Avoiding Food Waste

 

Today was clean the fridge day. Not one of my favorite jobs, but it sure helps to prevent waste and remind me of what I need to use soon. 

I had made baked fish a couple nights ago so today I crumbled the fish up and added about 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 Tbs flour and an egg and made patties to fry. We had them for lunch along with some leftover baked beans and it was a really good lunch. 

I can't say that I always get everything used in our meals, but I at least will make sure the dogs get some leftovers so the food doesn't go to waste.

As far as other things to use up, I have some carrots I will probably put in a soup, some asparagus that I think would be good wrapped in crescent rolls with a little ham and cheese and some eggs I saved that broke but were still in the carton, that I am thinking of using the eggs in a quiche.

I have read that there may be an upcoming wheat shortage due to the Russia/Ukraine war so I have been thinking about ways to use less wheat. I found some old Depression era recipes where they too were using less wheat. There are a few recipes I copied that I am planning to try. I will let y'all know how they work out. 

Our Depression era ancestors knew how to not waste. They did not overload recipes with ingredients. If a recipe called for onion, they would use about a Tablespoon; if the recipe called for cheese they used it but not excessively. So much of the way we cook today can really be over the top with ingredients and it is really just a waste. 

Waste is never good, but in these days where there are food shortages, we need to think smarter about what we make and use and be flexible in our meal plans.