It can really only mean one thing: pancracks! This lonely yogurt was hanging out at the back of the fridge - leftover from a work breakfast, I'm sure. I was thinking I'd have to wait until the end of the pseudo-freegan challenge to go buy some yogurt and try these babies, but it turned out I got to skip the PB&J and have something delicious for dinner on the last night. These pancakes are super-fast and easy to make - a big plus for a poor cook like myself. Singles, note: you'll be perfectly stuffed if you use the 6oz yogurt and multiply all the recipe's measures by .75.

I used another savory pancake recipe earlier in the week to clean out my freezer. From the great Vegetarian Planet cookbook, I'm renaming these the Anti-Food-Waste Pancakes, as you can literally use any leftover vegetables in these, as well as a whole cup of leftover rice. I had some spinach that was going bad so I cleaned it and steamed it for a minute and stuck it in the freezer - it went right into the batter and tasted great! I also had some carrots going south so I grated 'em up; zucchini would work well, too. The only veggie that doesn't seem negotiable is the green onion, but I'm sure a creative cook could come up with a good substitution.

Anti-Food-Waste Pancakes

1 egg

1 1/3 c. water

1 c. unbleached flour

1 c. glutinous rice flour (or additional cup white flour)

1/2 t salt

1 c. cooked short-grain brown rice or 1 cup glutinous rice (any rice is fine, IMO)

8 oz. firm tofu, cut into small cubes

2 large carrots, grated

6 scallions, green and white parts chopped fine

3 T canola or corn oil

Whisk together the egg and water. Stir together the flours and salt, and then add the egg mixture slowly. Add everything else - and your extra veggies (diced or grated, cooked already could work). I also like to add sesame seeds to the batter. Cook pancakes in a skillet using the oil. Spread the batter with a spoon - it takes about 5 min per side.

Meanwhile, make some dipping sauce:

3 T soy sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t dark sesame oil

1 t apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar or lemon/lime)

1 pinch chile flakes or hot sauce

1 pinch sugar or honey

This is kind of approximate - it should be sweet, salty, spicy, tart in the relationship that you happen to like. It is important because the pancakes can be a little bland on their own. The batter will keep for a couple of days so you can keep whipping yourself up some fresh, tasty, veggie-laden pancakes. (Appx 3 filling servings)

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The challenge has been great in getting me to clean out my fridge and use up the stuff in there that has been lingering unnecessarily. I found a pasta recipe that uses bread crumbs, something I have by the ton in my freezer; I also made some veggie burgers out of some beans, bread crumbs, and rice that had been sitting around. The truth is, I have about another month's worth of food in there - I may have to continue trying to eat freegan indefinitely!