The length of the title might scare some people away: THE WASTE-WISE KITCHEN COMPANION Hundreds of Practical Tips for Repairing, Reusing, and Repurposing Food: How to Eat Better, Save Money, and Utilize Leftovers Creatively. They shouldn’t be concerned: This book follows up on every promise.
Readers will learn multiple ways to fix food that’s a little bit imperfect: dried-out pasta, wilted lettuce and soggy granola can all be remedied using Jean MacLeod’s tips. Readers will also discover innovative ways to use up leftovers.
Getting all the juice out of a lemon for a recipe is great, but then throwing out the peel means a lot of the zest gets wasted. MacLeod details nine ways to use the zest, as well as how to make grating it a bit easier. She also has ideas for what to do with a package of cookies that gets stuck at the bottom of the grocery bag and becomes a collection of broken pieces. A thrifty person can grind the crushed pieces to make a crumb crust or toast them and sprinkle over a bowl of ice cream.
When garlic is left in the fridge for so long that it has started to sprout, some might be inclined to throw it out. Instead, MacLeod suggests replanting the garlic to use as homegrown. Pear tree owners may find themselves with a crazy amount of fruit at the end of the season. MacLeod offers more than a dozen delicious ways to use them up.
Meat that’s too tough, too salty or too fatty can be remedied, too. And those cilantro stems carefully separated from the flavorful leaves can be put to use.
A few other how-did-she-think-of-that? tips in the book:
- Ways to use that little bit of mayo or mustard at the bottom of the container that seems a shame to waste
- How to shell hard-to-crack nuts
- No less than 25 ways to use leftover sour cream
MacLeod doesn’t stop at edible uses. A number of the items are for cleaning kitchen pots, the garbage disposal and more.
A few examples:
- Sour milk need not be thrown away. It gives copper pans a shine
- Past-their-prime tea bags can deodorize shoes
MacLeod even includes a few ways to make simple treats for pets.
The book is alphabetized, so it’s easy to find nearly any food you can imagine. The language is clear and straightforward. Finally, MacLeod rounds out the book with a list of links to find still more wise tips.
THE WASTE-WISE KITCHEN COMPANION is a quick read, and none of the information it contains needs to be memorized as readers can return to the book again and again.
A comprehensive guidebook, THE WASTE-WISE KITCHEN COMPANION will stuff reader’s brains with ideas on how to use extra, leftover or slightly flawed, but fixable foodstuff.
~B. Kinlaw for IndieReader