Leftover Kitchen

Hello everyone!

My parents went on vacation last week and I had to fend for myself. I actually like cooking, so I was kind of excited to try new things. Meaning, I spent part of the $40 left for me and my sister on cilantro, avocado, and salsa.

I watch a lot of cooking shows and I buy cookbooks for fun, but this week I realized that eventually, we were going to run out of ingredients. We most definitely ran out of everything, but I refused to throw things out, unless they were expired.

Which got me thinking about how people throw out excellent food because they have no idea what to do with it. I'm sticking to three main things that are just sitting in your kitchen and generally don't get used once its a little old. Trust me, your food hasn't gone bad until its evidently bad; no need to throw it out because that is throwing out money. Every time you throw out good food, a baby unicorn dies.

Let's start with Spinach because it is something I always use. I love spinach because it does last long, but eventually, your spinach will start to throw a smell off. If it smells bad, but it looks okay, generally, there's just a few pieces that need to be thrown (they will be wet and completely out of shape) Toss those bad ones and wash the good ones. Now, you are ready.

The first thing I like doing with spinach is wilting it down in a little olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic. Then, I like adding them to noodles with some burnt butter sauce and a fried egg. Sometimes I take a Knorr packet of noodle seasoning and throw some wilted spinach with chicken. It's super easy and makes you look like a boss cook. Since the spinach is on the verge of wilting down anyways, you may as well use it in a delicious recipe where the red pepper flake brings it back to life.

The second thing I do with spinach is put it in a smoothie. No, you don't taste the spinach and you get a boost in your iron for the day. My favourite smoothie is a handful of spinach (maybe a little more), a cup of frozen strawberries, a peeled chopped apple, a scoop of chocolate protein powder, a spoonful of peanut butter, and a cup of water (I use a child's cup, not an actual measuring up).

The next ingredient is strawberries. Now, if the strawberry is growing mold or has anything on it that is questionable, toss it, but if it looks like the seeds are kind of popping out or there are a few that are bruised, they should be good to eat. Use your own judgement though, I rather not have someone eat a completely rotten strawberry.

So there are also three things I like to do with old strawberries. The first, I like to chop them up and put them with some yogurt and granola. Super simple. The second is I cut them up and place them on toast a peanut butter. The third, I like to toss them in the smoothie I talked about above.

Oh avocado's, I love them, but honestly, they are irritating when they have turned brown on the inside. If this happens, toss them. I wouldn't chance it.

However, if you do get them at perfect ripeness, I like to do two things with avocados. The first, I chop them up and add them in rice bowls as protein instead of meat. So good. The second thing I like to make is guacamole, but not just any kind of guac, Chipotle guac. These are super simple things to make, but if you know your avocado is about to turn brown, its better to use the food you have. Plus, you get guac, which is the best.

Alright everyone, these are just a few things I like to do with food I know is on it's way to the trash.

Thanks for reading,

Samantha