Part of maximizing our food budget means using all of the food that we buy, and that includes using up leftovers before they need to be disposed of. I’ve too often in the past not been conscious enough of the leftovers in the fridge (particularly when someone else put them away and I didn’t know it was there) and it was a shame to throw out food that would have been perfectly good if I had discovered it in time. Leftovers started off as food that I paid for, and so throwing away the food is really like throwing away money!
What I do now has a couple of parts. Firstly, before I write anything down on my menu plan for the week, I look in the fridge and see what I have. This includes any perishables, and also includes whatever dribs or drabs are left from Shabbos or even before. These are the first things that are integrated into my plan. This week I had leftover chicken, cholent, and a couple of cooked potatoes, and those will be combined to make a tasty chicken stew for Sunday night dinner. Sometimes there’s a lot more to use, sometimes a lot less. But however much there is, I’m starting the week knowing that all the leftovers I have are being used up first thing while they are fresh.
I don’t mind serving the same food in the same form twice, but it’s nice when it can be ‘repurposed’ into something different. My kids aren’t picky eaters at all, but they still appreciate the variety that comes to the table. It’s a different feeling to see the food when it’s changed to be something new. I think it’s a shame that many people throw leftovers away without even considering serving them again, and are disgusted or horrified by the suggestion to re-serve them. Is it having served it once that changes it’s status from appealing food into something unappetizing? Or maybe it’s too much of a bother to think about what to do with them?
Anyway, during the week, I stay aware of what is left over, and if there’s anything, try to incorporate it during the week. Sometimes when I have a lot of something left over that is enough for a meal on it’s own this means changing my plan by not making something on the schedule. Sometimes I have something very simple written down for a meal (like baked yams), knowing that there will probably be ample amounts of something from the day before (creamy cauliflower soup) left over to flush out that meal. (And if I had any of that soup left, I’d mix it into the cauliflower mixture for calzones, since the ingredients are so similar.) My menu plan is a guide to be helpful to me, not something that is written in stone and unchangeable once planned.
Lastly, I often have CORN night on Thursday – that stands for Clean Out Refrigerator Night. As unappetizing as that may sound, this usually ends up being a meal that everyone enjoys. It’s the perfect way to use up all the little bits of side dishes, by putting out more dishes in smaller amounts. The last couple of CORN stews have gotten enthusiastic reviews – if they didn’t know it was CORN night, the kids would never guess that I’m using all the little bits of this and that to create it. The main problem with these successful stews is that I can’t exactly replicate them for another time! When there’s not enough of leftovers, I make something else to add to the meal.
I enjoy finding ways to use up all of our leftovers – it takes a little bit of thought and planning, but not very much, and it helps me feel like I’m being a responsible steward of all the abundance that G-d has sent us, not taking what I’ve gotten for granted and discarding it without thought.
Avivah
