You can often find me chuckling when I stand in my mother’s kitchen. On the counter it’s not surprising to find three crackers wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, five almonds in a small dish or something like three pear slices leftover from breakfast resting on a clean plate.

“Why are you keeping three grapes in this dish?” I’ll laugh. “Really mom, there is only about a quarter cup of mayonnaise in this container and it’s taking up space in your refrigerator, why don’t you toss it out?”  Neither of my parents are  what I call penny pinchers, nor did they grow up with the notion to save every scrap of food, but one thing my mother hates more than anything else is wasting food. So why throw away three segments of an orange when you could add it to your yogurt tomorrow?

My mother is one of the best cooks that I know of. Extremely resourceful and downright clever when it comes to making something out of nothing. Perhaps like a “found artist,” she looks at every ingredient in her kitchen as if it could be part of a greater piece of work.

Whether we like it or not, we often turn into our parents- and I am no exception.  My husband has since put my counter and refrigerator gatherings on a mental due date. Ever so carefully he’ll ask if he can toss half of a grilled chicken thigh that is wrapped in plastic or the quarter-sized piece of blue cheese that I simply couldn’t bear to toss from a couple nights ago. The beauty of it all is that I DO find ways to use these found items in my fridge. Like the Cobb salad that I made using the leftover blue cheese and the diced chicken thigh or the half stem of fresh rosemary that -even though small- the leaves were sprinkled on a pizza and I used the stem to infuse the tomato sauce. When you think about it, many gourmet meals we happily pay  for in restaurants today came from leftovers, like cassoulet, Asian dumplings, bouillabaisse or cioppino- the Italian seafood stew, which name comes from people assembling “a little bit” of what ever was leftover from the day’s catch.

I challenge you all to rethink what you consider as garbage in your fridge simply because you can’t be bothered to include bits and pieces into your next culinary creation.  I’ve got three words for you when it comes to most odds and ends: soup, salad or bento box!

A little bit more inspirtation for you:
The Frugal Girl – Gives you pointers on leftovers.
CheapEats.ie- Gives advice on fishcakes using leftovers.
The World According to Eggface uses the bento box solution.

Above photo by: The Pack

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I will admit, I get a little overzealous when making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I always seem to think that each person is going to eat the equivalent of their arm’s weight. I practically do. Allow me to digress for just a moment to explain how much I really like this tuber.

When I was about four my parents took my brother and I to a steakhouse. I barely touched my steak, but proceeded to eat everyone’s large baked Russet potato. All four. Every bit. I was in heaven. Truly, I would have traded my favorite doll for them. It may have been my first encounter with a dressed up tater, I don’t know, but ever since that night I apparently have “an exaggerated sense of what a normal potato portion should be.” I’ve heard that more than once. Clearly I believe the body:potato ratio is much greater than most people would believe it to be. Whatever. Needless to say, we have a crock-pot full of mashed potatoes leftover.

Amateurs.

They sure did come in handy though, along with the other leftovers, when we assembled this delicious Lamb Shepherd’s Pie.

We didn’t use a recipe for this dish as it was a hodgepodge of things in the fridge. First, we ground up our leftover lamb with my new favorite toy: our KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I’m grinding up everything!). Then, we sautéed that with a bit of red wine, garlic and onions.

In an soufflé dish we started layering: lamb first, then carrots, peas, some of Tracy’s corn pudding (a coarser this time as she added more polenta), some sautéed Chanterelle mushrooms, and topped it all with a healthy layer of mashed potatoes. We finished it by sprinkling the top with some of our favorite new black lava flake and set it in the oven to warm and brown.

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I can barely think of food today. After our Thanksgiving feast yesterday I am still.so.full. You’d think after feeding 18 people there would be no more food left over, but oh contraire! Our two refrigerators are still as packed as my belly.

The perfect light meal that knocks out some of that left over bulk is the classic day-after-Thanksgiving meal: Turkey Soup. I promise, a nice warm bowl of this will calm that overstuffed tummy.

Turkey Soup
You could also substitute chicken. Want it even lighter? Make it without noodles.

1-1/4 pounds boneless turkey meat
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoons dried thyme
1/4 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 quart homemade broth from turkey carcass
1 cup water
2 carrots cut into thin rounds
1 cup small pasta (such as shells or bowties)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Handful of fresh spinach
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat butter and oil in large pot and add the onion, garlic, thyme, basil and rosemary.  Saute on medium heat until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Increase heat to high, add broth and water and bring to a simmer.  Add carrots and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the pasta and celery and cook until just tender, about another 5 minutes.  Then add turkey meat and spinach.  Stir in parsley and lemon juice.

Makes 6 servings.

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