estimate that for EVERY American there is 400 pounds of food discarded every year.  They also estimate that each family in America wastes between $500-2,000 each year by throwing food away.  This is generally food that was bought but allowed to rot or expire before being used or food that was prepared but thrown out because no one wanted to eat leftovers.  Now, this is a BIG pet peeve of mine; especially when it is an animal product that is being thrown away.  It's bad enough the way most factory farmed animals are raised but then to have their abused bodies just thrown in the trash because somebody didn't want a leftover hamburger......well, let's just say it gets to me a little.  But even if that aspect of it doesn't concern you, the way food prices are skyrocketing, any waste, for any reason, is cause for concern.
Let me relate a little anecdote to illustrate my point.  Allen and I have both worked in other people's houses for years doing repair or remodeling work, both together and on our own.  We have worked for the super rich and the desperately poor.  Now, in the poor's case it was the landlords paying for the repairs etc., as you might expect.  In all of our experiences we always noticed one thing.  If you were in a poor person's house you would almost always find loose change laying around the house; on the floor, on tables, behind appliances, wherever.  I never recall seeing money laying around a wealthy person's house.  And no, I'm not blaming these poor people's total circumstances on a few dimes here and there but there is a significant point to be made.  If you think a little waste here and a little waste there don't matter, you're wrong.  Little bits add up fast and to a greater extent than we might realize.  When you have to throw food away, not only have you wasted your initial investment but you often have to buy a replacement.  And then there is just buying unnecessary things.
I cringe to think I used to buy chicken broth.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that.  It is SO freaking easy to make chicken broth.  I bake a whole chicken and we eat on that for 2-3 days.  If we get tired of baked chicken I make chicken salad or chicken enchiladas or whatever.  As we eat I save the bones by putting them in a baggy in the fridge.  If it's going to take a while to collect enough or I already have broth made I store the baggy in the freezer and just add to it.  Then when I need broth just pull the bones out and presto!! fresh broth!  Then, in the winter, those used bones get thrown in the wood-burning stove and their ashes get put on the garden.  I try to use every part of any animal that comes into this house.  Fat, broth, scraps go into dog food if we don't eat it.
If we have a glut of some veggie or fruit I freeze, dry or can it if we can't eat it all then.  .  I generally cook so that we don't have tons of leftovers ,but if they are refrigerated promptly, leftovers can last up to a week with no problem.  If you cook just a plain roast or whole chicken one night you can spice it up into something else the next night.  You don't have to eat it the same way every time.  I generally eat most leftovers for lunch the next day anyway and that's a great way to use them if you take your lunch to work.  Or even if you don't!
I think another horrible waste area is where people freeze stuff and it stays in there for years.  If it's ever cleaned out it's thrown away.  I try to rotate my freezer stuff regularly, keeping the oldest stuff up front where I can see it.  It's not terribly hard to do.  For example, I stack all my veggies separated by type.  Like all corn in this stack and all beans over here etc.  Dating the packages is essential as you would guess, and then just pull the older bag off the bottom or put the new on the bottom when you put it up.  I keep all my meats separated too; that way you can easily tell how much of what you have and plan accordingly.  It's easy to work out a system that works for you.  I know I look at things differently and my methods may not make sense to some.  The main thing is just date everything and keep it halfway organized.
Another area some may not think about is recipes.  What I mean is, if you don't have a certain item that is not essential, just substitute what you do have rather than go buy the other.  For instance, I found a fabulous recipe for an apricot cobbler.  Well, I didn't have apricots but had tons of peaches and it was great.  Now, that was a no-brainer but you can get really creative with substitutions.  I mean, I've even read about people substituting large mushrooms for hamburger patties.  Why not?!
I also don't pay a tremendous amount of attention to expiration dates.  Now, I have found, by doing a little reading, that soured milk makes GREAT pancakes or other breads.  One word of caution on that though; I only use organic, non-homogenized and barely pasteurized milk.  I would never try that with the ultra-sterilized, homogenized fake milk crap.  And I mean, soured milk not spoiled rotten, chunky milk.  That gets poured on the garden on the rare occasion I have any.  It usually never gets to that point though!

So, I think that is really about it on the food topic.  I will try to be back soon with another subject for ya'll!!