Loving Leftovers

Photo by: hkaiser

I can identify with eating off Wednesday's dinner through the weekend. Nobody enjoys chicken and rice through an entire lunar cycle. Most of us who are learning how to cook for a small family end up wasting a third or more of our food. With a good portion of our global population grappling with starvation we can't afford to disregard massive amount of rotting leftovers. Not that we enjoy tossing out excess noodles, but we know too well that they'll sit exiled in Frosty Fridge Land until a science experiment begins sprouting. How can we make good use of our leftover ingredients to avoid waste and save on our budget with fewer trips to the grocery store?

The most obvious way to use all the food we purchase is to stick to a meal plan. You can make your own if you are a more experienced cook, or enlist the help of an online service to get started. For just $5 a month, my subscription to a meal-planning site sends me to the grocery store with a list of food by aisle and recipes printed on just two sheets of paper. The service takes into account excess food and recycles it throughout the week, saving me money and avoiding spoiled goods. I spend nearly $150 less each month on food with this grocery list.

These are some of the most common household ingredients. The next time you end up with a bucketful, put the excess to good use to avoid waste.

What to do with leftovers...

• Rice: crust for quiche, rice salad (lighter than potato salad), stuffed chicken, add butter and brown sugar for breakfast, rice pudding, stir fry rice, add it to cream of celery and chicken stock
• Ground Meat (beef or turkey): meatloaf, meat balls, season with Italian herbs and add to pasta sauce, add cumin to make taco meat for enchiladas or nachos, pot roast with vegetables, stroganoff with egg noodles, shepherd's pie
• Chicken: shred and wrap with a tortilla, boil the carcass to make broth; chop and add celery, nuts, craisins, and mayo for chicken salad
• Noodles: chicken spaghetti, goulash, pasta salad, stir fry, chicken or turkey soup, tuna casserole, tetrazzini
• Potatoes: mash and add milk and butter, dice and roast with rosemary and garlic, potato soup, shepherd's pie
• Bread: baked French toast, croutons, macaroni and cheese with crunchy crumbs, bread pudding, panzanella salad
• Apples: homemade apple sauce with brown sugar and butter, add to tuna or chicken salad for some crunch
• Sweet Produce: blend fruit together with milk, yogurt, honey, and ice for breakfast or freeze individual servings and eat throughout the week
• Little Bits of vegetables and meats: toss everything in a pot and add broth and spices to make a soup, fold some of everything into an egg omelet

Get additional ideas and tips for stretching your pantry and reducing waste from the following resources:

E-Mealz
If you have difficulty being creative and brainstorming exactly how you'll use leftover shallots, E-mealz will do the work for you. For a small monthly fee subscribe to a meal plan tailored to your shopping and eating preferences. Included are low-fat, family, bargain shopping, and Weight Watchers plans.

Leftover Chef
Run, don't walk, to the Leftover Chef for a myriad of ideas on how to recycle many common ingredients. Select your main ingredient and any secondary ingredient to get a list of recycle recipes.

Next: Smart Storage