Waste not, yeah - you know the rest!

It drives me bonkers to have to throw out food.  A trait passed on to me by my grandmother perhaps?  She threw nothing out.  Until we snuck it out behind her back.  Like the time we were cleaning out cabinets and found tomato sauce dated 1976.  It was 1991 at the time.  Can't blame her though, raising kids in tough times in tougher circumstances it became second nature to find some way to re-use. 

So what's my reason?  I don't really have one.  It just makes me feel like such a waster.  To that end, I have become more creative with foods that are about to go off or that I've just made too darn much of. 

My favorite go-to recycled food?  Potato cakes!  The kids love them so there's a no-brainer.  I've even started to purposely cook too many potatoes on those days I do mash to have the leftovers available.  I'm lucky in this respect - I used to "hide" cauliflower in the potato, then  mash it all together with some pink Himalayan salt and garlic powder.  But as my crew have gotten older (and taller) they can see what's in the pot.  As it turns out, they like the potato so much they don't mind the cauliflower.  Tomas even asks for it!

To make them: (apologies - I have to guess at amounts.  Throw in this and that - you know how I roll...) 
About 3 cups mashed potato (if I can get organic I leave some of the skin on)
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated cheese
1 egg
salt to taste
garlic powder to taste (optional)

Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and get your hands in there - smash, mash, pretend you're a kid again playing with mud pies :)  Take a small amount, a little bigger than a golf ball, into your hands and work it flat.  Place on a pre-oiled/sprayed baking tray and bake in a 350F/180C oven until golden/brown and crispy-looking.  Alternately you can heat oil in a frying pan and fry them like hash browns, but I find that they tend to absorb a lot of oil this way.  If you leave them baking until they are good and brown, they are just as delicious!

Here's another creation from my Frankenstein kitchen that surprised me with it's yummy-ness:  zucchini (courgette) and peaches.  Peaches were on sale for really cheap, so you know I stocked up!  Unfortunately, to get here to Ireland they have to be picked early so they tend to all ripen/over-ripen at once.  I peeled and froze a good few for smoothies and then just got sick of peeling.  In the fridge were a couple of courgettes that needed to be used as well so here's what I did:

Scrub courgettes well and thinly slice.  Heat a wok with a small amount of olive oil.  Throw in courgette and let them get good and browned (stir/flip to put the bottom ones on top).  Toss in some chopped garlic (your choice how much), salt to taste.  When the courgettes are browned, throw in two peeled and roughly chopped peaches.  Continue to cook only until the peaches are incorporated into the mix and heated up.  Cook too much and they just go to mush.  Enjoy!

I would love to hear about your creations!