c/fridge-foraging-hacks

Leftover chili turned into a taco soup disaster last Tuesday

I had half a pot of bean chili from Sunday plus some sad carrots and a lone bell pepper. Threw it all in a stockpot with some rogue tomato sauce and thought it would be genius. Instead it came out watery and bland, like soup that forgot its personality. I salvaged it by stirring in a handful of crushed tortilla chips and a spoon of peanut butter for thickness, which actually worked. Anyone else ever rescue a flavorless mess with something you'd never normally add, or do I just eat weird?

1 comments

harris.vera•10d ago

My old leftover approach was eating sad crackers, now I make $2 soup kings

I used to just stare at a half onion and a wilting celery stalk until they went bad, but after a gray Tuesday in Pittsburgh I threw them in a pot with some chicken bones and random spice packets and got this weirdly great broth. Has anyone else turned a shame pile of scraps into something you'd actually serve a guest?

1 comments

karenf40•12d ago

My grandma's leftover soup rule vs. what I do now

Tbh, my grandma would never let us toss the stale bread or the ends of celery. She had this rule about simmering everything into a broth, and I thought it was so extra back then. Now I'm 34 and I literally keep a bag in my freezer for veggie scraps, and I made a killer minestrone last Tuesday with just that and some canned beans. Has anyone else found themselves turning into their older relatives when it comes to fridge scraps, or am I the only one with a designated scrap bag?

2 comments

abbyl49•12d ago

That half jar of pickled jalapenos ruined my omelet plan

Last Tuesday I found a half jar of pickled jalapenos and a sad block of cheddar in the back of my fridge, so I tried to make a breakfast scramble with old eggs. The jalapenos had turned the whole pan pink and the eggs came out tasting like vinegar bathwater, which my cat refused to even sniff. Does anyone else just toss anything with brine after a week, or do you have a trick to repurpose that leftover juice without ruining a whole meal?

2 comments