fighting food waste and saving on groceries:

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One of the first things I do when I go on break at work is to check the culls areas in the back of the store and grab what I think my family can use. I check it again after I clock out at the end of my shift because often new things will appear there throughout the day. Today I was able to bring home some cinnamon rolls (great for easy breakfasts on school days), some sliced chicken deli meat, a quart of organic half & half, a loaf of bread, 2 BBQ ranch bagged salads, and a large bag of assorted cookies from the self-serve cookie bar. There were several dozen cartons of eggs and some random yogurt singles too, but I've got plenty of eggs and yogurt right now. I also passed up on several cakes and pastries today (although I was very tempted to grab the giant soft pretzels), although sometimes I'll bring those home too. Altogether, that's over $40 worth of food that was destined for the trash. Granted, I work at a fancy high-priced organic grocery store (and that's not the price I would have paid with my employee discount) and it might have cost less at a larger chain, but you can't beat free! I managed to take a photo of the bread, cookies, and cinnamon rolls; I put the other items away in the fridge before I thought of the photo.