Thursday's Trend Alert Dirt Report #73

Did you know that "U.S. consumers, companies and businesses throw away 165 billion dollars worth of entirely edible food each year - or 40% of the food that we produce in this country."  

Such a stat, along with my personal guilt, has led me to be a smarter chef in my kitchen.  I have self taught myself how to utilize every portion of my purchases and have even learned how to revamp recipes with on-hand ingredients.  These strides have not only afforded me less waste, but they have also taught me to be more resourceful and creative when cooking.

On a larger scale, restaurateurs and grocers have also taken it upon themselves to join the "no waste" movement.  Take for instance Doug Rauch, who opened Daily Table in 2015.  Daily Table, located in Dorchester, MA, sells slightly damaged, close to sell-by date foods that would otherwise go to waste.  From raw ingredients to fully cooked meals, this new-age supermarket encourages healthy eating for its customers and less waste for its suppliers.

Although most states have passed laws that allow for the use of food beyond sell-by dates, it is super important to keep these 3 things in mind before "wasting less":

1.  Use-by date:  the date, determined by food product manufacturers, by which the food should be consumed.  Products should be discarded after the use-by date.

2.  Sell-by date:  the date, determined by food manufacturers, by which the food should be sold at  retail.  It is still safe to consume foods after this date.

3.  Best-by date:  date by which the product should be consumed for ideal quality.  It is still safe to consume foods after this date has passed.

((Photo Source:  http://civileats.com/2014/07/28/ex-trader-joes-exec-wants-to-use-expired-food-to-get-people-cooking/))

Wednesday What Not #73

In honor of what I have officially dubbed "It's Good To Be A Murphy Day", I plan on baking a non-traditional soda bread.  It will be non-traditional for two reasons; one being that it will be sweetened with chocolate chips (a request from my sweet toothed husband) and two being that it will include my own DIY buttermilk (the "what not" part of this post).

Buttermilk is the slightly sour liquid left after butter has been churned.  It is commonly used in baking, however, recipes usually only warrant 1 cup and not 1 container.  In keeping with my recently adopted "no waste" mentality, I discovered that buttermilk can be made with simple pantry staples;  milk and lemon juice.  

Considering that both are currently sitting in my refrigerator, my non traditional soda bread, might just become a St. Patrick's Day tradition ;)

((Photo Source:  https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/145078/irish-soda-bread-with-chocolate/))

Tasty Tuesday Treat #73

One lesson that seems to have resonated with me from elementary school is "R"educe, "R"euse and "R"ecycle." I can remember learning the importance of the "R's" and personifying each through different craft projects.

Nowadays, instead of building castles out of toilet paper rolls, I institute "reuse" into my cooking routine.  Some obvious ways that I have been able to do that has been through leftovers.  On other occasions, however, I have let my creativity roll and have been able to create new dishes with remnant ingredients.  Most recently, I doctored up half of a can of chickpeas and prepared this grain-free cookie.  

Although not 100% reminiscent of 2nd grade snack time, this cookie was "R"eally, "R"eally, "R"eally good!