Save Food, Spend Less Challenge 2026

Hennepin County | Ramsey County | Washington County

October 1 - October 31, 2026

Charlee's points

35 TODAY
35 THIS WEEK
116 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

3.5

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

1.5

pounds

food waste prevented

Charlee's actions

Cooking

Swap This for That

If I am missing an ingredient for a recipe I will find a substitute I have on hand and use that instead.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Cooking

Cook From Snout to Tail

I will try a recipe that utilizes parts of an animal that are typically wasted (skin, bones, organs, etc.).

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Shopping

Skip the Cart

Bigger carts make us feel like we need to fill them! Use a hand basket to improve grocery store discipline and prevent over-purchasing.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Cook From Root to Leaf

I will try root-to-leaf recipes, which utilize all parts of the vegetable, such as beet greens, carrot tops, and herb stems.

COMPLETED 0
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

REFLECTION QUESTION
Cooking

How comfortable are you with making ingredient swaps? Where do you go to find substitutes if you don't have what you need?
Charlee Magnuson 10/13/2026 10:48 AM

I was out of milk and making mac and cheese and I searched up online of what could be a substitute and i Used cream cheese instead.

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- Aspen French 10/13/2026 11:04 AM
  
  This is one of my favorite substitutes when making mac n cheese! Sour cream also works great, recently I used some top of the tater seasoned sour cream that was about to go bad in my mac n cheese and it was delicious.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Shopping

Reflecting on how your grocery trips have gone in the past: do you fill up your cart? Do you think you can fit everything you need into a smaller cart or a basket?
Charlee Magnuson 10/11/2026 6:23 PM

I honestly only use a basket now because I tried grabbing a cart and I just wanted to fully fill the cart, so I ended up switching back to the basket on the same shopping trip.

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- Laquieta Brooks 10/11/2026 9:22 PM
  
  Carrying a basket will definitely help with not overfilling it because of the weight. Good job!
  
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Charlee Magnuson 10/05/2026 7:47 PM

I needed to get a few things at Cub Foods, and with my mom, we decided to get a basket so we only got the ingredients for making homemade pizza

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Charlee Magnuson 10/05/2026 7:45 PM

I used a small basket because I went in knowing I only needed a few things at Target, and I ended up pn buying the things I needed because that took up the full basket.

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- Julie DURR 10/06/2026 4:50 AM
  
  Funny, I started doing that a few weeks ago as well.
  
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