This sounds like an epithet, but it isn't. In the hospitality industry, especially in restaurants, this is a term for managing how much garbage is produced, not managing the things that are garbage. The idea is to minimize how much waste is created. Isn't that what we've been talking about all these years?

There is a funny story to illustrate this. Hormel meats made canned hams using pork shoulder, because it was such a low cost cut of meat. Because of its cost, they basically cut the boneless "ham" out of it and did whatever you have to do to make it into a canned, seasoned ham. Then, the price went up on pork shoulder. It was no longer cost effective to cut out what they needed and dispose of what remained. So, they went to a (French!) chef and said, "We need you to come up with something we can make and sell that uses the rest of the pork shoulder, or we will have to stop making canned hams." He minced and spiced and pressed and created a special ham, AKA SPAM. We have a French man to thank for SPAM, everyone. The point, though, is that they had to manage their product so it did not create too much waste.

So, how do we apply this to our own homes and kitchens? We've talked about making stock, having a use for all our ingredients, eating soup once or more a week, planning meals around what we already have, but when we plan those meals, do take into account the leftovers you have.

Let's say you made something using ground beef and have some left, you might have a sauce from another meal, maybe some sort of relish. You can heat and combine them and serve over pasta or rice. Now, it is a different meal, tastes good, and uses what you have so it doesn't go to waste. We've done this with leftovers. We often have lots of leftovers from our Paschal meal, and I have taken to using them in this way. When I plan the week after Bright Week, I take some ground beef, brown it and added the sauce from the lamb, the leftover green hot sauce, and a little bit of water. I cook the rice in the tiny bit of tomato and meat sauce from our stuffed grape leaves, and then I mixed in the red pepper dip with everything after it is cooked. The kids love it, it doesn't look like the exact same meal, we use what we have, and it saves our budget a little. The recipe I shared for chicken and eggplant in a green curry was largely born because of a single eggplant hanging around the back of our fridge and some jalapeños that were drying out, we also had some cucumbers that needed to be used that were marinated to become a salad to go with the meal. When I do my weekly menu planning, I also scan the fridge for meal portions and leftover vegetables that need to be used in something. Stir fries are perfect for this, if you want something easy to do.

Often, I find myself with one or two chipotle chiles in adobo in the fridge, a little cilantro that needs to be used, and some salad greens that are ready right now. These can become a quiche and a salad quite easily, and that does not feel like eating scrapings at all. Again, soup is perfect for this, too. We've had some potatoes that weren't really enough for our family, a few carrots, an onion, a couple sprigs of herbs, and garlic that we cook and add seasoning to, simmer in broth or water, and purée to a lovely, thick soup. Serve with bread, a salad, some fruit, and it is a hearty and tasty meal.

Breakfast is a great place to do this. We add everything to scrambles - leftover rice? In it goes. Beans, veggies, meat, whatever it is, can go in scrambled eggs. Or a breakfast burrito, or an omelet. Even our pancake breakfasts are part of garbage management. We only have a little bit left of the berries or one apple or whatever, and in the batter it goes. A few months ago, we had leftover orange rum syrup from a cake, we had butter sauce from another cake, and a partial bag of frozen blueberries in the freezer that was left open. We added all of that to pancake batter, we could eliminate the butter and the sugar from the battern entirely, and we didn't need to use much syrup at all. It was delicious, cleared out space in our fridge, kept things from going to waste, and saved us money. What more can you ask?

Once you start thinking about what is left in your pantry or fridge as a possibility rather than a liability, it is freeing. Some of the best meals we have had came from this kind of thinking. So, take a quick look in your refrigerator when you are planning the weekly menu, or if you are planning a big roast of something and you know you will have leftovers, think of ways you can remake them into something new for yourself and your family. If you still have a lot left, throw it into eggs or pancakes!

Previous Posts:
Make it at Home
Grocery Shopping
Waste Not, Want Not
Soup
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Use What You Have
Combining Trips
Storing Bulk Purchases
Turn It Off
Grow Your Own
Buying in Bulk
Gleaning
Entertainment on the Down Low
Finding Fun Locally
Holiday Shopping
Reconsidering Convenience
More Bang for Your Grocery Buck
Preserving the Harvest
Revisiting Kitchen Strategies
Extreme Frugality
Bargain Getaways
Cultivating or Curating Abundance
Making Your Own Snacks and Treats
How Weird Is Too Weird? Things We Don't Think of Eating
Fuel Costs
Quick Hint on Eggs
What's in Your Refrigerator (Revisited)
Taking Stock

Labels: Family, Frugality, Homemaking, Tales from the Kitchen