Who is the Finisher in your house? You know! The one who squeezes out the last bit of toothpaste, while the rest of the family has broken into a new tube. The one taking the end of the bread, or the broken bits of potato chips lingering at the bottom of the bag. In our house, it’s TR Dad who is forever finishing off one item or another.
It’s a life habit of frugality, we guess- a desire to not let those last few drops of shampoo go to waste and to use that pencil down to the nub. It’s a good goal and one that we try to practice as a whole family- to not be wasteful. We encourage our kiddoes to take only what they will eat onto their plates and to not request snacks their eyes want more than 
their bellies.
But there’s a risk to a part of this practice—and it centers within in the kitchen. If your instinct is to consume every last bit of leftovers, and you’re really the only family member willing to do so the vast majority of the time; you could be adding hundreds of unnecessary calories and grams of fat to your diet. Eventually, it will add up.
So in the kitchen, TR Dad follows a different path to being the designated Finisher.
- First, we try to limit the amount of extra food. Knowing how much food your family will consume is a great step in making sure you don’t end up with too many left-overs. We have switched to smaller casserole pans for quiche and other single dish meals. We cook smaller amounts of pasta on spaghetti night.
- Second, we have expanded our idea of places food can go, beyond our tummies, that we don’t consider a waste. This starts with our compost. Since we need to feed the garden, small amounts of food scraps can go to compost instead of into TR Dad. Then there are the wild critters- since we love having them visit our backyard, we don’t feel bad about putting corn chips, or bread ends, or uneaten toast out for the birds and squirrels to devour.
By cutting back on the food produced for meals, and becoming OK with feeding the birds and the worms, TR Dad finds it easier to not feel he should eat whatever is lingering about in the fridge and cabinets. And that makes us a healthier, happier TR family.