We throw 82 kilos of food in the trash every year. The food from the previous day can be used wonderfully. There are delicious leftover recipes here. Attention, the following figures are frightening: 18 million tons of food end up in the garbage in every year. Do you think all the restaurants and supermarkets are to blame for that? Unfortunately not: According to a study by the University of Stuttgart, everyone throws away an average of 82 kilos of fruit, vegetables and the like every year. Speechless?
Throwing away food is not only a shame for your wallet. It is also a disaster from an ecological point of view. Most of it could be avoided – but everyone has to help. So start with yourself: By cleverly reusing leftovers, you actively do something against the growing food waste. You should always have these eight foods in stock in your closet.
3 Good Reasons Why You Should Use Leftovers From Food In The Future
No More Guilty Conscience
Every food thrown away is one too many. Be it because it has expired or not been eaten. That hurts every man who lives halfway consciously. On the other hand, it is liberating to use the food down to the last crumb.
Save Calories With Warmed Up Pasta
This saves calories by warming up pasta or potatoes. The reason: resistant starch. This occurs after heated, starchy foods have cooled down. Starch (around 10 percent) changes its structure, so it cannot be broken down in the small intestine and ends up undigested in the large intestine. There it has a positive effect on intestinal health. The body cannot draw any energy from the resistant starch because it has no caloric value.
Save Money And Time Thanks To Leftovers From The Previous day
By cleverly recycling leftovers, you save a lot of money when shopping. It is best to think about what you want to cook during the week before going to the supermarket and plan your meals instead of standing annoyed at the checkout every evening. Good keyword: meal prep. Pre-cooking is all the rage. With a chic lunch box, you can then easily take your meals with you to work.
Also Read: THREE DIY BEAUTY RECIPES USING COCONUT OIL
How Long Do Leftovers Last?
Almost all vegetables (except mushrooms) and many starchy foods such as pasta or rice are ideal for a second use the next day. You can easily store them in the refrigerator after heating.
- Noodles and potatoes keep there for 3 to 4 days
- Rice around 2 days
- You shouldn’t save, and warm up prepared egg dishes, but eat them straight away
Also important when it comes to the general shelf life of food: If a yogurt, according to the best before date, was only shelf life until the day before yesterday, that does not mean that it is deadly poisonous from now on and has to end up in the bin unopened. Why should a number on a lid be more reliable than your judgment? Here it says, for example, about the best before date: “This information is not a throw-away date, but a recommendation by the manufacturer to use up the product within this period. Until then, he guarantees the specific properties of the product such as taste and smell, colour, consistency and nutritional value. With expiry, the best before date means that a food is not automatically wrong. “
In summary, it remains to be said: If the leftovers no longer look appetizing or smell strange after a few days, if in doubt, better dispose of them.
Our app tip: Become a food saver with the free app ” Too Good to go “. You will be surprised how many supermarkets, bakers and fruit sellers in your area are participating: Click on the respective provider and see whether there is leftover food that would otherwise end up in the bin to be saved. You always get a surprise bag at a discounted price and do something good for the environment with it.
It Would Help If You Always Had These Basics At Home
If you have a well-stocked pantry, you don’t have to go hungry if you don’t have enough time to go shopping. Because with one or the other healthy preserve in the house you can prepare many different meals from the leftovers. Always good to have at home:
- Canned tuna
- Canned foods such as corn, kidney beans & Co.
- Frozen vegetables, such as broccoli
- ready-made tomato sauce / strained tomatoes
- Onions and garlic
- All-round oil, e.g. rapeseed oil
- Mustard and tomato paste
- Vegetable broth
Four Recipe Ideas For A Creative And Delicious Leftover Meal
There are numerous apps (for example, ” Too good for the bin “) and websites that help you to find suitable recipes for your leftovers. You enter the groceries that you still have lying around at home. Proposals will be made to you on this basis.
We have four ideas for you on what to do with leftover pasta, rice, potatoes and raw eggs. If you have other foods to hand in addition to the ingredients, such as bacon cubes or parmesan, you can, of course, refine our recipes with them.
Raw Eggs:
Quick Shakshuka originally comes from Tunisia but is also eaten in Israel for breakfast or lunch.
Ingredients for one serving:
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- One can of chunky tomatoes
- Two eggs
- salt and pepper
- Frozen parsley
Preparation: Finely dice the onion and fry in oil in a small pan. Add tomato paste, fry briefly and deglaze with canned tomatoes. Salt and pepper. Open the eggs and carefully slide them into two hollows in the tomato sauce. Let the eggs sit in the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes, preferably placing a lid on the pan. Garnish with parsley at the end.
Boiled Potatoes: Quick Potato Salad
If you have leftover potatoes at home, you often turn them into fried potatoes. They’re tasty, but they’re also pretty greasy. The better and lower-calorie choice: a quick potato salad – without mayonnaise and much effort.
Ingredients for one serving:
- 250 g cooked potatoes from the day before
- One small onion
- 70 ml vegetable or beef broth
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 pinch of sugar
- salt and pepper
Preparation:
- Cut the potatoes into slices, dice the onion.
- Mix the salad with mustard, vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Pour hot water into the broth and add to it.
- Refine the salad with herbs if necessary.
- Cooked pasta: frittata
Cooked too much pasta again? Not bad at all, because the leftovers from the previous day – whether spaghetti, farfalle or fusilli – can be used to make an excellent frittata:
Ingredients for 1 serving:
- 250 grams of cooked pasta leftovers
- 2 eggs
- Frozen herbs
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Whisk the eggs with herbs, salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof pan and add the pasta. Add to the pasta if there is still pasta sauce leftover from the day before, or pesto can be found in the pantry. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and let it stand on the stove for about 3 minutes. Then bake the pan in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes.
Cooked Rice: Quick Tuna Salad
If there is still a can of tuna and corn in the pantry or peas in the freezer, a filling and protein-rich rice salad can be prepared.
Ingredients for 1 serving:
- 150 g cooked rice
- 1/2 can of tuna
- 1 small can of corn or kidney beans
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Preparation: Mix a quick dressing of oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and mix with the leftover rice. Then lift the contents of the canned food into the rice salad, done. Tuna is so versatile.
Completely satisfied
Before your leftover food ends up in the bin next time – stop! With a bit of creativity and suitable recipes, you can easily recycle them in the future. It doesn’t have to be tedious, unhealthy, expensive or time-consuming. With a few basics, you can spice up leftovers from the previous day into a new, wholesome meal.
Also Read: IS OLIVE OIL PERFECT FOR YOU?