waste not, want not

Maybe it's just me, but I have always had guilt issues when it comes to wasting food. If you've ever eaten with me, you'll notice that at every meal, I either a) clean my plate, or b) take my leftovers to go. Seeing that last bit of my meal sitting there, I just get sort of panicky, like it'll just be thrown away, perfectly edible, a waste. Even if I don't particularly want to, I find myself finishing those last few bites, despite the protest of my already-full stomach. Sometimes it's social; if someone cooks me a meal, uneaten food seems an insult to the chef. Sometimes it's fiscal; if I pay $14 for a pizza, I am going to eat the whole darn pizza. Sometimes, I just don't know why. Perhaps the old "Starving children in Africa line" really got to me as a kid. Or maybe it stems from back when my mom would withhold desserts until we "cleared our plates." It was a devious but brilliant method devised to get us to eat our vegetables. The older and more obedient child was I, gulping down the last bites of soggy, steamed broccoli with hardly a fuss. My sister, however, stubborn as all get-out, would sit at the table for upwards of an hour, frowning at her plate, alternately yelling at my parents and fuming in silence while I happily (and flagrantly) slurped my ice cream. Even at a young age, I was a total sell-out for sweets.

It wasn't until much later that I learned the world does not come to an end if you throw in the towel before your plate is empty. This simple fact has saved me a considerable amount of guilt, and even lost me a little weight. Still, I hate throwing away food, and even more so now that I'm paying for my own groceries. So every few days, I peer into the depths of my refrigerator, chopping and stir-frying about-to-go-bad greens and veggies, making ginger-yogurt sauce with the last spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, wilting already-partially-wilted spinach or tossing it into scrambled eggs. Being kinda broke (I prefer the term "frugal") has made me pretty good at getting creative with whatever I have left.

Which brings me to this recipe. Adapted from Cathy Erway's book The Art of Eating In, I took a stale, crumbly chocolate cake and turned it into delish, single-serving desserts. I consider it my sweet defeat of food-wasting guilt. Don't let another baked good go bad again!

"Recycled" Chocolate Cake Tart Shells with Kahlua Chocolate Pudding
original recipe from Cathy Erway
1-2 cups stale chocolate cake (I used half an 8-inch cake. Substitute any stale baked good)
2 Tb melted butter
2 Tb water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 packet instant chocolate pudding mix
just under 1 cup milk
2 Tb Kahlua (or any other flavored liquour. Bailey's would be an excellent sub)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, crumble the cake with your fingers, breaking up any large chunks.
3. Add butter and water and mix well. Dough should be moist but not stick together in a ball.
4. Press mixture firmly against the sides of 4-6 ramekins (depending on how big yours are) to form a shell.
5. Bake shells for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely.
6. Whisk together pudding mix and milk.
7. Add Kahlua and mix well.
8. Scoop pudding into tart shells and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Makes 4-6 desserts. (This recipe made me 3 large tarts and 2 smaller ones.)

Optional: topped with whipped cream and/or strawberries. If your ramekins come with lids, take one to work or school with you!