Have you ever made more work for yourself because you didn't want to throw ingredients away?

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
I spent most of the day in the kitchen. A few days ago I had planned on making a shrimp dish that my hubby and son love. I bought enough peppers, celery, and a few other fresh ingredients to make a double batch.
Things didn't go as planned and today I noticed my produce sitting in the fridge and it wasn't going to last much longer.
I really would have liked to have spent the day outside since the weather was beautiful but my thrifty side got the best of me.
I ended up chopping and cutting for most of the day. I made veggies for soups that I separated for the freezer.
A vegetable salad, potato salad, and cut up peppers for the freezer. I sautéed onions for a future recipe as well.
All this work and time to save some produce from the garbage can.. Was it really worth it?
I'm not sure, I missed a beautiful day and I'm dog tired.
Would you have just chucked it all and enjoyed the day?
 

I've been called 'Scrooge' more than once over the years.
I can't help it, only the other day I took a shelf down, and the screws which were rusted and covered with old paint came up like new when I buffed them up on my rotary wire brushing machine. I've got another job for those screws too, and it'll be about the fifth time I've used them. :)
 

No, Ruth, I'm the splitting image of you, wasting (anything) is outside of my comfort zone, so I would have done exactly what you did.

As Becky, mentioned, there will be many gorgeous days ahead for you to enjoy the great outdoors.

P.S. Good on you for being the frugal homemaker that you are!
 
That used to be me salvaging twenty five cents worth of ripe bananas by spending five dollars to make a cake or banana bread that I really didn’t need. 😊

I’m happy to hear that you did the right thing and made the effort!

You’ll be rewarded on the next nice day when you can pull dinner out of the freezer!
 
Aunt Bea said:
That used to be me salvaging twenty five cents worth of ripe bananas by spending five dollars to make a cake or banana bread that I really didn’t need. 😊

I’m happy to hear that you did the right thing and made the effort!

You’ll be rewarded on the next nice day when you can pull dinner out of the freezer!
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LOL, Aunt Bea!

This is my laugh of the day! Your words are so true... emphasis on "didn't need". That's me. :)
 
Can remember mother, washing out the used paper towels, bagging up the unrolled toilet paper when our house got papered (we lived with bags for months afterwards). I think of the morning I awoke to hear something going on in the garbage cans, there was my mother with her trusty parring knife cutting away the bad on a stale bowl of oranges, then offering orange juice for breakfast.
 
Nathan said:
I would have done the same, I'm struggling with "letting go" of my frugal / thrifty nature, but it's not going well.
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My father was well paid so money wasn't an issue when I was growing up. Nevertheless, "waste not, want not" and "use it up, make it do, wear it out" were said frequently. My parents were born in the early 1920s and the Depression deeply affected their formative years. They taught a balanced approach toward all their resources and has served me well - especially during lean periods.

My children likewise learned to enjoy life but not be wasteful.
 
@RadishRose thank you for the kind words. I was never in want of anything growing up in the 50s and my family made it through the depression before that without a problem but being wasteful was just something my family did not do.
It was instilled in me from an early age.
These days I really don't have to do what I do but I get satisfaction out of it also. Sometimes I take it a bit to far but on a whole it keeps me busy and active and that is very important to me.
 

Have you ever made more work for yourself because you didn't want to throw ingredients away?​


When I was a young boy I loved putting together plastic model cars. I figured that I was better at it than most boys. But there was always a tough dilemma: All of those decals. I didn't want to throw the surplus away but I didn't want to ruin the car by plastering it with every one of the decals that came in the box. It was a struggle and many boys succumbed to the temptation. We had a name for model cars that had too much crap on it ..... but I can't use the term here.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
I ended up chopping and cutting for most of the day. I made veggies for soups that I separated for the freezer.
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Good show, Ruthie

No waste in my house
I survived on limp vegies in my 20s
Learned to sorta crave them
Good sopping material

As far as spending time in meal prep, my lady always marveled at how long it took to put something scrumptious together, and how little time it took me and two growing boys to make it all disappear
 
20 years ago I would have done all that work for the freezer. Today it would be wasted unless a friend wanted it because my back simply won't allow much standing. We eat out 3 to 4 times a week and when we eat at home it is because I buy a lot of pre-made meals at Costco.
 

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