So you’re interested in becoming a scroungist

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a scroungist! My name is Emily, and I created the concept of a scroungist to teach methods and systems that allow individuals and families to eliminate waste (especially food waste) without complex meal planning or expensive meal kits. This is about focusing on flow in your life and through your kitchen and pantry so that you create steady inflows and outflows that work for you and your lifestyle.

I have to admit: I’m a foodie. I love food, I love cooking, I love making things from scratch and trying new recipes. But I also have to admit that I can’t stick to a plan no matter how hard I’ve tried. I think even the very idea of having a plan, makes me unconsciously want to rebel. So many times I’ve pulled together a bunch of Pinterest recipes and planned out the week of amazing recipes I was going to make, only to have a refrigerator full of ingredients at the end of the week that are spoiling due to the pizza night and take out night and oh, the unexpected lazy let’s eat frozen chicken nuggets night. Historically, my inspiration and ambition have far outpaced my follow-through. (Anyone else?) And last confession: I HATE throwing away food. Spending 10 years as a starving student where I had to pinch every penny, has made throwing away food a tragedy that I avoid with a passion. So all of these things together has driven me to come up with a system that 1.) is big on flavor and creativity– and healthy! 2.) low on planning and flexible to “plan rebels” like me and 3.) still reduces or eliminates food waste.

There are three elements to the scroungist flow:
1.) Making new from-scratch meals from fresh ingredients
2.) Embracing recipe substitutions and repurposing leftovers
3.) Regularly rotating freezer/pantry stock

As these three elements come into balance for your unique lifestyle, you will dial into the system that will virtually eliminate food waste from your daily life. The primary focus is on optimizing and balancing the flow of inventory– a very businessy-engineery way to describe the amount of food that comes into your house (inflow) and gets eaten or (gasp) thrown away (outflow). I’ve created a system and some principles that help you dial this in so that the inflow of food ends up as outflow that is eaten (or properly stored to be eaten later) rather than thrown away. Yay!

There are a few reasons being a scroungist works. First, the scroungist system balances fresh ingredients (which are of course the most healthy, but also spoil quickly) with freezer stock and pantry items, which keep for months, to provide a buffer– this allows for flexibility for take-out meals or times you decide that a hotdog and wine is all you have energy for tonight (a hypothetical, of course), or times you need a quick freezer meal. Second, the scroungist system identifies staples that can create a myriad of options; these staples keep inventory low so you don’t have a refrigerator door full of expiring condiments, for example. Additionally, embracing and understanding how to make recipe substitutions and repurpose ingredients and leftovers also keeps inventory low, so that the number of ingredients whose “use by” dates are ticking closer, is as few as can be. The key to eliminating waste!

So dive in and join on this scroungist journey with me!