Creative Uses for Leftovers
One of my biggest challenges lately is using up leftovers. With only three of us, you can imagine there’s something left over from dinner. Normally, I cook a meal to last two nights. Many times there’s something leftover but not enough to make a meal. I don’t want to throw it away, but I don’t want it to languish in the refrigerator either. So I’m getting creative.
This morning I took the broccoli left over from last nights dinner and mushrooms from a salad and sauteed them with garlic for an omelette. Yesterday, I took the last bit of turkey and rice and put them into my soup at lunch time. I also find leftover veggies can be sauteed with garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese and tossed into pasta.
What are some of your creative uses for leftovers.
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POSTED IN: Around the House, Frugal Gourmet, Simpler Thinking
5 opinions for Creative Uses for Leftovers
P31dionne
Jan 7, 2008 at 10:07 am
Thanks for reminding me to think more creatively in the kitchen! It’s easy to get stuck in a routine.
You can also create a layer of veggies/potatoes in the middle of meatloaf. Toss meat and veggies into quesadillas, or bake in a pie crust or pizza dough. Use them in pasta/rice dishes like chicken a la king, chicken spaghetti or greek rice bowl (which uses spinach).
Ironstef
Jan 17, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Sunday I made a pork shoulder roast. That particular cut of meat was on sale for $1.39 lb., and I got myself a $10 ish one…what’s that like 8 lbs of meat or something? I forget the exact size…just huge for 2 people. So for past week I’ve been making some fun dishes using the leftovers…tacos, toastadas, curry… I posted about the original roast and it’s subsequent leftovers on my food blog…
I might start making big giant roasts regularly…they are economical and really really yummy, and so versatile! Leftover turkey or chicken would have also worked well for similar leftover applications.
Julie F.
Jan 18, 2008 at 6:21 am
I use leftover veggies in a soup stock. I also throw all cut ends, peels, and whatnot into a bag to freeze. Even onion peels give a good flavor to a stock, plus color.
Marijke
Jan 20, 2008 at 8:38 am
I do what Julie does with left over veggies and any unused parts of veggies when I’m cooking. Gives me free, healthy vegetable stock that I use in all my cooking. A full large zip-lock bag in a stock pot gives me about 12 cups of veg broth in the end.
As for other left overs, left over rice is often very good in other recipes. In fact, some cookbooks recommend pre-cooked rice for some recipes. If I have food that I don’t think will be eaten, I try to freeze it for ingredients for future meals or in a “tv dinner” style for quick meals later down the road.
Because my 18 yr old dd doesn’t eat beef or pork, we often have a couple of jars of good-quality pasta sauces in the pantry. If I have left over chicken (or beef if she’s not home), I will often chop it up, throw in some vegetables into the sauce and we have a nice pasta meal.
One thing that I also find invaluable is my Hamilton beach grill. If I have raw peppers or zucchini that looks like they won’t get used before they start getting less than appetizing, I’ll quarter them, spray them with veg oil spray and then grill them for five minutes. When done, I chop them up and have a container of grilled veggies that I can use for quick quesidilla type sandwiches or to throw in omelettes.
Francie
Feb 4, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Our family’s fave is menu night. We let the kids make menus from all the leftovers. We microwave the items and set them on the counter. Then the kids take our orders and serve us at the “restaurant.” They love it.
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