The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook: Save Food, Save Money and Save the Planet

by Cinda Chavich

Waste Not, Want Not. It wasn't just your grandma's favorite expression—it was a way of life. Back then, it was a matter of making do with what you had, but now food waste is a huge global issue. A full 40 percent of food is wasted in North America, and more than half of that is dropped into the household trash or compost bins. Many people have no idea of the devastating implications of this—if food waste was a country it would be the third largest producer of CO2 in the world, after the US and China, and is a major contributor to global warming. But by heeding the wise adage our grandparents held dear, we can do our part to help. The Waste Not, Want Not Cookbook shows you exactly how to save food, save money, and save the environment—one carrot at a time.

You can rework so many meals—stale bread into sweet and savory puddings, roasts into soups and sandwich wraps, a bounty of fresh fruit or veggies into crisps, smoothies and freezable soups or sauces. This book will show you how to transform leftovers in delicious new dishes, store and preserve fresh foods to make them last, shop smart when buying in bulk, create one big feast, and feed your family for three days, and interpret “best-before” dates on packaged foods. So resolve to reclaim the contents of your refrigerator and pantry before sending it off to the compost pile (or horrors, the landfill!). Do something about it, one meal at a time from your own kitchen.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Ebooks

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

Reviews

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I learned a couple of things (who knew you could freeze egg whites?!) and am excited to try a couple of the recipes (esp. the broccoli, bacon and cheddar scones).

The introduction is a great summary of why we really need to stop wasting food and how food waste affects our environment and our economy, and was written in way that was accessible, positive and understandable (yay!).

It also works as a great recipe index by ingredient, and I learned a knew way to eat cabbage.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an okay book. The introduction to the book was, I feel, its strongest component. At the same time, as a basic introduction to cooking and learning to use up the foods you have in the fridge, it's a decent companion. If you're looking for something that has less butter, sugar, and other such ingredients included in the recipes, you won't find that here. Almost everything seems to be flavored with butter and quite a number of the recipes have added sugar (much of the time in ways I feel is unnecessary). Don't get me wrong, butter is great with certain foods; but many of the recipes could have been improved with less sugar and less butter. That said, still better than take-out.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all a good cookbook in a topic of food waste, using up all the produce and when to throw away something, if anything. It's also a reference to those most popular everyday ingredients, from what to look for when buying and how to use them all up - laid out in a handy alphabetical order.

This book will be probably most useful to those who are at the beginning of their culinary adventure, as most of the tips of using up ingredients, the recipes are probably widely know to someone who cooks on a daily basis.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this cookbook up at a used book sale last spring and now as I am on a mission to eat the food I have in the house rather than running to the grocery store weekly I thought it was a good time to pull it off the shelf. I found several recipes I am looking forward to trying over the next few weeks, with the added bonus that these recipes will use up those last bits left in random bottles and jars in my fridge.

[Tri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as a cookbook, but as a ‘reuse scraps to make more food’ book, it’s underwhelming. Much of the recipes feed larger groups and/or contain meat products, as well as requiring some ingredients that you may not already have at home. If you’re feeding 1-2 people and have dietary restrictions at all, this isn’t the best book, although it has some decent tips about food storage and longevity.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea - I hate when food goes bad in my fridge, so any tips to prevent that are great. But this book is not very vegan friendly, so the recipes aren't very helpful. I would love a vegan version!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ended up starting this in May, stopping , and picking it up again about a week ago. I hoped it would be more vegan friendly, but nope.

[Reina Williams]

Some useful tips but no recipes of interest to me.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these hard times I hate to throw out food.

If there's any tips I can get to stretch my dollar or come up with more creative ways to cook or store food, I doubt that it is not included in this content packed book.

A must for the home cook or the environmentalist in your life. Meat and veggie dishes featured.

Highly recommended!

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook has good basics for people who are just entering the kitchen and learning how to cook and maintain a healthy fridge. It didn't really offer any innovative storing techniques or recipes. I would have liked to see more recipes aimed at using ingredients close to expiration. Maybe there are some recipes that benefit from very ripe fruit for example? Other than banana bread.

[Mollyann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Ideas, Just Not What I Was Looking For

I was looking for ways to use more of the foods that still go to waste. For instance, the section on cauliflower only uses the florets. You are still throwing away the stem and the leaves. Both are excellent food sources.
That said, there are some recipes I've never heard of before and it is a good reminder how not to waste food.

[Selena Beckman-Harned · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be about tips for using food scraps and leftover bits that would normally be thrown away, but instead it's just a prosaic list of recipes with very few tips of the kind I was hoping for. Disappointed.

[Emily Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has common sense ideas for using fresh food before it goes bad, but I thought it would be focused on recipes or tips that explain how to use the whole item - ie carrot greens or peels or seeds. Nothing groundbreaking though it is a good looking book. It would be a nice gift for a new cook.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting cookbook with facts about food waste, how best to store foods, and recipes that you can easily make to use up foods that you have in your house.

I think I'm on a kick of learning about food waste. I think I want a copy of this book, because there were so many useful tips in it.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a neat book that gives you different ways to use ingredients.