Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. I started doing this in March of 2008 to help motivate myself to use up my food instead of wasting it and it’s been very effective. Since it helped me so much, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
This week has been unusually busy, and it shows. My camera and I have logged a lot of time together (we even took a road trip), and so I haven’t had quite as much time to keep an eye on my fridge.
That’s a moldy tortilla (which I think was freezer burnt to begin with!), some dried up orange slices, a few leaves of basil (I’m not sure if those should even count. They fell off my basil plant and I scavenged them. They’re now composting), and the spinach.
I bought the bag of spinach, thinking that we would use it for salads. However, a lot of nights this week I barely got dinner on the table, and as happens so often when I am rushed for time, I opted to serve something like grapes or oranges with our meal. They’re faster and easier than salad, so my poor spinach has sat, neglected and unopened.
Normally when produce goes a bit off, I try to bake with it (I figure the heat kills anything that might be slightly dangerous), but I’m really not sure what to do with the spinach because we only really like it raw (like in salads or in smoothies).
If you have some wonderfully delicious suggestion for cooking the spinach (it needs to be a recipe that pleases avowed cooked spinach haters!), do speak up. Instead of composting it, I put the spinach back in the fridge in case one of you could come to my rescue. 😉
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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the Mister Linky Widget below. Participants get a spot on my Food Waste blogroll for the upcoming week, so join us! You’ll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog!
Tina
Wednesday 4th of November 2009
Have you ever tried the Debbie Meyer Green Bags? I LOVE THEM! I put my spinach in one with a papertowl and it will last up to 3 weeks without getting slimy.
EngineerMom
Monday 2nd of November 2009
Spinach Lasagna!
1 jar spaghetti sauce (or equivalent homemade - about 2 cups) 1 c. cottage cheese (cheaper than ricotta and just as tasty in this recipe) 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp each dried basil and oregano 1 beaten egg 1 bag spinach, wilted then drained in a paper towel draped in a collander (get out as much moisture as you can) 1/4 tsp salt about 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella 4 no-boil lasagna noodles
Mix cottage cheese, minced garlic, salt, egg, basil, oregano, mozzarella (reserve a bit to sprinkle on top), and spinach in a bowl. In two glass loaf pans, layer everything as follows: Sauce, noodle, cheese mixture, sauce, noodle, cheese mixture, sauce, then top with reserved mozzarella.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350F for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and lasagna is bubbly. Each loaf makes 2 adult servings or 4 kid servings.
If necessary, you can freeze the lasagna loaf, then just thaw in fridge and bake as usual, adding extra covered time (about another 20 minutes).
Julianne
Monday 2nd of November 2009
Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip!!
Allie
Monday 2nd of November 2009
I lost some leftover steak. I kept meaning to eat it, but then I forgot about it and it was too late.
For the spinach, I'd just lightly wilt it with some onions that've been cooked down and lemon juice. I don't like spinach that's been cooked to death either, but lightly wilted is pretty good.
CathyG
Monday 2nd of November 2009
I can't believe I forgot my favorite spinach recipe - Stuffed Mushrooms. This is close to the recipe I use: http://www.recipezaar.com/Mushrooms-Stuffed-With-Spinach-and-Cheese-163997