What do you do with your left-over? Do you neatly pack and store them for later use or do you dump them in the dustbin thinking they are useless? If you do the latter, welcome to my club! Until not too long ago, I disliked the idea of having left-over. I would try to cook just the right quantity of food that could be eaten at once. Any unfortunate left-over despite this would be dumped in the dustbin when no one was looking- I never wanted anyone to know how wasteful I was. In truth, that attitude was a very bad one; but I always justified it with the fact that the electricity supply was irregular and food kept in the freezer is sometimes doomed from the start because if forgotten, it may eventually get spoilt. One fact that I mostly chose to ignore was that food could sometimes be preserved by simply keeping a lid slightly open over it overnight and then warming it the next day.
This may not be a long term solution but it works for a few days. During a recent visit to an Aunts house, I kept wondering why she was so conservative! She seemed to be so bent on not throwing anything away! From left-over food to clothing and household items, she would never let anything go without putting it to good use. Fresh food would be given away to the needy rather than letting it waste. The Freezer was filled with left-over which would be brought out later and combined to make nutritious meals. What I found most amazing was how she would scrape and eat the food left in the children's plates.
Anytime she did that, I would go yuck! How could you ever stand that? I for one have never really enjoyed eating other peoples left-over so I could'nt imagine doing so just to avoid wastage. Id rather have the food waste than eat any body's left-over! Do you know that some foods actually taste more delicious when thoroughly warmed and eaten as left-over than when they are freshly cooked? of course they must have been well preserved in the first instance to prevent staleness and spoilage. Try eating hot left-over Beans and Yam Pottage, Fried or Jollof Rice or even Moin-Moin and you will agree with me! Another lovely delicacy is crisply fried left-over Yam which is a filling snack any day.
The good thing about left-over foods is that they can sometimes be combined to make even more nourishing meals. The idea of not letting anything go to waste goes beyond food. From our Clothing to Shoes, Underwear, Books and other accessories, there are endless possibilities of creating new things from the old ones. An old shirt can come in handy as an under-shirt for a pinafore or can be worn underneath to keep us warm on a cold day. An uncommon coloured old scarf may end up being just what you need to complete a new outfit. You never would know until you give it a try.
If however it seems like you would have absolutely no need for certain items, remember someone out there may be glad to have them. Next time you want to convert an old but perfectly alright uniform, dress or outfit into a rag, bare in mind that it could earn you heartfelt prayers from a needy person. So what changed my irritation for left-over food? It was just a trip up North where I saw some young children, looking unkempt and hungry, who would be willing to eat anything-leftovers, food scraped from the bottom of the pot or even bread that looked like it was fit for only one place- the dustbin.
After the look of raw hunger and extreme gratitude I saw on the faces of such children whenever they were given any kind of food or cast-off, I did some serious thinking and decided that being wasteful is just like being ungrateful to Allaah and inviting His Anger and Wrath. A slogan to keep in mind is "if it can still be useful to someone else, then it does not belong in the trash!" As-Salam alaikum! Wondering what the words latter and Conservative mean? Go ahead and check them up in the Dictionary!
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited