Fridge consciousness is a frequently-used term in our house. My husband hates waste of all sorts, but his biggest pet peeve is wasted food. In our household, food that isn’t eaten is faithfully packed away into the refrigerator to be enjoyed another day.
How do we manage to make sure that we use all of our leftovers, though? Trust me; it isn’t always easy. Some days the last thing my kids want is a repeat of last night’s dinner. The kids’ eyes start to glaze over at the mere mention of last night’s pot roast. You have to get pretty creative sometimes to make leftovers look appealing. Fortunately, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.
Use leftovers as components in future meals. Do you have leftover green beans? They can be used to make a great green bean casserole. Leftover mashed potatoes can be built into cakes and fried for a new side dish. You can revamp a lot of dishes to come up with a whole new dish. Your kids won’t even realize that they’re eating leftovers.
Heat up leftovers for a second go-round. If your lasagna made a delicious dinner, it will make an even better lunch the next day. While your spouse’s co-workers are buying their lunches out of vending machines, he can enjoy a warm treat from home.
Have a leftover night. When the leftovers start to pile up in the fridge and I’m not sure that we’re ever going to be able to catch up, I declare a “leftover night.” I pull all of the leftovers out and let everyone pick what they want. Imagine a Golden Corral buffet right there in my kitchen. The kids love the freedom of getting to eat whatever they want. My husband loves seeing us use of all of that food that might have gone to waste. And I love seeing a meal that I didn’t have to spend a dime on. Now that’s fridge consciousness.
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