I love making No Waste Quick & Easy Meals. I absolutely hate wasting food! Anyone else buy loads of food and a week or two later you start tossing it in the trash or organic bin? It’s just so wasteful.

This hurts our wallet, health and our planet.

I vowed to start changing this bad habit. I didn’t want to continue throwing out perfectly good food because I didn’t plan my meals well enough. It was also starting to get too costly which is not ok when you really want to buckle down and save money for a rainy day. Saving money is on my top priority list this year.

I do use an organic compost bin so at least the food waste isn’t going in the trash can. It is however still horribly wrong and wasteful. I can’t justify buying food to just toss into my compost bin. Why is it so hard to use up everything we buy? I work long 12 hours shifts. A stretch of days go by where I can’t cook anything. I batch cook staple foods like rice and potatoes before I start all my shifts because thats super easy. I just add a veggie to it for my work lunches. I typically make frozen veggies on those days. I definitely don’t have the energy or will power to cook much more than that on those days!

Late last year I decided that I had to make a big change. I made the commitment to be more mindful of what I’m buying at the grocery store. No I don’t need every veggie on every single shopping trip! This was a hard thing to change because I really embrace the eat the rainbow lifestyle. Now I limit myself to what I truly need to make a meal or two with.

Making these changes was difficult at first and even now I sometimes find goodies in the fridge that I’ve missed. I just make a meal out of these sad overripe veggies and it always turns out great! I feel like almost always something can be done with them. It might not be the best meal but it will be healthy and taste good. Of course there will always be times where the odd thing is too far gone to use. I just try my best to avoid it as much as possible.

I create meals using only a few ingredients these days that I quickly grab in the fridge. I use up whatever needs to be eaten first and go from there. I love this way of cooking. No waste meals are my absolute favorite now. It forces me to think outside the box and get creative. I’m actually really enjoying cooking this way!

No waste cooking has also made me get back to basics and eat more simply. I’m able to save a lot of time by eating this way. I’m not spending endless hours in the kitchen. Great cooking doesn’t have to be fussy and complicated.

I hope that this inspired you to reduce food waste. Join me this year as I change myself to continue my no waste meals and reduce food waste in our homes!

Catch me on VeganMommyDee’s Life on YouTube. Consider subscribing if you enjoy health, wellness content and easy to cook recipes.

Health, Joy & Positive Vibes,