Waste not! Cooking, stoups and juice pulp..

Recently there have been a lot of posts in the blogosphere and around in social media about the idiosyncracy of wasting the food. There are many ways to preserve food that would otherwise for some reason go to waste, and I have my own three favorite ones.

1. Cook from scartch and eat your food with the next meal, take it in a lunchbox to work etc. 

Even though sometimes that one piece of meat that would be too much for me or three spoons of potatoe mash that my toddler didn't disregarded on the plate, or half a bowl of breakfast porrige, etc.- can all look as "there's nothing I can really do with it", so many people waste. Sometimes I find it ok, if that's part of your pets or animals diet, because you have to feed them well anyway. But even if it would go to compost, I have a heavy heart seeing it dumped, let alone, having it to dump there myself.. Or even worse, to put it in "household rubbish" as in city apartment (yes, unfortunately we don't take our compost part back to the countryside anymore).
But it does not have to be so daunting! You can easily incorporate that one piece of meat and three spoons of mash in your lunchbox to work, or a handful of cooked pasta. I know it would be harder to fit it in your family dinner, but it is very easy to add some larger salad or some other food pieces you like to have wonderful lunch at work! And even bits of oatmeal porrige- what to do with some leftower porrige half a bowl? Add some chopped banana or other fruits or berries depending on a season, and you will have even better meal than just full bowl of porrige. And believe me, there's even nothing wrong to have it as lunch at work, in case you eat breakfast at home all together freshly cooked. Yumm!
It is so easy, and all it takes is to remember that leftowers and bits may make your lunch a special meal from your favorite world cuisines!


2. Make a freezer stoup!

When I stumbled upon the stoup I was surprised at the simplicity of such delight, and I was even more surprised how I did not come to think of it myself! I have been putting forgotten half onions, a little "tired" herbs, crunched pieces of celery, only couple potatoes that we have that moment at home in soups or stews.. But this was next level. Now I too have a stoup box in a freezer- everything that we cannot for some reason finish or incorporate in next few meals, goes to in the box. Bits of meat, sausages, cooked vegetables, pasta, single leftover canned tomatoe, etc. There are also some foods excluded from it- usually sauces and foods including milk or cream.
When the box is becoming fuller or you just want to cook something like that- defreeze the box, fry some spices and extra onion and maybe a grated carrot in butter or olive oil in the pot, add the contents of the box (cut in cubes or pieces if neccessary) and some extra meat or vegs if want to, then add tomatoe puree (home made frozen, preserved or store bought), canned or dry cooked beans and some stock if neccessary for more soupy consistence. It is a hearty, filling meal, and particularly nice if you grate some drying cheese bits that sometimes can be found in corners of the fridge. To make it even more special, serve with toasted garlic butter bread!
Another bonus- sometimes we can't find time to cook recipes that include 10 or more ingredients, no matter how we'd like to. Well, this is a way to do it in no time! And you can make the box contents selective to the recipes you like best, like, being inspired by Rachel Ray for one or another nice stoup!


3. Be creative with the juice pulp! 

Juice pulp is not a waste, it can be a wonderful ingredient! I have shared the carrot pancakes (fritters) with you before. But there are so many more ways to use the pulp! In our kitchen, sometimes it goes into muffins or cakes or breads (these are usually things my mother bake), I incorporate them in soups (especially pumpkin and carrot pulp). My favorites are pumpkin soups with Indian spice. It can even be used in cookies! I promisse to share the carrot and seed mix cookie recipe as soon as we bake another batch, because it would not be fair to post it without the picture, but the first batches just disappeared so quickly..
I recently found some more recipes to use juice pulp, and this is the one that inspired me to post this here too: http://mindfulmomma.com/2013/05/easy-juicer-pulp-minestrone-recipe.html , so thank you, Micaela!
Be creative!