I dropped the ball on my “Weekly Green” posting. Not that I don’t have a TON of them in mind. But I felt overwhelmed about where to start. That and I didn’t want to come across as smug about being eco-conscious. Or maybe I just got lazy? It’s hard to compete with food porn.

Anyway, I’m bringing it back! Hopefully it’ll be in the spirit of collaboration not a know-it-all posting. I just want to share my ideas and hear other peoples’ as well.

So, here’s a teeny tiny one:

Our toaster oven bell no longer functions. I just noticed that this morning when I found this dried out old bagel in there.

Petrified bagel.

You know what happens when you leave a bagel in the toaster oven for an hour? It becomes hard as a rock.

A few years ago I would’ve just tossed it. It’d be a lot easier to toss it. But it’s a waste of food. The more I read about the Horn of Africa’s famine

Warning: this is a BIG image – it was impossible to read the smaller version.

Graphic from foodandtechconnect.com

and even here in the “Land of Plenty” I try to use everything. There are a few things that help with this endeavor:

1. Plan meals ahead of time BEFORE grocery shopping. I am a pretty disorganized person and usually fly by the seat of my pants. If I happen upon a farmer’s market, I’ll buy things just because they’re beautiful when I have no clear idea how or what I’ll do with it. This is great if you are Alice Waters or a Top Chef contestant. Also, works really well if you’re a natural cook who knows what to do with things. (Rebecca Trotsky) I am neither. I have really only been cooking for a year and have 2 toddlers. This limits my research & cooking time significantly. To waste less, I plan 2 or 3 meals per week and then add only those items I need to my shopping list. This has helped me a TON. Buying fewer items means I have less clogging up my fridge. I also have a lot less stress about having to use things up out of guilt.

I don’t care how pink that rhubarb is, keep on walking, girl.

2. Find recipes that use leftover veg or day old bread. A great example is the quinoa cakes recipe. You can literally chop up any leftover veg you have into the mixture. Another example is the Spring Vegetable Risotto with Goat Cheese which I’ll post this week. Bread can become croutons.

3. ROAST any leftover veg you don’t end up using. Just have a night of leftovers/odds & ends. G is usually at work late & my kids usually don’t care that much about dinner anyway so I just do it for myself!

But what about this old bagel I’ve just shown you?

Here’s my GREEN idea(r): freeze it in a Zip-Loc bag & use for croutons. I am really into croutons right now! I make plain, garlic & dijon mustard. That’s it so far but they are gooooooooood. I actually add any bread that is over a day old that I know is in danger of being tossed. Next time I need croutons (which is every 2 days right now!) I use whatever bread is in that bag.

PLAIN CROUTONS.

GARLIC CROUTONS.

Stay tuned for link for DIJON CROUTONS! (coming VERY soon…)

If anyone’s reading this (besides my sister) I’d love to hear what steps you’re taking in this vein? It’s always helpful to get ideas from other folks…

You too, Lib!