How Rachael's Garbage Bowl Changed One Superfan's Outlook On Life

Rachael has been using a "garbage bowl" since she started on Food Network with her 30 Minute Meals show almost 19 years ago. The concept is simple — keep a large, sturdy bowl on your kitchen counter or cooking space and toss all of your food scraps in it while you prep. This saves unnecessary trips back and forth to the trash can (and then to the sink to wash your hands because you've touched the trash), while keeping your workspace clean.

"The point is not really to use it as a garbage can, but it saves a home cook steps from running back and forth to the garbage or the compost or the recycling bin. You put everything in here — dirty forks, an empty can, scraps from cooking — and you separate it in one trip after you're done cooking," Rach has said. "It's your little buddy, it keeps you company while you're cooking and it holds everything until you can go and make one trip to all of those places after you're done eating."

It might sound insignificant, but once you've tried it, you'll never go back. Just ask Goldie, a superfan of Rach's from Chicago, Illinois. The single mom of three was especially moved by our season 15 premiere about Rach's house fire, so she wrote Rach a touching letter and recorded a sweet video message reading it aloud. 

Goldie has "had a makeshift garbage bowl forever," and when she got a chance to video chat with Rach, Goldie explained in detail how Rach's simple garbage bowl tip changed her outlook on life.

"First and foremost, the garbage bowl is now my philosophy for life," Goldie says. "The garbage bowl on the countertop simplified not only my cooking, but it also put me in a different frame of mind in terms of how I approach life."

"There are things that you can get out of the way — as long as you have somewhere to put it, it's out of sight, out of mind — and it can wait until the end of the project," she says.

"That's right. Deal with it later. Put it all over here, and then when there's the quiet time and the proper time, then we unpack the garbage bowl and process everything," Rachael says. "I agree with you, and you've made me see my garbage bowl in a different way."

Rach of course let Goldie know that she'll be sending her a garbage bowl and some pots and pans, so Goldie can continue cooking along with her new real-life friend on our show. 🧡