Reduce Waste with Recipes – Spaghetti with Italian Sausage

We regularly teach cooking classes to a local youth group for boys, and as part of the classes we focus on waste, discussing ways to reduce waste when buying food, during the cooking process, and after a meal. We want to share some of our tips and recipes with you, so this month we’ll take a look at a simple recipe from the cooking class for spaghetti with Italian sausage.

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage

Ingredients

1 pound Italian sausage, ground beef, turkey, or a mixture (Meat can be left out for vegetarians!)

½ sweet onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce

¾ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Spaghetti (about 3 ounces dry pasta per person)

Instructions

Sauté meat in a pot until browned and cooked all the way through. Add onion and cook until it’s translucent. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and herbs. Allow the mixture to gently simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti as directed on the package (usually 10-11 minutes; start timing after the water returns to a boil once you’ve added the pasta). Drain (don’t rinse with cold water). Put the noodles back in the pot and coat them with a little olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking to itself. 

After cooking, use tongs to put pasta on plates. Spoon ½ cup pasta sauce onto noodles and add Parmesan cheese if desired. 

Notes for Reducing Waste

In general, we focus a lot of attention on reducing packaging waste. For this recipe, we discussed buying spaghetti noodles in cardboard boxes rather than in plastic packages since boxes are easier to recycle. We talked about how glass jars like those from the pasta sauce can be reused, even to hold leftovers. After the meal, we made sure to pack up all the leftovers in reusable containers and sent them home with the boys in the group. These tips are simple, but they’re good habits to get into when cooking at home.

Bonus tip: If you want to make a recipe that uses spices even more eco-friendly, try eliminating the packaging altogether. Some stores sell spices in bulk, and many will let you bring your own containers to take the spices home in (so you won’t even have to use a plastic bag!). Plus, buying foods like spices in bulk is usually cheaper than buying their packaged counterparts, too.

Upcycled Bottle Cap Checkers

Looking for a fun activity for kids that will also teach them about reducing waste? Try turning to your trash for inspiration. We collected bottle caps and turned them into a checkers game that kids enjoy and that was practically free to make.

Metal bottle caps from soda or beer bottles are recyclable, but some curbside programs don’t accept them. Luckily, these caps make great materials for craft projects. With a flat piece of cardboard, markers, and paint, kids can make a homemade, reused game. Just cut the cardboard into a square, measure the squares and color them with markers, and paint the tops of half the caps one color and half another. This project offers a great hands-on way for kids to see that something that might look like trash can be reused. Plus, the game will entertain kids even after the project is complete.