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Denise Westman's avatar

Denise Westman

Community Team

"To be totally mindful of what I take and what I leave on this Earth."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 290 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    3.0
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    11
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    5.6
    pounds
    food waste prevented

Denise's actions

Planning

Track My Wasted Food

I will track the food that my household of 2 throws out so I can learn what we're wasting and why.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Cook Just Enough

I will scale down the recipe of a meal to make just the right amount for my household of 2 so we eat everything up.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Make Soup Broth

I will store vegetable scraps or bones in my freezer and use them to make veggie stock or bone broth. I will make 2 batches.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Shopping

Stick to Your Grocery List

I will only purchase the items on my grocery list and avoid impulse purchases.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Planning

Plan a Leftovers Day

I will plan a meal to use up leftovers by creating a tasty smorgasbord or using a recipe that repurposes them.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Reimagine Leftovers

I will learn about how to repurpose my leftovers into new meals and then try it.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Save the Peels

When life gives me lemons (or other citrus peels), I will use the rinds to make a nontoxic cleaner.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed


  • Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/28/2025 6:38 PM
    I made a great quiche today with cut sweet corn, onions, peppers and about to 'die' asparagus. I just love the fresh cut corn in the quiche.

  • Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/25/2025 7:24 PM
    I always buy six ears of sweet corn for a meal and we usually eat 3-4 of them. Whatever is left over, I cut off the kernels and add peppers, tomatoes, onions or what is in the fridge, saute in garlic olive oil in skillet for the next meal. I actually look forward to it. If there is any leftover, I throw it in a quiche.
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Cooking
    Which citrus do you have the most of and what kind of cleaning product will you make?

    Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/25/2025 7:20 PM
    It's mostly lemons and oranges that start to lay around and then I make a drink out of them. I extract the juice, grate the rinds and then add that to ginger water and/or steeped elderberries. This is what I drink in the morning.

  • Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/19/2025 7:46 PM
    I love it! I love thinking and acting on it. I have always hated when something in my fridge gets away from me, but this challenge gives me great pointers. I really appreciate the work that went into this program.

  • Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/19/2025 7:11 PM
    Truly my biggest challenge. I was the oldest of six, so I cooked for eight people and then cooked for two hungry boys... but that was twenty years ago and I still make too much food. Last fall I finally bought a smaller soup pot because I kept filling up my 6qt stock pot!

    • Denise Westman's avatar
      Denise Westman 8/20/2025 6:57 AM
      For soup? I make chicken, beef and sometimes pork broth and then add what's laying around in my fridge. Those soups I can never duplicate.


    • H McCrillis 's avatar
      H McCrillis 8/20/2025 1:38 AM
      So any favorite recipes? 😊🍜
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Cooking
    How have you modified what you do with leftovers to make sure nothing goes to waste?

    Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/15/2025 3:12 PM
    I grew up on a farm in Iowa the oldest of six children and making a 'good' meal out of leftovers was a way of life. I am VERY fortunate that my husband doesn't blink an eye at a left over meal. I have been implementing many of the things that you are advocating as normal things in my life. It's all very interesting.

    • Mary Ann Knox's avatar
      Mary Ann Knox 8/19/2025 9:42 AM
      Similar history -- I grew up pretty poor and we often had leftovers: I am a huge fan of leftovers. As it's just me, I think, oh, no planning today, I already have food in fridge I just need to heat and eat!

  • Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/09/2025 8:25 PM
    Today I made chicken broth with the all the chicken carcasses and 'spent' vegetables that I keep in the freezer. I had a head of garlic that needed to be used, so I coarsely chopped it and added it to EVOO. I wanted to use my little potatoes, so I made potato salad by adding various produce I had on hand.

    • Emily Pollack's avatar
      Emily Pollack 8/10/2025 1:24 PM
      This is when I wish I had a personal chef - sounds wonderful. I find meals like this to be so satisfying, good and "useful" !! Way to go :)
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Cooking
    We often worry about running out of food so we make too much. What thoughts and feelings have come up when you make just the right amount to eat up all the food?

    Denise Westman's avatar
    Denise Westman 8/09/2025 7:58 PM
    I strive to make 'just enough' but it's hard for me.

    • Emily Pollack's avatar
      Emily Pollack 8/10/2025 1:25 PM
      Hard for so many of us with grandmothers/parents that always were pushing more!!!