Minneapolis loves food, not waste

Chips never go on the list, but somehow they often go into the basket. Sometimes I realize I haven't really meal planned for snacks, so then there's this question mark that can lead to extra purchases. Planning for snacks could help!

Using a basket in the past has definitely helped me size down my shopping trips. These days, my reusable shopping bags do a similar thing. If they're getting heavy, I think twice before going for that extra something I see in the store. I've also enjoyed not having a big cart to navigate through the aisles! My shopping trips feel easier for...

I definitely notice when I'm taking the compost out more frequently. That said, because it's going into the compost, I have to remind myself sometimes that it's still food waste, that even better would be using those scraps, leftovers, etc. before they become unusable.

This doesn't surprise me, since without a meal plan, its easy to buy things I don't end up using. My meal plan helps me avoid food waste, but the bigger benefit for me is that I spend way less time shopping. So I'm saving money and time, which I can put toward doing fun things like planting native plants in my yard.

I'm pretty comfortable making swaps, since I do this frequently to avoid lactose and garlic. I usually go online to look up substitutions for baking, since that's where I'm less familiar with how swapped ingredients might behave.

Acquired new food-saver containers to facilitate leftovers being brought to work for lunch!