Throwing Away Condiments and Food….I Hate It!

[Panhead John]

I know I’m not the only one with this dilemma, but it’s especially hard for being a single person. I know… it’s hard to believe I’m single! 🙄 Just today I was going through my fridge checking to see if I had tartar sauce for a cook tonight. I did have some…..Best By Nov 22…🤬 There’s so many things I buy and use only occasionally. Don’t get me started on cilantro! Every single time I’ve ever bought cilantro, I’ve always wound up throwing away at least 1/2 of it, if not more. Horseradish? I don’t remember the last time I’ve used a full bottle before having to throw it out. Yesterday I bought another bagged salad mix… I know I’ll wind up throwing most of away…..it replaced the one I bought a few weeks ago, and just threw out half of it yesterday. Tomato paste? I buy the smallest can possible and still throw out most of it because most recipes don’t call for much. If I had all the celery I’ve had to throw away over the years, it’d probably stretch out to the Louisiana border.

When you only cook for one, it’s pretty hard to use a lot of things before the Expiration or Best Buy dates. Anyway, after checking my fridge for tartar sauce a while ago, I started checking for anything else that was expired…some was just a few months, but most of it was a year or two. Here’s what I had to toss……

[WillTravelForFood]

Horseradish? I don’t remember the last time I’ve used a full bottle before having to throw it out.

You need to make more shrimp cocktail or fancy prime rib roasts. This one is all on you.

Don’t get me started on cilantro! Every single time I’ve ever bought cilantro, I’ve always wound up throwing away at least 1/2 of it, if not more.

You need to make more chimichurri sauce. Or grow your own. (Agreed, cilantro can go bad pretty quickly - so only buy it when you need it)

Yesterday I bought another bagged salad mix… I know I’ll wind up throwing most of away…..it replaced the one I bought a few weeks ago, and just threw out half of it yesterday. …

While bagged salads are convenient, they aren't cost-effective and can go bad quickly. Consider buying a box of "already washed spinach" and a handful of desired veggies and make your own salads. We've found the Spinach boxes can last anywhere from 7-10 days before turning slimey. Longer time if we take the effort to drain water from the container and/or put the spinach into one of those rubbermaid veggie keepers

Tomato paste? I buy the smallest can possible and still throw out most of it because most recipes don’t call for much. …

Switch to a squeeze tube of tomato paste rather than opening a can. It will last longer, and let you not feel like you're wasting ingredients

If I had all the celery I’ve had to throw away over the years, it’d probably stretch out to the Louisiana border.

Try wrapping the celery in aluminum foil -- for some reason, it will survive longer than if you don't. When we see celery starting to lose its crunch, we quickly move to washing/cutting and putting into a container of water (glass, tupperware, etc). The celery will crunch up and last a few more days that way

[Panhead John]

WTFF I do buy cilantro only when I need it. What do you think I do, buy it in bulk? 😂 Horseradish…I’m one person here, I ain’t making Prime rib roast for one just to use up a bottle of horseradish before it expires. 😉 I DO like your tomato paste in the tube idea, but I’ve never seen it. I’ll try your aluminum foil with the celery idea too. Thanks.

[WillTravelForFood]

Panhead John Doesn't EVERYBODY buy cilantro in bulk? Horsey sauce goes great in eggs, burgers, neti-pot... all sorts of uses!


(We're giggling over here, btw)

[Bkhuna]

You can save the stems from cilanto and freeze them. Use them for dishes the use cilanto during the cook.

[Mosca]

As long as the tartar sauce hasn’t separated it will be fine.

Believe it or not, you can freeze cilantro. Wash it, dry it, roll it in some paper towels in a sandwich bag and put it in the freezer. It will turn almost black, but it will taste exactly like fresh; just cut what you need, stems and all, and put it back in the freezer. I planted a lot of it this year, for that very reason, that now I know how to keep it.

I get tomato paste in those tubes now, like toothpaste. Too many recipes call for some stupid small amount. Those tubes last forever.

Horseradish, yeah. Celery, yeah. I don’t get the bagged salads any more. But don’t get me started on cucumbers. Mrs M will buy a cucumber, eat a quarter of it, and I’ll find a decayed cucumber 3 weeks later.

[WillTravelForFood]

switch to the english cucumbers instead of the standard regular ones. Will last a bit longer, and taste **significantly** better. Can't remember the last time we purchased a traditional cuke.

[Panhead John]

I forgot about cucumbers! Yeah, I’m always throwing away at least 1/2 of one.

[Mosca]

WillTravelForFood Oh believe me, I’ve tried.

“THEY DON’T TASTE THE SAME!”

They’re friggin’ cucumbers. They don’t taste like anything.

[SheilaAnn]

Panhead John know that a lot of those products probably have enough citric acid in them that they don’t go bad that fast. If I see mold, I throw it away. If it smells funny, I throw it away. Other than that, I keep stuff and use it. Granted, bagged veggies are another story. I keep carrots and celery in a bit of water.
and I hear ya on cilantro! 🤣

tomato paste: get those little snack size zip top bags and portion out the paste and freeze. I do this with jars of pizza sauce, too (when I don’t make my own).

[WillTravelForFood]

Panhead John -- should be in a box about the size of a Tabasco sauce box on/near the same shelf as the regular paste at the local grocer/trader joe's. it's fairly common.

[Davek8282]

Not all grocery stores carry the tubes of tomato paste, those with large Italian selections do. you need both the tubes can be a bit pricey so use the small cans when you need a bit more the tubes work excellent for those recipes that call for a tablespoon or two.

[acorgihouse]

Panhead John the two brand names I see here, in the supermarkets, are Alessi and Cento. Both in the tomato paste aisle, but also sometimes with the spaghetti/tomato sauces.

[WillTravelForFood]

no need to buy tartar sauce or remoulade. You have relish (or pickles) and mayo already -- make your own. Add some siracha or similar for a spicier mayo-based item.

Hoisin sauce is great on dumplings as a dipping sauce, 2.5m in the microwave from frozen!

Plain yellow mustard? Why buy that at all when you have ketchup available for your hot dogs/brats?

[N227GB]

OH, NOES!

[Draznnl]

“Plain yellow mustard? Why buy that at all when you have ketchup available for your hot dogs/brats?”

I’m worried about you, WillTravelForFood 🧐🧐🙄

[mnavarre]

Because putting catsup on a hotdog is a flogging offense.

[LA Pork Butt]

Cooking for two uses it twice as fast, but it is still a challenge to finish it all before it goes bad. I’ve tried to combat it by avoiding recipes that call for speciality items that I won’t cook very often and eat at restaurant that would have something that represents the recipe. Also, we use a fair amount of cilantro every week, but we still throw too much out. This Spring I am growing some and we just harvest it when we need it. If you leave some sprouts it will regrow new sprouts.

[SheilaAnn]

We were all posting at the same time. Ha! Good call on the celery in foil. Another thing I do, is freeze the veggies and just use them for stock/broth because it’s not like they need to be purty.

[Andrrr]

Yep! It’s not often but if carrots or celery are just past their prime they go into the freezer for stock. I never have onion to throw away but when I’m peeling it I’ll save the last layer of not-quite-perfect before you get to the good part

[N227GB]

Freeze-dried herbs are available on Amazon for a reasonable price. Litehouse is a brand I used to find at Publix,

A lot of sauces freeze well. Pour it into flexible ice cube trays, and when frozen, put them into portioned bags, vacuum, or sandwich bags. This was a tip shared here, I think.

OXO GreenSaver containers do very well at keeping veggies and salads fresh by using an activated carbon packet that absorbs the ethylene gas. The packs last 4-6 weeks. The mixed salad blends from Aldi fit perfectly in the linked one.

[N227GB]

I forgot to add that I use a magic marker to be able to read the dates on bottled stuff without having to pick one up and try to find it. At a glance in the fridge, I can see if something is coming up on its due date, so I can plan on using it soon.

[CandySueQ]

+1 on the GreenSaver! Portion out green, fresh things into ready-to-go salads too. You'll be eating more of them that way.

[Panhead John]

N227GB I recently started using the magic marker dates on the bottles to make it easier to read, works great!

[CandySueQ]

I believe in cook and freeze. I'll cook for 4 and freeze 3 for later. I do pre-meals too. Make a big batch of roux with trinity and andouille and freeze in single pot size for almost instant gumbo. Veggies going bad? Wash them and freeze for veggie soup. Warning! This practice can cause chaos in the freezer. About every couple of weeks I sort and organize to keep up with what I've got. I feed myself and my dog out of the freezer. Saves money.

What you doin buying that premade remoulade and tartar sauce? You can make that better yourownself!

[Panhead John]

I’m too lazy to go to all the trouble of doing homemade tartar sauce and Remoulade, the Louisiana Brand stuff is pretty darn good. Plus, it’s hard to make a single serving of that stuff, if not, then I gotta do something with the leftovers.

[LA Pork Butt]

We cook for 4-6 eat 2 and freeze for 1 or 2 future meals. Yep! You need a tracking system or you will forget what is in the freezer.

[Purc]

Compost your salad stuff, veggie trimmings, coffee grounds, yard waste, leaves, grass clippings etc with some worms and make your own compost. You can buy an inexpensive compost bin from Amazon, HD etc. (didn't see one at Academy yesterday!) Also recycle those emptied and clean jars. I hate tossing stuff out as well.

[Panhead John]

I live in a townhome and just have a small patio, no yard. I try and recycle jars when I can, but very seldom have a need for those type.

[Huskee]

I do a taste test on most things, especially vinegar heavy stuff, and have found exp dates are merely simple suggestions. The obvious exceptions, at least for me, would be dairy or sweet things. I too hate tossing stuff out.

[Donw]

Just so you know, the only food with a federally mandated expiration date is baby formula. Otherwise the expiration dates, best used by dates and the like are guesses by the producer as to when quality starts to deteriorate, nothing more. These dates are also heavy influenced by the company wanting you to toss a jar you already bought and buy another.
https://stilltasty.com Is a good source to determine how long you can hold onto items before actually tossing them.

[Steve R.]

I'd probably put that yellow mustard back; I can't imagine it actually going bad anytime soon.

Otherwise, +1 to CandySueQ 's suggestion to cook and freeze in individual portions.

[CandySueQ]

Yellow mustard is good for sure! I actually read somewhere that refrigeration isn't good for mustards, salad dressings (non mayo based), ketchup, BBQ sauces. High acid content is a preservative. I still keep pickles in the frig, they just taste better cold!

[SheilaAnn]

CandySueQ I love icy cold pickles!

[captainlee]

We have the same issue with just the two of us. With my sensitive stomach, when in doubt throw them out. I get pissed seeing the waisted stuff. We need to do a better job remembering what we have, but that gets harder every day.

[Murdy]

My wife and I have end up throwing out more than we care to as well. My MMS and MSS leads to impulse buying a lot of mustard and hot sauce, which complicates things further.

We keep a pretty elaborate spice garden, which cuts down the amount of spices we throw out. Spices grow like weeds and do well in pots, so even if you don't have room for a garden per se, you can still do the things you use the most, and if they are in pots, you can bring them in when it gets too cold (if that's an issue by you).