What to cook to use food before it spoils

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

We’ve all done it. Bought more than we can use. Perhaps we had intentions to use the food differently or, like me, so often the vegetables or packages of meat or dairy are just too large for me to use easily. We won’t worry about the cause here, we just want to use the food we have on-hand. Avoid wasting food, save money, increase sustainability, maximize convenience, there are so many reasons to use the food we have on hand to make our meals. Luckily, there are some “go to” recipes that are flexible to use a variety of vegetables, dairy or meat and make absolutely delicious dinners and lunches.

Cook the food now while it is still at its peak (or at least still good enough) and you can further extend the life of most foods. For example, cooking up spinach leaves that are not quite fresh enough for salad anymore can not only make delicious food today, but food that could be your dinner or lunches over the next three or four days. Smart!

If you have aging bread, make sure to read the next section The Weekend Clear Out of this article. Also, you may want to check-out the article about extending food life and tips how to make bread last and watch for my upcoming article on what to do with aging bread and cookies.

Okay now! Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Nearly all uncooked food vegetables, dairy or dairy substitutes, eggs and meat can be easily made into any one of the top recipe ideas I list just below. But don’t forget about also using cooked meat and vegetables, as they can often be easily used in these recipes as well, as long as they are not too covered in sauces or processed into a full meal already. These foods are just begging to be included in one of these delicious recipes, or those listed in The Weekend Clear Out section below. Of course, if it is fully cooked into a casserole, curry, stroganoff, lasagne, or similar … these foods are best considered either “left-overs” or “make aheads”. For more tips on cooked food, continue reading and make sure to read the third section of this article Differentiate “Left-Overs” Versus “Make-Aheads”.

There are more recipes in the next section which are also winners for clearing out your fridge, using what you have on-hand and avoiding wasting food.

The weekend clear out, avoid wasting food recipe ideas

A well-known French habit is the ability to make wonderful dishes with the dregs of what you may have left in your refrigerator, bread box or fresh vegetables on-hand. Use the wisdom of their techniques to instill a new habit, The Weekend Clear Out. This is simply using the weekend as an opportunity to use all the vegetables, meats and dairy to their best use before they start to turn. Taking on this habit, will make a measurable difference in reducing your food waste, saving you money and living more sustainably. Give it a try.

Here’s how to simply and easily do The Weekend Clear Out. Of course, the first step is to look at what you have on-hand and see if you immediately already see a recipe ready to happen. If so, wonderful! This will happen more and more, as you do The Weekend Clear Out more often. Now, think about the recipes you have seen above and add to that the following three dishes, inspired by French techniques to cook with what is freshest seasonally or on-hand in your kitchen now.

French Toast or Pain Perdue, recipe idea to avoid wasting bread

French Toast or Pain Perdue are excellent ways to use old bread and make a delicious breakfast, brunch or dessert. Simply mix together milk and eggs (about 1/4 cup of milk to 4 eggs), add a bit of sugar (about 2 tbsp), a little vanilla extract, and season with your favorite comforting spices such as mixed spice/all spice, nutmeg, cinnamon. Whisk that up and soak your old bread in the mixture. Cook in a medium-hot, very well buttered, skillet or sauté pan until cooked on each side. Delicious! Old is new again!

Potato Hash, recipe idea for potatoes and other ingredient favorites

A favorite to bring a wonderful aroma of delicious food to your home is Potato Hash. Use any cooked potatoes – roasted, baked, boiled – in a delicious new way. Cut them into 1 inch cubes/chunks (2 cm). In a medium-hot skillet or sauté pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter. Add the potatoes along with any other great ingredients you have at home. Try adding cooked meat like ham, corned beef, or roast beef. Add chopped peppers, onions, shallots, or leeks, if you’ve got them. Even add a few veggies, if you fancy. Delicious! A great way to clear use left overs in a way that may even be more delicious than the original meal.

You now have six flexible recipes that can take on nearly any vegetable, meat or dairy product and make it into a delicious meal. Avoid wasting food with these recipe ideas. Incorporate these into your weekly cooking and see how much more of the food you buy you actually use fully. But what if you have left-overs, already cooked?

Differentiate “left-overs” versus “make-aheads”

Use food in the most convenient ways, and you’ll deal with less spoilage. A great way to make sure food is easy to use when you want to use it, is to package it up ready to reheat or cook with, as you put it into the refrigerator. I use two classifications to do this Left-Overs and Make-Aheads.

Left-Overs are a complete meal that I can eat later. Package these up just ready to heat in the microwave, and someone will be much more likely to grab it for an easy lunch the next day. Consider storing it in a microwave safe bowl or small plate (covered in cling film) or similar serving dish, to make eating left-overs even easier and more appealingly than heating up a frozen prepared meal. Eat them within three to four days.

Make-Aheads are food that was cooked for a previous meal, but can be repurposed and used in new ways. These become extra-easy ingredients to make meals with over the next few days.

For example, have a left over pork chop? Dice it up; save it in a clear jar (so you can see it, and won’t forget about it); and toss it into one of your next meals as an easy shortcut to add meat – like into your pasta sauce, casserole, stir fry, eggs, tray bake, soup. Any food that is focused on a single ingredient works well as a “make-ahead”. Meats always work well this way. Consider cooking up a full package of meat at one time. Eat some right away, and save the rest as a “make ahead” for extra convenience.

Rice, potatoes and many vegetables (even spiced and seasoned) are also great “make aheads” to use in stir fries, soups, burritos, and many other entrees you may be making. And they can even become a core ingredient for a full new entry, such as in the recipes above for Fried Rice and Potato Hash. Store these in clear containers and keep them in full view, so you will use them quickly and conveniently in your cooking.

Now you are all set to avoid wasting food using these recipe ideas. There are some ways to further extend food life.

Extending food life to avoid wasting food

The best way to use food, is at its prime ripeness or freshness. There are easy ways to extend the life of foods that will also help you use them at their peak. Read Ready and Thriving article on Extending Food Life, which will help you to proactively keep food fresh for longer at its peak and to use your food even more easily. These tips can help you avoid having any food go to waste.

If you are a gardener or have glorious friends who gift you with their large harvest of garden vegetables, you will be able to use those vegetables in these recipes here. But to enjoy an “overly large” harvest, you will want to preserve food for the longer term. Watch for my upcoming articles on Extending Food Life page to learn more on preserving food at the peak of freshness.

What’s next?

Look for future blogs on reducing food waste and extending food life on ReadyandThriving.com’s Extend Food Life page. Some topics include the following:

• Cookies and bread crumbs can take on new life as a cheesecake crust or fried topping
• Create a kitchen herb garden for fresh herbs any time
• Grow a fresh food garden that also allows you to get certain foods whenever you want them
• Preserve harvests that are more than you can eat while fresh
• And more … 

Bookmark ReadyandThriving.com and SUBSCRIBE to Ready and Thriving YouTube channel and check back for more ways to decrease your food waste and extend your fresh food life.