A friend and I were talking about food waste recently and yogurt came up. They mentioned throwing some away because the best before date had passed by a couple of days which got me thinking about how people understand these labels. I know food safety is important and nobody wants to take unnecessary risks. At the same time, best before dates are generally about quality rather than safety, so some foods may still be fine to eat past that date if they've been stored properly.

I wonder how often food gets tossed simply because people aren't sure what the dates mean. Have you noticed this happening at home or with people you know? It seems like a small thing to understand that could make a difference in how much food we waste.

I accidentally bought these instead of the regular chocolate ones and i have no idea what to do with them.

I don't rly like how it tastes, very artificial so any recipes that mellow the flavour out maybe?

Open to any and all ideas thanks!

This was all gonna be tossed so now I have a lot of fresh produce and am not sure what to do with it.

I plan on juicing the clementines, maybe making syrup out of the limes, but there's POUNDS of tomatoes and maybe about 4 pounds of kiwi. I've already frozen a lot of tomatoes which is usually what I do with excess tomatoes but dang this is a bit too many to freeze.

I have tried the usual tips for a few months, and some have stuck, but others slowly faded once the initial motivation wore off. Meal planning works when I stay on track, but some weeks everything falls apart by Wednesday, and the produce I bought for Thursday’s dinner ends up in the compost by Sunday. I always have good intentions, but sticking to the plan is the hard part. I am looking for changes people have made to reduce food waste at home that actually lasted beyond the first month, especially habits that still work when life gets busy and plans change unexpectedly.

Had to share! I had an entire heart of wilted celery. Cut the base off and put the stalks in water, and it regenerated! I then used it as part of the base to braise a roast. After that, I pureed it, along with the carrots and onions, used some in the gravy and froze the rest for upcoming sauces and soups.

I am exceptionally proud of this one because I normally end up throwing the whole thing away, and this time I vowed to figure out how to save it!

I have four slices (4 ish ounces) of leftover bologna that must be used but the kid is absolutely over bologna sandwiches, even fried. I have limited cooking skills and even less imagination. (I just know my limits.)

Can you suggest a recipe that can disguise these slices? Maybe a casserole?

Thank you!

Hi all. I got a bunch of mango from the food bank, they gave me 3 full containers of them because apparently nobody took them. So I cut up a good 8 of the already ripe ones, the fruit flesh is in the freezer. I have a batch of mango scrap vinegar fermenting currently from the leftover skins and fruit near the seed. Problem is I have like 30 more mango and I have no idea what to use with the excess skins and scraps. Any ideas? Thanks to any answers.

I made a crock pot bourbon bbq turkey kielbasa appetizer (recipe). It turned out wrong in every possible way. Flavor isn’t balanced, bourbon flavor is too sharp, the kielbasa slices kept their shape yet are unpleasantly mushy. Not sure if there’s any way to reinvent the leftovers that won’t still end up sharp and mushy.

Maybe rinse off the kielbasa and broil it until it’s crisp?

Maybe use the sauce to make baked beans?

What would you do with it?

We love using sourdough to make breads, pancakes, etc., but often times we have a little sourdough starter left over. Here's one of our go to uses for it. Sourdough crackers, you don't need a lot of leftovers to make it. They taste like those pricey crackers people buy for Chartceuterie boards. The ones pictured have a buttery, rosemary, salt profile.

Happy scrapling!!!

Cubed sweet potato, purple potato and regular potato with chickpeas, olive oil, pepper and Celtic Sea Salt. Spread it all out on a tray and roast until the chickpeas are crisp and the edges of the potatoes start catching.

I made quinoa while that was in the oven, then threw everything into a bowl with shredded chicken and greens.

For the dressing I shook together lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, Celtic Sea Salt and a little water until it loosened up enough to pour.

Not particularly complicated but very good if you want something warm and filling without making five separate things.

I ended up with all this beer in, maybe ‘21? ‘22? It’s been kept in a cupboard, not refrigerated. I really don’t drink anymore and I’m trying to give it away and nobody wants it. It’s mostly IPA so it’s too bitter for most cooking I’d use beer for. What do I do with it?

Bought this on Amazon for a dehydrated meal. Used only a few table spoons, now I don't know what to do with this bag... Any ideas?

We saved the top of our wedding cake in my parent’s freezer and the plastic bag the box was in had ripped. It’s about 2.5 years old now and my mom brought it to us at our new place but it doesn’t taste good anymore! We’ve been trying to eat it little by little but I’d rather enjoy eating it. Do you guys have any tips for what I can make with it? It’s red velvet cake with chocolate frosting. I’m thinking I could try blending it with some milk and banana for a milkshake but would love to hear any other ideas you creative folks have!!

But not just from bread, also from pancakes, tortillas, buns, donuts, etc. Anything we don’t finish goes in a bag in the freezer to be turned into bread pudding.

I bought a liter of beet juice (90% beet juice/10% apple juice - not pickled beet brine) because a seitan recipe I'm making calls for it. It only used up 2 cups of it though, and I find it unpalatable on its own. I was thinking I could add a splash to smoothies or make beet lattes (we sold something like that at a coffee shop I used to work at and it was decent) but does anyone have any creative ideas?

I was given 6 blocks of cream cheese that have a printed expiration date of Nov 2. I believe they can be frozen, but I haven’t done that yet. Should I find a way to use them up or give them away before that date, or will they be ok frozen? If freezing works, anything to know about using it after freezing?

(waves from China)

Here's the story-- I wanted wings, but neither of the 2 Western-style places that have them deliver to me (and I forgot that I could have gotten Korean chicken and had a much superior dinner).

McDonalds had a wing bucket sale, 20 pieces. So, I ordered. 10 wings, 10 legs. Although I do prefer dark meat, I have never really liked legs.

McD has "updated" their recipe since I had them last, and now it's not spicy and is heavily breaded, basically a decent fried chicken.

I ate the wings and they were okay (did not solve the need-for-wings) and so now I have 10 little legs. I'm going to pop them in the deep freeze so I won't need an answer immediately, but... what can I do with them?

Stripping the bones of meat and breading by hand is just more trouble and time than I want to invest. I've considered the Instant Pot and making a what would be a seasoned chicken soup or even concentrating that into a really deep chicken broth.

What can I do? I have an Instant Pot, Air Fryer, microwave, and gas stove, plus assorted kitchen hand appliances, and ab extremely wide array spices. I haven't met a cuisine I didn't like, from Azerbaijani to Zanzibari (which is itself a huge fusion).

A pumperbrickel, if you will.

My first attempt at pumpernickel was... solid. And not in the good way. I am left with a block of pumpernickel that an alligator would struggle to bite through. Any suggestions on what I can do with it? I've thought of breadcrumbs, but idk what I'd do with pumpernickel breadcrumbs

Note: vegetarian

Note 2: it contains cocoa & coffee, so cannot be given to animals

Really don’t like the taste, but I’m also trying to lose weight and don’t want to add a ton of mayo or anything

Edit: part of the issue is the flavor of the actual fish I think? It’s not as nice as other varieties of salmon