Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Lovable Leftovers

Sometimes it takes a little creativity to not waste leftovers, especially after a big feast like Thanksgiving. After about 3 or so plates of the same food, most of us will be be bored. However, food waste remains a major source of social and sustainability issues, ranging from the waste of the actual food, to the land and resources it was created on, to the creation of greenhouse gases, to our pocketbooks. For more details, read here from the USDA. 

At my house, we sent plenty of leftovers home with guests, but still ended up with about 10 lunch-sized containers for ourselves. (Don't forget to save your plastic packaging year-round for free "Gladware"!) So we started with:

  1. Beginner: Regular plated dinners of the turkey, stuffing, etc in their original form. 
  2. One Step Better: Turkey sandwiches. So many varieties here, from open-faced to layered with brie and cranberries!
  3. Even Better: Turkey pot pie. Nom!
  4. Level Up: Ground turkey, seasoned and stuffed into pasta shells along with ricotta, spinach, and tomato sauce. 

From there, I started to look at all the miscellaneous ingredients left, and fortunately, the perfect recipe came to mind: Broccoli Cheese Soup (a Panera knockoff). What does Broccoli Cheese soup have to do with turkey and stuffing? Nothing. But that's where the creative thinking comes in, and searching for recipes based on ingredients. This is a trick that can work year-round. Just look in your fridge and pantry for what you have left, and plan your menus around using those ingredients before they good bad.

This soup recipe calls for: 

  • Butter - a staple, and still had some on my butter dish from serving with rolls
  • Onion - had plenty leftover from stuffing ingredients
  • Carrot - had leftover from stuffing ingredients and from appetizer veggie platter
  • Chicken broth - had leftover from my stash for gravy, turkey basting, etc. 
  • Half and half - had leftover from a butternut squash dish I make
  • Broccoli florets - had leftover from the veggie platter
  • Cheddar cheese - had leftover from appetizer cheese tray

Therefore, this recipe basically used up leftover raw ingredients and components of my hors deurves trays - win! 

First step: Saute the onions and carrots in butter until soft.


Next: add a little flour, stirring until combined, then slowly add broth and half and half until you get a thickened sauce. Add your broccoli and spices. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes until the broccoli is soft. 

Finally: Stir in your cheese until melted and silky, and season more if needed. Then take a deep breath in and smell that delicious creamy, cheesy soup. Look - a perfect replica of your cafe favorite!

And, of course, if you still have some of that turkey left, serve alongside a turkey club sandwich. :)


Making the most of my leftovers has never been so tasty! Want to try this recipe? I borrowed it from The Chunky Chef




Friday, November 12, 2021

Outfit of the Day: Bring on the Critters!

Probably going back to the first episodes of Portlandia, where they suggested you could just "put a bird on it", I've really enjoyed clothing with animal print. Not like cheetah spots, but "critter print", like birds, giraffes, and more. And thanks to binging back seasons of Great British Bake Off, I've been re-inspired by co-host Noel Fielding's epic style.  Ex: 


Now, the Brits may just have more fun with fashion than us, because it's rare I find critter print when shopping. However, I recently had a great find at Lifelong Thrift on Capitol Hill. (Persistence pays off when thrifting!) 

Lifelong Thrift's mission is: 

We are a nonprofit thrift store in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill. With deep Seattle roots, we strive to engage our community and financially support the cause of Lifelong to provide food, housing, and health to individuals with HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions.​

So for those aiming to support local non-profits vs larger chains like Goodwill, they are a great option. They are also a sizeable store, with clothing upstairs and housewares and more downstairs.

My find was a new-with-tags J. Crew button down with some adorbs little terriers on it!


Are you seeing what I'm seeing? That folks, is a $78 blouse going for just $9 (88% savings). I'm often suprised to find NWT clothes donated, but I suppose there's a number of possible reasons ranging from missing the return window to donated overstock from the original store. At least the item will get some use from a new owner. And as a shopper, I'm always happy to get quality finds at a steep discount!


So now, I'm loving my doggo-print blouse, and finally added to my collection of critters in my wardrobe. 

Monday, November 1, 2021

Another Lower-Impact Halloween

It was hard to get motivated this year for Halloween, with another year in COVID. While I would normally come up with some elaborate DIY scheme from thrifted materials, there was no going into the office to show off a costume, and if I was going to go out about town, it would be lower-key than usual, if at all.

That said, could I possibly let a year skip me by?? No way! And motivation struck from things I already had in my closet. I would be the 13th Doctor (Doctor Who).

(image borrowed from BBC for reference)

In fact, starting from your closet is the best way to be both sustainable and save money. Anything you have is another item not produced and possibly discarded just for a one-off occasion.

So Rule #1: Use what you have. Fortunately, T had gifted me a cosplay 13th Doctor trenchcoat along with her sonic screwdriver for a previous holiday. And due to Seattle weather, the coast is really only suitable for a couple weeks of the year, so I was happy to get it some additional use. 

Then Rule #2: Borrow or thrift what you don't have. The Doctor wears a striped tee and teal cropped pants, both of which I was able to secure on Poshmark.

For the pants, I purchased these scrubs, which saved me $8 vs new ($20 + tax for Cherokee Workwear product line). Side note about Poshmark: since you're purchasing from individuals vs the company, you'll pay more in shipping, because you pay a shipping cost for each item unless you are are lucky enough to find all your items from a single seller.


I then rolled the hem and secured with a few tiny stitches to achieve a cropped length. Since I didn't cut them off, I can easily unroll them and wear as actual scrubs for a doctor (not The Doctor) costume in the future.


For the striped tee, I totally scored. I got a replica tee from Hot Topic's cosplay product line, saving at least $9 (I wasn't able to compare to Hot Topic's shipping rates).

 
And it was new with tags! Score!

How'd I do? Do I look like I can save the planet?

 
Or figure out what to do with this alien tree spirit? 

 
Now, onto getting some motivation for next year's big costume idea!

Total savings: $17. Being a friendly alien time lord for a day? Pretty sweet.