Two major changed occurred recently in our house. First, we decided to start menu planning at the beginning of each week to avoid the “what’s for dinner” conversation every day and the impulse to just order in or go out. Second, my 18 year old moved back home. These two developments have resulted in me producing too many leftovers. I hear you laughing, because I have so touted leftovers as such a great thing. But I have learned that, in fact, you can produce too many leftovers, and this leads to food waste, a thing I hate so very much!

First, because I’m planning meals every night, we inevitably cook more food than can be used up in lunches and such. This is especially enhanced by the fact that, with our 18-year-old, we never know if she will actually be home for dinner. You all remember that age. Your social life is very dynamic! So I plan dinner thinking there will be four, and there are only three of us. Or I buy things expecting she’ll be home, and she doesn’t come home for half the week, so things like avocados and bread that aren’t shelf stable don’t last!

I’m working on ways to tackle these issues. My husband and I are working on adjusting to more leftover nights on nights when the kids are both out. I’m trying to find more foods that freeze well. I’m going to try making muffins using the avocados I have this week, we’ll see how that goes. But I think muffins freeze well, so this may be a good answer.

I’ve gotten really good at dehydrating fruits and veggies, thought that is starting to pile up in my kitchen. I’ve recently started bags in my freezer of vegetables with the intent to make my own vegetable broth as it’s recently become more difficult to find in local grocery stores. I’m not sure what that is about, but we use vegetable broth in a lot of rice dishes, so this seems like an economical answer to the problem.

I’m also fighting the southern influence from my grandmother that makes me think I have to make sure there is enough on the table that no one could possibly leave feeling like they didn’t get enough of any one thing. So I’ll make the portion for four instead of assuming everyone is going to want seconds. We have fruits, veggies, and lots of snacks around if someone finds themselves hungry after dinner. So far, we have not had to resort to any of those. The portion sizes might actually make sense!

Portioning is an ongoing learning experience for me, but I am determined to avoid food waste, so I’ll continue working on this issue. My biggest challenge is that, as you know if you’ve read previous blogs, I love having leftovers! But if you make a full dinner every night for twice as many people as you have, it just goes to waste! There are foods that freeze and reheat well, like chili, and then there’s stir fry. Stir fry just does not. And some pastas reheat well, but some just do not!

I continue to learn constantly about food, cooking and family, and I have to admit, I enjoy the journey!