When I realized I had the flu, I was already not eating much. When the stomach problems started, I ate even less. When exbf did not come after my request for him to stay home, even less food was eaten. He also told me he did not want to eat anything I had cooked or handled or opened. He offered this without my having offered anything to him. I think he was afraid of being around me.
Since I could not bend down to see what was on lower shelves, things hid. At one point, I quit eating the fresh lettuce because I thought I might have e coli from eating it. Plus, my body did not need fiber. After three weeks of flu and recovery, I was not eating much, certainly not things I handled while ill. Then, the uti took away my desire and ability to do anything thrifty, like eating up leftovers I knew were okay. These leftovers were cooked after I recovered from the flu. I shoved back the leftovers and put more in front of them!
All this has been going on for about six weeks. The lettuce was tossed after it was so wilted and brown. I had two heads of cabbage that went south. A piece of ham was too old to eat. You get the idea. So, I had a whole 10 gal. garbage bag of food that was suspect or obviously not good anymore. The four pints of broth won't be consumed.
No, I did not compost any of it. I threw it in the trash, something I rarely do with food. I feel like I am starting over with food in the refrigerator. Actually, I am still digging around to find stuff to get rid of when I get milk or anything to eat from the refrigerator.
There is no one here to eat anything but me. Exbf would have eaten the food being tossed if I had not been ill. I don't blame him. I was not about to freeze food I had breathed on when I had the flu! I am not sure that the flu when frozen will be active upon thawing. Do you know?
So, in addition to tossing food, I did not get nutrition I needed. On the upside, I was not buying many groceries. However, I paid for and consumed fast food. There is just no upside to any of this. There is only the waste of more food than ever.
Do you find you waste food when you are too ill to eat what is ready to be eaten? What event would cause you to actually waste food? Would people in your household be wary of eating anything you prepared when you were ill?
The folks in my family have eaten foods I prepare when I am sick for years, unless I am so sick I can't move. Then TheHub has to do take out or fend fro himself. I am kind of fastidious about washing my hands, and if I am coughing I wear a mask while cooking to limit contamination. When I am sick we have no uncooked foods, since high heat is going to kill the cooties, and I do not touch anyones bread.
ReplyDeleteTheHub gets the CDC reports at work almost daily and the flu has peaked here, but they expect it to stay at peak levels for a couple of weeks. We have decided we will stay as close to home as possible to limit exposure. This is a nasty virus and has mutated a couple of times since its onset.
Anne,
DeleteThe funny this is, I didn't cough once when I had the flu. I may have coughed while in bed to clear my throat. He knows I wash my hands and was having none of it...lol. When he took me to ER and did not have the flu but did not know, he said he did not want me giving him anything I had touched or even opened. So, no crackers, no cheese. I washed his Halos in soapy water, put on gloves and dried them and put them in a plastic bag. Usually, I peel them for easier eating. He got no goodies for his snack bag that might be contaminated by me. When he dropped me off here, he got none of the lettuce! I think he has only been here once since my diagnosis, but he is near hundreds of people all day. I heard a doctor on TV say that it is possible to catch the flu from people's breath, that it does not have to be coughed out. He was taking no chances when he heard of gastrointestinal problems I had and the severity. Thanks for info.
With my husband, my mom, two college kids and myself, there is always someone around to eat whatever is already cooked.
ReplyDeleteWe also have food allergies, so many fast foods are not safe and the few that are safe get old if you eat them too often.
Aside from veggies that get sad (we usually offer to the chickens) we don’t throw out much food.
It’s a good thing too, as it costs a fortune to feed all these people grain free and lactose free.
I’m sorry you were ill and lost all that food.
Patti,
DeleteI was wishing someone could benefit from all the food I had. I am missing having chickens to eat sad food. I mostly eat grain-free and have expensive a2milk, and it is expensive. Thanks, it was an incredible loss to me when I hauled that trash bag to can outdoors. I am slowly getting better as of yesterday. Hopefully, this is the end of it.
Are you the Patti from whom I received my pressure canner? I have a question for email.
Yes, I am. Take care.
DeletePatti,
DeleteI cannot find your email. I have as question. Will you email me at pparsimony@yahoo.com ? Thanks.
There was a time when the whole six of us got sick the day after Christmas and there was quite a bit of food in the house that we just couldn't eat. Some of it was still ok by the time we got better but there was quite a bit of waste.
ReplyDeleteIt has only been recently that I realised we probably had food poisoning and I would be the one responsible because everything we ate was prepared by me. That was probably 15 years ago and I have no idea what I got wrong, my food handling is good and I have never made anyone sick before or since
kylie,
DeleteIt seems anything that was thrown out could be the culprit since you ate food from which you got the food poisoning. If you even had one bite of fruit or vegetable not cooked, that could be the culprit. The realization I made my whole family sick would be painful. I am careful with food!
If it was uncooked meat why would you not just freeze it? Even if you had handled it or breathed on it those germs would be destroyed by either the freezing or the cooking afterwards.
ReplyDeleteIf it was already cooked you could have still put it in the freezer - as long as you would have heated it up to boiling after thawing.
Fruit & veg is tough - again, you could have popped both into ziplock bags and used them for broth or for smoothies after thawing. That's the only thing I can think of to avoid future waste - hope it helps.
What is a2 milk - I've seen you write about it but have no idea what it is???? Thx
Margie, the meat was about three weeks past what I call fresh. The vegetables were slimy. All was past freezing. Look on the right side of blog and find a2milk to read about it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - we don't have a2Milk in Canada but then our milk doesn't contain hormones, antibiotics or steroids. If a cow has to be treated with antibiotics or steroids then she is removed from the heard until her milk tests clear again. And no imported milk is allowed into Canada. A1 milk only seems to be a problem with the 25% of the population who is lactose intolerant - but pills are now available to deal with that issue. I find the claims by the New Zealand Co. who are the primary producers a wee bit "over inflated" and apparently they were fined for many of their claims and told to remove them from labels. If you think it helps then I'm glad it's available for you but I don't think I'll worry about it. Always something new though. Thank you.
DeleteMargie, this issue has nothing to do with steroids, antibiotics, or hormones. AND, I am not lactose intolerant. If I were, why would I take a pill? I am allergic to a protein! I don't "think" this works, I KNOW it is good for me. This is not just "something new," a fad. If you don't have a problem, there is no reason for you to worry about it. I think you do not understand the science behind this.
DeleteSo Sorry to have spoken! You talk all the time about eating foods that contain milk so I didn't understand how you could be allergic.
DeleteI have actual food, additive and drug allergies, wear a medic alert bracelet and carry an Epipen at all times so I do know what allergies are! You don't mention any of these things.
You may very well have some sensitivities - which can certainly be a problem and uncomfortable - but you seem to pick and choose your "allergies" from post to post. And the "science" behind the a2milk is controversial because testing has only been done on rats - not on mammals - which is the reason why the company that started this enterprise was fined for unproven and spurious claims and ordered to remove these claims from their packaging. You may wish to do a bit more research.
Margie,
DeleteI don't have to mention anything every post. I am not going to list my allergies every post. I do not "pick and choose" my allergies. And why do you write "allergies" in quotes as though you don't believe I have allergies. I really don't care what you believe. So, you have read their detractors? Whatever. It seems as though you come to my blog to disprove everything I say or to argue. Most of the time it is as though you did not concentrate and read what I actually said.
I actually have no trouble concentrating or understanding things. I refer to your Allergist visit of Sept. 13th - you say you are allergic to milk but go on to talk about eating yogurt & drinking milk, eating items that contain milk and you have no action. You then talk about eliminating whole wheat but being able to eat other wheat - like that in Wonder Bread. Well sorry - with allergies you don't get to pick and choose - you either are allergic or you aren't! If you want to solve your problems once and for all you need blood tests for the a1 protein and you need to have the standard skin test administered by your allergist which will settle any questions once and for all. I find no mention of these tests - instead you continue to self-diagnose and jump on any article going as an answer to your perceived issues. When you post articles such as that then you leave yourself open to enquiries & comments. As I said, you may very well have food sensitivities which can be uncomfortable but allergies are different - you either are or aren't allergic to something - there is no middle ground! Perhaps you should do a bit more reading.
DeleteMargie,
ReplyDeleteWhy are you so hell bent on nitpicking? My allergist is the one I listen to, not you with your half-baked knowledge.
Margie,
ReplyDeleteMy "perceived issues"?
I am not nitpicking - if your allergist was concerned about your symptoms then the first thing he would have done is order blood & skin reaction tests. My knowledge is not half-baked as I suffer from life threatening allergies and always have to read labels, avoid certain foods, wear a medical alert bracelet and carry an Epipen at all times!
ReplyDeleteBecause I have life-threatening allergies I am very aware of what one can or cannot eat. You talk all the time about eating things that would be on a banned list if you were truly allergic to milk and wheat. It is you who has some half-baked notions - and my concern is that others who truly are allergic to certain products may follow your example and ingest things that they shouldn't!
I think this link would be very helpful for you (or any others who may have concerns) to read. http://foodallergycanada.ca
This site is not someone's opinion nor is it someone who has something to sell - it is set up by those with actual medical knowledge in the field.
Margie,
ReplyDeleteI have the epi pen that I carry daily. I have an allergist who also teaches. I doubt anyone is going to kill themselves with me as their example. Start your own blog.
Oh how I hate to waste food! It feels a crime. I continually struggle not to do so. It sucks to do.
ReplyDeleteurspo,
DeleteSame here. It is a waste of money, food, resources, nutrition. I really want to eat what I wasted.