Grocery prices have a way of making people look at their refrigerators differently. The creator behind @thepnppathway says she has gotten very good at stretching a food budget, and she shared five of her favorite habits for keeping groceries from going to waste. By her account, she spends about $40 to $50 a week on food for herself and her husband, who both work full time and cook every meal and snack at home.
@thepnppathway
Her caption calls the post a big sister lesson, and she describes herself as a self proclaimed pro at limiting food waste while stretching the grocery bill very thin. She opens with a gentle scolding, saying that some people have not been taught how to maximize their groceries and that, in this economy, they should listen. The figures are her own claims and we cannot confirm them, but the ideas themselves are sensible and worth trying.
Hack One, Turn Tired Tomatoes Into Sauce
When tomatoes start to go soft, she says, do not throw them out. Cook them on low heat in a saucepan for about 30 minutes with onions, olive oil, garlic or whatever else you have on hand, and let them simmer down into homemade tomato sauce. Overripe tomatoes are actually well suited to this, since their sugars have developed and they break down quickly.
A few tips can help. Remove any moldy spots completely or skip any tomato that has gone beyond soft. Season gradually, tasting as you go. A small pinch of sugar or a splash of vinegar can balance a sauce that tastes flat. Cooled sauce keeps in the fridge for a few days and freezes well in flat bags or small containers.
Hack Two, Chop The Tired Vegetables
For vegetables nearing the end of their life, she suggests chopping them all up and sauteing them with soy sauce for a quick stir fry. She names zucchini, onions and mushrooms, though she says almost anything will work.
The trick to a good stir fry from leftovers is cutting everything to a similar size so it cooks evenly. Start with the firmest vegetables, add softer ones later, and use a hot pan so the vegetables brown instead of steaming. Serve over rice or noodles, and a few odds and ends become a full dinner.
Hack Three, Save The Fruit
Fruit that is going bad has two paths in her kitchen. Most often, she says, she freezes it in a dated freezer bag to use in smoothies. The other option is to simmer the fruit for 20 to 30 minutes into homemade jam, and she lists strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and apple as examples.
Putting a date on the bag helps you use the oldest fruit first. If you freeze berries, spread them on a tray first so they do not freeze into one block. A small batch of jam needs very little equipment, though the leftovers should be kept in the fridge and eaten within a couple of weeks unless you follow a tested canning method.
Hack Four, Keep A Scrap Bag
Her fourth idea is a freezer bag for scraps. Celery stalks, carrot scraps and onion husks go in as they come up. When she wants soup or broth, she puts the bag in a crock pot or pressure cooker with water and spices, and she has homemade broth.
This habit costs nothing and builds flavor over time. Mushroom stems, herb stems, parsley and leek tops are also good candidates. Avoid strongly bitter scraps, and be sparing with cabbage family vegetables, which can overpower a pot. Strain the broth when it is done, cool it quickly and store it in the fridge or freezer.
Hack Five, The Number One Hack Of All Time
Her final tip is composting, which she calls the “number one hack of all time.” She says they have composted for years, built their own bin from scrap wood in the yard, and keep an $18 compost bin on the counter. She says it is good for the soil.
Composting will not fill your plate, but it closes the loop on whatever cannot be eaten. Peels, coffee grounds and eggshells can all go in. Keep meat, dairy and oily foods out of a home bin because they attract pests. A mix of green material, like food scraps, and brown material, like dry leaves or shredded paper, helps the pile break down without smelling.
What Others Add To The Conversation
Other people who responded to the post shared their own habits. One person chops vegetables that are nearing the end and freezes them for soup. Another bakes onion skins until crunchy and grinds them into onion powder, and does the same with garlic skins. A few said they buy only what they plan to cook, and one said their bread goes into the freezer almost immediately. Those are all easy changes, and they build on the same idea, which is that wasting less is often the easiest way to spend less.
Bringing It Home
If you would like to try her approach, start small.
Take a look at what is in the fridge once a week and plan one meal around whatever needs to be used first.
Keep two freezer bags going, one for scraps and one for fruit, and label them with the date.
Buy produce in amounts you can realistically use, and learn which items spoil fastest in your home.
Make a habit of cooking at home. The creator says she and her husband cook every meal and snack themselves, and that choice does much of the work in keeping the bill low.
Most of all, remember that none of these hacks are complicated. They are the kind of everyday habits that earlier generations used as a matter of course, and they still work. In her closing words, the creator says that stretching your groceries is the key to keeping the grocery bill moderate. Whether or not your own total lands at $40 to $50 a week, using what you have is always a good place to start.
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