It is a puzzle how to reuse leftover food so as to save some money and avoid throwing food out. I rose up to the challenge this time. Reduce. Reuse. Recylce.
Yes. I like the idea of recycling and reusing that even food has no escape from me. I hate throwing out food that is still perfectly edible except that it already reached its limits when it comes to how it should taste in the first place. Did I lose you on that? Well, let’s just say that I’ve made some food, it didn’t taste as well as it should be or I’ve made more than we can consume at one go. It should last in the fridge for about three days before everyone except me will refuse to eat it again.
In order not to waste a lot of food, I make sure that what I cook is something that I won’t mind eating for days. If it doesn’t fall under that, let the boys make it themselves. I won’t be responsible if they decide to throw it later. This is how I ended up with three dishes in the fridge this week that needed to be put on priority before someone else finds and throws them out.
First Dish. Beef Bulgogi.
I seldom buy meat for health reasons plus it can be pretty heavy on the budget. I first made it for my son and he ate it at least once with a little hesitation. The second or third time, I might have had to bribe him. So this pretty pricey meat dish stayed in the fridge for a while. I tried to put it in fried rice but it wasn’t that popular either. There was still a bit that needs to be “recycled.” In the end, I added it in the pocket pizza mixed with bell peppers, onion, garlic, and cheese. Not my best pizza but it was my first decent looking pocket pizza even if my son didn't like it that much.
Second Dish. Canned Fish in Can.
I was slightly craving for fish after the bulgogi mishap so I opened this can. I discovered that I actually have 2 cans of this and I don’t remember tasting it yet. This makes me wonder what I must have picked these cans up twice with the intention of trying it out. Well, this fish in can turned out to be spicy for my taste. I was able to eat half of it but had trouble finishing it before it goes bad. It has coconut milk after all that go bad quickly once opened. I needed to google how to neutralize the spiciness.
My solution? Add some water! I do like thin liquid with my fish in coconut. But not only that, to up the chances of it tasting good, I also added a tablespoon or two of spaghetti sauce just enough to lose its white color and spiciness. Just like my accidental mix with the chickpea before, I managed to finish the whole thing even to the point of having to wait for the rice cooker to finish so that I can have more rice with it.
Third Dish. Chicken Teriyaki.
Made this as a freeze and dump for the slow cooker so it was the freezer for a while.
By now, I was already in my air fryer experiment mode so it was my first chicken to land in the air fryer. Such a waste as I skipped the thawing-well part that I almost burned the outer part while it still remained frozen inside. Off it went to the oven to no avail. It was thawed all right but the burned part just got worse. What did I expect? Nothing! I wasn’t thinking and wasn’t keeping a close eye on it while it was in the oven grilling.
Nonetheless, I tossed it with a sauce I hastily made and it was just so salty. Talk about a series of failure in one night. Well, I just cannot throw that out and thought I can make into a soup. It is well marinated and it still tastes okay save for the charred part and the saltiness level.
What did I do with it? Soup didn’t happen. I found that it’s easier to eat it with lettuce and rice. It wasn’t so bad.
With all of those meat and fish out of the fridge, I can now go back to the non-meat options. Oh! I almost forgot that I still have two leftover pocket pizza that I am saving for Sunday at least. I may try to look in the fridge again to find if there are any food that needs to be thrown out --- uh..I mean, recycle.
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