Posts: 315
7/12/10 7:51 P

When you mention zucchini and nuts, I freeze the leftover nuts (well wrapped) and grate zucchini and freeze in a lock-top freezer bag for future zucchini bread or muffins.

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Posts: 3,196
7/12/10 3:57 P

Actually if I purchase an ingredient that is a bit more rare and expensive then first I use up some of it in that recipe. Later as I'm planning other recipes to try I purposefully look for recipes that use that very ingredient. If it's getting close to being bad then I know I have to use it up immediately.
Veggies are the biggest one for us. Sometimes we go nuts with buying fruits and veggies. If I look in the drawer and find the zuchinnis are going bad than I plan a recipe that will use the veggies up in a casserole. That way barely anything goes to waste.

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Posts: 6,039
7/12/10 10:19 A

Great ideas everybody!
What about a new ingredient that you really dint like the taste of? Do you tough it out and use it u till it's gone or swallow the cost and toss it out?

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Posts: 1,035
7/11/10 1:18 P

Leftover cheese is never a problem in our house. Especially feta. It is a wonderful addition to any salad, not just Greek salad. It's awesome tossed with roasted vegetables or layered into a burger. And my favourite version of pasta primavera is tossed with feta so it sort of melts into the hot pasta and veggies...yum.
As for blue cheese, as far as I'm concerned it's already "bad". DH is the one who eats it, and the funkier the better. Although I've been known to sliver a bit onto a salad or melt it onto a steak.

As for leftover veggies, that's what soup and stir fries are for.

Posts: 315
7/11/10 8:31 A

I hate wasting money on feta or blue cheese for home. They turn bad too fast so I wait til I go out to eat to try that type of treat. I use ricotta cheese, farmers cheese (a dry type of cottage cheese, almost like cream cheese without the fat)and other non-gourmet cheese. Bought in small quantities there is little or no waste.

Posts: 315
7/11/10 8:25 A

Easy answer for me is.....substitute. Nothing is written in stone.

Posts: 6,039
7/11/10 8:15 A

What about ingredients besides spices like different kinds of cheeses or vegetables?

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Posts: 315
7/10/10 10:03 P

I try to buy small quantities of spices in the health food store. Cheaper than supermarket and I don't feel guilty if they are unused often. I plan on going thru my old cans and jars of expired spices and throwing them in my garden to keep away pests or into my small compost.

Posts: 1,035
7/10/10 2:49 P

Ha. For myself, I try to prevent that situation by buying unusual new spices in tiny quantities at the Bulk Barn.

However, I have several young-adult daughters who have either badgered me into buying obscure spices that I don't expect I'll ever use (of course, they always pick a jumbo bottle) or else move 1000 miles away, leaving me with their kitchen leftovers.

I can never bring myself to throw this stuff out. I try to use it up by finding recipes that use it or substituting it into things I already cook.

CUrrently back to being an empty nester, and my fridge is still stuffed with opened containers of black bean paste, hummus, tzatziki, tahini, 2 kinds of chutney, 2 kinds of marmalade, 5 kinds of jam, quark cheese (OK that one was my splurge), Thai Red Curry Sauce, green olives, black olives, 3 kinds of mustard, 2 kinds of ketchup...and that's just the opened ones. We like to eat adventurously but we're also trying to eat LESS.

Posts: 6,039
7/10/10 2:11 P

One of the things that has kept me back fro trying new recipes is the expense thay sometimes goes into buying ingredients.
I have had experiences in the past where I bought ingredients for a recipe, made the recipe, didn't like it so much and then ended up with extra ingredients that I never use in anything else.
What do you guys do in situations like that? (disclaimer: I'm not asking for advice...just trying to generate diacussion. :) )

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