Some friends who have pieced together a great outdoor kitchen from used restaurant parts keep color-coded buckets on hand, which they pass around after dinner. Guests pre-sort the compostables, some of which are then fed to a pet duck. Dirty paper plates, etc, go into an enclosed bin. All very cool. Here is a link that might be useful: my website

Lpink: This sounds like a fun AND commendable project! What ages are the kids? I always felt like the younger ones are more willing to at least try things once! Some things I found with 4 kids of my own. They'll eat almost anything they 'make' themselves. Burritos, salads, tacos, etc. Choices of WHICH veggie rather than "do you want a veggie" is much more effective. What they like this week may not be the same as what they like next week! LOL Not only do their tastebuds change, but it sometimes depends on what their friends said.... Taste tests sound like a good way to go. You could have decide WHICH peppers to plant. WHICH tomatoes? WHAT greens? Not IF, but taste to determine the variety! Also, challenges work well. If one of my kids challenged another to eat something (they thought) they didn't like, you can bet your bottom dollar they'd do it!! Games: Carry cherry tomatoes in a spoon across a finish line and eat it. Give spoon to next person...etc. Comparisons: Do you like corn or green beans better? Green beans or beets? What is your favorite veggie? They get to vote for one (or two), see which veggie comes out on top! Do bell peppers taste better cut into large or small chunks? Are green beans better cooked or raw? Beets: Pickled or plain? They have to try them to answer the questions!! They may just do it without stopping to think about it! If you have a variety of foods, preparation, colors and activities (hands ON!!) you can probably get them involved! Deanna

Sure, I'll play along. Fruit= Raspberries or Apricots (I can't decide) Veggie= Carrots Main Dish or Meat= Oysters or Lobster (again, I can't decide) Side Dish= DH's barbeque beans Dessert= Cheesecake Drink= (alcoholic or non) Ice cold Corona with lime on a hot summer day Spice= Cinnamon Cookie= Kifli (Hungarian cookies with walnut or apricot filling) Breakfast= Breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, chorizo and tons of Annie's Salsa Snack= Tortilla chips with tons of Annie's Salsa Summer Meal= Tomato, Onion and Cucumber Salad Kitchen Utensil= Microplane graters Method of Cooking= Grilling Pan/Pot= An ancient Club aluminum pot - it's always in the sink needing to be washed LOL Knife= Kyocera ceramic chef's knife Restaurant= Don't have one - we never go out to eat :-)

Aw crap, now I feel guilty about not cleaning out my freezer.... Murphy, I love your idea of the dry erase board! How ingenious! How did you attach it to your freezer? I haven't gone downstairs to take inventory, but there are a "few" things in there that I am certain of: beef stock-several pints chicken stock-several pints shrimp 3 lb crab legs-4 lb ground beef ground pork bacon chorizo andouille pancetta prosciutto whole wheat flour chicken breasts lobster tails-four small ones, I think pollock filets navy bean soup pizza sauce baked rigatoni tomato basil soup ham & cheese stromboli ciabatta french bread spanikopita And the upstairs freezer has: blueberries cherries raspberries strawberry sauce peas corn green beans spinach phyllo puff pastry butter lemon juice ice cream maker freezer bowl bananas foster gelato (made today) limoncello walnuts cashews almonds pine nuts pistachios ginger root Okay....that's all I can remember. I know there's more....I'll get to it, really I will! Linda