This is the time of year where I want to buy ALL of the food at the farmers market.

I get so sad about the end of summer produce that I buy too much of it. This was the state of my fridge last week. A little much for one, huh!? I’m happy to report that I plowed my way through it all without throwing anything out. And I can also say that I have eaten my weight in watermelon over the last week. They were on sale for $3 so I bought one and every time I open the fridge I end up standing there and eating watermelon.

Here’s how I used up most of the food in my fridge. Did you know that the average U.S. family throws away 20 pounds of food each month…which equates to around $2,275 a year for a family of four? Ever since I learned that stat from the U.S. Department of Agriculture I have tried to be so much more vigilant about not wasting food.

Some of the ways that I curtail my food waste include:

– Meal planning. When I’m buying my groceries for the week I think about how I’m specifically going to use the perishable items.
– Prep. If I do things like cut up the watermelon and make the refrigerator cucumbers, I am much more likely to eat them.
– Salads and scrambles. I use miscellaneous items at risk of going to waste in things like salads and egg scrambles.
– Freezer. My grandmother does this cool thing where she keeps a container in the freezer where she can store veggie remnants for when she makes a big pot of soup. So for example, if she didn’t use all of her green beans or okra, the veggies would go in the freezer for later. LOVE this idea. I also freeze fruits that I don’t use before they go bad.

Omelet with two eggs, heirloom cherry tomatoes, zucchini, spinach and goat gouda.

Topped with avocado and basil and served with a peach. Fresh flowers from the farmers market make me happy.

Lots of salads this week. This one had spring mix, arugula, deli chicken, avocado, strawberries, almonds, dried cranberries, figs, feta and a drizzle of lemon infused olive oil and aged balsamic.

I have been loving these snack plates lately. I wrap avocado in deli chicken or turkey and then serve it with cheese and whatever I have in the fridge. This was dried figs and refrigerator cucumbers that I made with vinegar, sugar and water.

Packed salad that I took to work for lunch.

My favorite farmer at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is Hoffman Heritage & Heirloom. He’s one of only a few vendors who offers all organic produce and on top of that his vegetables are heirloom varieties. It’s always the first table that I visit when I arrive. Last week he talked up these Dragon Tongue beans. Aren’t they pretty?

Too bad that they lose that coloring as they cook but the flavor is delicious. They’re stringless and slightly sweet. I ate them with a lemon pepper chicken breast, leftover potato salad and refrigerator cucumbers.

I got sidetracked from home cooking one night last week and found myself out at sushi. I can never so no to sushi.

I went to Ru Sans for the first time in over 5 years and it was actually really good.

I got back on the cooking bandwagon the next night and made another chicken breast with roasted okra, heirloom tomatoes and more cucumbers…Repeat of the chicken breast dinners last week because I usually pick up a pack of two from my friend at Windy Hill Farms. I decided not to get any for the upcoming week so that I can work through some fish/pork/chicken that I have in the freezer.

I stayed in for dinner on Friday night and made a salad with the remaining produce in my fridge and then went out on Saturday night at Peculiar Rabbit. I started with this AMAZING arugula salad with goat cheese, dates and crispy prosciutto. It was all of my favorite things! 🙂

And then had the lamb burger and succotash.

That wraps it up for this edition of recent eats. Most of the fruits and veggies I have for the upcoming week are still pretty summery but the fall foods are coming soon. I bought my first acorn squash of the season at the market yesterday and shed a little tear as I paid for it! 😉

Talk to me about food waste. Are you good about using whats in your fridge or do you throw out more than you’d like? What’s your biggest challenge with food waste?