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| Our kitchen freezer. It's a jumbled mess, isn't it? Good thing smorgasbord night is scheduled for Saturday! |
The notion of using it all up, getting all the bang there is for my buck, waste not, want not -- really gets my juices flowing. Perhaps this explains why I am just so passionate about using our leftovers. I don't want to think that I've just dumped $3 or $4 into the compost bin. Those leftovers are food that I paid for. I can't really make you as passionate about leftovers as I am. I think it's one of those things that I was born with.
But I can share techniques that others, and myself, have used successfully, to minimize throwing out leftovers. There are several techniques for managing one's meal leftovers that actually work for families, meaning, food does not go to waste, it gets eaten! Here are some of the more successful techniques.
1) The big bucket in the freezer
With this technique, all savory leftovers go into a bucket stored in the freezer. At the end of a couple of weeks, when the bucket is full, this is thawed, dumped into a stock pot, and vegetable or meat stock added for an interesting soup or stew.
Those that use this method tell me that their "bucket soup" is indeed tasty, contrary to everything that I had thought about this idea. Just a suggestion, though, you may want to be discriminating in what goes into the bucket. Brussels sprouts, fish patties, curry, Italian sauces, and refried beans might not be the best combination for a soup!
2) The pack-it-up-for-next-day-lunch plan
This plan is highly successful for many families. Whatever is leftover from dinner goes into individual containers, to be taken to work or school for lunch the next day.
(In our house, as I'm packing away leftovers from dinner, I may ask the family if anyone wants some for lunch the next day. But our rule is, if someone forgets to take their leftovers in next day, then I am free to do what I want with them. We had a lovely coffee cake with stewed prunes swirled into the top the other morning, because someone forgot to take their container of prunes in with lunch. Or perhaps they didn't really "forget"?)
3) The freezer fix
With this technique, all leftovers are packed into freezer containers and kept frozen until needed. Sometimes they are then used as lunch items, or quick snacks in between meals. Other times, a mis-matched set of many leftover containers become a smorgasbord buffet.
(This is actually how we handle the bulk of our leftovers. Both breakfast and dinner leftovers get packed for the freezer. Once every fortnight, I cull the freezer for all savory leftovers, heat them and set on the counter for everyone to pick and choose what they want. This was the favored meal by our children when they were small, as they actually got the chance to choose what went on their plates. I often will round out these leftovers with pickles, olives and bread and butter.
We also do a breakfast leftover feast about once every couple of months. We don't accrue breakfast leftovers as rapidly as dinner ones.)
4) The leave-it-in-the-fridge-and-plan-for-its-use plan
This plan will work for many families. They pack their leftovers into refrigerator containers, and plan for their use later in the week.
Many of these families have a designated spot in the fridge for leftovers. Some even place a tray on the shelf, making it clear that "this spot is for leftovers". In some houses, these leftovers are fair game for any hungry soul. In others, the cook knows to keep an eye on that spot and make use of these items very soon.
(I store leftover cooked rice and beans in the fridge, with the goal to use them all up by the weekend. If there's any left by Saturday, at lunch I make a pot of soup or casserole using it up. Our Saturday lunches tend to be rather motley. But so far, I've not yet sent anyone to the hospital with my motley Saturday lunch cooking. That's a sign that I'm doing pretty good, don't you think?)
5) The "make them eat it all" program
With this program, you simply force-feed your entire family everything that could possibly be wasted. Of course, this could be considered child abuse in some districts, as well as may lead to a number of eating disorders. So, I don't heartily advocate force-feeding anything but geese.
A variation of this program was in force in my elementary school. The lunch room monitors roamed the room, enforcing the "clean plate" rule. I'm afraid this rule and its enforcement didn't so much to encourage good eating habits, but instead brought about very creatively devious behavior. Did you know that you can fit an entire lunch into an empty small milk carton? Believe me, it really all fit.
There really isn't a single perfect, one-size-fits-all plan for managing leftovers. We each need to find the method that works best for ourselves. But if your current plan isn't working for you, give consideration to one of the others. And for the record, even the best of plans fail from time to time. I had to toss almost half a jar of green tomato pickles last night. The liquid was murky and thick. I am not sure what happened. Maybe you're not supposed to keep an opened jar of homemade pickles for 2 1/2 years. Now to go find something good for lunch in the freezer!
