Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm afraid anyone who cooks for children is at risk. It's one reason many stay-at-home-moms (who have the world's hardest job in my opinion) have such problems with their weight. I do it all the time when my granddaughters are here on the weekend. Then I kick myself around the block.

This is a perfect example of why having a couple chickens is great. They love those kind of snacks so they don't feel wasted (and turn them into great fertilizer for growing fresh veggies), are great entertainment, often have a lot of personality and provide lovely nutritious eggs.

I actually put my daughter in charge of her own breakfast and lunch because she wouldn't eat either and I ended up eating it even though I didn't want it. Took awhile but she's eating a lot better now and rarely misses breakfast anymore. I'm enjoying food a lot more too.

When my mother was done with a chicken, the cats didn't even want the bones. As the daughter of a Depression baby, I don't waste anything (or at least try not to).

Funny you ask this question now. Last week, I did something to transmogrify leftovers - and it was a huge hit. Now I know how the Chinese feel when asked to serve Fried Rice (something developed to use leftovers). My friends keep asking for "that bread thing."

You will need:
A loaf of bread such as ciabatta or a boule.

You will gather:
All your leftovers, little bags of this and that which weren't enough to constitute a whole meal but too much to just "toss."

I used:
* Poblano Peppers
* Leftover grilled Steak
* Leftover grilled Hebrew National Hot Dogs
* Leftover Marsala Mushrooms
* Onions

Fresh items needed:
* 5 Eggs
* 1/2 cup white cheddar
* 3 peeled diced carrots
* 4 plum tomatoes, diced
* 6 slices salami

Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a saute pan. Begin sauteing diced aromatics and tougher things like carrot to begin to soften them. Sprinkle S&P on them. Once they are soft, add tomatoes and continue with any leftover ingredients that are fully cooked but need heating through (steak, mushrooms, hot dogs).

Grab the loaf of bread. Slice the top off and carefully hollow it out. Either discard the fluff or grind for fresh bread crumbs.

Line the bottom of the loaf with the salami. (If you have sliced turkey in the house or sliced ham, use that. Even cheese would do.) This prevents any of the wet ingredients from seeping through the bottom of the loaf.

Next, beat 5 eggs with S&P and whatever other seasonings you like. You could use chili powder, fresh herbs, etc. I used chopped parsley because I grow it - and it was there...LOL. Add the shredded cheese to the egg mixture.

Add the egg mixture to the saute pan and combine it well. Cook and stir until the eggs begin coagulating. When the eggs are still very soft, spoon the mixture into the hollowed loaf. Top the loaf with its lid and double wrap in foil. Bake on a sheet tray at 350 for 45-55 minutes. If you want to crisp the top, slit the foil to expose the bread for the last 10 minutes or so.

Slice thickly and serve. It's kind of messy to eat but it's delicious. Where else can grilled ribeye steak and hot dogs exist harmoniously in the same bite??

If you work this out right, all you should need to buy is the bread. Everything else is already in the fridge. Afterward, you have available real estate in the fridge - and a fed family.

Salami and hot dogs and eggs? Paula?? Is that you?
I never have to nudge people to eat here. They kind of get it LOL.

Oh, come on, Jerz! They're in small quantities! 3/4 of a ribeye steak and 3 Hebrew National HD's diced, mixed with so much other stuff and placed in a large loaf of bread doesn't make me Paula Deen. (Sniff...) A serving of that loaf is usually one slice. Maybe lumberjacks can eat two.

@HeartofGlass... I can't believe a hostess would guilt people into eating. What a dweeb. If someone doesn't want something, no problem. I just don't serve it to them. What drives me crazy is when someone dissects a dish, pushing away bits of this and that.

@srhcb - I used to be the "cleanup crew" off family plates too. I think this is a pitfall of a) knowing what things cost, b) being the one to prepare the food so you know what kind of work went into it and c) not wasting food with the belief it's better to eat it and not waste it. Welllll, as your hips grow because of all this conservation, it becomes clear that it's not a solution. Believe me it was a very hard habit to break.

The problem with composting is that you've really got to want to do it. Plus the dedicated space.

The problem with re-utilizing leftovers is that there comes a point of no return with some things. (chiff's creation not being one of these - it sounds like it worked well, surprising combinations that yielded something delicious.)

If there's a lot of half-eaten things appearing around the house, srhcb - that you are ending up dealing with - what it means is that you (or whomever is in charge of the house - the commander of that particular ship so to speak)
are making it too easy for this to happen (for whatever reason - kindness, being busy with other things, the innate belief that people will take care of their own stuff and not leave a mess behind for you to clean up . . .).

It's time to act, now. Before this becomes a completely ingrained habit.

If the children are opening snacks and leaving them around, tell them they need to pick up the packet, close up the packet, and put it in a special place that is "theirs" so that nobody else will eat it. If they don't want to do this you can try the threat of "no more of this crap (oops I mean stuff) in the house till you start taking care of what you already have". If that still doesn't work and you either end up eating their leftover goodies or cleaning up after their leftover goodies, the next time they want those goodies at the store tell them that because you had to throw so much away because of their not taking care of it that you are broke and can not buy them any more. If they beg and you decide to give in then tell them that they have to earn the money to pay for the stuff you bought that they basically disrespected (which extends in a sense to a disrespect though they don't see it . . . of you!) and make them do some job around the house to "pay" for the goodies.

Consequences. Actions must have consequences linked to them by whomever is in charge of this sort of thing.

Bad health really can happen from someone cleaning up other people's messes, food-wise or other-wise. Everyone in life has shoulders, though they're various sizes. The little ones of children can definitely take on these little jobs of simply showing care for their own stuff.

And no, it's not "mean" to ask them to do so in these small ways. Give them a big hug and kiss when they do, of course. And they'll do it more and more.

If it is one of the new adults in the house leaving the food around then it's a bigger problem. If that's the source of the leftover fast-food they'll have to be trained to toss their own garbage in the trash can themselves.

Good luck. :)

These "petty" aggravations are really not all that petty, but very real - they make the moments that make the hours that define our lives.

@chiff: Hell, I'd happily eat a slice of your "bread thing." Sounds like fantastic recovery food after a long run. It might have fair amount of cholesterol and fat, but I wouldn't eat more than necessary. I try to eat enough vegetable fiber to set-off the fat I eat, anyway.

Also, I would think Jerzee's just kidding. I recall a past "Talk" comment-- mainly because I wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment -- where she referred to the concept of using leftovers or extra ingredients to create new dishes as "the mother of invention."

@Jerzee: I didn't have a chance to confirm that you made the above comment, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Wasting food drives me nuts, but I've learned the hard way not to eat something I don't really want just so it won't be thrown out. Luckily, since we rarely have fast food or junk, most leftovers here can be tomorrow's lunch (cold roasted sweet potatoes are delicious!) or transformed into something entirely new. I like to test my creativity by seeing what can be made with all the bits & bobs in the fridge (see chiff0nade's "bread thing").

@Jerzee: I did find your "mother of invention" comment here.

It had to do with your use of extra ingredients (but not leftovers) to adapt a recipe. You discussed the necessity -- "the mother of invention" -- of swapping out ingredients in a recipe that you found inappropriate for some reason.

Here, Chiff felt it was necessary to put a diverse group of leftovers to culinary use. It's reasonable and economical. And I'm pretty sure you get that.

My take: I sure do admire people who aren't afraid to be creative, even if their efforts approach the fringe (or, in this case, elevated levels of fat and cholesterol).

a few ways i try to avoid it or feel better about it:

1. Everything is served family style, and I do not serve
2. Because it's family style i put out less servings than the number of people eating. it's easy enough to refill the communal platter
3. Leftovers can make yummy lunches and good snacks
4. for adult guests, if i know the people have certain tendencies ie. they like eating chicken cooked on the bone but do a half ass job of cleaning the meat off, i do not serve them a dish made with type of ingredient ever again
5. for kids, i ALWAYS give small some would say minuscule servings and make them order small portions. it's easy to get them more food.
6. finally, at the least compost everything that has to be thrown out

as long as we do what we can to reduce waste and save food, no point in beating yourself up. though yeah, sometimes i do feel like beating up the food wasters =)

on the same note, though i hate cringe while paying for the rising food costs, i'm glad things are getting more expensive. it will force the issue and hopefully lead us in a good direction with how we take care of our planet.