Reducing waste? Start in your kitchen

Tonight was one of those nights when we need to use up some random ingredients in our fridge so they didn’t go bad.  Our favorite meal to prepare when we need to do this is omelets.  I am a firm believer in “breakfast for dinner” nights, and tonight was the night.

Here was the random list of ingredients we needed to use up:
1. Jar of salsa
2. Green pepper  (lots coming in from the garden)
3. Mexican cheese  (see a theme here…I made taco salad at the beginning of the week)
4. Zucchini
5. Lemonade

Here is the list of omelets I made:
1. Little M gets egg and mexican cheese, with raw green peppers on the side.
2. Mama gets egg, mexican cheese, more monteray jack cheese (can’t have too much cheese), salsa and sauteed green peppers.
3. Dada gets all of the above, plus two pieces of deli turkey breast.  (“If it’s not meat, it’s just a snack.”  Still working on sneaking in a meatless Monday somehow…)

We all got steamed zucchinni on the side, and I had watered down lemonade to top it off.

Not only are omelets great for a mid-week dinner, you can throw a variety of ingredients in to use up what’s in the fridge.  We try very hard not to waste food, since a. It’s expensive and b. It’s unnecessary with a little planning.

I also tested out the new Green Street utensils made by Robinson Home.  Did you notice the cute flipper above with the leaf cut-outs?  It’s actually made from recycled water bottles!  It takes about 2-3 plastic bottles to create one of the kitchen tools.  The tool feels substantial for a plastic utensil, and is in a bright green color.  What says “green” better than green!  Some of the tools have the leaf cut-out design like mine above, others are solid.  You can purchase the new Green Street tools from kitchencollection.com . They would make a great conversation piece as part of a wedding shower gift.  Include it on the outside of a wrapped present and explain where it came from.  Or treat yourself to a little eco-gift, it won’t break the bank at only $3.99 each!

Dishes are done, and the refrigerator is a little more organized now.  If you have a moment, I would love to hear what is your favorite recipe to use up leftovers?

Disclosure: I was provided a sample of the Green Street kitchen utensils. It did not influence my opinion in writing this post. The tools in no way made my food taste better or make me cook faster, but I love them anyway.