First In, First Out (FIFO) is a useful way that many restaurants and grocery stores use to organize food - and you can use this system at home! Move food that’s likely to spoil soon to the front of the shelf or put it in an “Eat this first” bin. Move recently purchased items towards the back.
Make leftovers a part of your weekly meal plan by designating one day a week for ‘eating down the fridge’ or ‘leftover lollapalooza’.
If possible, reheat leftovers in the way they were originally prepared. A toaster oven can help make pizza, breads, fried foods, grilled meats, and seafood much more appetizing than a zap in the microwave can.

Think of leftovers as ingredients. Make casseroles, burritos, wraps, frittatas, stews, smoothies and more from leftovers and extra ingredients. Find ideas for leftovers at the Food Hero website.
Puree cooked veggies and a can of tomato sauce for a nutrient dense pasta sauce or puree with a can of broth for soup.
Learn cooking skills together and challenge family members to transform ‘need to use up’ food items into a meal.

Get to know what date labels mean so you aren’t throwing good food in the trash. “Sell-by”, “use-by” and “best by” all means different things and none of these identify when food has ‘gone bad’ or could be dangerous.
Practice safe food handling habits, store food properly and learn when and how to use your senses and good judgment to determine if food needs to be tossed.
Food shelf life estimates are helpful guides. However, they are just estimates so always use your best judgment.