a very special … dumbass gourmet

The Husband and I are embarking on a weekendlong cleaning frenzy to make up for the fact that I’ve been a bit lackadaisical in my housekeeping these past few months. Just last week we played “What’s that Smell?” in the refrigerator, and between that experience and all this house cleaning, I’m beginning to realize just how much we waste around here. In the spirit of not letting any of our leftovers go to that Big Mold Colony in the Sky, this is what I made The Husband for dinner tonight:

Here we have scrambled eggs cooked with leftover ham and a baked potato from Thursday night. I diced those along with half a tomato (the other half is salted and sliced on the side) and some onions left over from the floor soup I made for the last installment of DG. Top it all off with some cayenne pepper and pepperjack cheese, and you have a “garbage plate” currently being wolfed down like there’s no tomorrow. As for me, I’ll be nibbling on some leftover asparagus spears and perhaps some pierogies we discovered at Kroger last week.

It really hasn’t been too hard so far to cut down on our wastefulness — I just make a little extra effort to remember what’s in the fridge and use it before it goes bad. The Husband is notorious for buying fruit or veggies that he wants and then forgetting they exist, so I’ve been trying to keep an eye on everything and remind him it’s there (or incorporate it into dinner). When we bought bread the other day, I put half the loaf into a bag and shoved it into the freezer so it wouldn’t languish in the fridge, and when I made the asparagus a few nights ago, I put half the bunch into the freezer for later. I know frozen bread thaws just fine — my mother used to freeze whole loaves of it — but I’m not sure about the asparagus. It’ll be a learning experience, that’s for sure.

How do you cut down on food waste? Repurposing leftovers and freezing surplus food are my best tactics right now, but I’m always open to suggestions!