Leftovers

Another area where we can reduce excess in our lives is leftovers.
I often cook more than we can eat at one meal. Sometimes this is because of following a recipe for four although there are only two (admittedly greedy) adults and one fussy-eater child in the family, or because said child won’t touch my offerings and Husband comes home so late from work that he’s already eaten out. Other times this is deliberate, what can be called ‘planned-overs’, especially with foods that take a long time to cook such as beans. Unfortunately my freezer is not big enough to allow me to store many leftovers so I have to use them up within a few days, or they could pose a health hazard and have to be thrown out (or fed to the stray cats that persist in living on my back balcony) and of course this is not helping the food budget.
I keep all leftovers on the same shelf in the fridge so I can keep tabs on them. Sometimes we have left-overs night when I just reheat several things, but whenever possible I try to revamp them into something new the second time I serve them. For example, left-over chicken meat from Sunday’s roast becomes a pie or curry or is added to stir-fried veg with a Chinese sauce, and the bones can be boiled for stock which is used as the tasty base for a soup. Planned-over bolognaise sauce for one day’s spaghetti can become a shepherd’s pie or moussaka. Extra chickpeas can be removed before serving the soup, and whizzed into a hummus or tossed with onion, parsley and olive oil for a substantial salad later in the week. I think you get the picture.
A friend on an intranet cookery conference I belong to kindly posted this link:
http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ (sorry, I tried to insert their logo link but I don’t think I managed to)
There you can find lots more ideas for using up leftovers, and tips for saving on your food budget. In these difficult financial times it is foolish to throw out food, and more seriously, in view of global hunger, I think it’s unethical. I know that I cannot send my leftovers in a parcel to feed the starving children of the world, but if I save on my food budget I can afford to support a charity that will help.