Life hacking approach to food leftovers: tips + recipes

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you treat food with care and do not thoughtlessly throw away the leftovers, you can save a lot. In this article, we will show you the principles of culinary frugality and tell you what you can make from yesterday's spaghetti or fish.

People are wasteful. About 10% of the garbage on Earth is organic. They didn't finish the soup - in the sink, they didn't master the pasta - in the trash. Think about how much money you can save if you eat more rationally? We do not call for eating expired foods, it is just that many jaded dishes can easily be given a second life. And, as a result, less often go to the grocery store and spend less money on groceries. Read on to find out how to waste less food money and what you can make with leftovers.

Culinary lean principles

Take regular food inventories

We bought a pack of cookies, but the household did not like it. They sent him to the shelf: first from the edge, then forced. So it grows stale in the far corner. Similar situations are familiar to many housewives. When buying products, we sometimes forget about them or do not have time to use them before the expiration date.

To avoid this, regularly revise your refrigerator, shelves, and cabinets. You can even write down what is where and up to what date it needs to be used.

Observe storage rules

Lifehacker has a wonderful infographic about what, where and how much to store.

In addition to it, there are a few more tips:

• Place food on shelves and in cupboards so that perishable food and long-term purchases are in the front rows. Make a menu based on them.
• For a while, write down which foods you eat most often spoil. Cottage cheese is healthy, but perhaps your family doesn't like cheese cakes or casseroles. Either you buy too much of it. Keeping track of your waste products will help you understand this.
• Use life hacks that extend the life of food.

Use special containers to keep the vegetable halves from drying out. The edges of the containers fit snugly against the fruit, preventing air from entering.

Wrap the edge of the sliced cheese in its own wrapping to keep the food dry. You can also use cling film.

Wrap the celery in foil. This will keep it fresh for a whole month.

Cut the lemon into circles and freeze with ice cube trays. This will keep you drinking lemon tea for much longer.

Store the cut avocado with a wedge of onion to prevent the fruit from turning black.

Use stationery clamps to keep bulk food from getting damp. Better to store them not in bags, but in sealed jars.

Chop the fading greens, place in ice cube trays, cover with olive oil and freeze. This makes a quick salad dressing.

Try to use each product to the end

First, in order to eat everything, learn not to cook too much. It comes with experience. The more you cook, the easier it is for you to determine the number of servings by the number of ingredients in the recipe and, if necessary, reduce them. Also, use cooking utensils commensurate with your family's appetites. You should not cook a three-liter pot of borscht if you live together.

Second, use products to the last drop. Is there a tail of sausage left? Don't rush to put it in the trash can. Put it in the refrigerator, it will come in handy when you decide to bake pizza or cook a hodgepodge. Is the milk sour? Don't rush to pour it out: use it for pancake dough or make homemade cottage cheese. Is the bread starting to dry up? Cut it into small pieces, sprinkle with seasoning and dry in the oven. This will make a great snack.

Add wine vinegar and your favorite spices to the jar, where the mayonnaise is only on the walls, and shake it well. The result is a creamy salad dressing that can be used at least one more time.

Pour hot milk into an empty can of Nutella and shake well. This makes hot chocolate.

Place packages of thick foods upside down, especially when they run out, to get the most out of the contents.

Cut the plastic packaging, there are many more tasty things on the walls.

Dry the zest of lemons and oranges, grind them with a blender and use as a fragrant citrus seasoning.

If the fruit starts to spoil, cut off the soft parts, cut the rest and send to the oven, preheated to 60–70 ºС. The time required is indicated below.

Third, be generous. Take the whites fried the night before to work and treat your colleagues. Take the jellied meat remaining after the feast to your neighbor. Invite your friends to dinner - don't let cabbage rolls go to waste.

Leftover recipes

Spaghetti frittata

Frittata is a famous Italian omelet made with cheese, vegetables and meat. In Naples, pasta is also often added to it. If you have spaghetti left over from dinner, make a Neapolitan frittata.

Ingredients

• 200 g of cooked spaghetti;

• 3 medium onions;

• 1 medium tomato;

• 4 chicken eggs;

• 100 ml of skim milk;

• 50 g parmesan;

• 4 tsp. olive oil;

• 1 tsp. salt;

• 0.5 tsp. ground black pepper;

• parsley, basil and other herbs.

Fry the finely chopped onion in olive oil. When it's golden brown, add the remaining spaghetti to it. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Separate the whites from two eggs, combine them with two whole eggs and milk and beat. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the fried spaghetti and onion, previously transferred to a non-stick skillet. Chop the herbs, rub the cheese and sprinkle them on the omelet on top. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the bottom is browned until golden brown. Then, gently turn the omelet over to cook the other side. After about another 5 minutes, the dish will be ready. Garnish with tomato wedges before serving.

Panzanella

Panzanella is a Tuscan salad made from vegetables and slices of stale bread soaked in sauce. He, like the Caesar salad, will perfectly cope with the task of "attaching" a drying loaf.

Ingredients

For the salad:

• baguette;

• 2 medium tomatoes;

• 1 medium cucumber;

• 2 bell peppers (yellow and red);

• 1 small purple onion;

• 3 tbsp. l. olive oil;

• 3 tbsp. l. capers;

• 1 tsp. salt;

• basil.

For refueling:

• 100 ml of olive oil;

• 1 tsp. garlic powder;

• 0.5 tsp. dijon mustard;

• 3 tbsp. l. white wine vinegar;

• 0.5 tsp. salt and ground black pepper.

Cut the bread into cubes and fry in olive oil until brown. Don't forget to add salt. Then place the baguette pieces on a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Prepare a dressing by mixing all the ingredients for it together. Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and peppers. In a large bowl, combine them, basil, and capers (can be substituted with pickles). Season with sauce and add croutons. Let the salad sit for about half an hour and serve.

Burrito with chicken and beans

Burrito is a Mexican dish where meat and vegetable fillings are wrapped in a tortilla. Many housewives love him. Firstly, satisfying, and secondly, you can wrap anything you want. For example, fried chicken leftover from yesterday.

Ingredients

• fried or baked chicken;

• 450 g of tomatoes;

• 450 g of pinto beans;

• 100 g of semi-hard cheese;

• 100 g of chopped fresh cabbage;

• 6 wheat cakes;

• 1 medium onion;

• 2 cloves of garlic;

• 1 tbsp. l. ground cumin;

• 2 tbsp. l. lime juice;

• 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;

• 1 tsp. red chili.

Finely chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until tender. Pass the garlic through a press and, along with the cumin and pepper, add to the pan to the onion. Cut the tomatoes and, along with the lime (or lemon) juice, send to the pan, bring to a boil. Then reduce the gas and simmer for 15-20 minutes over low heat. Cut the chicken to fillet and cut into strips. Boil the beans and, along with the chicken, add to the pan to the tomatoes. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Then spread the resulting filling over the tortillas (you can use thin pita bread instead of tortilla), sprinkle with grated cheese, chopped cabbage and wrap the burrito.

Fish cakes with tartar sauce

Fried or steamed fish is only good for the first few hours. But this is not a reason to throw it away. You can put it on the original fish cakes.

Ingredients

For cutlets:

• fried fish fillets;

• 250 g bread crumbs;

• 3 eggs;

• 4 cloves of garlic;

• zest of one lemon;

• 2 tsp. soy sauce;

• 1 tsp. salt and pepper;

• green onions;

• cilantro.

For the sauce:

• 250 g of Greek yogurt;

• 200 ml of lemon juice;

• cilantro;

• green onions;

• salt and pepper to taste.

Separate the fish from the bones and mash the fillets with a fork. Add chopped zest, garlic, green onions and cilantro, as well as bread crumbs, one egg with yolk and the whites of two other eggs, soy sauce. Mix everything thoroughly. Form cutlets from the resulting minced meat. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, grease it with vegetable oil and place the cutlets on it. Send them to the oven, preheated to 200 ° C, for 10-15 minutes. Prepare the sauce during this time. Mix all the ingredients for it with a blender (for this, finely chop the cilantro and onion). Serve the fish cakes with the sauce.

Fish and potato stew

Another way to "utilize" fish, and at the same time boiled potatoes, is to make a stew from them.

Ingredients

• 2 pcs. boiled potatoes;

• 450 g fried or steamed white fish;

• 1 small bell pepper;

• 1 lemon;

• 100 g of ham;

• 1 tbsp. l. grain mustard;

• 3 tsp. vegetable oil;

• 1/4 tsp. salt and ground pepper;

• green onions.

Cut the potatoes and ham into cubes. Separate the fish from the bones and cut into large pieces. Heat oil in a skillet, add diced peppers and ham, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 4 minutes. Then add potatoes and fish, add mustard and chopped green onions and simmer for another 2-4 minutes. Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

Everything is good for a good cook, except for the Moon and its reflection in the water. Chinese proverb

This is not all that can be prepared from the leftover dishes. So, from mashed potatoes, excellent pancakes are obtained, and from half-eaten dumplings, a casserole is obtained.

If you have your own recipe for the continuation of the topic, share it in the comments.