Soggy cornflakes AGAIN??!
September 1, 2011 10:01 AM Subscribe
Can I eat it --The FoodMiser edition: Is there anything useful that can be done with soggy cornflakes/rice crispies in milk?
Yes, that's a little gross, but that's the thought that crosses my mind every morning. as I dispose of my child's soggy leftovers. She loves to make her bowlful herself, but has not mastered portion size. So there is always wastage, and I *HATE* wasting food.
So far the solution is to leave it on the porch for whatever critters want it. But...maybe there's a way to repurpose it as food? Some innovative, potentially delicious masterpiece that takes leftovers & turns them into more food?
The ingredients are: 1) Milk 2) unsweetened cornflakes or rice crispies. Any ideas? Or persuasive reasons why this is an appalling idea & my brain should just drop it? I'd love to hear, thanks!
Yes, that's a little gross, but that's the thought that crosses my mind every morning. as I dispose of my child's soggy leftovers. She loves to make her bowlful herself, but has not mastered portion size. So there is always wastage, and I *HATE* wasting food.
So far the solution is to leave it on the porch for whatever critters want it. But...maybe there's a way to repurpose it as food? Some innovative, potentially delicious masterpiece that takes leftovers & turns them into more food?
The ingredients are: 1) Milk 2) unsweetened cornflakes or rice crispies. Any ideas? Or persuasive reasons why this is an appalling idea & my brain should just drop it? I'd love to hear, thanks!
She loves to make her bowlful herself, but has not mastered portion size.
I think it's a lot easier to solve this problem, with a measuring cup.
posted by desjardins at 10:06 AM on September 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
I think it's a lot easier to solve this problem, with a measuring cup.
posted by desjardins at 10:06 AM on September 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
You could bake it into a loaf of bread, but I agree that it's probably easier to prevent (or at least minimize) the leftovers than to use them.
posted by jon1270 at 10:11 AM on September 1, 2011
posted by jon1270 at 10:11 AM on September 1, 2011
How about just getting a smaller bowl that will hold a portion closer to what she's likely to eat? Alternatively, decant the milk and cereal into containers that are easier for her to control as she practices. The Montessori Catalog has a whole section on pouring and transferring.
The only food I can think of using leftover milk and cereal in would be some sort of smoothie. But even then, eh.
posted by ambrosia at 10:12 AM on September 1, 2011
The only food I can think of using leftover milk and cereal in would be some sort of smoothie. But even then, eh.
posted by ambrosia at 10:12 AM on September 1, 2011
She loves to make her bowlful herself, but has not mastered portion size.
The way my parents handled this for the short time it took for us to get the hang of it was to have us pre-pour the milk into another, smaller vessel (a measuring cup is fine...we usually just used an empty plastic container that bent easily into a spout) and then poured that into our cereal (or oatmeal or cream of wheat).
posted by phunniemee at 10:14 AM on September 1, 2011
The way my parents handled this for the short time it took for us to get the hang of it was to have us pre-pour the milk into another, smaller vessel (a measuring cup is fine...we usually just used an empty plastic container that bent easily into a spout) and then poured that into our cereal (or oatmeal or cream of wheat).
posted by phunniemee at 10:14 AM on September 1, 2011
Or persuasive reasons why this is an appalling idea & my brain should just drop it?
It's cereal mush that has been sitting out for however long it's taken you daughter to prepare her food, and then sit and eat it. If your brain is seeing room-temperature cereal mush and thinking anything else than UGH, then yes, you should totally drop it.
posted by crankylex at 10:18 AM on September 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
It's cereal mush that has been sitting out for however long it's taken you daughter to prepare her food, and then sit and eat it. If your brain is seeing room-temperature cereal mush and thinking anything else than UGH, then yes, you should totally drop it.
posted by crankylex at 10:18 AM on September 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
From a food safety perspective, the problem is that your daughter has been eating out of the bowl with her spoon. This transfers cooties (forgive me for using such technical jargon) from her mouth to the rest of the bowl. Thus, the food left in the bowl is considered unsanitary, and isn't fit for human consumption at a later date.
Pioneers and rural people around the world solve this issue of waste by feeding that kind of thing to their hogs. Hogs have the ability to convert otherwise useless food (a.k.a. slop) into useful food (a.k.a. bacon).
So my suggestion is: get pigs. Or find someone who has pigs, and save all of your daughter's leavings in a big bucket, and carry the bucket over to that person's house once a week or so.
(Or buy a much smaller bowl for your daughter to use for cereal.)
posted by ErikaB at 10:25 AM on September 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
Pioneers and rural people around the world solve this issue of waste by feeding that kind of thing to their hogs. Hogs have the ability to convert otherwise useless food (a.k.a. slop) into useful food (a.k.a. bacon).
So my suggestion is: get pigs. Or find someone who has pigs, and save all of your daughter's leavings in a big bucket, and carry the bucket over to that person's house once a week or so.
(Or buy a much smaller bowl for your daughter to use for cereal.)
posted by ErikaB at 10:25 AM on September 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
Don't leave it outside the door, unless the idea of 20 feral cats camping in yard everyday is somehow appealing.
posted by COD at 10:38 AM on September 1, 2011
posted by COD at 10:38 AM on September 1, 2011
The persuasive reason to let this drop is that it is likely to happen only during a very short phase of her life, so the overall amount of wasted food will at the end be negligible (wholegrain bread and/or foie gras possibly being another matter, but hey, this is commercial cereals...).
posted by Namlit at 10:59 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Namlit at 10:59 AM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I usually add bread crumbs to meatballs and turkey burgers, so you could probably add the soggy cereal just as easily (I'd drain off the milk though).
posted by moshimosh at 11:34 AM on September 1, 2011
posted by moshimosh at 11:34 AM on September 1, 2011
My mom saves all kinds of mushy dairy leftovers until she has enough to make pancakes with it. They turn out to be a a little different texture than traditional pancakes, but still good if you're open minded. She adds flour/baking powder/eggs to the mushy leftovers - she doesn't need a recipe because she knows when it looks just right.. so either experiment if you're a good cook.. or add it instead of milk to a known pancake recipe (use less flour maybe?) until the consistency seems right.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 11:34 AM on September 1, 2011
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 11:34 AM on September 1, 2011
Though I honestly believe ErikaB has the one, true answer, from the cooties to the conversion - though I'd go with pygmy goats - I'd also say that dog food wasn't popularized until after WWII, so that's what family dogs got and what our Basset Hound is for. Actually, my young daughter thought of that solution herself. Get that girl a puppy!
However, because food wasting is, agreed, just wrong: In the interests of not wasting the frou frou organic custom artisanal granola that's six dollars per small container that we all enjoy and would happily over-eat, we've agreed that cereal is not something to fill up on anyway, and so our servings are usually offered in the vintage creamers and fruit bowls that we collect. We have slightly larger bowls for putting the granola on yogurt with fruit - but not that much bigger.
posted by peagood at 12:01 PM on September 1, 2011
However, because food wasting is, agreed, just wrong: In the interests of not wasting the frou frou organic custom artisanal granola that's six dollars per small container that we all enjoy and would happily over-eat, we've agreed that cereal is not something to fill up on anyway, and so our servings are usually offered in the vintage creamers and fruit bowls that we collect. We have slightly larger bowls for putting the granola on yogurt with fruit - but not that much bigger.
posted by peagood at 12:01 PM on September 1, 2011
I used bread soaked in milk for hamburgers, I'm sure soggy rice crispies or corn flakes will work just as well.
posted by wongcorgi at 2:09 PM on September 1, 2011
posted by wongcorgi at 2:09 PM on September 1, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks guys! A couple lovely recipes, a few good ideas, and enough emphasis on Spitcooties, to shut down the brain-pester. You guys rock.
I'm thinking shifting the milk to the teapot & investing in smaller bowls [JUST FOR YOU!!!!] is maybe a better way to go. No pigs, alas. And somehow the 20 feral cats have yet to show up. Still, as an stretcher for hamburger...something to keep in mind.
posted by Ys at 9:38 PM on September 1, 2011
I'm thinking shifting the milk to the teapot & investing in smaller bowls [JUST FOR YOU!!!!] is maybe a better way to go. No pigs, alas. And somehow the 20 feral cats have yet to show up. Still, as an stretcher for hamburger...something to keep in mind.
posted by Ys at 9:38 PM on September 1, 2011
Make muffins!
posted by whimsicalnymph at 8:17 AM on September 2, 2011
posted by whimsicalnymph at 8:17 AM on September 2, 2011
We have the same problem here. When I remember, I pour the milk into a creamer first. Small child likes it because it's pretty and grownup and fancy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:34 PM on September 2, 2011
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:34 PM on September 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:05 AM on September 1, 2011