Makeover Leftovers

These days the term "Lean In" is getting a lot of traction due to Sheryl Sandberg's book of the same name, but in my case it means dumpster diving, head first. I can't pass a garbage dumpster without sticking my head and most of my torso in. Usually I find something irresistible. Read More

34 recipes for leftover bacon and more are included in Suzy Bowler's The Leftovers Handbook Read More

An easy recipe for stuffed tomatoes using leftover veggies and meat dishes, from Jocelyn Deprez, author, The Refrigerator Files: Creative Makeovers for Leftovers. Read More

You made a lovely meatloaf. You even got a couple of good sandwiches out of its cold remains. But you still have that little chunk left over. And as luck would have it, you happen to have a nice plump eggplant or two in your vegetable bin. What could be a happier marriage than Read More

I wish I could say I grew up on a bucolic farm in the country, learning the value of food by planting and harvesting it myself. The truth is, I was raised in suburbia by busy, frugal parents and learned to cook from watching my mother. Read More

When upcycling your decorative pumpkin this year, why stop at pie, when so many tasty recipes exist to use up the entire ‘kin? Following are our recipes for Honey Pumpkin Walnut Bread, Pumpkin Coffee Creamer, and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. It All Starts with Upcycled Pumpkin Read More

Among the rest of the pre-vacation stress—leaving work projects in a good place, finding a bathing suit, and trying to whip myself into bathing suit shape — I have been trying to perfectly plan our refrigerator contents so that they are at zero (excluding condiments) at the exact Read More

I thought I knew a lot about making soup. Been doing it for years. But last evening after dinner I learned a new trick: it's possible to make the best tasting veggie soup from... lettuce! It's easy, healthy and tasty. Recipe from Emeril Lagasse included. READ MORE Want to Read More

It was one of those cold afternoons in early winter when it gets dark early.  Six p.m. and already pitch black.  The produce seller who stakes out the corner of 68th Street and First Avenue was just finishing up for the day as I was walking past on my way home. He had a bunch of Read More

I’m one waste-hater who can’t bear to throw away those annoying little packets of duck sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup and the like that come with take-out food. But just tossing them into a bag in the pantry thinking I’ll use them one day never really does the trick. Getting Read More

I have always felt that bread was sacred, so all my life I have tried to save the scraps. When they get to be overwhelming, I simply cut them into cubes for croutons or make bread crumbs. To save stale bread, it’s best just to let it dry out in an unsealed container, like a paper Read More

Here you are, the day after Big Turkey Day, facing all those containers of leftovers stuffed into your refrigerator. Wastehater that you are, you resisted throwing half of them out last night. So now you’re stuck. Honor commands that you deal with them creatively, dazzling your Read More

One of my favorite recipes carefully tucked away in my Mother’s accordion file (ca. 1955 plus), pictured below, is this one from Craig Claiborne, published in the New York Times. This turkey noodle soup is just the thing to feed the many mouths that are likely to be Read More

You just finished celebrating Halloween. Wastehater that you are, you swapped your costumes, made new ones out of hand-me-downs, bought healthy candy, saved your small change, and had a ball decorating your front yard. You bought a real pumpkin and carved it perfectly.  You might Read More

Think creating gourmet meals requires tons of money and slaving over a hot stove for hours? Not so, says Jocelyn Deprez, an official Waste Watcher, and author of a recently self-published recipe book for leftovers. Interviewing Jocelyn for this story was my first task as an Read More

By Jocelyn Deprez Today a quick lunch for two was in order, the main requisite being a soup. So I pulled two containers of vegetables left over from the past two evenings’ meals from the fridge and combined their contents in a saucepan. Read More

Who wouldn’t like to be stuck with a nice big chunk of cooked salmon? Such a versatile treasure! Salmon salad, salmon sandwiches; in crêpes, timbales, aspic, pasta; creamed on toast, etc. – the list goes on.  Having recently once again overestimated the consumption capacity Read More

By Jocelyn Deprez To our joy, my daughter Tae heard about a seafood wholesale outlet nearby, and on our first visit we discovered very affordable cooked 1¼-pound lobsters. After a happy feast, the time came to deal with a mountain of shells. Wastehaters that we both are, she Read More

By Jocelyn Deprez Since we eat a lot of fish in our small household, the leftovers present an on-going challenge. One of my favorite dishes to use up the fish and maybe also some leftover veggies is to make timbales…timWHAT? Let me reassure you that this exotic- and Read More

By Jocelyn Deprez So there I was with two small chunks of sautéed swordfish and half a stuffed filet of flounder. Last night, after considering stuffed tomatoes or timbales, I decided to go with stuffed crêpes. Sounds complicated, but really the only bit of “work” involved would Read More