The folks over at Frugal Hacks just cleaned out their fridge! They were nice enough to document the process and were nice enough to offer us some inspiration and handy tips on how to use up the leftovers.
Seriously, this used to be a major problem for me. If I didn’t use it up, it got left there, and months would literally go by. I like fresh food. It’s not easy for me to use leftovers if they’re more than a day or two old. I would have anxiety about my refrigerator’s contents (I have somewhat of a weak stomach). Then, usually after some weird odor was happening in there, I’d decide “Whatever it IS, it’s GOT to go…”
I’ve been known to call a friend because I couldn’t deal with it. One time I had potato salad from Memorial Day that I finally threw out on Labor Day. It was in a good container I couldn’t bear to throw away, so a friend came over and dumped its contents on the compost pile for me. Of course I was teased relentlessly. I try so hard!
For me, that was “rock bottom”.
Am I alone? I doubt it. I’m sure there’s others out there who have had major issues with dealing with the scary contents of their refrigerator. Are there? Hello?
well, no more. I decided to do something about it. I faced my fears, and I’ve been cleaning out my fridge and keeping track of leftovers ever since!
One thing that has made it easier on me, is I discovered my food processor and the joy of making quick homemade soups. I’ve made soups with just about anything, and using some basic guidelines and techniques, you can too! It’s really not hard, and what’s the worse that can happen? You MIGHT end up with something terrible - in which case you throw it out, which you were going to do anyway, right? In the process you’ll learn some very useful skills here to stretch your food budget.
Ingredients:
Leftover, cooked vegetables and grains: Tomatoes, Rice, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Pasta (depending on if they have a sauce on them or not matters), Squash
Soup Stock - Chicken or Beef - Quick and Easy to make. Or, use water with bouillon or canned soup broth. Being that I love to cook, and I’m very frugal in the kitchen, I always have either frozen homemade soup stock handy or the ingredients to make it.
Meat (Optional) - All cuts of beef, even leftover ground beef. Sausage. Chicken.
Decide, with what ingredients you have come up with, what your “base” is going to be. Items like carrots, tomatoes and squash make for a delicious “cream” soup. Just tomatoes? Think about adding rice or pasta + sausage or beef. The point is, not everything goes together. If you have potatoes, for example, you might want to use thenm for thickening or else make some sort of meat-based “stew”. You don’t want to mix potatoes with another starch like rice or pasta.
Process carrots, squash and tomatoes together. Set aside.
In a small skillet, brown things like chopped / minced onion, garlic and celery. Add chopped fresh or leftover mushrooms if you have them.
Add the items together, with some stock or broth as a base. Season with salt and pepper, italian seasonings, thyme and rosemary.
Now add your meat and pre-cooked pasta, if you’re using. I like to almost always add a splash of hot pepper sauce to my soups.
What this gives you is a really coloraful creamy base with the tomatoes / carrots / squash with the flavors all incorporated. Add to that some flavor and texture with the onions, chopped mushrooms and celery. If you have fresh but almost-gone spinach leaves, add those to the skillet and wilt down for some interesting color, texture and flavor. Adding pasta or rice adds more texture and makes the soup more filling. Again, meat is always optional.
Taste and season carefully. Try adding a small scoop of peanut butter to a soup like this, it really makes it have an asian flair and also will cool it down a bit if you got it too spicy.
If you have it, top the soup with a dollop of sour cream or shredded cheese - then top with fresh or dry green herb like parsely or basil.
Always awesome with bread, or bread toasts you can make with older bread in the oven by slicing thin, brushing with olive oil / garlic / herbs and toasting in your oven.
Soup is delicious no matter the season. I find it’s especially good in the summer, when lots of vegetables are used.
Have you made good homemade soup out of scraps and leftovers? Have you made terrible homemade soup out of leftovers? What did you learn? Do you think making soup is a good use of scraps and leftovers? Tell Me.
