WASTE NOT,WANT NOT

Your grandmother, if she survived during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, will tell you how the people has to skimp on their meals then. Food was scarce and I remember my Mum telling how they had to eat tapioca as a staple diet.
Nowadays, we have so much food that it is more often wasted. In Britain, one third of food purchased ends up in the bins and lands in the landfill.

A number of British chefs has given tips to reduce remnants in the fridge:

• Write a shopping list before you go shopping. Buy only what is listed and don't buy on impulse.
  
• Freeze leftover bread wrapped in plastic and toast it frozen as it defrosts very quickly.
• Used bread can be reused as crumbs to dress chicken or turkey with a touch of mixed spice and herbs.
• Combine stale bread with milk, eggs, cheese, fresh herbs,salt and whatever else you can find in the kitchen and voila, you can make a delicious savoury bread pudding.
• Cold pasta can be fried like fried mee or baked in a macaroni cheese style sauce on the top.

I have added the following:

• Cold rice fried with leftover sambal or whatever gravy and added with leftover vegetables makes delicious fried rice.Leftover chicken, beef of fish can also be added. I also add sambal belacan to the fried rice if this is available.
• Leftover fried fish added to certain vegetables makes delicious kerabus.
• Leftover fried fish can be used in freshly prepared sambals or soya gravy, or added with mayonnaise and used as sandwich fillings.
• Leftover gravies can be frozen and reused when thawed and added with fish, seafood, chicken or beef.

If you do not want leftovers, cook only as required. In that way, you save your money and reduce the wastage. In a long run, you help save the environment as you have used less energy to cook food, and store them. If you don't throw into the bin, you have also reduce the amount of rubbish in the landfill.

Remember, some people believe that to waste means being friends with the devil. That certainly is not the way to go.