Since large meals are part of nearly every family’s traditions during the holiday season food waste is a timely problem to consider. Making sure that all food is consumed rather than wasted takes planning. Since this is such a busy season here’s a few tips to get you started.
Quick Tips for Storing and Utilizing Leftovers
1. If you like eating leftovers, plan how many meals you will need and set aside the appropriate amount of food. Freeze the rest in meal sized portions immediately. Turkey, ham and mashed potatoes freeze well.
2. To avoid freezer burn, wrap all food twice. I line a storage container with foil, fill the container with leftovers and fold the foil over the top. I freeze the food overnight and the next morning I take it out of the container and put the block of foil-wrapped food in a labeled freezer bag. That way, the leftovers are easy to use for another meal in future, but they don’t take up a lot of room in the freezer. My husband often takes these meal sized portions to work for lunch. He puts the food back in the original container for easy transport.
3. If you have single ingredients that you want to use for a different recipe (eg. leftover green beans or bread) you can use an ingredient search on a website such as Allrecipes.com to find recipes that call for that ingredient. If you don’t particularly like eating leftovers, this type of search can help you turn those leftovers into a completely different meal.
4. Use the leftover bones, too. A ham bone can be used to make a stew and the bones from a turkey or chicken to make broth. I make broth in the crockpot and freeze it in ice cube trays. When frozen, I dump the cubes into a freezer bag so I always have a supply of homemade broth in the freezer. Each cube is approximately 2 tablespoons.
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