By Taylor Sutton, MS, RD
United Supermarkets’ Lifestyle Desk
We love leftovers as dietitians! We love to be budget friendly as well as not waste food. Who doesn’t love these concepts, right? Did you know that the USDA reported that Americans waste more than 130 billion pounds of food annually? The even crazier statistic is that about 1 in 6 Americans go to bed hungry.
Leftovers are a great way to not only ease up your physical time in the kitchen, but also your mental time stressing and preparing that meal. Another benefit is that it lends itself to more connection time together around the table. Family meals are gaining popularity again and you’ll see us promote family meal times every September for fresh ideas.
With all the new food you will be bringing in this new year, here’s a healthy tip. Think through that extra item you are about to put into your cart that’s not on the grocery list. If you don’t have a plan for it, you might end up wasting it. Items that are canned or frozen are easy to revamp but if it has a quick expiration date or is fresh be sure to have a backup plan to cook and freeze it!
With all of this holiday leftover talk, we bet you might need a way to use up your leftovers rather than just putting them on another board. Let’s revamp your party cheeses by giving them new life in a fancy dip called, ‘fromage’. Basically you’d take a few different types of cheeses and blend them together with a few additional spices as a “spreadable” dip. As easy as it sounds there are a few important things to note like cutting off any rinds and making sure the cheeses play well together.
Fromage
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb of 3 different cheeses (ex: 2 hard and 1 soft)
1/4-1/2 c. white wine (like pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc) depending on the types of cheeses you choose
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Garlic powder
Salt pepper and any other desired herbs
DIRECTIONS
1. Roughly chop cheese
2. Pulse it in a food processor or electric mixer until a uniform rough texture
3. Add olive oil, garlic powder and any additional herbs and spices and roughly pulse a few times
4. Add in wine until you reach your desired consistency
