"One man's trash is another man's treasure."
No doubt you've heard this saying before; maybe even used it yourself. Today, I'd like to find out how you put it into practice in your kitchen and/or cooking!
Don't wrinkle up your nose until you hear me out. Wastefulness is a pet peeve of mine; maybe to a fault. I embraced reduce, reuse, recycle before it was mainstream. Admittedly, the house can become a little cluttered with things that I think might be useful later. But, I'm getting better at being selective and productive with what I keep. The one place this has always been a part of my life is the kitchen. My great grandmother, Minerva, was a master at this (as was many women of her time). Not much went to the trash from her kitchen! She passed some of this frugality to my mom, where I absorbed it and continue to use it in my kitchen today!
I know of people and whole families who refuse to eat leftovers - they throw everything into the garbage can at the end of each dinner. I have a hard time wrapping my head around this wastefulness - ugh!!! It's the simplest thing to put the extra servings in the refrigerator and have them for lunch or dinner later, especially when you're short on time and need a "heat 'n eat" meal. I understand that the frig can get crowded with small portions of food, some getting pushed to the back and forgotten, only to emerge as some kind of scary science project. But, if you make a habit of using the leftovers, that doesn't happen very often.
In our home we have incorporated leftovers into our weekly meal plan. Sometimes it's called "Buffet Night", sometimes it's "Whatever You Can Find Night", and other times it's labeled "Throwback Thursday" (though that can also mean an old-fashioned meal). On these nights, we get all the food out of the refrigerator and each person gets to choose (or have a little of everything) from the previous nights' dinners. The kids really enjoy it because they get to choose their favorite meal of the week to have again; if they don't want a particular food, they don't have to have it. It's a win-win for everyone! There's also the idea of "planned overs". That's when you make twice as much and plan to have the same meal twice. Either within the week, as lunches, morph it into another dish, or freeze it to have at a much later time or when in need of a quick meal. Sometimes, just changing the label can change attitudes. If you "don't do" leftovers in your home, maybe using one of these methods will give new life to an old problem.
What about the food that's leftover while making meals? You know, the crusts & heels of the loaf of bread and the parts of veggies that you don't eat. What does one do with all that kitchen trash? Turn it into treasure, of course! Here are a few of my favorite ways to do that:
BREAD (crusts & heels). Do you trash the crust of toast & sandwiches? Do you throw away the first & last slices of the loaf of bread? STOP doing that! Do this instead: cut them into bread cubes and put them in the freezer (use an empty bread bag to continue to reduce, reuse, & recycle). You can use these bread cubes in a number of ways, but my two favorites are
a. stuffing, use your favorite recipe
b. french toast casserole - my favorite French Toast Casserole is found here - Mamabelly's.
VEGETABLES There are a few things you can do with veggies.
a. cooked veggies - if the portion left over from dinner is too small to have again, put it in a container in the freezer (label it 'cooked veggies'). Add any cooked vegetables to this over time. When the container is full, make vegetable soup! Remember that these are cooked, so they won't need to cook in the soup; add them last so they don't turn to mush.
b. raw veggies - the parts of vegetables that we don't usually cook & serve, like the stem of broccoli, or when carrots are looking a little old (not pretty enough to serve, but still good to eat). Cut the vegetables into small pieces put it in a container marked "raw veggies", storing it in the freezer. These can be used to flavor broth for soup & stews or even cook down into vegetable broth.
c. ends & leaves - these are the parts that we humans don't eat, but that doesn't mean they can't be useful. Start a compost! There are all sizes & variety of compost for every household! Whether you have a large garden or a few pots of flowers, your plants will thank you for feeding them with the treasure you created from your kitchen trash.
In case you're wondering.... Yes, I have a freezer! In fact I have 2 refrigerators with freezers and a small chest freezer. But, I also have 3 children, buy in bulk (including meat), and cook most meals. You probably wouldn't need this much freezer space :)
There are lots of frugal, trash-to-treasure things that can be done with food! I'd love to hear how you turn kitchen trash into edible or reusable treasure! Share your tips, tricks, and ideas in the Comments!
Your Partner in Ministry,
Shelly
warrior
"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body." Proverbs 16:24
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