Recycling

Whenever I open my fridge I finds small bowls or Tupperware containers that contain small amounts of food that have been left over from the previous meal. Cooked pasta, rice, mashed potatoes and so on. Never enough to actually feed more than about half a person but, apparently, too much to throw away without feeling guilty about wasting precious food. And so I have have started to think creatively about re-using these bits and pieces and converting it into something new. Here are a few examples:
Mashed potatoes: roll into small balls, roll about in bread crumbs, place on a plate or tray and leave in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer, roll in beaten egg and then roll about in more bread crumbs and freeze for later use. Tip: freeze in such away that the individual balls don't touch one another (use plastic wrap to keep them apart) and in that way they won't break when you need them. To prepare, heat oil in a small pot until very hot and drop the balls in for about 30-40 seconds until lightly toasted.
Rice: season the rice with flavoured salt or food seasoning and add a beaten egg to it and mix thoroughly. Now spoon the desired amounts into muffin tins, flatten and bake in the oven to make exquisite rice cakes. I also like to add sesame seeds to the top by way of flavouring and decoration.
Bread: this is perhaps one of the most versatile foods in your house by way of recycling. The first step in the recycling process is to toast the bread. The rest can be frozen and used later, again, first to toast. Here you could add a drizzle of olive oil and a smattering of herbs or cheese to make flavoured toasts as a starter. Bread can also be cubed and toasted in the over as croutons to be added to salads or soups. And last but by no means least, at any stage in the bread process, it can be put in a food processor and converted into bread crumbs to be used for a variety of uses.
So think about what you have and what it could possibly be used for before throwing it away.
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