How I love Mark Bittman.

To try to "use it up," and also to eat healthier and more sustainably, I have been futzing around with Mark Bittman's How to Cook Anything Vegetarian, as well as his Bitten blog on the NYT. He frequently gives techniques and variations, rather than just a straight recipe, which helps me work in various things I need to use up. Today for lunch I made a Bittman pasta (http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/flavorful-pasta-and-no-work/) for lunch that used up the dregs of some gorgonzola, pasta from the cabinet, 3 day old No Knead Bread (cut into cubes and crisped in olive oil, plus a little freeze-dried rosemary (from my sad sad plant that I forgot outside). Pretty tasty and virtuous! (We have managed to completely fill our composter already this winter, so I am making one out of an old Rubbermaid 30+ gallon garbage can (drilled with lots of holes)... Wish me luck!)

Use it Up Kitchen Changes Focus!

Well, well, well. This blog started out focusing on kitchen renovation, and how to use up both the food that was in the kitchen pre-reno, as well as the stuff that was the kitchen! Time flew by, the kitchen got redone, and it seemed like an awfully good time to focus on using up the food in the kitchen so that it doesn't go to waste. Then, one of my favorite bloggers, good ol' Crunchy Chicken, has issued the Food Waste Reduction Challenge. http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/ I'm in! So... (hopefully) ways to not waste food (and maybe even some pictures of the kitchen post-reno, as well as repurposed cabinetry, etc. will follow!)