Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!
It’s time for something different with our Kitchen Confessions. We’re going to talk about recipes — and we’re going to ask for YOURS!
You could win one of three $30 gift cards to First Alternative Co-op!
We haven’t delved much into the topic of recipes before, but they are certainly key to achieving our goal of less wasted food in the home — because:
- Recipes can provide both inspiration and how-to.
- They can jump start your meal planning and shopping lists.
- Whether your cooking approach is conventional or freestyle, recipes can help you feel creative when confronted with that assortment of random food items in your “Eat First” food storage areas.
- Recipes can help you use what you have and make the most of those grocery $$ you already spent!
During the past 11 months, we’ve explored why wasted food matters and what you can do about it. We’ve reminded ourselves that 30-40% of edible food in the U.S. ends up in the trash or compost pail instead of being eaten, representing a deplorable amount of wasted water, energy, labor, and money. For an average American family of four, that’s at least $1600/year!
We’ve offered strategies and resources — like our handy “Eat First” signs, in English and Spanish — for helping you, Conscientious Food Consumers, take steps for preventing that waste from happening at home and for stretching your food dollars during this pandemic era. Check out Adventures in Leftovers Land and our previous Kitchen Confessions for topics you may have missed.
Now it’s your turn! We’d love to publicize your unique recipes made from leftovers.
Share those dishes that spring forth from the items in the “Eat First!” areas of your fridge, freezer or pantry before they spoiled, shriveled, freezer-burned or became otherwise inedible. It can be as simple as a short narrative of your list of leftovers and other ingredients you combine into a surprisingly delicious meal, OR a more traditional-style recipe listing of the ingredients and the step-by-step for your unique creation.
Here’s how to submit your recipe — but please keep reading for important details!
HINT: We’re not looking for recipes from your favorite celebrity chef or America’s Test Kitchen! We prefer YOUR home-tested recipes that are a) relatively simple, b) don’t involve much prep time or specialized appliances, and c) DO involve using up leftover food items.
Here’s a few examples:
- Stir-fried leftover pasta and veggies
- Chunky veggie patty “meatball” soup
- Whatever’s-in-the-fridge casserole or burritos
- Brown Rice Breakfast Porridge
- Dill cream sauce using leftover pickle juice — from the Waste Free Kitchen Handbook, by Dana Gunders (one of my favorite references while writing this blog)
So whether your approach to meal preparation is formal or freestyle, we’re interested in what you come up with. We also want to encourage kid-friendly recipe submissions. Maybe your young chef has a great recipe to share!
Qualified recipe submissions will be entered into a random drawing to win one of three $30 gift cards to First Alternative Co-op.
TO QUALIFY:
Recipes submitted must be appropriately attributed, either solely to you (family member, etc.), or otherwise identified as to its source. It’s fine if you build your creation around a recipe from a cookbook or website (like our favorites FoodHero.org and BigOven.com) then made it your own, but please tell us where you get it! (We cannot re-publish copyrighted material.)
- What’s the name of your dish? Is it for vegans, vegetarians or omnivores? Is it kid-friendly?
- What was the inspiration for your dish?
- Your recipe, identifying the leftover or Eat First! food items you used from your fridge, freezer or pantry as the primary ingredients. Use as many as you can!
- Estimate how much $$ you saved by not wasting those leftover items.
- Include 1-2 photos of what you made (and a selfie if you like).
Use our Recipe Submission page to send it by Sunday April 11th (deadline extended from April 4th).
We will randomly draw (3) winners and announce them in our Earth Day blog and Coalition email lists. We’ll also highlight a number of our favorite recipe entries, and may publish an online cookbook. Stay Tuned!
EVERY RECIPE is an entry to win a $30 GIFT CARD! Submit more than one if you like, but please no more than four.
We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Waste-less cooking for one can be fun!