Using up Every. Last. Bit. Crazy, thrifty, or something else?

[Smithy]

This used to drive my darling crazy.

 

 

Where he couldn't be bothered to scrape even a wide-mouthed jar of peanut butter when it got low, I'd dig in with a spatula and get out as much as possible. 2, 3, maybe even 4 more uses!

 

"You don't need to be so thrifty!" he'd exclaim. "Our parents were of the Depression generation, and we've both been broke as grad students, but that doesn't mean we have to behave that way now!"

 

I'd calmly respond that I wasn't worried about money so much as resource conservation -- but yes, the money also added up. And I'd go on scraping. 🙂

 

Now, to be clear, I should add that I still tend to overbuy food. A sorry amount of herbs and other vegetable matter ends up on the compost pile instead of in my food. But still, I scrape.

 

How about you? Are you of the use-it-all-up variety, or the don't-have-time-for-that variety? Got any good stories to share?

[Tropicalsenior]

I'm in the scrape it all out camp and the ones that drive me crazy are mayonnaise jars. My preferred mayonnaise is Kraft mayonnaise which is kind of hard to find down here. I used to be able to buy it in the half gallon size in a square bottle. I would fight forever getting all the mayonnaise out of the corners. Now I can only buy it in the squeeze bottle and it never, ever all comes out. Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise. Finally I've given up the fight and started buying Hellman's in the squeeze plastic container.

At least I can squeeze out all of that even if the mayonnaise isn't as good.

Edited October 1 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[ElsieD]

I'm a scraper, probably because growing up, my parents were scrapers, having lived through the depression and occupied Holland in WW2 when food was, to put it mildly, scarce.  I like to get every. last. bit. out.  

[Smithy]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise.

 

I wish I'd thought of that trick before now!

[DesertTinker]

Another scraper here. My parents both grew up during the depression, I think my mom was more impacted by the experience, being 14 in 1929, in Oklahoma.

[Alex]

Ditto. Ms Alex, not so much.

[YvetteMT]

I admit to not being a scraper of commercial condiments. Jars of homemade things like jam, get scraped. Toothpaste tube gets a doo-hickey put on it that magically squishes the last vestiges out. When lotion gets difficult to get out, its tossed. Shower gel gets water added and then thrown in a bath.

Protein is where I get a bit rabid about "every. last. bit."  Meat is not thrown away. period. end of discussion. If it was cooked poorly, figure out a way to eat it. (my first pheasant was so dry that I choked it down with ranch dressing. 20 years later, I can cook pheasant just fine). I grew up on a small farm (butchered poultry quite young), hunted at an early age and knew that some animal died to feed me whether I personally took that life or not. I still wont waste meat, nothing to do with $ at this stage.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Until recently I was a super-scraper.    But I am suddenly very old.   Little appetite.   I have come to tell myself that I don't need to continue to be the family compost bucket.    Husband has gone to his "happy place", our weekend country place, for a couple of weeks and I have been merciless in purging the fridge, freezer and pantry.    If I don't wanna eat it, out it goes.    If too much water would go into cleaning the container, out it goes too, as is.

 

Re meat, for years I have converted just about every leftover protein into ragu Bolognese.   All excellent and all totally consumed in this second stage of their lives.  

[Tropicalsenior]

I have to admit that there have been times that I've thrown out a container which has maybe a tablespoon or so left in it. Then, inevitably, I will need that thing and only need a tablespoon or so. I remember the little bit that I threw out. I go back to being a scraper. I just can't help it.

[Shel_B]

4 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise.

Love the idea. I will definitely try it.

 

I'm a scraper as well.  One of my big issues is toothpaste.  When nothing more can be squeezed from the tube, I cut open the bottom and dip the brush in that way. The first time I did that it was just because I was curious to see how much remained in the tube.  I was shocked by how much toothpaste was wasted. I can get two or more weeks worth of brushing doing this little trick. YMMV.

 

My parents would turn bottles of ketchup and similar items upside-down in the cabinet or fridge, and let gravity provide additional, easy-to-access, servings.  I always use a skosh of water to remove as much as possible of the last vestiges of sauce from cans and jars.

 

While I was not a depression-era child, my parents, aunts, and uncles were.  My grandparents never lost their turn-of-the-century immigrant sensibilities. Examples of thriftiness surrounded me much of my life, and that sensibility remains with me (and my siblings) in many ways to this day.  And, although I was very, very young, I still have vague memories of the remnants of WWII rationing.

 

I recall my dad telling me a story about the way things were during the depression.  We were sitting in a Horn and Hardart automat and he told me about Depression Soup. Folks would go into a cafeteria, automat, etc., get something cheap to eat, and make the "soup" at their table.  The soup consisted of a glass of water mixed with whatever condiments and spices were on the table: ketchup, mustard, S&P, maybe some sugar.

 

 

Edited October 1 by Shel_B (log)

[MaryIsobel]

Another scraper here - child of children of the depression. I make dressings from the dregs of some things like salad dressing from mayo or mustard jars, peanut sauce/dressing witht the dregs of peanut butter, that sort of thing. I have also cut open tubes of toothpaste, hand cream, conditioner etc. and it is indeed shocking just how much is left.

[Shelby]

I'm also a scraper.  More so during and since the pandemic.

[TdeV]

I'm a scraper too. I use the itsy bitsy spatula/spoonula from Thermoworks. Moreover I've recently written to them to suggest a couple of other sizes for those scraper sets (the guy from Thermoworks thought I made some excellent use cases). So we'll see.

 

FWIW: these spatula/spoonula sets go on sale a couple times per year.

[MaryIsobel]

3 minutes ago, TdeV said:

I'm a scraper too. I use the itsy bitsy spatula/spoonula from Thermoworks. Moreover I've recently written to them to suggest a couple of other sizes for those scraper sets (the guy from Thermoworks thought I made some excellent use cases). So we'll see.

 

FWIW: these spatula/spoonula sets go on sale a couple times per year.

I too bought mini scrapers and my daughter bought me micro mini scrapers for cosmetics. My daughters are both scrapers too so I guess they are children of children of children of the Depression. https://www.amazon.ca/Beauty-Spatula-Cosmetics-Kitchen-Silicone/dp/B093WKSX5J/ref=asc_df_B093WKSX5J/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706736437842&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3734717085719977032&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001524&hvtargid=pla-1577068243352&mcid=45fef6ded0ad386a9f3b4c83d3aa92c0&gad_source=1&th=1

Edited October 1 by MaryIsobel (log)

[ElsieD]

Thank you @MaryIsobel.  I just put these in my cart.

 

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Spatula-Reusable-Double-ended-Silicone-Kitchen/dp/B093SMXB91/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1AHYS35IEC1NP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FJhqCW5rqttneUfLABdD-yvQxrZRJ8CznYzH1rVU3UPn5zjKaFgGPc-Drf5-vkjjJJl8Kh1iMTYh7JPJ8F0PrXMAnpsbCfm1OiOIkkFW_BTfL0fzSr1CbKqXMGe9aurdkrD0tQ_HvuEdXSuZDVrlEZplYHCjbEZwZAyqiGGLtHKXsUvhN9mv2zwdzqeCO8VscNLsTiGGdlPpJX-pkRInWtRi06MlkGmlPUlWN2UNb2hL88Gp4z4rcH2lMPV4_NC_TB_1IoorLbi05HFxuX47_VY4YFwDW5YqT-mshJ30m9g.pQ7FzfGQt_cIOEvX7MmYneOhFSYlBckJU15TXZ-hix0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Hagbou%2Bscraper&qid=1727820631&sprefix=hagbou%2Bscraper%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-6&th=1

[MaryIsobel]

Always happy to enable! But truly, they are really handy and don't take up much room.

[ElsieD]

5 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Always happy to enable! But truly, they are really handy and don't take up much room.

I ordered 2 sets, the second set will go in my sister's Christmas "bag".

[haresfur]

7 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I'm in the scrape it all out camp and the ones that drive me crazy are mayonnaise jars. My preferred mayonnaise is Kraft mayonnaise which is kind of hard to find down here. I used to be able to buy it in the half gallon size in a square bottle. I would fight forever getting all the mayonnaise out of the corners. Now I can only buy it in the squeeze bottle and it never, ever all comes out. Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise. Finally I've given up the fight and started buying Hellman's in the squeeze plastic container.

At least I can squeeze out all of that even if the mayonnaise isn't as good.

 

Great idea on making the dressing in the bottle. My problem with the container on the left is that soft plastic isn't really recycled here. But I suppose there isn't much of it compared to the squeeze bottle. I may go back to glass.

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I ordered 2 sets, the second set will go in my sister's Christmas "bag".

Thanks for the idea! I' sure both of my sisters would love these.

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

I'm in the scrape, rinse and get every last bit camp. I'm also a child of parents who experienced the Great Depression.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

15 hours ago, haresfur said:

My problem with the container on the left is that soft plastic isn't really recycled here.

Unfortunately, I can't get away from the plastic bags. Almost everything here comes in plastic. But I have figured out a little trick to get every last bit. I've got a little rolling pin that I use to roll the bag flat and squeeze it until it gives up every last drop.

Edited October 2 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Kerry Beal]

17 hours ago, TdeV said:

I'm a scraper too. I use the itsy bitsy spatula/spoonula from Thermoworks. Moreover I've recently written to them to suggest a couple of other sizes for those scraper sets (the guy from Thermoworks thought I made some excellent use cases). So we'll see.

 

FWIW: these spatula/spoonula sets go on sale a couple times per year.

I've made those selfsame suggestions to them - maybe if enough of us do!

[TdeV]

17 hours ago, TdeV said:

I'm a scraper too. I use the itsy bitsy spatula/spoonula from Thermoworks. Moreover I've recently written to them to suggest a couple of other sizes for those scraper sets (the guy from Thermoworks thought I made some excellent use cases). So we'll see.

 

FWIW: these spatula/spoonula sets go on sale a couple times per year.

 

30 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I've made those selfsame suggestions to them - maybe if enough of us do!

 

If any one would like to make suggestions, please post comments here, and I will post them on my "trouble ticket" to Thermoworks.

 

Amongst other requests, I did suggest to Thermoworks something like @MaryIsobel's micro mini scrapers for cosmetics, so I will include that in my next post to them.

 

Here is what I sent to them:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Thermoworks,

Recently I served slices of sous vide barbecue rub pork shoulder. It was done in my steam oven, so I was able to collect some juice which I reserved and reduced.

Diners were served with slices of pork shoulder with gravy in 1 ounce ramekins (see image below). Watching diners eat, and looking at dirty dishes left over, I realized what was missing was a very small cutlery device which would scrape up deliciousness from every corner of the serving dish.


These are 1 ounce ramekins filled with dense wonderful gravy.


So what I need are these (below), where the width of the spatula is 3/8" to 1/2". The spatulas are useful for everything because they have a flat top edge. You could shorten the handle a little, say total length to 6" or 5 1/2". These could be very useful, so I would buy a bunch of them.



You must know by now that these mini spatulas/spoonulas are useful for buttering bread and tortillas, as well as emptying jam and mayonnaise jars. I have dozens.

And while I've got your attention, you could make some other mini spatula/spoonulas with 9 1/2" or 10" total length (for tall bottles). And another with a wider offset, maybe 3/8" or 1/2" (for deep jars).

Thanks very much for all your great products.

Sincerely
Me
 

 

 

[AlaMoi]

I have a collective of multiple "soft" spatulas - including some long handled ones for obnoxious stuff like mayo jars. . . .

 

I'm in the 'use it all' camp but not really in the 'use it to the bare squeaky jar wall' camp.

there is a point of diminishing returns . . .

 

stuff like tomato sauce/canned 'anything' thickish . . . I 'clean out' with a "normal" soft spatula...

split pea soup comes to mind . . . odd mind thing but . . .  I suspect most home food-fixers get the drift....

 

[weinoo]

On 10/1/2024 at 4:30 PM, Tropicalsenior said:

Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise

Been doing this with mustard jars since Jacques Pepin taught me this trick 40 years ago.