Low Country Boil

Last Thursday I went to our local farmer's market and got a great deal on some locally caught shrimp--$10 for 5 lbs. of shrimp!  So I snatched 'em up and called some friends and on Friday night we had a Low Country Boil.  Basically, it's shrimp, potatoes, corn and smoked sausage boiled together with Old Bay or a similar seasoning.  Yum! 

Low Country Boil is a great meal to entertain with because it's inexpensive and very simple to prepare.  I won't bother explaining how to make it because there are SO many great articles already written.  Here are a few links you may want to consider if you'd like to host a Low Country Boil:

Coastal Living's Low Country Boil

Paula Deen's Low Country Boil

HomeEc 101 Low Country Boil

Normally a Low Country Boil would be hosted outdoors with a pot over an open fire and the table would be lined with newspapers and the cooked food is simply dumped down the middle for serving.  Well, we live in the 'burbs so we did a variation on tradition.  Each person had a placemat of newspaper and the center of the table was covered in brown packing paper.  I made bread and laid it directly on the table.  Now that's unpretentious dining, huh?

The whole dinner cost under $40 for 10 adults--and there were leftovers that went home with our guests.  Now that's a Spartan way to entertain!

And if you're curious--I had about 2 lbs of shrimp heads (YUCK!) left over after prepping the shrimp so I made 3 quarts of fish stock!  And then I discarded the shrimp shells in my compost bin...  No food left behind, right?!

No Food Left Behind

Have you ever read the statistic that average American family throws away $500-$600 worth of food away each year?  Wow!  I don't believe everything I read, but I think this is a pretty accurate estimate based on my previous shameful habits and the habits of others I know.  So what's a girl (or guy) to do?

My husband and I created the "No Food Left Behind Act" in our home a few years ago.  (Yeah, the name is a spin-off of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act.  But saving money is not quite as controversial as NCLB, is it?)  Basically, No Food Left Behind (NFLB) is our effort to make sure that no food goes to waste in our home.  Our "NFLB" is the equivalent of our grandparents' "waste not, want not".

Let's level here-I do throw out food sometimes.  We're not perfect.  But our waste is minimal compared to what it once was.  It takes some effort--but once you adopt the NFLB mentality, it takes no time for it to become a natural instinct.

For instance, I bought some tomatoes a few days ago and they were beginning to get a bit "mushy".  (You know, at the point that you'd be embarassed to put them in a salad... that's the state they were in.)   I popped those bad boys in the oven with some salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted them for about an hour.  (I actually did this while dinner was cooking in the oven--so SCORE on saving time and energy, too!)   Here's what they looked like after roasting:

The tomatoes have now been saved from being thrown away because their natural decomposition was disrupted by the oven.  These roasted tomatoes can be popped in the freezer for later use in any soup or chili recipe, or used right away.  (Or how about the Spartan original recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup?)  Once they're frozen, you're back in control of your budget since your tomatoes are not going to waste. 

(For a quick and inexpensive dinner, toss your roasted tomatoes with some rinsed and drained cannellini beans, a dash of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a handful of fresh basil.  Then add some cooked whole-wheat pasta, and presto!  You have an affordable, healthy and delicious dinner.)

My husband shared this article with me: Food Expiration Dates: What do they really mean?  It's pretty interesting and is right on target with helping consumers save their hard-earned money.

Almost any leftover can be repurposed.  Lots of things can be frozen.  But you have to make it happen!  So, make the effort to be proactive and stop wasting food!  It's crazy to think of throwing dollar bills in the trash can, right?  But if you're throwing food away, that's essentially what's happening.

If you need suggestions on what to do with your leftovers, feel free to shoot me an email listing the leftovers you need to use and I'll write you back with some suggestions.  My email address is tristinthespartan@gmail.com or you can simply leave a comment.  I'll get back to you with a solution!

What do you do to use up leftovers?  Are you going to enact the No Food Left Behind Act in your home?