Comments on: Lessons From History: Don’t Waste Anything

By: Lesson From History: The Gift of Having “Enough”

Lesson From History: The Gift of Having “Enough” — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:31:04 +0000

[...] the industrial revolution, people didn’t waste anything, out of pure necessity. If the food they stored up didn’t last until the next harvest, they [...]

By: charlie

charlie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:41:28 +0000

“bubble and squeak” is the traditional english way of using up leftover cooked vegetables. One of my favourite meals early on in the week. I do get mildly annoyed by people who ‘make left overs’ (boil / steam vegetables) to specifically make bubble and squeak! seems mad to me.

By: linda

linda — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:40:35 +0000

This is interesting! Another idea — In many parts of the world, dinner is simply leftovers from lunch. I’ve lived in Ecuador and Africa, where families eat a proper cooked lunch, then save the leftovers on the stove and reheat for dinner (with the result that dinner is often simpler than lunch).

By: gfe--gluten free easily

gfe--gluten free easily — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:13:22 +0000

I was just reading how one mom would clean out her fridge and make a party platter one night a week. Her whole family thought it was great. They never realized they were eating leftovers. LOL She might add some bread for inspired sandwich making, or tortillas, or make pancakes/waffles (we sometimes forget they can also be used for savory dishes) or crepes if needed to help use the bits and pieces up. I thought this was a great idea as I’ve found sometimes that even just putting out little tidbits of “ingredients” makes for nice snacks or light meals. Red pepper rings, sliced cucumbers, raw mushrooms (although I did read recently they shouldn’t be eaten raw–know anything about that, Kimi?), and the like. Like everyone else, I use leftover chicken carcasses, bones, stock, veggies, and fruit (great for cold soups or homemade salsa). I typically make what I call my “everything soup” which turns out to be different meat and veggie soups from a container I add those ingredients to. (Sometimes I make other dishes like chicken pot pie or quiche from this container.) I do the same with other bits and pieces suitable for chili: beans, tomato-based sauces, bits of meat that would be good for chili like meatballs or taco meat, etc. Love all the ideas here! Right now, our 21-year old son is home and I’m definitely cleaning out the fridge just to keep him well fed.

Shirley

By: Rachelle

Rachelle — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:49:45 +0000

Another practice we could learn from days gone by–sharing! Granted, sometimes everyone is overrun with zucchini, but in general an abundance can be given away to friends and neighbors, and when they have a lot of something they will give back to you. Not only is this kind of interdependence frugal, it also builds community that nourishes more than just our bodies.

By: Jenn B

Jenn B — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:32:41 +0000

the biggest help for us with dinner leftovers has been eating them for lunch. It’s especially helpful in our house where 1) my husband ‘doesn’t care’ for leftovers for dinner & 2) i’m home with the kids, so regardless of WHAT the leftovers are, it’s easy to heat them up since i’m not transporting them. it’s also helpful in giving the kids more ‘opportunity’ to be presented with our dinner foods (many of which they don’t like), i don’t have to buy sandwich making items much, and for whatever reason, i find heating up leftovers quicker (yes, sans microwave) than making 3 sandwiches. oh & i don’t have to ‘decide’ what’s for lunch most days. whatever’s leftover in the fridge is lunch! (though the sometimes small amts of leftovers makes weird combinations. for example, a bit of shepherd’s pie, a side of craisins & cheese squares….again, it helps that i’m feeding kids who don’t know that’s weird!)

By: Kika

Kika — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:56:14 +0000

I wonder if Marissa (or someone else) could describe for me how they make vegetable soup stock (I don’t eat meat). Thank you!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:09:34 +0000

I’m surprised this didn’t come up (though I suppose it is an element of planning). I buy only a couple types of dried bulk items. That way, when I half not enough for dinner in one box or bag and not enough for dinner in another, I can easily combine them. For example, if you have half a box of farfalle and half a box of fussilli, it would be a pain in the butt. But if you only buy fussilli for when short pasta is needed , capellini for long pasta in a light sauce, and spagetti for long pasta in a heavy sauce, its easy to combine one box of of fussilli with another. The same goes for beans. If you have ten types of beans, but only a bit left, it doesn’t work so well, and you probably won’t use up most of them practically ever. If you know you love green lentils, navy beans, and sprouted mung beans, just buy those, and you can use the little bit of the old, and the new together. Yeah, it might be a little less interesting, but really its all in what you do with it anyways, and no one perishes for lack of variety of pasta shapes, or types of beans. (thinking about adding another type of bean or two though, I must admit, since I’m still learning about beans. maybe pinto, black, pink or black eyed peas?)

Freeze herbs. I’d love to dehydrate them, but I don’t have a dehydrater yet, and I’m scared to do it in the oven, so I freeze them in ice cube trays. This is the first time I’ve tried it, so we’ll see.

Having a partner who eats enough that we almost never have leftovers helps too.

Also, learning new ways to use leftovers that growing up, I was taught had no use and must be thrown out. Turns out, oatmeal makes the most delicious filler for meatloaf (though don’t add too much or it can’t hold it’s shape), and leftovers would be better than fresh since you don’t have to let it cool so as not to cook the egg or meat before it’s time to cook it. Things like that.

Also, learning how to store foods properly. I’m still working on this. Learning how to store them, and making sure they are. For instance, making sure the sandwich bread ALWAYS goes back into the plastic bag, or else it goes stale too fast. (actually, I’m considering storing all bread in plastic. Yeah, the crust won’t be crusty, but it won’t be stale either).

By: Lindsey in AL

Lindsey in AL — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:33:52 +0000

I feed pretty much everything to the chickens. I can usually guess whether or not a leftover will get used and if I know I am unlikely to feed it to the people before it goes bad, I just send it straight out to the chickens. I don’t actually feed them chunks of steak or chicken, but I will toss a bit of casserole with meat in it. The cats appreciate that

Thanks for the push about the berries- we’re being overrun with blueberries and have a smattering or blackberries. We’ve been out of town for a week and now they’re all ripe. Time to get out there and fight the mosquitoes!

By: Pampered Mom

Pampered Mom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:29:49 +0000

Get organized! Mark leftover containers, freeze when needed, and keep a clear rotation going.
Lacto-ferment extra vegetables, freeze berries in season

These two really caught my eye – definitely something I need to get better at doing! I think it all comes down to mindfulness – with the food in your home and the processes you go through for it. Thanks for the reminder!