Making foods from scratch, vs eliminating food waste

Like most frugal cooks, I make a lot of things from scratch. Like a lot. I do this for a variety of reasons; first of all, because it's just something I really enjoy. Then there's also the financial/health aspect. And because I live in a country other than where I grew up and where I lived until my 30th age, and can't find certain foods I was familiar with and which I love, I make some of those foods from scratch. So there's defenitely a lot that I make at home. Which, I assume, most people would obviously label as a very frugal and green thing to do. After all, you're avoiding a lot of package materials, you're not buying the ready made stuff which can be a lot more expensive etc. 

The very reason why I do make a lot of foods from scratch, though, simultaneously is the very thing that can make this practice a bit less frugal. Because, to be honest, we ALL waste food. Even as a family that's very conscious about food waste, it still happens in our house. No, it doesn't happen that often but still, unfortunately it does happen. And I don't know of anyone who never ever throws away any food. And I assume that most of us know that non-extremely processed food (without preservatives and other chemicals), those foods tend to spoil a lot faster than the store bought equivalents. So that part of made from scratch cooking is a very tricky one, which CAN lead to wasting food, and thus money.                         Fortunately, I have figured out what works for us when it comes to keeping homemade items fresh for long enough until it spoils.  

•First of all: don't (always) make too large batches. I know, most of us have bigger eyes than stomachs and we tend to do batch cooking in order to make it easier for ourselves. While I'm not against batch cooking at all (we usually eat the same dish every other day, so I'm very familiar with cooking bigger batches), I don't think it's for every dish. Some things we don't feel like eating over and over again and even to eat something just to finish it sounds a bit wasteful to me. And while freezing leftovers is a great option for a lot of foods, it's not for every kind of food, in my opinion. Freezing can change the textures, and while most foods come out perfect once defrosted, that's not the case for all foods. Some examples of foods that we really don't like after being frozen are potatoes, pasta, rice, eggs, carrots, pancakes. Apparently a lot of tarches just don't freeze that well, though I don't have that problem with freezing bread. As for other foods that I don't cook in larger batches, those are mainly plainly boiled legumes such as lentils and chick peas. In the past, I found it useful to have some of those on hand but I found that no matter how well I rinsed them and how well I kept them in an container, they start to change in taste so quickly. So I now make single batches of legumes, unless I freeze them right away, especially chickpeas. Lentils, again, I don't really like frozen. 

•Also, know how to store your foods properly! I usually keep one fridge shelf solely for keeping leftovers and foods that need to be used up quicker than other foods lying around in the fridge. That way it's easier to be reminded of how everything needs to be eaten ASAP. Using transparent food containers or reused glass jars is also a great way to be reminded of what's actually in the fridge. When you see it, you tend to actually use it, instead of tossing it after it begins to smell funny. Make sure that your leftover shelf is not the highest or lowest shelf, the middle shelf is best for this. 

•When it comes to freezing foods, I love using silicone cups. It's just about the size I usually need for cooking for certain foods. Things like pesto, aquafaba, harissa, pasta sauce, bone broth, or soy sauce (which are all homemade- yes, I even make my own soy sauce substitute). After those things are frozen you can transfer them in whatever you find easiest, either a container or a bag, I even reuse milk cartons for this purpose. Some people use ice cubes, but I find those a bit too small. I also reuse small yogurt containers, which are really quite small here, as they contain only half a cup of yogurt. It's also important that if you're  not consuming your homemade food right away, or planning on doing so within a few days, to consider freezing it. That defenitely makes a huge difference when it comes to wasting food. I love reusing all kinds of small food containers really. Like my homemade soy sauce substitute, I keep in small 250 ML bottles in the freezer that once contained rose water and orange blossom water. The homemade "soy" sauce isn't as concentrated as store bought, so I usually use half a 250 ML bottle, or even an entire bottle. I even heard of people freezing milk, as some people only use milk for their coffee and a litre of milk wouldn't last before spoiling. I never tried this myself though since milk doesn't last that long in our house. So educate yourself on how to store your favourites and do research on that. It'll defenitely rescue a lot of foods. 

•While meal planning is great, it's not for everyone.  It certainly doesn't work well for our family, and that's fine. But for some people it's a great way to reduce food waste so it's still something I'd like to mention. 

•Be creative. Think outside the box. Maybe that bit of leftover pasta sauce would make a great toasted cheese sandwich, that half a cup of lentils could be mashed to thicken up your stew or added to a soup. That spoonful of soy sauce can be added to your salad dressing.  Leftovers can be eaten the next day as lunch too, which we really love, especially in colder seasons. We also like to share food with family members, neighbours etc. Which, fortunately, happens to be culturally acceptable where we live. In fact, a lot of people here actually cook bigger batches on purpose so they can share food with whomever needs it. I really love that.