Food Waste Challenge - Using It Up In Time For Thanksgiving

 

I have always challenged myself to get creative and use things up in the final week and a half leading up to Thanksgiving.  Mainly I wanted to clear out the refrigerator in preparation of the big meal ahead as well as make sure we used up anything that might go bad knowing there would be a ton of those delicious turkey day leftovers to enjoy.  This year I quickly realized that being on my own now didn't eliminate that need whatsoever.  For some reason I had accumulated a considerable amount of odds and ends as well as leftovers that needed to be used up.  I thought I would share with you how I managed that on my own.

 

Odds & ends of leftover items - rice, bean soup, a piece of cornbread,
half an avocado, a package of lunchmeat & some bacon

I still had quite a bit of produce and some bread items I wanted to use up

I pulled these items from the freezer, pantry & refrigerator & got busy with my meal plan
Cheese, pancakes, English muffins, condiments, eggs, tomato sauce, tuna, beef patties & a freezer meal

I began by doing a complete inventory of what I had on hand and then created a meal plan based on those items.  Not everything I needed to use up would be low carb, but I am not one to throw food away so I decided to just do the best I can and not worry about it.  All in all, I think I did pretty good.  For proteins I used two angus beef patties I had purchased on clearance and one of my keto freezer meals, a lasagna bake, plus a can of tuna from the pantry and six eggs (I only ended up using five) from the refrigerator. 

 

My gigantic grocery shop - 3 bananas, 3 carrots & a tomato
Plus cream for my coffee to last well into December & a FREE salad dressing

I have been working on this freezer since I retired in April
Progress is being made, but I still have a long way to go

I also had five strips of leftover bacon (complete bummer 😁) and some sliced cheese to use up.  In the crisper drawer I had an assortment of veggies and in my bread drawer I had the tail end of a loaf of Keto bread, some low carb tortillas and a package of clearance multi grain English muffins.  In the refrigerator I had quite a few odds and ends of leftovers and condiments to work with.

 

All my meals were really good, but this one was my favorite - Cobb salad

My meal plan the week prior to Thanksgiving week used up the bulk of these items and I stuck to it.  Sunday I hard boiled three of the eggs and did a small grocery shop to supplement what I had on hand - three carrots, three bananas and a tomato.  I also picked up cream for my coffee as well as some for the beginning of December and a FREE bottle of salad dressing for my long term food storage.  For lunch I finished up the small amount of navy bean soup with a small piece of cornbread.  For Sunday dinner I used up some of the produce, bacon, lunchmeat, an egg, some of the cheese and the half of an avocado for a fantastic Cobb salad.  It is my favorite salad and I finished up the jar of bleu cheese dressing as well.  I made a big dent in my leftover situation already and it energized me to keep it up throughout the week.

 

Another favorite meal of mine is grilled cheese & tomato soup

Lots of veggies in my fried rice - used up the rice & some delicious bacon

Monday I used up some of the bread and cheese to make grilled cheese along with homemade tomato soup using an eight ounce can of tomato sauce, the liquid from rinsing out a container of cream (it always amazes me how thick that is) a little extra water and some dried basil.  I used up more of my produce, the little bit of leftover rice and bacon to make a delicious fried rice which was more cabbage and veggies than rice.  I also used two eggs to up the protein and intended to use some peas and carrots as well, but forgot.

 

Finished up the fried rice + half a banana for my lunch on Tuesday

Tuna schooners & tomato soup for supper on Tuesday
My kids always loved these

Tuesday I made some tuna schooners with an English muffin and some tuna I prepared.  I finished the tomato soup with that as well.  That evening I finished up the fried rice and had half of a large banana.  The next day I made egg salad with the two remaining hard boiled eggs and served that on a toasted English muffin and ate the other half of the banana.  For supper I prepared the beef patties and a nice green salad to go with one of the patties, the other patty I saved for later.

 

Egg salad + half a banana for Wednesday brunch

A delicious salad & an Angus beef patty for supper on Wednesday

Leftover egg salad & leftover tuna + half a banana for brunch on Thursday

I baked one of my freezer meals in the toaster oven for supper on Thursday

On Thursday I had a little leftover tuna and a little leftover egg salad so I toasted another English muffin and finished off those two items along with another half of a banana.  That evening I put the freezer lasagna bake into my toaster oven and ate half of that along with a spinach salad.  Friday I used a packet of oatmeal from the pantry and had that for brunch with a small banana.  That evening I made a turkey sandwich and used up some of the lunchmeat and Keto bread.  Saturday morning I pulled a couple pumpkin pancakes from the freezer and enjoyed those with the last of the leftover bacon I crisped up in the microwave for brunch.  I made another spinach salad and reheated the remaining angus beef patty for my supper.

 

Oatmeal + a small banana for brunch on Friday

A nice turkey sandwich for supper Friday evening

Sunday morning I took another inventory to see what was left and determined I had done a pretty good job using things up.  I had three slices of lunchmeat left, half the lasagna bake, a couple slices of bread, three English muffins, a couple low carb tortillas, and quite a bit of produce still to work my way through.  A quick trip to the store added some mandarin oranges and a fresh head of lettuce for the week ahead, which was all I needed.

 

Saturday I finished up the bacon with my two freezer pumpkin pancakes

The other beef patty & a spinach salad for supper Saturday evening

I used the ham to make two homemade egg mc muffins along with an orange for brunch and the lasagna bake and another salad using up the little bit of leftover spinach, lettuce and tomato was enjoyed again on Sunday evening.  I have been able the gap with another freezer meal and finished up the Keto bread by making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich one day for brunch and had an orange with that as well.  The bunny also helped me finish up the bag of spinach leaves.  I headed into Thanksgiving with two English muffins left to use up and quite a bit of produce, mainly the remaining cabbage, two carrots, five potatoes, two onions and a full head of lettuce, which was perfect for helping me to prepare my Thanksgiving Day meal which I will share with you on Friday.

 

These are the leftovers I started with on Sunday morning

2 tortillas, 2 slices of bread & 3 English muffins left from my challenge

And the leftover produce I will be working on

Having received quite a few emails from some of you regarding your concerns about the rising costs of groceries, food waste and such I hope this post was helpful.  You'll notice that none of these meals were terribly expensive to make or used a whole lot of ingredients really.  

This is how my refrigerator looked Sunday morning
Mostly beverages & condiments, still looks like a lot of stuff...

Using up my leftover leftovers - homemade egg mcmuffin I enjoyed on Sunday

Hopefully you'll find some inspiration here that you find useful.  All in all I feel really good about how things went.  I love a good challenge and I'm looking forward to my next one, especially as my fridge is going to be full of leftovers again very soon.