Monday, May 30, 2011

waste not, want not

Throwing away food makes me physically ill.  I’ve always hated the waste and loss of money, but after traveling to so many developing countries it truly makes me sick to throw away what so many would literally kill for.   I’m a huge advocate of leftovers and if the Wife can’t handle one more day of whatever it is I’ve made- I freeze it.

Thursday I realized I had some veggies that would probably spoil before I had a chance to use them the following week.  All I could think about was the cleaning lady, who likely lives in a township (think: house made of whatever scraps of metal or cardboard they can find and rocks holding their roof on),  coming in to take out our garbage and finding all that wasted food.  Disgusted at the mere thought I decided to make a soup…

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I roughly chopped up everything from the fridge that was on its last leg- a couple carrots, some cabbage, and a good bunch of green beans.  I sautéed a diced onion in a little evoo, threw in the veggies and tossed them around a bit before adding chicken stock.  They don’t have chicken stock in a can here so no fat-free versions, only bouillon cubes, which I had left over from a dinner.

I have only bought fresh herbs and those were all gone, so I was a little worried about the flavor.  I threw in a clove of garlic and then after remembering I had some chopped green chilies, added in a good teaspoon for some heat. Simmer until veggies are tender.

I divided it up in containers to freeze for future lunches.  I could have added some pasta noodles and it would have been hearty enough for a dinner.

Easy.

Healthy.

Delicious.

Responsible. 

I’m sure my future children will appreciate your prayers.  I’m obviously going to be taking the “children starving in Africa” bit to a whole new level.

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