There are many great ways to store valuable herbs – bundle them up in damp paper towels! Hide them in a fancy herb holder! Make a dressing that uses all of your grapes at the same time! – But for me the most important thing is to remember that they even exist. Using a magnetic whiteboard and some expo markers, I write an inventory on the refrigerator door.
I’ve had a whiteboard on my fridge for years, but most of its real estate was devoted to the memory of watering the plants or buying more toilet paper. Then the pandemic struck and my shopping and cooking went into hyperspeed. You probably know what happened next: I made fewer trips, filled my cart higher than ever, and created more leftovers. Even the best dinner plans have been forgotten in the chaos of 2020.
I’ve never been a big meal planner, but I needed a system to make sure Swiss chard wouldn’t go away in my fridge for weeks. A year later, it has become an integral part of my low-waste cooking routine.
This is how it works: As soon as I get home from the store, I write a list of products on the corner of my little whiteboard with a magnetic refrigerator. I try to rank it by priority level: delicate products like herbs and tomatoes are at eye level at the top, more stable potatoes and cabbage are at the bottom. I’ve even developed an admittedly loose annotation system with asterisks and exclamation marks to mark when I have a lot to use.
Once I have all the potential ingredients in my list, I write down a loose meal plan for the week. After all, the best defense is a good insult. I start with all of the recipes I had in mind when I walked into the store and then think about the meals to make the most of whatever was left. When I have an abundance of tender greens here for a good time, not long (looking at you, basil and little gem salad), I literally write them in as many meals as possible.
This technique is great for fruits and vegetables, but I also use it to track leftovers and proteins and determine if they need to be thawed out of the freezer or otherwise prepped. Once the list is as extensive as possible, I’ll rewrite the order to prioritize the meals with the ingredients that need to be used first. Then the cooking begins. While the contents of my refrigerator are slowly running out, I use the true magic of a whiteboard, wiping mushrooms and cucumbers off the list until I’m back on a blank blackboard.
I know what you’re thinking: can’t you just open the fridge and see what’s left? Yeah i think i could. But the glorious approach to spring and summer produce means I’m not going to slow down buying vegetables anytime soon, which is reflected in overcrowded refrigerator shelves. I will inevitably buy too many precious sugar snap peas and not leave their fate to my memory alone.
Magnetic refrigerator whiteboard
Other ways to reduce waste:
Source * www.bonappetit.com – * Source link
