Eat First smart strategy

Converting Confessions to Lessons Learned

August 20, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

We’ve all come a long way since the start of Kitchen Confessions, haven’t we? Doing the best we can to keep on living, working, virtual learning, shopping, cooking and eating our way through a pandemic. Getting real about wasted food in our homes, and doing what it takes to get the most out of our grocery dollars — each and every month. It’s time for some congratulations, all around!

We’re going to share some modest triumphs — ours and a few of yours — in the daily struggle against shriveled, moldy and slimy produce, leftovers that turned into science experiments, freezer-burned whatever, and many other tragedies involving formerly-edible food. These anecdotes illustrate positive outcomes from increased awareness of our daily food habits.

Remember also to pat yourselves on the back, Conscientious Food Consumers, for helping to conserve all those precious natural and human resources — energy, soil, water, labor, packaging, transportation and delivery systems — that went into your food. And locally, you’re helping to meet the goals of the in the Corvallis Climate Action Plan, in which reduction of wasted food is a high priority (p.17).

We like how Mishele M. of Corvallis puts it:
“It’s a mindset, that it’s unconscionable to throw anything away. That food gave its life for us, so why would we throw it away?! We don’t take our resources lightly.” Here’s more about why prevention of wasted food matters.

CONFESSIONS CONVERTED/LESSONS LEARNED: NFLB staff

JEANETTE: It’s a happy day in my household when I prepare to empty the contents of my compost pail and see ONLY non-edible food scraps, peels, and trimmings. I feel like, yay! We’re getting it right!

KAREN: Thanks to Kitchen Confessions, I’ve had to keep up with reality-checking in my own kitchen and being candid about it all… Especially after using our DIY Wasted Food Discovery worksheet, and I realized I was potentially wasting as much as $1,000 a year!

So I set a goal of saving at least $5 per week through better leftovers management in my Eat First! areas, and converted a couple of clear plastic salad containers into see-through Eat First! bins. They keep the items in one place, instead of migrating all over in the fridge! One for greens (layered with damp paper towels) and one for wrapped fruit/veggie, cheese or protein remnants. For at least one meal each day, I rummage in there and head for the blender, skillet or sheet pan.

LESSON LEARNED: It’s easy to save $5/week by making one meal each day using items from Eat First! It’s also easier now to stay on top of my “alligator pears”!

JEANETTE: Best.Glass.Of.Juice.Ever.
A few forgotten mandarin oranges in the bottom of our fridge drawer were discolored and shriveling. I hoped there was still some way to enjoy them, NOT just waste them in compost. So I cut one open and voila! Inside there was still plenty of moisture and good color. I remembered I had a plastic hand juicer tool in the cupboard and went to town. Result: a glass of deliciousness!

CONFESSIONS CONVERTED/LESSONS LEARNED: Community members

No milk or corncob scraps left behind (Stasi K of Corvallis)
When milk doesn’t smell or taste perfect anymore but is still “ok” to consume (a bit sour but not curdling), I use it right away in place of buttermilk in pancakes or I’ll freeze it to cook with (heating it provides additional safety).

We also take boiled corn on the cob, slice off and eat the corn, then take the remaining cob/husks and simmer them in the same water for half an hour to make corn stock for a nice flavor addition (can be used like veggie stock). Just strain off the solids.

FOOD SAFETY NOTE: for dairy and other safe food storage info, search StillTasty.com or FoodKeeper, a comprehensive resource from the USDA. It’s one of several handy tools on NFLB’s Apps page.

Friendly fridge reminders (Mishele M of Corvallis)

My spouse and I grew up with Depression-era parents, so in both our families the culture is to never, ever throw anything out unless it’s truly inedible. If something DOES start to get old, we just cook it instead of eating it raw.

I’ve trained my hubby not to take items out of the freezer for a meal if something else is already waiting to be eaten up in the fridge. We’ve also found that keeping things well-labeled and to the front of the fridge shelves helps us know which items to attend to next!

When root veggies go soft, we crisp them back up in cold water. That works well for greens too, like Swiss chard and beet greens. We just place them upright in a glass in the fridge or on windowsill.

NOTE: Here’s more helpful tips on freshening up veggies and other compost-rescue strategies.

No cukes or zukes left behind (Susan S of Corvallis)
We used to store our purchased cucumbers in plastic bags, and weren’t eating them up fast enough. Then we learned from NFLB’s A-Z Fruit & Veggie Storage Guide how to properly store them loosely in the crisper drawer. Now our cukes last longer and don’t get slimy, maybe a bit limp or dehydrated, so we slice and crisp them up in cold water.

With zucchinis: we like to shred them and mix with salt, which pulls out the moisture, then grab fistfuls and squeeze out as much of the juice as possible. From there it can be substituted in place of potato in latkes/pancakes, or as a base layer for homemade pizza. The zuke gets soft and it makes the pizza super moist!

Cider now, cider later (Pat W of Corvallis)
One reader responded to our apple blog last year with this no-waste tip: I always split jugs of fresh cider and put (half) in the freezer for another time.

*****

Got a Confession/Lesson Learned to Share? We’d love to hear your anecdotes about how you’re able to waste less food! Let us know by commenting below. You can also submit via our contact page: https://nofoodleftbehindcorvallis.org/contact/.

Waste happens. Own it-Track it-$ave!

March 31, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

With spring unfolding soon here in the mid-Willamette Valley, it’s time for some cleaning, clearing out and… confessing!

We’ve been saying it here for almost a year now: WASTED FOOD = WASTED MONEY. But exactly how much, and why? That’s where our newly-updated D.I.Y. Wasted Food Discovery self-audit form, both in English and Spanish, comes in handy. Try it for a week, and you’ll gain some valuable insights about your household’s food-wasting habits. Behaviors change when we measure them.

You may become inspired to keep doing it on a regular basis — especially after discovering how many grocery dollars you can keep from going down the drain, compost bin or garbage!

OWN IT: Waste happens!

Are you ready to admit that waste happens in your kitchen? It’s not about guilt (although that can be a motivator) — it’s being willing to get real, about how some items in your fridge, freezer and pantry that coulda/shoulda been prepared and eaten ended up wasted instead. Keep reading for a look at what I discovered!

TRACK IT: What got wasted, and why?

With our D.I.Y. Wasted Food Discovery Week form, tallying up the food items that went slimy, spoiled, freezer-burned or forgotten isn’t complicated. You’ll estimate:

The amounts and types of food (it’s okay to “guestimate” your leftover portions/servings, packages or containers — I used cups, ounces and servings for my calculations);
The full or proportional cost for each of those items;
If you have a kitchen scale, measure the weight of wasted items.

WHY IT GOT WASTED: Recall the circumstances or trail of events from the market to your compost pail or trash can for your listed items. This step is your key to change!

You know how it goes… * Ran out of time to cook or cooked too much? * Fridge or freezer over-stuffed? * Too tired to get creative with leftovers? * Marked down/sale items go stale or moldy before you know it? * Bananas turned brown or avocados went bad because they were hanging out on the counter together? (Both emit ethylene gas, which hastens the ripening process.)

ADD IT UP. One week’s wasted $$ x 52 weeks in a year… Prepare to be shocked! (I certainly was.)

Here’s what I learned from my Wasted Food Discovery Week.

Karen Confesses:

Despite blogging and becoming much more vigilant about my own kitchen habits during the past year, I still waste too much!

After a quick review, I discovered that my main problems are inadequate meal prep and managing the Eat First shelf of my fridge and pantry. I also still have issues with wasting avocados and bananas (two of my favorites).

Lessons Learned:

Check avocado(s) for ripeness every day! Use or transfer to fridge once ripe, or within 3 days of purchase.
Buy fewer of the items I’m eating less of (like sugar- and carb-heavy products).
Freeze leftover broth in cubes rather than letting an open carton spoil in the fridge.
Buy fewer bananas and just eat ’em — rather than sticking in freezer smoothie bags.
Check/update my Freezer Inventory every week!

$$$ Wasted:

This is my worst Kitchen Confession of all! Just one week’s waste in my little kitchen represented a potential loss of over $1,000 in one year! That’s a pretty significant chunk — and a HUGE motivation for me to walk the talk, follow my own advice more, and WASTE LESS.

WHAT TO DO. You’ll have some good ideas once you’ve completed your own Wasted Food Discovery Week. Let our Smart Strategies support your improved habits and behaviors for less future waste.

Do you need more meal planning? More prep after your groceries come home?
Do you need better storage? (we also recommend StillTasty.com)
Do you need to inventory what’s in your freezer or pantry?
Do you need more Eat First signs for your leftovers, and are they clearly date-labeled?

Also see our previous Kitchen Confessions for resources and tips you may have missed.

RECIPE CONTEST (2021) DEADLINE EXTENSION!

(UPDATE/NOTE: CONTEST HAS ENDED!)

We’re extending the deadline for our Leftovers Recipe Contest an extra week to Sunday, APRIL 11th, 2021! What’s your latest hack or culinary inspiration for making use of those random items on the Eat First shelf of your fridge, freezer or pantry?

Here’s of a few of our entries so far: Spaghetti Pie, Mashed Potato Pancakes, Peach Pancake Mix Muffins, Olde Valentine Choco-Coco Bites, and Tuna Cakes with Pickle Cream.

Every recipe is an entry to win a $30 gift card from First Alternative Coop. We’d love to see yours!

Recipe contest for leftovers!

March 11, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

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!

February 18, 2021 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

Back in the pre-COVID era when we tabled regularly at the Corvallis winter and downtown Farmers’ Markets, I had interesting encounters with all kinds of folks who ventured over to our booth to pitch questions and comments, play our “Food Storage IQ” game, take the waste-less pledge (like our market patron below) or to share a favorite food memory or kitchen hack.

Many also shared their own “kitchen confessions,” including this one: “I live alone, and I can’t believe how much of my food gets wasted!”

She was being a bit hard on herself. For years she’d prepared meals for several people, but now that she lived as both a widow and an empty-nester, our booth visitor was having trouble adjusting her food shopping and preparation habits. And since many food products are packaged for family-sized meals, the leftovers tended to be more than she could handle.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also encountered singles establishing their first households as young adults. They too knew it was easy to let good food go bad — and they were eager to start out with good non-wasting habits in their own kitchens.

2019 Farmers’ Market patron (status: none of our business)

I was happy to provide these folks, and others to follow, with some of our Smart Strategies (in English and Spanish) and other tactics to try at home. (Keep scrolling!)

In recent years, online resources galore have sprung up to cater to the needs of small-batch and “cooking for one” audiences. A few examples: One Dish Kitchen: the simple pleasure of cooking for one (including meatless and many other recipes), the Kitchn’s meal plans, and 66 recipes from Tasty.co can get you started. You can also get help scaling down your recipes for one with this handy converter.

There’s also plenty of support through social media groups, recipes on Pinterest or Instagram, and a nearly-infinite variety of videos and cookbooks from celebrity chefs and everyday folks alike.

Whether single by circumstance or choice, people living alone in their own dwellings (no housemates or live-in companions) comprised 28% of all households in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Then came the pandemic and sheltering in place, magnifying the sense of isolation for many.

So let’s have fun with waste-less cooking for one! NOTE: Even if you’re living with family, a partner, housemates or other arrangement, there will still be times when you’re on your own for preparing a meal.

1. FIRST, THE FUN PART: it’s all your choice! You know your own taste and appetite — so be as spontaneous, creative and adventuresome as you like. Browse some recipes from the links in this blog. Have an omelet for dinner! Dessert in a mug! Maybe your kids, your ex or late spouse didn’t like spicy food, but now you can wander freely through the wondrous world of herbs and spice. (I like cooking with and eating garlic almost every day, and no one complains.)

2. WASTE LESS, MEAL PLAN MORE. Build a week’s worth of menus after “shopping” your fridge, freezer and pantry first. (Here’s a more detailed example of a one-person meal plan.) Then make up your grocery shopping list. Keep in mind that many food products don’t come in single-serving packages, so you’ll need to find different ways to use those up to get your money’s worth. That’s pretty easy to do with a rotisserie chicken, but what about tortillas that only come in packages of 12? (Solution: freeze half of ’em!)

3. WASTE LESS, PREP MORE. You’re more likely to stick to your solo meal plan if substantial parts of it are ready to go. So just loop your favorite playlist and have fun cleaning, slicing, dicing, roasting/baking and packing some ready-to-use or freeze meal components like: proteins (meat/fish/poultry or grains), veggies (what’s not to like about easy sheet pan meals?) and fruits. It can take as little as a “power hour” or two over the weekend!

“Eat First” Single Portion Meal #1 Salmon Scrambled Egg w/onion

4. NO-FAIL LEFTOVERS. Get creative with random food items (and keep them out of the compost bin) with apps like Big Oven! Example: My one baked salmon fillet (see photos) served as the anchor for two meals and a snack (salmon pate), using some cooked red rice, two types of onion, egg, fresh rosemary and packaged soup from my fridge’s “Eat First” shelf.

“Eat First” Single Portion Meal #2 Salmon Fried Rice w/curry soup

5. SHOP THE BULK and DELI SECTIONS at the grocery store or shop Farmers’ Markets to ensure you’re buying just what you can use. Try buying just one chicken breast instead of a package of four; a custom portion of cheese instead of a whole package; or maybe a couple ounces of those gourmet olives you’ve been secretly craving, instead of a whole can!

Example: Carrots from the bulk produce bin or a bag of pre-peeled minis?

Recently I gambled on whether I could use up a one-pound bag. It was a safe bet: carrots are a versatile veggie that stores well in the fridge (check our A-Z Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide for details). My plan called for carrots fresh, roasted and stewed — and I enjoyed every bit of them.

Kitchen Confession: In the past, I automatically purchased the bagged ones — and inevitably, two months later, they’d end up at the bottom of my crisper drawer as a partial-bag of dried-up or slimy baby carrots.

6. MAKE YOUR OWN FROZEN CONVENIENCE MEALS and save $$$ by investing a bit of freezer-prep time, creating ready-to-cook single meals and side dishes from the items you prepped in Tip #3 above (make sure to blanch the veggies first). Freeze small batches of bread, tortillas or baked goods before they get moldy on the counter. For a special treat, there’s frozen chocolate chip cookie dough in pre-portioned scoops (see tip #19 at Easy Single-Person Cooking Ideas)! Just don’t forget to keep track of what’s in there.

Finally — GO AHEAD, REWARD YOURSELF with some tasty takeout for wasting less during the week! (Restaurant portions can be generous, so you’ll probably get two meals out of it.)

Whether you’re stuck with it or thrilled to be your own chef, have fun cooking for one!

Happy fridges for happy holidays

December 4, 2020 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

– No leftover turkey-wrangling for me this vegetarian Thanksgiving.

– The chanterelle orzo/rice and glazed carrots went great with sausage a couple days later. (I’m an omnivore.)

– The remaining half-carton of veggie stock I used in cooking the rice blended happily with leftover butternut, sweet potato, ginger and coconut milk into a tasty soup.

– The leftover sparkling wine made great mimosas!

– Next on the menu: leftover cranberry relish-glazed chicken thighs. And time to start a fresh series of Meal Plans! You can download and print ours here.

Hopefully this year’s Thanksgiving aftermath has also been a bit easier to manage for you, Conscious Food Consumers! So let’s all pat ourselves on the back, take note of lessons learned (if applicable) and get up for this next round of holiday meal planning.

Of course, the next round of planning, shopping and prepping also depends on making sure your fridge is happy! A happy fridge is well-lit, running efficiently, not overloaded (so it can do its job), and not over-inflating your utility bill. Here’s some simple things you can do that will also keep your pocketbook happy:

Does your utility provide a detailed energy usage report as part of its monthly billing statement? (Mine does.) If your fridge is consistently using more energy than it should, improving its efficiency might be as simple as dusting off the coils on the bottom or in the back. Or it could mean it’s time to upgrade — many utilities offer incentives through partners like Energy Trust of Oregon for replacing older appliances with new, energy-efficient models.

Regularly check your refrigerator/freezer temperatures. An ideal fridge temperature is 33°F to 38°F, and your freezer should be kept between 0°F and 5°F. Make sure the door gaskets for each compartment are kept free of debris and have a tight seal.

Make sure the cold air is circulating properly in both the fridge and freezer by not overloading and blocking the fan.

Consider freezing items that would normally take up space in the fridge “Eat First” area — like cheese, cooked grains, portions of tomato paste, or even knobs of fresh ginger. If you’re like me and can’t use an entire can of tomato paste in one recipe, you’ll appreciate the suggestion for freezing it in tablespoon-sized portions!

Download and print our Eat First! signs below:

JEANETTE CONFESSES regarding her Eat First shelf: After we went grocery shopping and were putting stuff into the fridge, we had to do a mini-cleanout/consolidation to make room for new items! We discovered some non-perishables had migrated into the Eat First shelf and blocked the visibility of perishables… which then went bad.

And it didn’t help that the light bulb on the right side of the compartment had burned out!

LESSONS LEARNED: Multiple!

LABEL EVERYTHING (even the obvious stuff) with sharpie and masking tape: What is it, and date placed on shelf. Maybe even label the front of the item instead of the lid for better visibility!

Replace fridge light bulbs promptly so you can see what’s in there.

Be more proactive about removing non-perishables that migrate onto Eat First shelf — unless we really want to eat them first.

Try creating a Freezer Inventory form for the fridge’s Eat First shelf OR just be a lot better about keeping it more sparsely populated so we can SEE everything!

Remember: food kept as leftovers but never eaten is the same thing as tossing it out in the first place. Wasted food is wasted MONEY!

Adventures in Leftover Land

November 6, 2020 // by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings Conscientious Food Consumers!

With Thanksgiving not far off, we figured we’d get ahead of the game and talk leftovers in this installment of Kitchen Confessions. The topic’s not as sexy as these carrots, but it’s one of those everyday challenges that we all face.

Those miscellaneous meal remnants, half-full containers, and portions of what-have-you, DO tend to get out of hand, don’t they?

Somehow they migrate to the most inconvenient recesses of your fridge. They get hijacked by microbes or neglected during busy times, like a tough week of homeschooling. They get abandoned in favor of preferred foods or convenience meals. They might even get skipped on Leftovers Night. Let’s admit it — leftovers do get left behind sometimes!

Eat First! examples from K’Rene’s fridge shelf

K’RENE CONFESSES right off the bat here: about half of the wasted food in my household once occupied the designated “Eat First” area of my fridge and cupboard. So what’s my issue? Keeping up with leftovers means keeping them accessible and safe to eat, as well as keeping track of what’s in there!

It also takes a deliberate and creative effort to transform random food elements into a meal. I’m happy to report that it can be a pretty satisfying process! Maybe even a bit of an adventure…

K’RENE ALSO CONFESSES: Two of the seven leftover items in the first photo (apple, sliced overripe pear, half a lime, a third of a packet of precooked rice, half a large roasted chile, a bit less than half a red onion, half-jar curry paste) got spoiled, wasted and composted. Fortunately, the rest found their way into oatmeal, stir fry and a pot of chili!

$$ WASTED: approximately $30

LESSON LEARNED: I’m now a fan of BigOven and its inspirational three-ingredient search engine for its massive recipe database, which includes gluten-free, vegan/vegetarian, keto and low-carb dietary options. It’s been both a delight and an Adventure to rummage for what I have on hand, plug it into the recipe search feature and see what comes up. This makes it fun to meal plan, so I’ve stepped up my diligence and am loving my leftovers more!

Of course, BigOven is also available as an app (which we featured in this “Kitchen Confessions”).

NO CORNBREAD LEFT OVERS LEFT BEHIND: These muffins were made from that “expired” cornbread mix featured in our “Check it before you chuck it” Kitchen Confessions a few weeks ago. The adventure began with a couple of chopped poblano chile peppers thrown in to jazz up the batter, which produced a baker’s dozen muffins. Half of them tasted good enough for outright scarfing and sharing with a friend! The “leftover” muffins were crumbled, seasoned and simmered with leeks and garlic for stuffing butternut squash, garnished with leftover feta cheese. No corn bread muffins left behind…

K’Rene’s everyday vs “company coffee” pots — drip vs perk (lower energy use) and fewer “cuppas” leftover/left behind

LEFTOVER COFFEE BUZZ: Turns out yesterday’s coffee brightens up lots of things besides brain cells — from milkshakes and smoothies to salad dressing, chili, brownies, bacon and BBQ sauce.

Coffee and bacon are staples of the typical American breakfast, but cooking the bacon in coffee is certainly a new idea to me!

NOTE: For my daily cuppa, I try to avoid “over-preparation” and waste of this global commodity by brewing small batches. Many days there’s nothing left in the pot, but it’s great to have ways to put it to good use on the days when there ‘s a half or full cup left over.

I also keep in mind the environmental costs and carbon footprint associated with my coffee enjoyment, as described in this Coffee Fact Sheet from the Oregon Department of Environment Quality.

A few other discoveries from my adventures in “Leftover Land”:

“LAST TWO BAGELS” bread pudding
Leftover FETA, OLIVE & KALE FRITTATA (lots of variations on this one!)
GREEN SMOOTHIE, featuring ripe avocado, and/or other past-their-prime fruits and veggies
SAUTEED WILTED LETTUCE & GREENS — a great use of those partial-packages of mixed greens that might otherwise get dumped at the first sign of slimy-ness
YOGURT SUNDAE with leftover jam and coconut flakes
FROZEN BERRY-BANANA-“LYCOPENE SMOOTHIE” with — you guessed it — tomatoes left over from the last season. After all, tomato is a fruit!

JEANETTE CONFESSES:

Ugh! I’ve been doing the right things the wrong way. With teenager sleepovers, I never know how much batter we’ll need — but I figure I’ll use it up in the next day or two. The leftover batters were properly placed onto our “Eat First!” shelf, and I even date-labeled them. A Smart Strategy, right?

However, other still-edible Eat First items ended up in front of them and, well, they aged out. Creatively using up sour milk is one thing, but with raw eggs involved, there’s no way my pancakes or French toast would have been safe to use.

These wasted beets were a bummer — they also got left behind other leftovers. There were four cooked beets to a package, but I only needed one that night. Subsequently, I forgot the rest of them, despite my date label.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Be more conscientious about using up items on my Eat First! shelf.
Limit how much we put there so things don’t get buried — kind of the whole point of that area!
Be mindful about creating leftovers in the first place – make juuusst enough batter so there’s nothing to store.

$$ Wasted: About $2, for two organic eggs and those portions of gluten free pancake mix and almond milk. However, this lesson also presented a disposal issue, because we’re supposed to keep liquids out of the compost. Almost forgot my wasted beets — so ACTUALLY $4 in total.

Learning to waste less food is both a journey and an adventure!

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