Waste Not Want Not Wednesday

Oh my goodness I'm so excited about this. I read a blog (poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com) and the author is hosting a "Waste Not Want Not Wednesday" blog share. I often rant about despising the idea of throwing out food. I'm excited to read other bloggers methods of avoiding of the trash can.

Some of my favorite ways to prevent throwing away food:

Meal planning: We plan meals for at least one week in advance. When life is really busy, I usually plan a month or more in advance. I try to plan just enough food for those present at the meal. As a back up plan I typically schedule a "leftovers" dinner a couple of times a month.

Glass container storage: I can see the leftovers in the fridge when I open the door. No mystery packages of food in foil or dark storage containers.

Leftover "remake" meals: Hubs really does not prefer most leftovers, so I always keep baking potatoes on hand. Just about any kind of left-over can go on spuds and it "feels" like a new meal. Whole chicken carcasses are made into chicken stock. Left-over chicken is chicken fried rice, white chicken chili (rather than cooking chicken breasts or thighs I just throw in the already cooked, chopped chicken with the beans and other cooked items), BBQ chicken on top of a potato, and so on. Rice and Quinoa also make a great base for leftovers to "top" and make a new meal out of yesterday's dinner.

Freezing leftover meals: I love to have a "freezer meal" on hand. Since we have multiple allergies we don't have many fast food or pre-made options. When there is enough leftover for a second meal, I freeze it in an oven safe dish. On a day when I know cooking will be a hassle, I put the frozen meal in the fridge to thaw then right into the oven to re-heat.