In the Kitchen Part 3

So far for in the kitchen I have talked about my goals of saving money shopping, cooking through 3 cookbooks, and doing a better job with meal planning (actually, just returning to what I was doing).

My last kitchen goal, at the risk of sounding like a business seminar, is to cut back on waste. In my business days this was a term constantly bandied around. We had to cut out waste in processes, in materials used, in resources used, etc.

So the next time someone says I am wasting my business degree I can prove them wrong. I am using those concepts to manage our home!

What will this look like?

1. Don't throw in that extra bit of leftover whatever because the recipe does not call for the full amount of meat/veggies/whatever, try to combine it with another meal so I can use the rest of it the next night. (For example I had 3 meals I wanted to make that called for the following quantities of ground beef - 3/4 lb, 1 lb, 3/4 lb so I picked up a package that was approximately 2.5 lbs (and on sale), cooked up the whole thing and divided it up rather than getting a 1 lb package for a 3/4 lb meal.
2. At the risk of contradicting #1, bulk out a meal with veggies. So often casseroles call for so much meat and so little veggies, and I can make one meal's worth of meat suddenly become 2 by adding extra veggies.
3. Doing a better job with my leftovers! We often eat leftovers for lunch, but there is nothing wrong with a hodge podge meal of leftovers! Or carrying leftover veggies to the next meal. Or reworking them into another meal! (I love leftover rice and veggies, they make the best fried rice!)
4. Do a better job of watching my fruit and veggies for pending spoilage so that I can do something with them before that!
5. Do a better job of saving the ends of the bread loaves for other purposes.
   

And I have the time to do this because both girls like being in the kitchen! I put baby in her high chair (which was a gift and has a slight recline function for this age) and put her at the end of the counter. In front of the counter but right beside her is where I put Miss Pear on a step stool, and then I stand beside her so that I can put things on my right side that I don't want either girl to have, and Baby can smile at Miss Pear - a favorite pass time.

Do you have ideas or goals in this area?