BREAD RECYCLING

Part of my effort to reduce my food expenses, as well as to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, is to eliminate food waste as much as possible.  I'm the queen of the Bermuda Triangle Refrigerator.  Lovely, expensive foodstuffs have been known to disappear in there, only to be found months later moldy and biologically hazardous.  This week I finally got around to cleaning out my fridge.  I was astonished at how much expired food was in my refrigerator.  Astonished...and ashamed.  It's not just the money lost but the thought that there are people who are having trouble feeding their families and I'm throwing away $15 worth of expired yogurt.  I'm disgusted with myself.

I could berate myself over this, and I probably will, but I'm trying to regard this as a learning experience.  Sometimes we all just need to have a light shone on our faults.  Once we're aware we can do better.

To that end I'm making a trip to a nearby park with a lake this morning.  It's freezing here -- only about 13 degrees -- and there's still lots of slick stuff left from an ice storm this week.  At this park are several dozen ducks who can't be having an easy time either.  I have bread that's just on the verge of turning stale.  Yes, I should probably make it into crumbs and use it to coat chicken or something, but being the animal lover that I am, I'm choosing to make use of it by feeding it to the hungry critters.  More environmentally friendly than throwing it away.  Easier than having to find a use for it in my own home.  My kids helped me feed the ducks a couple weeks ago and they seemed very grateful.  They rushed us and got within a couple feet of my large hound dog, so I figure they must have been hungry.

Lastly, I've always loved this song and have found myself singing it over the years whenever I'm mad at myself for a failure.  It applies as well to dieting as to food waste as to parenting mistakes.  Or, as I've heard Judge Judy say, "You need to put a period and move on."  Sometimes forgiving ourselves is the hardest thing.