"I can truly say I live from the crumbs of the rich man’s table and have for almost all of my life." So writes Emma Byler in Plain and Happy Living, one of a couple books I am devouring this month. Emma writes about growing up Amish in the Depression and about how they not only survived by thrived with very little. About that table she says, "Bones others would throw away can be cooked and bits of meat taken off. the gristle, fat, and skin can be fed to the cats or dogs. The broth makes a wonderful stock for soup."  When she talks about waste it reminds me of my mother in law who wastes nothing. Cotton from the inside of medicine bottles is tucked into a glass jar at her home. Dishes are scraped into a bowl for the compost heap or the barn animals or the dogs.

My own grandmother placed teensy portions of food on the plates with the promise that there was always more where that came from. A child of the depression herself, she could not tolerate waste either. We follow a similar practice here. Not having a garbage disposal means you are confronted immediately with how much is consumed and how much is discarded. It convicts a person!

The Thrifty Homeschooler, Maureen Wittman, describes her leftover soup process. She puts the last bits of leftover veggies in freezer bags and when there is enough she makes soup. Emily Barnes also suggests saving cookie crumbs in those bags and freezing for ice cream topping. Bread crumbs can be gathered similarly for casserole topping. My friend Mary has a different system – she keeps pigs <g> Whatever your method is, take a look at what is landing in your trash can this week. Is it’s life span truly over? Could it be an ingredient in a future dish? Could it feed the compost pile? Were the eyes of the person’s dish it came from bigger than his stomach? Are your portions appropriate for your diners?