Kookah Adobo Madoobo

No, I'm not learning a new language. But all will be revealed in due time, regarding an explanation for the title of this post...

Inspired by Jonathan Bloom and his Wasted Food blog, we've been trying to throw away as little food as possible, preferably none. The items we usually end up throwing away are rotten produce and leftovers. We've been doing a lot better recently, because I'm trying to buy only as much produce as we actually eat instead of the amount I wish we'd eat. Since my husband and I don't have kids, we don't need to plan every meal. There are always times we get invited over to someone's house or just grab a Trader Joe's snack, so we never actually eat seven dinners at home.

We love leftovers and usually eat them, unless they get shoved to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten. So in addition to buying less food, I've also started labeling the containers I put leftovers in. Which brings me to the title of this post. Last week when I made chili, I had half the jar of adobo sauce left over. As long as it's refrigerated, I can use it again weeks later for another batch of chili. But usually I forget about it and it eventually gets thrown out. This time I put it in tupperware and labeled it on top with a sharpie in large block letters "adobo." The next morning when I opened the refrigerator, my husband had added a little something to the label for my amusement. It now read "Kookah Adobo Madoobo." Laughing out loud before you've even had your morning tea or coffee is a great way to start the day. Who says this stuff can't be fun?

Please share your thoughts about wasted food and any secrets you have for keeping it to a minimum.

Free stuff alert: If you live in Los Angeles, the George C. Page museum, home of the famous La Brea tarpits, offers free admission the first Tuesday of the month, which is tomorrow, March 3rd. It's not just for kids! Read about their exciting recent find of a huge cache of ice age fossils including a nearly intact skeleton of a wooly mammoth.