Ideas for 'compleating' leftover meals and ingredients:
- Leftover meals (like boiled eggs, cooked grains) can be the starting point for sandwich, soup, stew, pasta, frittata, salad, wrap, stir fry or curry.
- Rice can be mixed with other ingredients to make a fried rice meal.
- Yogurt can be mixed with vegetables, cereal or made into a salad dressing.
- Cream can be used in salads, desserts, pasta or mashed potatoes.
- Brine or pickle juice can be made into a dressing or marinade.
- Dough can be made into crackers or breadsticks.
- Flour can be used for thickening soups.
- Grounded nuts can be added to curries or baked goods.
- Chillies, garlic, herbs, spices, lemon peels can be made into infused oil.
- Coconut milk can be used in curries, soups, baked goods or mixed with sugar to make icing.
- Tahini can be made into dressings, dips or in baking.
- Ingredients stuck on the inside of a jar can be mixed with a liquid to make into something new. Condiments (like mustard, ketchup, hot sauce, miso, curry paste) can be made into a dressing, dip, glaze or marinade by adding olive oil & vinegar. Marmalade or syrup can be mixed with alcohol (or other liquids) into a cocktail or mocktail.
Ideas for 'compleating' stale, spoilt or over ripe food:
- Stale bread can be baked with drizzled olive oil, made into croutons or breadcrumbs to be used in recipes.
- Stale pitta and tortilla wraps can be baked.
- Over ripe or spoilt fruits can be frozen, baked, cooked or made into juice, smoothie, jam or pie.
- Wilting salad leaves and vegetables can be used in stir fry, soup, smoothie or juice.
Ideas for 'compleating' hard to eat stuff:
- Skin of many fruits, vegetables & meat can be eaten.
- Carcass & bones can be added to stock.
- Stems, stalks, tops, ends, cores, leaves & peels can be added to smoothie, stock, soup, stew, stir fry, roast, dips, pesto or sauce.
- Parmesan rind can be chopped into a stew, soup or risotto.
- Citrus peels can be candied or used for flavouring in teas, liquor and other recipes.
- Pumpkin, squash & acorn seeds can be toasted and eaten.
Ideas for food preservation:
- Fermenting
- Pickling
- Drying
- Canning
- Curing
- Sugaring
- Salting
Many of the above ideas have been taken from the resources below which can gives more details on these methods:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/25-ways-use-christmas-leftovers
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/reduce-food-waste
https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/compleating-101
https://www.thekitchn.com/the-kitchns-ultimate-guide-for-using-up-every-type-of-food-82260
