Oh dear. This isn’t a science project, it’s a forgotten sweet potato. Our food waste this week. Poor sweet potato. Although I wonder if Jonathan at Wasted Food would think I should have just cut off the bouquet and eaten the other half. Maybe I should have.
This is pretty surprising, because I LOVE sweet potatoes. Combine a trip out of town with a heat wave and this is what I got. My husband doesn’t love sweet potatoes, but I’ve actually gotten him to eat them by baking them into sweet potato fries…
Cut sweet potato into 1/2″ X 3″ slices and bake on a sheet lined with aluminum foil spread with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme or rosemary. Bake about 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees, turn once while baking.
You can do the same thing on the grill, just cut into cubes, drizzle with olive oil, a little butter, and the spices, and fold into an aluminum “pocket.” Grill about 15-20 minutes.
I hate wasting food but one sweet potato in a week is a lot better than we used to have. It was only a few months ago that I would regularly clean out the refrigerator every time I went grocery shopping. Out with the old, in with the new. I always bought too much produce. Now I buy less of everything, and if we ever do actually run out of fresh produce (which isn’t often), it’s not a big deal to eat a smoothie with frozen fruit or frozen peas for a day or two.
One big side benefit is that I’m saving a lot of money! Last month I saved $100 (cut our grocery bill for 2 people from $400 to $300). And I think I’m on track to save that much again this month.
If YOU want to waste less food, do your part for the environment, and save money to boot, visit The Frugal Girl to be a part of her waste-no-food challenge. To learn more about the impact of food waste on the environment, go to Wasted Food. And please leave your food-related ideas and questions in the Comments section.
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