Week 1: Results

Commitment one: Not Wasting Food.

What I've learned:
Unless there is going to be some sort of mystery ingredient casserole at the end of the week, utilizing all of the food we've purchased is going to take creativity.  Here's what I've done with some of the extra ingredients and leftovers...

MEAL: Sloppy joes and homemade coleslaw.
EXTRA INGREDIENTS: 2 Cups of shredded cabbage. 
NEW USE FOR INGREDIENTS: The cabbage is frozen in a labeled baggie for addition to vegetable soup later.  I plan to make "Clean-Out-The-Pantry-Minestrone" in the crockpot, from my current favorite website: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/01/clean-out-pantry-minnestrone-soup.html
LEFTOVERS: Sloppy joes and coleslaw.  Both items went to work and/or camp with various family members for lunch the next day.

MEAL: Brats and Hamburgers and corn on the grill.
EXTRA INGREDIENTS: Sliced tomatoes, sliced onions and lettuce used for hamburger garnish.  One cob of roasted corn.
NEW USE FOR INGREDIENTS: Lettuce, tomatoes and onions ended up in a salad for lunch the next day.  Roasted corn was cut off the cob and frozen for addition to the "Clean-Out-The-Pantry-Minestrone" mentioned above.

Food Wasted:
Strawberries.  This one makes me angry. I bought a container of strawberries on Thursday and most of them had rotten spots by Saturday. After cutting out the bad spots, I ended up throwing about 1/3 of the container in the compost.

Restaurant Leftovers:  This one was not my fault.  My husband got some food at a restaurant at lunch, brought the leftovers home and didn't eat them like he thought he would... Maybe some more gentle reminders are in order.

Commitment Two: Preparing in the evening.
So far so good.  I have discovered one new strategy for leftovers that can be taken for lunches.  Before we leave the dinner table, I ask who wants which the leftovers for lunch the next day.  Then I get the individual serving containers and portion it out before I even leave the table.  Then we have a good amount of the lunches packed before we even leave the dinner table.

Commitment Three: Make Soup Twice a Month
No soup yet, but lots of ingredients.  Chicken legs and thighs were on sale, so I stocked up.  I need to prep them (remove skin) and re-package them into smaller portions, so that I can cook them and use the bones for stock... "Clean out the Pantry Minestrone" is on the schedule for this week, though.

So far so good!