How I Stopped Losing Money on Spoiled Food

by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer

My biggest issue with grocery shopping and eating at home is spoiled food. I don’t like leftovers, and I can’t eat a pound of meat by myself. The same goes for vegetables. Carrots, celery, onions, and green peppers all go bad in my fridge. I can’t eat them fast enough. Of course, if I buy one or two onions or the smallest batch of carrots I run out long before the week is over. Both issues leave me irritated at the loss of food and the wasted money. However, I have found some solutions.


Portion and freeze

This takes a lot of plastic baggies so I make sure to always have a box or two on hand after I go shopping. I cut up pounds of hamburger into four squares. Then I shape those squares into patties and freeze each one in its own baggie. For bacon, I buy thick sliced and place four slices into a baggie. For chicken, I place each breast into its own baggie and freeze it. Basically, I make sure that each baggie is one meal. This way I can just dump the contents of the baggie into the skillet and cook it. There are no leftovers and no waste.

I do the same thing for onions and green peppers. Except, since I chop the vegetables, I can fill the bags and then break off the amount I want when I want it. This assures me that my green peppers and onions stay fresh for as long as I have them.


Pre-cook meals

Precooking and freezing meals takes a little more planning. I have to make sure that I have enough plastic storage containers with dividers for individual items before I start cooking. Once I have all my containers gathered, I can cook large meals such as roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots, and then portion out the food into the containers as meals. Once the food is no longer steaming, I put the containers in the freezer. In this way, I can simply take out my pre-cooked and frozen meal, microwave it and eat.

Breakfasts can also be done this way. Eggs and fried potatoes taste just the same frozen and reheated as they did the day they were made. Just remember that in order to freeze potatoes, you have to cook them first. Otherwise, they turn brown just like they would sitting cut up on your counter.

These two options have saved me hundreds of dollars on wasted food and several hours in cook time during the week. It is very easy to pull out a pre-cooked meal and microwave or toss the contents of a baggie in the skillet and cook. Spices can also be added to the meats and foods so that they are pre-spiced and ready to go. It’s no hassle and no waste cooking.

Author Bio:

Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia.  She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design.

She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know.

She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing.

Other books by Stacey

• AVIA II
• AVIA Memories

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