Resourcefulness

Hey everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating both Easter and The Masters.  I had a pretty eventful weekend that included: finding small kitten, naming him Jeeves, hanging out with him all day, and having to give him back to his “owner”.  To be honest, I really don’t like cats.  Maybe it’s because the cat I had when I was a kid was terrifyingly mean, or maybe it’s because I envy their lazy lifestyle.  I am much more of a dog person, but this little kitten ran up to my porch, licked my face, and then fell asleep on my shoulder.  I was crushed when I had to give Jeeves back, but I don’t have anywhere to keep him so I guess it was for the best.  Now that I have given Jeeves this little shout out, it’s time to get back to the food!

I had planned on writing about pimento cheese, but no one legitimately wants to read a blog post on pimento cheese, so I decided to change the topic to being resourceful in the kitchen.  I’m sure that many of you are wondering how on Earth I got from pimento cheese to being resourceful, and the truth is that I didn’t.  I actually saw an article on MSN that discussed what to do with leftover Easter eggs.  This sent my mind into brainstorm mode and I immediately thought of all the ways a love to reuse what most people throw away.  Before you ask, yes, yes I am “that guy”.  I currently have 36 sweet tea bottles saved in my closet because I went through a mild addiction to Gold Peak Tea and decided that I could better justify buying the tea if I kept the bottles to do something with.  Then, I got the brilliant idea that I could create a raft and set sail on Lake Hartwell.  I also decided that instead of throwing away the basketball I had with no grip left, I cut it in half and tried to fashion a hat out of one of the basketball halves.  While none of my little side projects ever work out, it always reminds me of how much most people waste.  The kitchen is where I see people throw away the most, and I am here to put a stop to it with this very blog post.

            First of all, let’s start with my number one most wasteful practice, making too much food.  People usually love making food for others.  It’s both a way to feel appreciated, and a way to show off a set of skills.  People also tend to over-estimate what others can eat.  This usually leads to food sitting in the refrigerator until it is thrown out.  I have two solutions to this problem.  The first is to not make as much food to begin with.  Instead of making 36 hamburgers for a party you know is only going to have 4 other people, try making 6 cheeseburgers and saving the rest of the ground beef for shepherd’s pie, spaghetti sauce, or pizza.  The other option is to freeze the leftovers.  I know it’s easier and cheaper to buy food in bulk and it’s a great idea, but please buy responsibly.  While a freezer does not stop all microorganism growth, it does slow it down drastically.  If you make 4 gallons of soup, freeze 3 separate gallons and save them for later.  Freezing food in individual servings keeps you from having to thaw and refreeze it, keeping safety and quality issues at a minimum.  Always remember, the faster something freezes, the smaller the ice crystals are, and keeping ice crystals as small as possible is key to retaining the quality.

            Another way of being more resourceful in the kitchen is by asking yourself whether or not something can be repurposed before throwing it away.  A lot of people will roast a ham or a chicken and throw the bones and scraps away.  DO NOT DO THIS EVER AGAIN!  The bones and scraps can be boiled to make a stock, and this stock can be used to make all sorts of delicious soups, rice, noodles, etc.  What I usually do after roasting/smoking a chicken is boil the scraps and bones with spices until the meat falls off the bone and the collagen begins to come out of the bone.  Then, I pull out the chicken and take the meat off the bones, wait for the stock to boil down enough to be full of flavor, boil no-yolk egg noodles in the stock, and add the chicken meat back in.  This last step is definitely optional, but I like to add two cans of condensed golden mushroom soup to the stock as a way of cheaply adding mushrooms and creaminess.  A second optional step is instead of waiting for the stock to boil down and become flavorful, strengthen it with chicken bouillon or a chicken rub.  Another way to repurpose food items is to use them as ingredients themselves.  I have been known to get a little crazy with some leftover Chinese food pizza.  I chop up the leftover eggrolls and chicken and melt it onto pizza using cheese as the “glue”.  I completely understand if Chinese food pizza isn’t for you, but try to be creative with leftovers.  If you have leftover produce that is starting to wilt, or milk that is past the date, you can use it to cook with.  A lot of times food deteriorates in quality before it becomes unsafe, meaning that it can be repurposed without a problem.  While I can’t advocate going around eating moldy bread all willy-nilly, I also hate to see people throw things out as soon as it approaches the sell-by date.

            Wow, that post was a doozy and I appreciate those of you who hung in there the entire time.  I am happy to answer any questions that anyone may have for me.  Please let me know of any questions in the comment section or by emailing me if it’s personal.  I can’t think of any food-related questions that would be considered personal, but feel free to ask anyways!  I’ll see everyone next week!