Challenge Update

Between trying to get Abe Lincoln through the Civil War in "Team Of Rivals", and allowing the live coverage of the impeachment trial in our state Senate to distract me from my housework, I'm not getting much blogging done. I have been working on the Food Waste Reduction Challenge, though, and I thought I should post a quick update.

My family is reasonably on board with this one, especially my husband, who is notorious for eating just about anything. My daughter is a bit more selective, but has helped finish up a few of my "messes".

I thought last night's supper was a genuine success. I had the following things that needed to be used before they went south: several slices of roast beef left from Sunday dinner, four cloves of fresh garlic that were starting to shrivel, a handful of raw baby carrots that looked suspicious, about 1/4 c. uncooked brown Minute Rice, and a cup or so of uncooked barley.

I diced up the beef, garlic, and carrots, plus an onion. In a pot with some water (sorry, I don't know how much water- maybe 6 cups?) I cooked that with the rice and barley, along a can of beef broth, the last three cubes of beef bullion, and a can of stewed tomatoes in vegetable broth.

This made a beef and barley soup that was great! It was rich and thick, not quite a stew, and just the right combination of flavors. The three of us ate heartily at supper, and there were two good sized helpings left over for lunches.

Usually, those carrots would have sat in the fridge until they were relegated to the compost heap. The roast was very good meat, but what was left had a couple of streaks of gristle that kept it from being good for sandwiches, so that might have been wasted, too. I'm pretty pleased that we made such good use of this food.