Even though I love to try new foods and search grocery stores for new ingredients, it’s also really important for me to think about food sustainability (and reducing my family’s food waste). That’s why at least once a week I try to make a dinner that uses up anything fresh that’s about to go bad, as well as using non-perishables that we have around. This is more than just reheating leftovers, and it’s fun to use your imagination.

Typically I do this on Sundays when I have more free time to check out the fridge, the produce drawer, the freezer, and the cupboards, and this Sunday, everything came together to make Easy Fried Rice. The ingredients I used are listed below but this meal definitely depends on what you find in your fridge. Try to make this a weekly habit: you’ll save food and money.

As a reminder, feel free to substitute whatever you have in your fridge or freezer (frozen carrots? green onions? shrimp? red pepper). The point is to use up what you already have but also make it tasty.

For a while now I have been seeing the cutest star-shaped pasta called Pastina all over social media and after grocery store hunting I finally found a box! I decided to make it in the traditional manner and used Alex Santos’s recipe from thefeedfeed.com (this recipe) which was super easy and really fast.

The ingredients you will need are:

Healthy Chocolate Turtles

Today two important events coincided: our family’s annual Xmas Cookie Decorating tradition occurred on the same day as the World Cup finals. Since we are big Lionel Messi supporters and were rooting for Argentina, we decided to combine the two events. Also, since the final was so good (and so nerve-wracking), it was good to have something else to focus on. Pre-game was devoted to making the batter (which then had to chill). During the game, we cut out the sugar cookies, and post-game we decorated the cookies. (There was always the chance we would have had to decorate the soccer jersey shapes with French colors, but luckily Argentina prevailed in PKs.)

For the sugar cookie recipe, we use Nigella Lawson’s classic (and very simple) sugar cookie recipe.

• 12 tablespoons soft, unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

The first step is to cream the soft butter with the sugar. Once combined and pale yellow in color, add the eggs and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (mix with a whisk or fork) and then add to the butter-egg mixture. Form into two balls and then two disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

When you are ready to cut out the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Leave one dough disc in the refrigerator while you roll out the other to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out into your desired shapes. (We cut out traditional holiday shapes as well as soccer jersey shapes). I like to let the cut-out cookies rest again in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking. You should also gather up the leftover scraps of dough, shape them into a ball and then a disk, and place in the fridge to rest while you roll out the other disk of dough.

Add sprinkles and other (edible) decorations as you like. And enjoy! Especially if you are a Messi fan.