food waste report

Last week I threw out about 2/3 cup leftover chicken gravy that, when I went to add it to some pot-pie filling, looked watery. It had separated somehow and you know how it goes - better safe than sorry. My goal is NOT to eat spoiled food, but to use it up before it spoils.

That's it. I think I am doing much better but I'm still shooting for zero food waste. (This does not include food that gets scraped off of Buttercup's plate that she refused to eat. That's not my fault, and I'm far too squeamish to stir "tasted" food back in to the family pot.)

Successes:

• Made a chicken pot pie with the trimmings of some pie dough. (This worked fine although I wasn't sure about it when I started. I do have issues with homemade pie dough, remember?) Also used up some celery, onion and carrots in the crisper bin, some freeze-dried peas from the pantry, and some leftover rotisserie chicken. I think this was up-cycling at its finest.
• Made a cheesy ham and potato casserole with some small potatoes and some ham from the freezer. Also used up some of the cheese in the deli drawer of the fridge. The cheese sauce did not separate this time, although the potatoes were a little too al dente. If I had cooked it a bit longer, would the sauce have curdled? We'll never know.
• Took some beautiful, fresh, red seedless grapes to a baby shower. The hostess had asked me to help with the food by bringing a fruit tray and instead of going out and buying more for a variety I used only what I had on hand and arranged the clusters in an appealing way.

Meal plan for this week:

• Still need to make that veggie pizza and use up some fresh spinach leaves and a tomato that I have on hand.
• Spaghetti and meatballs with homemade french bread on the side. I'm excited to try this recipe.
• Chicken/rice casserole with iceberg lettuce salad.
• Chicken sausages with macaroni salad.
• Maybe a pot of pinto beans made with a ham bone that I have in the freezer (but only if we run out of leftovers).