Are you tired of throwing away food? Does your family hate leftovers? Or do you only have a spoonful or two of something leftover that is not really worth saving? Find out a simple way to stop wasting these items without having to serve them up again the next day.
You are cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and there is one spoonful of green beans left. What do you do?
Do you throw it away because it is not enough for anyone and not worth saving?
Do you put it down the drain because your family won’t warm up leftovers?
If you said yes to one of those statements, you need the leftover soup bowl in your freezer. This simple trick will stop the wasted food at your house and provide you with a fresh meal for your leftover hating family.
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What is a Leftover Soup Bowl?
A leftover soup bowl is a bowl or bag that collects small amounts of leftover food over several weeks. Once the bag is full of a variety of veggies, meats and broths, you will make a large pot of fresh vegetable soup.
The leftover soup bowl eliminates virtually all food waste from dinner. It is also great for families that don’t do well with eating leftovers since it is a fresh new meal and not your dinner from the night before heated in the microwave.
What To Do
So to create a leftover soup bowl for your family, just grab a freezer safe bowl or a ziplock bag (my preference). Next, save your leftovers, big or small! The beauty of the leftover soup bowl is that you can save all food. Even if it is just a spoonful or two of food.
No that amount might not be worth saving if you are thinking about a plate of leftovers but it is definitely worth it for the leftover soup bowl!
After every meal, open up your soup bowl/bag and spoon in your cooled leftovers over the top of the previously frozen leftovers. Reseal the bag and toss it back in the freezer. Once your bag is filled, make a big pot of vegetable soup for dinner. You have made a complete family meal out of re-purposed leftovers that might have been put down the drain otherwise.
What to Add to the Leftover Soup Bowl
There are so many options for things to put into your leftover soup bowl. Utilizing this method will help you stay within your grocery budget by eliminating food waste.
Here are some ideas of things that I include in my leftover soup bowl. And remember the beauty of this is that you can save just a couple of spoonfuls of something that isn’t really enough for a reheated meal.
Corn
Green beans
Diced tomatoes
Mixed Vegetables
Tomato sauce/paste
Chicken/beef/vegetable broth
Celery
Onions
Carrots
Beans
Diced potatoes/hashbrowns
Shredded or Diced Chicken
Browned Ground Turkey or Beef
Rice
Noodles
Check Your Fridge
Before you go to the grocery each week, check your fridge for things that you have already bought that you could save instead of throwing out.
Produce
See if you have any produce that is on the verge of going bad.
If you catch it before it wilts, just throw it in your leftover soup bowl. Just make sure that if you are adding fresh vegetables that they are washed and chopped prior to freezing.
Cooked Meats
You also want to look and see if you cooked something recently that it doesn’t look like will be eaten as leftovers.
I particularly like taco meat or salsa chicken to add to my leftover soup bowl. Both of these are packed with flavor and lend themselves well to a taco style soup bowl. Leftover grilled chicken or steak chopped in bite sized pieces are great too.
Impotant Tips For The Leftover Soup Bowl
- Use a freezer safe bag or bowl. I prefer a bag because I can store it flat. My mom always kept our leftovers in a vintage yellow tupperware container (which is why I still call it a soup bowl even though in my house it should probably be a soup bag.
- Store your bowl/bag in the freezer. It may take several weeks to get enough leftovers for a pot of soup so you want to keep the food frozen.
- Add fresh ingredients to your pot when you warm your soup bowl. You can take your frozen bag and add in fresh broth, vegetables, meats or spices if you need to bulk up your pot.
What other money saving hacks help you save money on your grocery bill? Share your budget friendly hack in the comments!
Earlier this year I saved a ton by cutting cable & moving to a direct streaming service and I haven’t looked back!
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