Food Salvaging

Food Salvaging

Linda

When I was just 8 years old, my family went through a time when food was not plentiful, and my mom had to find ways to prepare anything that was useful in some way. She was and still is a master at making food stretch and go twice as far and sometimes more. Everything I know is born from what she taught me then and I’ve continued to learn as I raised our 6 children.

For the past 27 years, I’ve volunteered with a food bank, seen how many other food banks operate, cooked for children’s camps with tight budgets, and helped friends find ways to stretch their dollars and the food they buy. It’s been my desire for some time now to do a series I am calling Food Salvaging. If there is not enough money to buy the food we are used to, it is time to find ways to just get enough food. Dinner tonight isn’t about what I feel like eating but about what is there that we can make a meal out of.  So, this is not a series where we check dates, etc. It is more about how to use foods that are a bit outdated, a bit wilted, maybe with bad spots to cut off, or parts of food that we normally throw away but could be used to add nutrition to our family’s menu.

It has been my experience that, wherever there is a crowd of people for a meal, a lot of food gets thrown away. This is often just an unavoidable situation, but if you are at such a function, offer to help clean up, and offer to take any food that is going to be tossed! We’ve eaten some tremendously great meals from leftovers that were going to be thrown away. (I know, there are people who absolutely refuse to eat leftovers. I’m sure they have their reasons, but if you are in a food famine, leftovers will be considered a precious gift.)

So, for my first example of food salvaging, I will use an incident that recently happened to me. I was asked to help at a dinner that had a lot of smoked meat. Due to a mishap in the cooking, some of the chicken had gotten very well done and was held back with hopes of not needing to serve it. Some did end up getting served but there were a few pans that ended up being leftover and were going to be tossed. I brought some home and here is how I used it.

Chicken cooked this much tends to be dry, but remains usable.  I selected a few of the larger pieces (because they would be the least dry) to have for dinner and heated them up to go with sweet potatoes and blackened okra. A little honey mustard to dip the chicken pieces in would be a great addition here, if you have some, or you can make some by adding a bit of sweetener to some mustard and a splash of milk.

After we ate, I took the rest of the chicken pieces and deboned it, keeping the best parts of the meat. Some were too dry and hard to really be eaten. The bones were discarded, the skin and cartilage were put into our chicken scraps box, adding great protein to our chicken’s diet. The salvageable meat was put into my food processor with some onion and garlic and processed well to make into chicken salad. I used some of my homemade relish, mayo, and a bit of Greek yogurt but I didn’t have quite enough mayo. To finish it off, I found some honey mustard in the fridge (that incidentally also came from a different event that had leftover food) and added it. Honestly, it was some of the best chicken salad we’ve had. The next day, I went to get the leftovers for lunch, and my daughter was smirking at me because she had gotten to it first! It was that good!

So, if you have a church potluck, and friend or neighbors wedding, or an opportunity to help at some other event, jump in and help out. The help will be much appreciated, you will feel great to have been a help, you might make a new friend (I’ve found great friendships are formed with working together with someone on a volunteer team), and you just might bring home some food that will help relieve the food insecurity in your household for a meal or two.

          Psalm 146 tells us that the LORD gives food to the hungry. Sometimes we have to think a bit differently to be able to recognize His provision.

Videos Coming!!

Right now, I only have one YouTube video and it’s about Fermenting Okra, but my Food Salvaging Videos should begin posting soon. To be sure you don’t miss any, here’s a link where you can subscribe to my channel for when they start going up.

https://youtube.com/@lindaremillard4177?si=2Nc1AkDf7l2GZU3s

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Guided by the Master

Linda

I am not an artist, but a couple months ago,  I was leading an art class for our homeschool group. YouTube is a wonderful tool when it comes to learning new skills, so I was following a tutorial for a couple of paintings that I intended the class to choose from. As I was painting the background I thought, “what a sloppy mess this is!” There was no way, in my mind, that I would get from that mess of a background to a nice painting as a finished product. I had no choice but to pause the video and complete each step as instructed, trusting that the artist knew where we were going and how to turn this mess into a masterpiece-well, at least a decent painting.

As I was looking at that messy background, I thought about life, and the huge messes it can bring. The places where the way forward just isn’t clear, or hurts that come in and try to shut out all that’s good around you, and I realized that life is much like painting a picture when you are not the artist.

In the Bible, I read in Proverbs 3:5 & 6 to, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths.”

Then in Psalm 32:8 I read, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

And in Isaiah 41:10 it says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

My life might look like a messy background, it might have hurt, sorrow, anger, and all life’s messes blending together, because to have a beautiful background, I’ve found that black is often incorporated with the mix of colors, even when this non-artist would think it did not need to be added. While it is all looking dark and messy, I realize that somewhere in the mess, there is also goodness, there is acknowledging Christ and allowing myself to be led by him as to the paths I will take. If I look hard enough, I can find smears of trust and see His instructions.

Just like I needed to trust the artist to guide me to the finished painting, I need to allow God to guide me through life. Jeremiah 29:11 is an often quoted verse but it does good to stop and ponder it’s meaning. It reads, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” It’s hard to sit back and trust the process, but when I chose the painting tutorial, I had an end result that I expected to achieve. By following the process, I arrived and ended up with an acceptable painting that I don’t mind having on display. 

Now when I look at those two paintings, I am reminded to trust the process that the Master is working in my life. Making something beautiful out of my messes. James 1:4 says, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” When following the instructions of the Master, I need to be patient. Patient and idle are not the same. I will keep working at blending the colors, finding the right shade, doing the right things, working for the kingdom, trusting the end results will be a masterpiece.


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Welcome 2025

Linda

When my husband was active duty, he would often be gone for days, weeks, and months at a time. I remember how hard it was to face each current deployment, especially as the family grew, eventually into 6 children. I found it encouraging when I realized that no matter how hard or how long the current struggle was, when it was over, it didn’t seem so bad as when I was smack in the middle of it. Three months, or a year, felt like eternity in the middle of it and the car breaks down, children get sick, you sprain your ankle, etc. but when it is over, looking back was encouraging to see all the ways our Heavenly Father took care of us and provided for us in our times of need. The joy would then outweigh the struggles.

As I look back over 2024 and all the challenges that it presented, I realize that many of life’s current most difficult struggles began a year or more earlier. In the middle of it all, it’s easy to get discouraged. My attention is then drawn to Psalm 3:3, “But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.”

The struggles of the past give us encouragement and strength to face the struggles of the future. Friends, you and I are not in this alone. Since the beginning of time humanity has lived through whatever we are currently facing. Let’s embrace 2025 and all it will bring, the joy, the sadness, the pain, the healing, or whatever else you are feeling. Find time to spend in the LORD’s presence and let Him lift up your head.