Use Food Before It Goes Bad

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Food rarely gets thrown out because nobody wanted it. It gets thrown out because nobody remembered it in time, or nobody could think of what to make with it. Tuna does the remembering. When something needs eating, it helps you figure out who'll eat it and when.

Find what needs eating

Three places show it:

  • The morning alert. On mornings when something is expiring, Tuna sends Food needs eating at 7 AM. Tap it to open Clean the Fridge on those items. See Get Expiring Food Alerts.
  • The pantry. Expiring items say so on their row ("exp. in 2d").
  • The Recipes tab. Filter to Use up soon to see recipes that use food expiring soon.

Plan it

  1. Tap the item in the pantry to open its card.
  2. Tap Plan.
  3. Choose Eat to eat it as-is, or Cook to use it to make something else.

Eat puts it on someone's plate: pick who, which meal, and how much. It's held for that meal, so nobody else plans it twice.

Cook opens Use It Up: ideas for that food from your own kitchen.

Use It Up for chicken tenderloin: other food to use up and recipes that use it

Use It Up shows what you already make

Use It Up lists two things, and only things your household actually makes:

  • Made before: meals your household has made with that food.
  • Recipes: your saved recipes that use it, best match first.

Tap one to cook it now or plan it for later. If something else is expiring too, add it under Also use up and the list narrows to dishes that use both. Nothing fits? Tap New recipe and write the one you're about to improvise.

Move it to the freezer

Not going to get to it in time? Tap Move on its card and send it to the freezer. It gets the freezer's longer date, and it stops showing up in the alert until it's close again. Move Some of it to freeze half and keep the rest. See Customize Pantry Sections.

When it really is too late

Some food loses the race. Mark it All gone, choose Tossed, and Tuna records it honestly as waste. For food already past its date, Pitch on its card does the same in one tap. See Mark Food All Gone.

The point isn't a kitchen where nothing is ever thrown away. It's one where food gets eaten in roughly the order it needs to be, without anyone standing guard.

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Cook a Recipe