The only thing that works for us is to plan, plan, plan. We make multiple meals out of nearly everything we buy. Broccoli is with rice, pasta, chicken. Some of it is in school lunches. Chicken becomes an entree and soup, some of it frozen for the next week. Pasta sauce is cut up into chicken parm, cooked with sausage over macaroni, and in lasagna. Again into the freezer for the following week. When I first started combining recipes, it was a huge pain to deal with the planning but now it has become part of the way it's done and repetitive. What helps a ton is altering the recipes. Not every recipe needs every ingredient. I hope that helps!

I don't mean to sound trite but purchase less. Little things, like reducing the bulk of grapes the groceries put out. Just take half or more of them out and only buy what you need. Plan a couple meals out of one protein. If you buy chicken, it can be fairly easy to make separate dishes even if both are with rice - baked and grilled for example. Keep the second for a later night. I talked to our kids about eating leftovers to reduce the waste and whether they love it or not, we have the same dinner a couple nights in a row quite often.

I try to buy foods that are fairly universal in terms of ingredients across recipes. Chicken breast vs with bones for example. First night we grill, next night add it to a stir fry, a pasta, use the leftovers for chicken salad sandwiches. Same with steak, grill then it goes in with rice and veggies. Like the prior post, I stopped buying every last ingredient for recipes. If it doesn't work in multiple dishes I leave it at the grocery store.