So, we are talking about being wasteless this week. I would like to bring up something that has been a cause for concern at home, and I’d like your honest opinion about it.
What exactly do you do with the food remnants of your visitors?
I’ve pondered this question long enough to feel the need to share what I do with leftover food. Yes, I know you eat your own leftovers later on, but what about those left behind by your guests?
Most visitors prefer not to eat out. Forcing them to eat at your place might result in food remnants because they might only eat a little just to please you. The real question is: what do you do with the remnants, if any?
I have this friend that, whenever I visit her, she would forcibly want me to eat her food. After much convincing, she would go ahead to dish me a mountain of food. Pleading with her to reduce it always falls on deaf ears, so in order not to hurt feelings, and considering the time, energy, money, and love that was used in preparing the meal, I would try to eat to an extent and then beg her to pack the remaining for me to take home. Because of how insistent she is, I always feel reluctant to go to her place. Yes, she is a sweet soul, a fun person, but I didn't like the way she forces food on me beyond my wish. So I call more than I visit, and if I must visit her, I would go almost hungry because I am 90% sure she would mount food for me.
And yes, what portion size is best to serve a visitor so it doesn't seem stingy? Because you might serve little, considering the possibility that the guests must have eaten before coming, but they haven't, in fact, the guests came in hungry.
I’ve learnt portion control the hard way. There’s this family friend who relocated to Jos in Nigeria for a job. He would visit mostly on Sundays. Whenever I served him food, he would eat just a little and leave the rest. What was I supposed to do with that?
Over time, I began to reduce his portion size. Then I noticed he started finishing his food. Sometimes he cleared the plate like he wanted more, or perhaps wasn’t satisfied but he could not ask for more.
Before now, whenever a visitor didn’t finish their food, I honestly threw it away without thinking twice. I found it impossible to eat remnants from someone else’s plate considering unknown hygiene, where they’ve been, or what they’ve touched.
This actually contradicts my minimalist lifestyle. So I had to find a way to balance it, and our family friend became the perfect example for experimenting with portion control.
For every meal I serve a visitor now, I dish only two soup-spoons of food. Just small. And I must ask first: “Would you like to eat?” There’s no need to force someone to eat a meal I spent time preparing with so much love.
I go to people’s houses too, and because I’m minimalistic by nature, whenever I’m served a meal, I eat as much as I can and then request for the rest to be packed up as takeaway. I don’t know if they would throw it away just because they feel too irritated to continue from where I had stopped.
I think about the cost of food, the time spent preparing it, and the people who have no food to eat.
I have some of those empty ice cream, yoghurt and chinchin containers. I reuse them for storing freshly made dishes or even leftovers. I put them in the fridge or freezer and warm them whenever I want to eat.
Although I hardly,hardly have leftovers, I now make meals according to the number of times we plan to eat a particular dish. We always finish it up before making another, just to avoid having any food go to waste.