Are you looking to lower your carbon footprint and save money as well as the planet by creating less food waste? The average American household throws out almost a third of the food it buys—that’s $3,000 annually right into the trash can. The Everlasting Meal Cookbook has a multitude of ideas to use up food scraps and leftovers to create exciting new meals.
I spend a lot of time googling recipes to use up my leftover food. However, this book has many ideas I had never seen before but want to try. Most of us have heard about saving vegetable peelings in the freezer to make broth later. However, how about making a salad by frying leftover rice with Cheetos and eggs as a topper? Or creating wafer cookies with oats and stale popcorn? There is an entire chapter devoted to making sauces with empty condiment jars! The book also includes hints about how to reheat items that are traditionally just tossed, like poached eggs and French toast, when their first usage is complete.
While labeled a cookbook, the book is organized more as an idea generator. There are no illustrations or nutritional information here. Few of the recipes have step-by-step instructions so a certain level of cooking skill is necessary to get the most out of its ideas. What is nice is that the recipes are organized by ingredient. So, for example, all the leftover rice recipes are together making it easy to find what you need.
Overall, The Everlasting Meal Cookbook is a great cost-effective way to feel better about yourself while also saving the planet. That’s a true win-win. 5 stars and a favorite.
Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.