Sunday, November 18, 2012

Shameful Wasted Leftovers

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), no photos will be available for this post.  In preparation for Thanksgiving the oven has been cleaned, the house spruced up and the refrigerator had to be cleared out.  An entire sink full of dishes were created in tossing unwanted leftovers.  The garbage pail had to be emptied because a variety of expired condiments were pitched.  I am saddened by the amount of waste both literal and financial my family of four can create in uneaten or never used food.

Last night while watching Food Network the Iron Chef competition involved celebrity chefs recreating dishes from Thanksgiving leftovers.  The biggest challenge in this, and I'm sure in many, houses across America is ensuring leftovers are eaten or that correct portions of food are cooked in the first place.  I try to plan meals around leftovers but it is the items that simply cannot be recreated into a brand new dish or if only 1/2 cup serving of something is left behind that it is wasted. At times is it simply unrealistic to thank every scrap can be consumed?  What if it cannot be thrown into a stir fry, soup or omelete?  

I am allowing myself to get off track here, but I do recall my mother-in-law feeding most uneaten food to the family dog.  Not going to happen here.

Any tips on cutting down food waste in our own kitchens?  If I could find a way to reduce the waste I am creating, I'm sure I'd sleep a little better at night and still feel Fed Well.

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