Repurposing Leftovers

In our American society, excessive waste it seems is a by-product of our excessive lifestyles. We go to the store and allow the cashier bag the one item we just purchased that we could have easily just carried out on our own without any regard for the plastic bag we just guaranteed a place in a landfill. I'll never forget a trip to Target over Christmas when my husband and I were purchasing a few small items. When I realized the cashier put the items in a plastic bag, I said, "Oh, we don't need a bag, we can just carry them ourselves," she proceeded to take the items out of the bag and then THROW THE BAG AWAY!!! I wanted to castigate her for such thoughtlessness, but alas, I didn't want to make a scene, so I proceeded to grumble under my breath to my husband, "Well we may as well have just taken the bag if she was going to throw it away."

In addition to our unnecessary packaging waste, I have also become more conscious of food waste. Americans throw away a staggering amount of food every year that could easily feed hungry people in our own country and even all over the world. If you ever come across the Food Network TV special The Big Waste, it is a HUGE eye-opener. An equally eye-opening book from what I have heard though I have not read it yet is American Wasteland by Jonathan Bloom

Even before watching the Food Network special,  I had become quite vigilant about finding ways to repurpose leftovers in my fridge to make them into new and exciting meals. It's like my own mini Iron Chef battle with myself.

One of my favorite repuroses for mashed potatoes is to make Giada DeLaurentiis's dish, Eggs in Purgatory which is a fried egg and a potato pancake lying on a bed of marinara sauce. Where most people throw away leftover mashed potatoes or, at best, reheat them in a pot with a little extra milk, I have found it an extremely satisfying challenge to find a way to make a whole new meal out of them (loaded baked potato soup is another favorite reuse).

Last weekend, I happened to have some extra mashed potatoes in the fridge, so I made the intensely satisfying Eggs in Purgatory: (For recipe measurements, click the link above)

Add egg and flour to mashed potatoes

Form patties and saute in a nonstick pan

Add potato pancake to a bed of marinara and top with fried egg. Dust with parmigiano-reggiano.

There's something so luscious and sensual about a runny egg yolk in a savory dish. Mmmm....

So the next time you're cleaning out your fridge and about ready to throw out some perfectly good leftovers, why don't you dig deep and ask yourself, "Can I do something else with these to make them into a whole new dish?" Your wallet and the planet will thank you.

ETA: I should note that I have no idea if the book American Wasteland gives any advice on how to repurpose leftovers since I haven't read it yet. I merely mentioned it in this post as a way to refer to the vast amount of food waste in this country. I have challenged myself in my own kitchen to find ways to reuse leftovers to reduce the amount of food waste in my own house.