Sometimes I Could Strangle My Sister

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Sometimes the nonchalance my sister and brother-in-law have about throwing food away just really gets under my skin. Not only is it ignorant, in my opinion of course, and I don't mean that in a mean way, to throw food away, it's a complete waste of money. And as you know, both things bother me. Granted, some of the things I do in the kitchen, which I call creative, others might refer to as complete abominations. I admit I have made some questionable things, but in hindsight, almost all of them have at least tasted good even if bringing them to a potluck or entering them into a cooking competition would be a complete no-no. Yesterday my sister told me they threw away a bunch of stuffing they had leftover from our Thanksgiving dinner. The thing that irks me is that they didn't even try to find a way to be creative and repurpose it. I get getting sick of something you have too much of. But that's why there are things you can do with those things to make them into something entirely different and still use things up. For example, she could have made a simple strata casserole with the stuffing, which is not at all an uncommon dish or even all that creative. It would just use stuffing instead of bread. But let's be fair. That's really all stuffing is anyway. Seasoned bread. It's not unlike last night. I had gravy leftover, and quite a lot of it actually. It was due to be "thrown out," since I had nothing really planned to put gravy on. Hmm. What could I make? How about a meat and rice bake? Instead of using a cream soup, I could just use the gravy instead. Same basic idea. Brown up some diced chicken breast, add in some onions, red and yellow bell peppers, some leftover corn I had, cooked rice, and some sour cream spinach dip I had left, a little garlic and oregano and voila! Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and some Parmesan cheese. Bake and add some shredded cheese on top to melt. It was delicious. It used up two leftovers. And it wasn't like I got overly creative with the dish either since a traditional meat and rice bake calls for cream soup, sour cream, rice, meat, vegetables, and while cheese is optional, I always include it. Not only does everything get used up, but I save money too. Every time I hear my sister or brother-in-law say they threw food away, I just want to strangle them. Now that's not to say they never have reason to strangle me. But I am just saying.