I used to throw away leftovers because eating the same thing three days in a row felt depressing. Monday’s roast chicken was fine. Tuesday’s was tolerable. Wednesday’s was a sadness on a plate. Into the trash it went — along with the eight dollars worth of food.

Then I learned the rule of transformation: do not reheat a meal. Repurpose it into something different. Same ingredients, completely new dish. Here is how it works.

Roast Chicken → Three Different Meals

Day one: roast chicken with vegetables. Day two: shred the remaining chicken and make chicken salad sandwiches. Day three: boil the carcass with water, onion, and carrots for an hour. Strain. Now you have chicken stock. Add the last of the shredded chicken, some noodles, and frozen vegetables. Chicken noodle soup. Three meals from one chicken.

I did this last week. The soup on day three was the best meal of the three.

Vegetables That Are About to Go → Stir Fry or Soup

That half onion. The single carrot. The bell pepper that is starting to wrinkle. The handful of spinach threatening to turn to slime. Chop everything roughly the same size. Throw it in a hot pan with oil, soy sauce, and garlic. Serve over rice. Dinner in ten minutes from things that would have been trash tomorrow.

Or throw everything in a pot with broth. Blend it if you want it smooth. Vegetable soup is the world’s most forgiving recipe — it works with whatever you have.

Stale Bread → Croutons or Bread Pudding

Cube stale bread. Toss with olive oil, salt, and dried herbs. Bake at 375°F for ten minutes. Croutons that are better than anything from a box.

For sweet: tear up stale bread, soak in a mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. Bake at 350°F for forty minutes. Bread pudding. Costs almost nothing. Tastes like a real dessert.

The “Eat Me First” Bin

I put a small clear bin in the fridge labeled “Eat Me First.” Anything that needs to be used in the next two days goes in there. Half an avocado. The last quarter of an onion. Leftover rice. When I open the fridge, the bin is the first thing I see. It has cut our food waste in half — not because I am more virtuous, but because I can literally see what needs using.