Thrifty readers share kitchen tips

Resolving to waste less food may be more a matter of will than skill.

That's the message from Catherine Kitcho, author of "The Use-it-Up Cookbook," and the many readers who shared the ways they avoid wasting food. An estimated 40 percent of food waste starts in the home, which means we all can do better.

"Tomato paste is the whole reason I wrote the book," explains Kitcho, who used to own a catering company.

That leftover can would irritate Kitcho, whose Depression-era parents instilled their thrifty ways in their daughter. In vain, she would flip through cookbooks looking for recipes to use the remaining tomato paste. In the end, she decided to write a cookbook with 25 chapters devoted to recipes for often-leftover ingredients ranging from cooked rice to half a jar of salsa.

Kitcho says not wasting food starts at the grocery store. If you are going to buy more than you need for a recipe, start thinking about what you will do with the rest.

On a recent visit to Costco, Kitcho needed butternut squash to make a soup, but she had to buy several in a package. She decided to make squash dinner rolls, akin to sweet potato rolls, and freeze the rest of the roasted squash for future batches.

Being determined not to waste food also forces cooks to get creative in the kitchen. That's the theme that emerged from thrifty readers, who responded to our invitation to share their methods and offered how-to advice ranging from transforming leftovers into new meals to planning to avoid leftovers to making the best use of the freezer.

Some suggestions just astounded me in their commitment to frugality: One woman makes pineapple juice ice pops using used pill bottles - only after cleaning them out thoroughly, of course. That's probably more hard-core frugal than most of us would attempt.

Wherever you are in resolving to waste less food, the suggestions that follow are an easy place to start.

Make soup

This tip was mentioned by several readers. Norma Brown, 64, of Cary, wrote: Put a medium to large plastic storage container in the freezer and collect small amounts of food you would otherwise throw away. Every few weeks, make soup.

Brown wrote: "Just yesterday, I did this; and my husband said, 'Wow, this soup is excellent.' He thinks I come up with new recipes. He's a little finicky so I don't burden him with the information that he's eating leftovers from the past three weeks thrown together." (Sorry to out you, Mrs. Brown, but it's for a good cause.)

"Last night's soup had at least three kinds of pasta noodles. I've even put in meat loaf. When you think about it, it's no different than making a soup with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, etc. ... It's best to start with sautéing onion, carrots and celery in olive oil and then adding chicken or vegetable stock or puréed tomatoes to whatever you have in the container. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy. Believe me, you'll be surprised at how tasty it is."

Make fried rice, burritos, paninis, quiche, omelets and casseroles

Several of you cited these dishes as easy ways to use up leftover bits of meats and vegetables. Louise Dolan, 55, of Raleigh, makes what her three children call "mystery burritos" by sautéing leftover meat and veggies with diced onions or minced garlic, then layering the mixture on warm flour tortillas and topping with cheese.

Make marinated vegetable salad

This excellent tip came from Karen Gifford of Raleigh: Place leftover cooked vegetables such as peas, green beans, cauliflower and broccoli in a jar in the refrigerator and cover with vinaigrette. Serve as is or add sliced green onion and chopped celery.

Make barbecue cheese dip

Reece Chilton of Matthews suggests using leftover barbecue instead of sausage in this classic dip: Melt one block of Velveeta cheese, stir in leftover barbecue and 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes.

Make fruit compote

Dolan rescues old apples this way. Bring sliced apples, a little water and sugar to a boil for a few minutes. You also can add dried fruit. This goes great with roasts, such as pork roasts or pork tenderloin.

Look for recipes that use similar ingredients

Katrin Baker, 40, of Raleigh, explains: "I like celery, but I'm not apt to eat it plain. When I make a dish that requires it, I also have about three or four other recipe ideas where I can use the remaining stalks rather than let them wilt. Doing this saves me a great deal of random leftover ingredients."

Make good use of your freezer

If you won't eat leftovers right away, freeze them. They will make an easy meal on a busy week night. Stash leftover ingredients - from chicken broth to ham bones - to turn into soups and stews.

Freeze leftover slices of bread

When you have enough, suggests Frances Simpson, 78, of Charlotte, use a food processor to make bread crumbs. They can stay in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Start a compost pile or get backyard chickens

Felice Bogus, 45, of Raleigh, writes: "I'm actually embarrassed at how much food we end up throwing out, but very little actually gets wasted. If the food is spoiled or inedible in any way, it goes into compost. If it's still edible, but for whatever reason, unwanted, the chickens get it. That applies only to nonmeat or nondairy items, of course. Between the chickens and the compost, I haven't used my garbage disposal in recent memory."

Note: The link to the recipe for Sunset Pecan Bread is to the right under Related Content.