Waste not, want not…
As a farmer’s daughter I feel like the message of these
words must be permanently tattooed within me, especially when it comes to food.
“Drink all of your milk young lady.” “Don’t you dare open another box until
empting the last one!” “Clean your plate!”
And although no one has to badger me at the kitchen table anymore, I still do occasionally have waste guilt when things go unfinished. Recently, one of my biggest squandered daily items has been coffee. Despite
how delicious or expensive it is, I never seem to finish it to the last drop.
So, I decided to reprimand myself and start using this cheap and easy trick….
Freezing the leftover liquid in regular old ice trays*. Tah Dah!
*Those reading this younger than 18 may have to do a Google
search for the old fashioned ice trays, but believe me they still exist and will more than pay for themselves
with all the java savings alone.
So here’s what I do… After finishing my coffee I pour the
leftovers into the ice tray and freeze. Then, at the end of the week I put the
cubes into a tumbler, pour over Friday’s unfinished batch, and add a little
creamer/milk/dairy of your choice. Presto iced coffee!
I know, I know, complete rocket science, but here’s the best
part- it doesn’t water down. Which leads me to mention that I now am using
these trays for everything… Making a summer cocktail? Freeze some pineapple
juice cubes overnight to have on hand. Fancy wedding shower? You would be surprised
how excited people get over frozen fizzy cubes of clear soda with raspberries
or blueberries inside. And it doesn’t stop there, leftover chicken stock,
herbs with olive oil (see above), pesto for pasta, tomato sauce, garlic or whatever you have too much of; then when you need it later, it's ready in perfect units to be tossed in to any pot, pan, or serving.
You can find some of my favorite online fancy lady recipes
here,
here, and
here.
I also just picked up a cute new tray/mold of cold fish below along with some other little cuties.
