4 Ways to Reduce Holiday Food Waste
Ain’t no feast like a whole beast feast! Root to stem, nose to tail. We. Love. It. All.
Turkey is a most beloved entree for big occasions that feed a crowd. Here’s a round up of our top four delicious ways to maximize your turkey and reduce your food print.
Take the guesswork out of how much to cook with Save the Food’s Guestimator. With the click of a few buttons, you’ll know exactly how much of what to prepare.
We also like to take the forethought one step further to plan what to do with peels and scraps, such as saving the kale stems and carrot tops for making pesto and keeping onion peels for that soup stock you’re going to make with your turkey carcass. You'll save time and money.
When it comes to talking turkey we love to walk the talk. Most have no problem finding ways to eat leftover turkey, from sandwiches to curries. Level up and use up the carcass, neck and giblets (those bits stored inside the turkey), too!
Giblets are right at home fried up with onions and thrown into stuffings or turned into these stand-alone giblet dishes from The Spruce Eats.
The neck can be boiled and used for gravy (and some of us like to make this tender dark meat the cook’s appetizer). Or save it for your soup stock, which brings us to the choicest of turkey treasures, the carcass itself.
It’s as simple as putting the whole carcass in a stock pot, adding vegetable peels, and a bay leaf or other herbs you have on hand, as laid out in this basic bone broth recipe. People pay good money for broth this good and you made it all for free. Sip it, freeze and save it for future recipes, or turn into nourishing soups.
Looking to go one more level up? Put a call out to friends who are planning on tossing out their carcass and ask them to pop it into the freezer for you to pick up later! Waste not, want not.
Warming up leftovers for a turkey feast take-two is one thing, repurposing leftovers into a new dish quite another! Make up your own concoctions that use it all up, from turkey and green bean stir fries to stew with stuffing dumplings, cream of turkey soups to cranberry and stuffing sandwiches—the only limit is your imagination!
Get inspired with Chef Joel Gamoran who specializes in creating “craveable meals” using what you already have on hand, such as this mashed potato gnocchi with all the trimmings on his website Seconds.
Sharing is caring! Send your guests home at the end of the meal with full hearts, full tummies, and full arms with Abeego care packages. Cover a bowl for saucy take homes with the Medium, or make turkey takeout pouches with the Large Square or Large Rectable Wrap.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about growing, making simple changes, and building in easy habits. Don’t get overwhelmed with trying to do all the things. Simply do something. We couldn’t be more proud of you for being here. It all makes a difference, for yourself and the world at large! In the words of Dana Gunders, author of the Waste Free Kitchen:
“Food is simply too good to waste. Together we can make a major dent in what’s currently getting tossed—and put a little cash back in our wallets at the same time.”
If you liked this blog post, check these out:
Leave a comment