we were just talking about this at work. what about when you have to feed people, who have registered for an event, and then as usual 5-10 don't show? then we have too much food and eventually some of it gets wasted, though it is partially eaten so we can't donate it anywhere. we figured we would buy to-go containers and ask the other folks in the class to take some? any other ideas?

Great post. I have a few tips of my own:

use leftover bits of veggies from dinner on my lunchtime salads
freeze leftover bits of meats and seafood for jambalayas and gumbos
plan two meals from one (For example: turn leftover boiled shrimp into shrimp cakes)
grow many of my own herbs and veggies, especially varieties that are "cut and come again" (lettuces, celery, etc), allowing me to cut only what I need each day

And, of course, all the peelings, egg shells, and even shells from nuts go into the compost pile and into next season's garden!

Other things I do is research (usually just Google and gardening forums) to find out if I am using all the edible parts of my veggies, etc.

I let my cilantro bolt and save some seeds for planting and some for seasoning.

Also, talking to elderly folks about what they ate growing up can give you ideas:

I make preserves out of rinds of melons. (That one is from my grandma.)

I make a greens gumbo out of greens like carrot tops, radish tops, beet greens, mustard, etc. (That's from grandma, too!)

Some great tips there. I need to stop tossing all the bits of vegetables into the garbage disposal, and keep a few back for the "stock supplies" container.

This has more to do with the waste I already have (instead of reducing it in the first place), but I always keep a 'broth bag' in the freezer. In the bag go: carrot ends, the knobs and peelings from most veggies, mushroom stalks, herb stems (when all I needed was the leaves), the occasional potato peels, the garlic scapes that are about to go bad, even the papery garlic shells. Just anything that would be good in broth. Then when the bag's full, I make a nice stock, adding whatever's still necessary.

It does take some discernment to know that, for example, the kale ribs are going to turn it bright green and give it an 'off' flavor. So just be careful. But it's really nice to use everything up.

many leftovers an egg or two = breakfast patties. Rice, potatoes, veggies, tacos, etc.

When in doubt, fold your leftover farmers' market bounty into a frittata or strata. If it's fruit, make a clafoutis!

@nikki moore - I save my kale ribs for juicing. Gives a nice green kick to something like an apple-pear-lemon or carrot-ginger juice.

At least once a week I make a meal out of whatever bits and pieces are in the fridge.

I also walk to and from the market at least once a week. This means that I only buy as much fresh produce as I can carry comfortably.

I have a rabbit that gladly eats what we do not.

@nikki moore i do the same thing! if i see that, say, a bunch of parsley is starting to get to a point where it only has a few good days left and don't see myself using it in time, into the bag it goes--i generally only save carrots, celery, parsley and onion bits, but those are the veggies i buy most often and those that have potential to go bad most often. plus, any waste from said veggies (peels, cut off ends, etc) go in, and then when the bag is full i buy a whole chicken, sautee the innards, and add the whole chicken and contents of the bag to a large pot, cover with water and let simmer for hours and hours. in the end, i find myself with delicious chicken stock packed with vitamins i'd normally be missing from disposing of carrot peels (or throwing out any of the veggies!).

Great tips here. I love the idea of the "broth bag" although my labrador may not be that pleased that her carrot ends and other random veggies are no longer going her way.

Something that has really helped us is googling the proper storage for our produce. I've increased the life of herbs and lettuce by at least a week just by doing it right. Makes me want to write "How To Store Everything" :)

Last night after dinner, I realized I had way more veggies on hand than I could use up before going camping this weekend, so I made up a veggie lasagna (with zucchini standing in for lasagna noodles) to reheat for today. It turned a large eggplant, two zukes, a couple of carrots, a whole bunch of swiss chard, an onion, a whole bunch of slow-roasted tomatoes, and a bell pepper into two tiny pans to go into the fridge overnight. I am trying using thick yogurt instead of ricotta (which I can't eat); we'll see how it turns out.

The short version of which is, a veggie casserole works wonders.

Two other things I use leftover veggies for:

1. Making a pureed veggie soup. I just chop up what I have (as long as I have an onion to boot) and simmer it until it's soft; add some chicken broth or salted water, and simmer for 30 minutes. Then blend with an immersion blender or transfer to a regular one. If I have leftover herbs, I throw those in during the simmer then discard them before blending. I know it's not really summery, but you can always freeze the soup for later!

2. Saute extra veggies (with garlic and onion, of course) then pour a can of diced tomatoes or chopped whole Italian tomatoes. Yummy ad hoc pasta sauce.

3. Roast a veggie or two then throw into the hopper with your chickpeas for roasted veggie hummus.

I used extra veggies to make a veggie spread--any will do as long as it's lightly cooked. Mark Bittman's new book gave me this idea and it's great--I even eat carrot or celery sticks with veggie spread, so I get double the veggies. :)

One place I've really been trying to work on this is out of the kitchen. I hate how much food goes to waste when i go out to eat. In truth, only certain leftovers get eaten at home and it wastes a lot of money on expensive restaurant food.

My fiance and I started a habit when we were super poor that we've brought up again. The "share a meal, each get a soup or salad, then we'll see". He's a big guy and eats a lot, but I find we rarely need more than that, and often actually have room for a small desert.

It takes some compromising on what you want to eat, and sometimes a longer wait for your second portion if you need it, not to mention weird looks from your server (we make sure to tip well). It's not to say we never go out and get separate meals, but we decide more carefully when we do. In the end, seeing the clean plates afterward, not to mention feeling "just the right amount of full" makes me feel twice as good about the nice meal we just had.

I have been awful about not adding things to our compost anymore. And I love the idea of using a broth bag for the freezer. I'm going to start doing both of those. Thanks for the reminder!

Thanks for the broth bag idea!

If you have a decent blender (basically one that's not the cheapest model available), you can make green smoothies. Chop up left over greens like kale, swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, etc and blend with some frozen fruit and water. I leave the ribs in and they blend up fine!

Broth sounds cool, though you'll still toss the veggie bits in the trash after... and once they're cooked they're not compostable.

Why isn't cooked food compostable?

Yenniecov, Cooked food is compostable as long as it has not touched meats or fats during the cooking process. Steamed vegetables (and other items that haven't touched meats or fats) can be composted at any time. I just started a three-part series on how to begin composting. Check it out here:
http://highcottonhome.blogspot.com/2010/07/home-composting-how-to-get-started.html

As for ways to eat organically/sustainably on a budget and use as much of your available food as possible (and reduce waste) I published some of my favorite tips for Green Grocery on a budget a few weeks ago:
http://highcottonhome.blogspot.com/2010/07/home-composting-how-to-get-started.html

Thanks, HighCottonHome--the series looks great.

A follow-up question, then: why isn't meat compostable? I live in Berkeley, where we're required to sort garbage, recycling, and compost. I've always just put food scraps in the bin and I've seen other folks do it too. What's the scoop on this?

As far as I understand, the problem with meat is that it takes a long time to compost and can lead to problems with maggots. It also effects the acidity of the compost which changes overall break down as well as the outcome of your compost.

That being said, it sound like you have city wide composting? I'm have the understanding that large scale and professional composting plants can process the meat without the aforementioned problems.