We weren't, no, we couldn't be wasteful.
When I was a child I remember thinking 'Mom is sure stingy when it comes to food'. The irony... that all I was taught then, is so important to me now.
My parents were born in the 30's, if any generations know about resourcefulness and preservation, it was theirs, now I am grateful for their words of ``waste not, want not``.
One of the things that Mom taught us was to keep an ice cream bucket in the freezer, as vegetables started to wilt or lose life, they would be chopped up and tossed in to freeze. When the bucket got near to full, it would be used for a big pot of soup. Then after a couple days of soup, the soup itself would get frozen in smaller containers too, the cycle repeated.
Added to my bucket are my leftover veggies from dinner, we all have put those last few tablespoons of corn in the smallest container in the fridge to save for never... only to throw it out after it gets buried for weeks, and we have to wear a hazmat suit to open it later!
You can also throw wilted herbs in too. (Later on my page though I will show you how to make an herb log for freezing.)
I do not have much space in my fridge freezer, so I put the cut up veggies in large freezer bags, as they can stand up in mine.
I also do this with my (on the way out) bell peppers and tomatoes in smaller separate bags, which later I can saute for omelettes, frittatas, stew, or stir-frys.
So don't throw that wilted celery and other veggies out!!!!
The soup bucket is great to have on hand for last minute company showing up the next day. I can pop a soup in the crock pot in the morning without all the prep, and let it simmer for lunch, while I run around hiding my piles of messes, all before 10 am!
Don't care for soup?
That's OK, I will be sharing a lot about composting for the garden too.
~ Miss Frugal
