Save Those New Year Leftovers! 6 Ways To Get Smarter With Makeovers

You'll only realize that you still have some leftovers when you peer into your refrigerator. 

The good news is that you still have something to prevent food waste. Here are six ways to deal with food leftovers to ensure zero food waste. 

1. Use glass storage containers

The only time you'll lose track of food leftovers is when you don't know what's inside the container. You might be looking for a specific food item to complete a meal, but if your container doesn't have a label, you won't know its content and you'll end up buying unnecessary items. Use glass storage so you don't have to keep on guessing what's inside. Use zip-top gallon bags for freezing. Don't forget to label them accordingly.

2. Turn dinner leftover into lunch

Create lunch out of those leftovers. It will require creativity for you to come up with a meal so dedicate your extra time to come up with a palatable menu. With this technique, you can prepare a week's worth of lunch. 

3. Make your own soup

Whether you served grilled, roasted, or steamed vegetables as a side dish for New Year, you can turn them into a healthy soup. Puree vegetables in a blender adding 3 or 4 cups of chicken broth. Then warm the soup in a pot and season them with salt and pepper to taste. Make it tastier with olive oil, croutons, or pesto. 

4. Don't throw stale bread away

Italians are creative when it comes to salvaging stale bread. They only prove that just because baked bread loses its freshness doesn't mean they're no longer useful. Cut the loaf crosswise and apply some olive oil. Rub the other side with a halved ripe tomato and season with salt and pepper to taste. Wrap the bread in foil and bake until warm. 

5. Save vegetable scraps

Vegetable scraps can still be put to better use. Stash tomato cores, stems of herbs, corn cobs, and carrot tops in a container. Keep them in a fridge for future use. To cook them, all you have to do is to simmer vegetable scraps for 2 hours, strain and you will make your own veggie stock. 

6. Dedicate a night for eating down leftovers

While you can't completely consume New Year leftover food in one sitting, you can dedicate a leftover night, one night a week so consume all leftovers. 

There are ultra smart food containers you can use for getting smart with your leftovers. Check out these smart food containers here.