A Clean Out the Refrigerator Night

I try really hard not to throw out food.

I re-use and re-purpose ingredients and dishes, and I love discovering tips for prolonging the freshness of food. For example--rinsing fresh berries with 1 part vinegar + 10 parts water before storing. It works!

I also survey the refrigerator regularly to see if there's something in danger of going past its prime. Today I found three things that needed to be used: spinach, mushrooms, and broccoli. Just for fun, I did what I sometimes do and used a google search to find recipes. Found a couple of keepers.

Creamy Spinach & Mushroom Pasta.

Here's a link to the recipe. I used tagliatelle instead of penne and fresh spinach instead of frozen.

Brilliant Sauteed Broccoli.

The word "brilliant" refers to the technique used in the recipe to keep the broccoli green. Here's a link to the directions.

One thing these recipes have in common? Red pepper flakes. I add a dash of those to almost everything I cook.

Dessert? Leftover Magpies cupcakes from Leslie Wylie and Tommy Bateman's fun wedding reception at the Sunsphere last night.

Not much chance of any of these cupcakes going past prime.

A salvaged dinner. That's what we're having.