Love your Leftovers
You probably have a plan for your holiday meals, but do you have a plan for your leftovers? Each year, Americans throw out 200 million pounds of turkey at Thanksgiving.
This holiday season, try challenging yourself to prevent any food from going to waste! One way – perhaps the most delicious way – is to turn your leftovers into a new meal!
Here are a few more tips from Issaquah’s Food: Too Good to Waste program to get you started:
Plan ahead for “special” ingredients
Lots of holiday recipes include small amounts of ingredients that may not be used up in one dish. Try choosing recipes that use the same ingredients to avoid wasting items like herbs, vegetables, cream or broth. You can also try freezing, canning or drying extras to use later.
Shop your Kitchen First
Use the City’s Shopping List template to plan what ingredients you already have and what you need to buy.
Keep Fruits and Vegetables Fresh
If you do your shopping early, use our Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide to learn what stays fresh longer inside or outside the fridge.
Re-purpose Commonly Wasted Items
Use your vegetable scraps to make homemade broth. Save items like celery tops, the ends of carrots and green beans, dried up garlic cloves and even cheese rinds to throw into a pot of water for a delicious broth.
Share Leftovers
Ask your guests to bring reusable containers and share the leftovers so everyone can enjoy it later.
Let’s give thanks to our food by making sure none of it gets wasted