I am trying to be better about not wasting food. Hannah always loves an organized refrigerator where you can see everything. She lines up items tallest to shortest in nice little rows so that she can see everything at a glance. Me? I am a pusher. Just put what I want to put in the fridge in front, and push until I can shut the door. Drives her nuts! Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner has put together a 30 day Waste Less challenge and I thought it would be a perfect way to motivate me to use up what I have and not waste so much food. Case in point. Yesterday as I was cleaning out the fridge, I had to throw out half a container of strawberries, a whole pint of blueberries AND 1/2 a pint of blackberries because they had all been pushed to the back, forgotten and got moldy.
I decided to meal plan with what I had on hand, and then make a small grocery list. As I was looking at the counter I had: leftover skinny pizza dough, Dietz & Watson shaved Italian beef, baby spinach, egg whites and Cabot cheese. Could I make pizza dough breakfast muffins? Usually when I get an idea in my head about it recipe, it turns out perfectly in my head, but when actually made, needs some tweaking. Not this recipe – so simple!
The verdict? These were delicious. And filling! That plate was 10 smart points for all four, but I ate two and was satisfied, so I gave the other two to Jacob. The crust was crunchy, and the inside was fluffy like a quiche. Winner!
I had a very long list of things to do yesterday and today, and I knocked off 3/4 of them yesterday. The kadults and I always call this “TCBing” Taking care of business. And I love to cross stuff off a list – so satisfying. One of the things on my list was to find someone to pick up my super large deep freezer in my basement. It’s been broken for probably five years? Hannah and I made the mistake of opening it last week and the smell coming out of it was so nasty. Just like moldy stinky air. Ick! I found a company that would pick it up – for $60 – sold! He and a friend came around dinner time last night, and the thing probably weighs about 300 pounds – how Tony and I got it in the basement is beyond me. So happy to have that space back. I am sure Hannah already has plans on how to organize that space.
Continuing with the “waste less” theme, I used: 1/2 zucchini, 1 small head of broccoli, a cup of raw cole slaw mix, tofu from the fridge. Spaghetti and teriyaki sauce from the pantry, and soon a tofu veggie stir fry was born. This was so good! I did add some Thai chili sauce to this and it was too spicy for Hannah to eat. Sorry Hannah!
I did really good on my weekly shopping. I bought red pears and cherry tomatoes on the dollar rack – #score!
When I got back from the store, I saw that Hannah and Jacob bought a kiddie pool for the dogs. But neither one of them knew what to do with it and just stood in it and didn’t move at all. Maybe the water was too cold – we’ll see how they like it today now that the waters warmer.
The frozen chicken my boss gave me last week was finally defrosted, so grilled chicken was on the dinner menu. I just cut out the back so it would cook faster – still took 90 minutes on indirect heat because it was pretty big – I just rubbed a tablespoon of softened butter over the top of the chicken, and used my Hardcore Carnivore rub and that was it.
Photo credit goes to Hannah on the last picture. This was delicious! Super tender and flavorful. And I have lot’s of leftovers. I may have chicken tacos for lunch today.
I never did any formal exercise yesterday. I was so busy crossing stuff off my list, then whenever it got time to either walk, or go to the gym, my blood sugar wasn’t high enough. It’s another gorgeous day, so I think I’ll take half the amount of insulin for breakfast and see if that works.
Off to make breakfast – make it a great day!
Officially inspired to waste less food, thank you! Great muffins, can’t wait to try this!~Carolyn @ Cabot Creamery
I throw away too much food, I am trying to get better at it. I bought a couple of containers in various sizes a while ago and now when I use half an onion I put the other half in the container and use it the next time. I am buying my fruit and veggies at the market and only buy what I need. But still throw too much away at the end of the week because I didn’t use it because I didn’t want to make the recipe that I had planned or just not hungry.
Oh well, it’s always good to have something you can improve 🙂
About the pool: Bella has one for years and she nevers plays in it, she just stands in it like your doggies. But that’s okay because she cools down just by standing in it. Do the doggies play with a ball? You could throw a ball in the pool so they have to jump in and get it, that’s something that works for Bella.
Like the recipe format and the recipe! I’m clearing things out, too! Love Hannah’s photo and I really liked the blog post she did while you were gone. Wish I could convince my daughter to do that! Thinking of you!
Love the breakfast cup idea!
I work hard to keep the fresh fruit and veggies front and center in my fridge, because yes – otherwise, I shamefully end up throwing away rotten produce.
Those muffins remind me of one I haven’t made in ages, where you press a piece of bread into the muffin tin for the crust. I need to make those again!
I’m not sure if my fridge is super organized, but once a week I clean it out from back to front so that we don’t waste food. I’ve also been cooking less quantity of late – we both seem to have smaller appetites and while I appreciate leftovers, I don’t want to eat the same thing for five days in a row!
Much like Tony, Hannah and Jacob are not much into leftovers either, so if I don’t eat them, no one will! I just need to clean out the fridge more than once every three weeks 😀