Sometimes, I think we're just a tad too squeamish

There are times when upon later reflection, I've realized that I was unreasonably squeamish about something, usually food.

The company where my son works brings in take-out for lunch everyday, as a perk for its employees. One day last week, they had take-out Chinese for lunch. There was a large carton of white rice and a smaller one of brown rice leftover. The office was just going to throw this rice away at the end of the day, when my son spoke up and said he'd take it home.

My initial thought was, "ewww! Leftovers from people I don't even know!" I considered dumping it into the compost. Then I came to my senses. We gladly eat at church potlucks, with 100 or more people in attendance. I don't know all the people who've enjoyed those potlucks. We've eaten at restaurant buffets, and not only do I not know the other patrons, but I have no idea how long anything has sat on the buffet. This was rice, almost untouched with the exception of a spoon. My son not only works with these people, but considers them work-friends. So why was it that one kind of communal food was okay with me, but not another?

A good friend was relating her weekend evening with granddaughters. They had dinner at my friend's home, but left half glasses of their milk. My friend refrigerated the milk, to use in the next days. At first I had that same reaction as before, "ewww! Used milk!" But these were her dear granddaughters. How many times have we shared a lick of an ice cream cone with our child? Or tasted the baby food right from the infant's spoon? Or shared a brownie, piece of cake or cookie with our spouse? My reaction then seemed completely incongruent with other behaviors of mine.

You all know that I buy mostly marked down milk. There's usually 4-7 days left until the sell-by date. I see many other folks reach around the marked down milk, for a fresher container at regular price. This is totally reasonable, if you think that the container won't be used before it expires, and need a longer use-by window to consume the entire container. But what if you know that your family will indeed use all the milk before the sell-by date? My family goes through 1 gallon of milk every 3  1/2 days. I can easily use at least 1 marked down gallon of milk before the sell-by date comes around.

What about those bananas marked down because they are looking ripe? I mentioned to a friend who's been trying to reduce her grocery bill, that when I shop regular grocery stores for bananas, I always buy the red-taped ones, to save some money. She had that same reaction about my banana choice. "Ewww! Old bananas, yuck!" I pointed out that most of our store's red-taped bananas are just barely ripe, and just about ready for consumption. While I wouldn't want to eat a black banana, as is, I am more than happy to eat a perfectly ripe one. I suggested to my friend that she could buy a couple of the ripe bananas, then another couple of less-ripe ones (at regular price) for later in the week. She thought this was a reasonable compromise. When you think about it, if you're shopping for produce just once per week, by the end of the week, all of the produce left in your kitchen is "old". If reducing the grocery bill is important to your budget, then buying a few marked-down items to use early in the week, could be a help.

So, back to the rice that my son brought home last week. I did decide to use it that next day. I made a garlic and peanut sauce to pour over the white rice for dinner that night. And the day after, I mixed the brown rice with oatmeal for breakfast. Both dishes were very delicious. And I feel good about not wasting the food.

A little squeamishness has saved many a life, avoiding potentially harmful bacteria. But sometimes, I do think we're a bit too squeamish. Mostly, we just need to use common sense and think things through.

Waste nothing: How I use the whole lemon

You already know how I use the whole orange (whole orange muffins, citrus-spice infused vinegar cleaners, candied orange peel). I also try to use the entire lemon when I buy fresh lemons.

When buying whole lemons in the supermarket, most of us view the juice and zest as the valuable portions, regarding the shells as something for the compost heap. But the shells can be useful, too, for adding a citrusy accent when cooking poultry.

To use whole lemons,

first, I zest the lemon (I zest lemons the same way that I zest oranges), saving some as bits, and some as threads, in the freezer.

Next, I halve the lemon and juice it. If I don't need the lemon juice right away (if I only needed the zest of the lemon for the recipe that I'm working on). I freeze this juice in small containers, labeling the quantity of juice.

Finally, I freeze the juiced  and zested shells in a large plastic bag, to use as part of the flavoring and aromatics in poultry.



To use:

ZEST -- the zest "bits" are great for adding to cakes and muffins, while the "threads" make a beautiful finishing touch on baked goods, or servings of chicken or fish.

JUICE -- The juice, if frozen in various small quantities, can be pulled out of the freezer, in the exact amounts that I need for recipes.

SHELLS -- I take several lemon shells out of the freezer, and use them:

• cut into 1/8ths and added to marinade for Mediterranean chicken (add garlic, oregano, salt pepper and lemon shells w/ some juice), OR,
• my favorite method for infusing flavor into whole turkeys -- I slip the shell halves into whole chickens and turkeys, along with garlic, onion quarters, and a bundle of sage, thyme and rosemary, as an aromatic "stuffing", both adding flavor to the poultry, and to the pan juices for sauce or gravy.