No Food Waste

I’ve never been a huge fan of leftovers. My family can vouch for this.  The smell of opening up containers of cold (once hot) food has always grossed me out.

Though, I do know making every meal from scratch can be taxing. I typically prepare recipes that yield 1-4 servings. Since I really don’t care for most leftovers, I challenge myself to serve them differently from their original form. Often my husband cannot believe they were even part of the same meal.

I also rarely eat or keep cooked food more than 12-24 hours after preparing due to the increase in histamine levels and growing bacteria levels, which make migraine sufferers susceptible to more migraines. I also freeze over refrigerate if at all possible. When in a home kitchen, one must think about food hygiene like a restaurant to make meals safe and tummies happy. Food must be cooled properly, quickly and refrigerated as soon as possible. 

Most importantly, food can only be heated 2x before it needs to hit the compost bin. This is something I see many people do incorrectly. Why is this? It’s due to unsafe levels of bacteria rising in foods, thus making it more likely to cause foodborne illness, which fall under the category of food poisoning.

How do I make leftovers seem like a new dish? Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Serve atop morning eggs

2. Incorporate into a dinner frittata

3. Mixed with rice & beans

4. Throw into a quick soup

5. Top baked sweet potatoes or baked potatoes