Like many, I have had to throw away veggies, fruits and other things that "go bad" over the past years. It has always bothered me. This year, I've really tried to throw away less by better planning, etc. For example, I shop my kitchen before going to the supermarket. Even with good planning, items will start to turn.
Today, I had a bowl of tomatoes that were starting to become a little soft. No blemishes yet. In shopping my fridge, I found some fresh mozzarella and a pack of chicken breasts in the freezer. I decided to try to "create something." After roasting the tomatoes for 3 hours in a low oven with a bit of garlic and olive oil, I layered the tomatoes in a dish, covered the tomatoes with the mozzarella and then topped it with 1/2 inch slices of thawed boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I had a few tomatoes left that I tossed in a chopper with a bit of the roasted garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. This went over the layers and I baked them for about 1.25 hours at 350 F.
Cooked up some spaghetti and tossed it with a few spoons of basil pesto, fresh cracked pepper, salt, and a few spoons of the cooking liquid. Topped the dish with some grated Parmesan. It turned out really good! Happiness is! Nothing was wasted. I have leftovers for lunch. I'm pretty bouncy.
I'm hoping it reheats well because I have enough for two days of lunch!
I often go on tangents from recipes or ideas of them, but rarely do I make something worthy of company from whatever falls out of the pantry/fridge.