At the YMCA of Greater Omaha, we’re committed to supporting your well-being—not only through fitness, but through partnerships that inspire healthier, more sustainable living. Together with No More Empty Pots, we’re empowering active older adults to make the most of their food budgets, reduce waste, and live well—something we can all benefit from.
Through a grant from Immanuel Visions, we had the pleasure of partnering with the No More Empty Pots team to provide monthly healthy luncheons at the YMCA Healthy Living Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As part of this initiative, No More Empty Pots has launched a senior education series—and we’re excited to share their first blog post here, also created in partnership with the YMCA Healthy Living Center. The following was written by Cid Kelley, Omaha native and community engagement assistant at No More Empty Pots.
Greetings, fellow seniors!
First thing I’m gonna do is ask you to tell me what to call you - I was asked to write a blog aimed at Seniors, but do we all like that term to describe ourselves? Share what term you like: the Silver Set, Golden Oldie, Retiree, Old Hippie, or whatever. Just curious!
Today's blog topic covers how to reduce your food waste and stretch your food budget.
First, a few statistics:
In 2023, over 47 million Americans faced food insecurity; Americans discard more food than any other country, nearly 40 million tons — or 30-40 percent of the entire US food supply - each year; and more than 80 percent of Americans discard perfectly good food because they misunderstand expiration labels.
These are among the best reasons to build the habits of reducing food waste and stretching that food budget! It takes a bit of time and effort to change our habits, but we’re retired! Time, we’ve got! I love good alliteration!
Here’s mine for this topic: The 5 P’s - Peruse, Plan, Purchase, Prepare, and Put Up.
Let’s take them one at a time.
1. Peruse
Before your next shopping trip, check your pantry, freezer, and fridge to see what’s on hand. Pay very close attention to your produce so that you can use up everything before it goes bad. I know that’s my #1 source of waste; I can overestimate what I will use when I’m shopping and some rots in the bin. What a waste!
2. Plan
Make doable plans for using up what you already have, before it goes bad. I like to play a little game I call “Chopped At Home,” after the TV show “Chopped.” The game (yes, make it a game - so much more fun than a chore!) “rules” are: take all your leftovers and unused produce and come up with a new meal that uses all of those foods. It’s not fair to simply reheat and eat. Boring!!
For instance, deconstruct your half-a-quiche or casserole and use the parts, as many as you can. I may chop up the quiche, add beaten eggs, and make an omelet! A casserole can even become a soup. It is a wonderful way to use a lot of leftovers and produce, especially if you make your own stock! (more on stock in a bit)
This is an opportunity to flex your kitchen creativity, a great brain exercise! Have fun with it! You then know what’s on hand and are ready to plan next week’s meals, starting with what you have and adding what you’ll need to your shopping list. Have half a pack of bacon and some lettuce? Add to your list a tomato and bread and you’ll have a BLT meal, for example!
3. Purchase
After perusing and planning, you are now ready to purchase. Before you go to the store(s), look at the grocery ads of your favorites and dream up how the sale items (especially meat, if you eat that) and your fridge/pantry items can come together for as many meals as you will cook.
Try not to fool yourself like I do: if I plan to cook 5 nights, something always comes up so I end up cooking only 3 meals. Now the rest of my groceries have become my overstock! Easy to see the possible waste there!
A more cost-effective choice is to plan for fewer meals, but stock your pantry and freezer with easy-to-use items that can be combined into meals for those weeks where you eat at home more than planned. Those items will keep a long time! After planning your meals, make your list for sale items at each of your favorite stores. Eat before you go, and stick to your list! What did I say? Stick to your list (and your budget)!!
By the way, the No More Empty Pots Micro Market offers “Double Up Food Bucks” for folks using EBT. Also, a certain humongous retailer (starts with a “W”) gives 50% off their membership fee to folks with SNAP benefits. This gives you free delivery! And how better to stick to your list than to give it (online) to a personal shopper who can’t be swayed by store gimmicks to get you to buy more? That’s a good way to stick to your list and budget, save travel time and gas/ride money, and have fresh food in a few hours!
4. Prepare
When groceries arrive in your kitchen, put frozen foods away immediately. Fresh meat: store in the fridge ONLY what you will use in 2-3 days; the rest goes in the freezer to be placed in the refrigerator to thaw the night before you plan to cook it. If you forget to transfer it the night before, you can thaw it in cold water at a rate of about an hour per pound, then refrigerate it 'til use. Resist the temptation to thaw meat at room temperature! It’s just not safe! And fresh produce and other cold goods: into the fridge as quickly as possible.
If you set aside a day a week to prep ahead, that’s the time to wash produce and even chop items for specific recipes. Store them in the fridge 'til use. Pantry items can be stored a long time, but do be mindful of expiration dates! Place new of the same items, like canned tomatoes, behind the old, so that the oldest is used first.
5. Put Up
Remember those stats on food waste? Putting foods up cuts that dramatically!
- Let’s start with stock/broth.
We buy all the ingredients for stock, but mostly we throw it away while spending money on commercial broth! Build a new habit: when you chop onion, celery, and carrot for whatever, save all the scraps in the freezer in a labeled freezer bag. When it’s full, empty it into a big pot with water to cover by a few inches, add a bay leaf or two, and bring it to a light boil. Then turn the temp way down so that it keeps bubbling gently, and let it simmer for a few hours. Wow, does the house smell good! Off the heat, let it cool, strain it, and put it in freezer containers, in whatever measure works for you (two cups each works for me). Store it in the freezer, and now you have vegetable stock on hand! If you buy a rotisserie chicken, which is usually good for more than one meal, keep the skin, bones, and drippings to add to your veggies in the stock pot, and now it’s chicken stock! I don’t season mine because I prefer to season it when I use it.
Does this sound like a lot of work?
Maybe (it gets easier when it’s routine), but it is so worth it when you save money by using every bit of your purchased produce, have stock on hand that you know is full of nutrients, and feel the pride and satisfaction of making your own!- Other ways to “put up” are freezing or canning excess produce, whether store-bought or home-grown.
You can join a canning class (No More Empty Pots offers them, or call your county Extension Office); I guarantee a sense of satisfaction when you see your home-canned goods lined up in your pantry! Plus, they make welcome gifts! I’m relatively new to canning, but I’ve put up several different jams and fruits with water bath canning, and meats and vegetables with pressure canning.
There’s a definite investment in time and money to get started in canning, but the pots, tools, jars, and bands are all reusable; only the lids are single-use. My investment in both kinds of canning has paid for itself in less than a year! The price of the food and new lids is all each batch costs; buying seasonally and in bulk, or growing your own foods can cut that down, too. Research how to freeze different foods; some can be frozen whole or cut up, and some can be frozen raw while others need to be blanched before freezing. So worth the effort!!
I thought semi-retirement would be boring with too much time on my hands! Ha! Now I have the time and freedom to spend attending to my budget and to healthful food options, which CAN go hand in hand.
Comments? Questions? Email education@nmepomaha.org. We'd love to hear from you!
-Cid, No More Empty Pots