Guest post by Jenna from Wichita Coupons
I know this is something that many of you already do and it is something that I have wanted to do for a very long time, but just could not quite get used to the idea of it. But, I’m happy to say that my husband and I have started cooking with leftovers.
I can’t tell you how many times we would make dinner only to have food left over. We would put it away in Tupperware and toss it in the refrigerator with every intention of eating it. However, a few days or even a week would pass and we would end up throwing it out.
I know, I know! This goes against my saving money policy, but let’s face it: some things just don’t taste very good when reheated.
Last night was our second attempt at cooking with leftovers. On our first attempt, we used leftover grilled chicken drumsticks. I pulled all of the chicken off of the bone and we used some of it for chicken enchiladas and put the rest in freezer bags for casseroles. It was a great success.
Last night, however, we decided to use our leftover burgers from a party this past weekend. I looked online for different options and many people suggested freezing them and just eating them as burgers later. But we decided to break up the patties and make Sloppy Joes. This way, we used both the burgers and buns.
They were quite delicious, thanks to the amazing sauce my husband made. Tonight, we’re going to make sloppy joe quesadillas; we’ll just add some cheese and put the Sloppy Joe meat between tortillas. We still have hamburger patties left, so later this week we will probably use them to make chili.
I know we are not making anything gourmet here, but we are using what we have and not letting it go to waste. I’m excited to see what else we’ll be able to come up with and I look forward to no longer having to clean out the refrigerator and throwing away perfectly good food.
What are some of your family’s favorite leftover meals?
Jenna is mom to two, soon to be three, and loves finding great deals and ways to save money. She currently shares all of her money saving ideas and bargains at Wichita Coupons.
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I purposefully plan leftovers into the menu plan. I typically only cook three large dinners each week. The other nights are leftovers or something easy like sandwiches or frozen pizza. If I need to stretch what we have left, I make cornbread (or something similar) and make up a plate of raw veggies and sliced apples.
I make meatloaf one night (using 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef) and we have that for dinner, plus my husband takes leftover meatloaf to work the next day, leaving me about 1/3 to 1/2 of a meatloaf to work with. Usually I use it on my “lazy night” dinner where I throw it into a saucepan with a jar of Ragu to make a meat sauce to have over spaghetti, or I’ll use it in a few pans of manicotti or stuffed shells. Yum!
I haven’t read all the comments but I noticed many have talked about making chicken broth. I just wanted to add that to get the most nutrition into your broth you can add 1 or 2 Tbls. of an acid such as vinigar or lemon juice to the water and let it sit for about an hour before you turn on the heat. Then simmer for between 12 to 24 hours. The acid helps draw out all those minerals that are in the bones. You can also save egg shells to add to the pot and they will add a ton of calcium and other good stuff. I only do this with the bones after I have taken all of the meat off because any meat that is left is not really worth eating after it has been simmered so long. Broth is such a good nourishing food that has so many benefits.
Like some others have said, leftovers never go to waste at our house because we use them for our lunches. Almost every meal I make gives us the right amount for one dinner and a lunch (typically we do a rotation of having the lunch 2 days later so we don’t have to eat the same thing 2 days in a row). After dinner I just divide the leftovers into 2 containers, one for my husband to take to work and one for the kids and I to have at home. It uses up our leftovers, saves money on lunches, and is less planning I have to do!
one secret to using leftovers is when you have vegetables,don’t heat them up on the stove. Do it in the microwave–might have to add a touch more salt or butter,but they will taste just like they did when you first made them. Same with noodles or macaroni.I use to think warmed up noodles had a funny taste,but heated up in the microwave they taste as good as when they were first made.Even leftover hamburg patties can be popped in the microwave for a quick hamburg for lunch.
I love it! I do whatever I can to use every bit of food we have. How to use leftover salmon?? Any ideas?
I posted a salmon idea below.
I tend to use up leftovers ‘over rice’. The other night I cooked 4 roasting chickens I got on clearance for 0.59/lb. I stripped off all the meat after cooking and made broth and gravy. So night 1 we had pot pie, #2 was chicken soup – which I thot was making a double batch, but we ate way more than 1/2 so I thickened what was left and served night#3 over rice. #4 we had buffalo chicken pizza, #5 I made burritos and then put the rest in the freezer, but I still have way more than 1/2 the chicken so I should get another 5 meals out of it
We have a large family so I work extra hard at not letting anythign go to waste.
I just had a great success with leftover salmon last night – never before thought that fish could be reheated and still taste good! I cut it up into bite size pieces and heated it on the stove with some oil, added cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, and oregano. I made fish tacos with it – put the fish on a small corn tortilla, topped with shredded cabbage (from a coleslaw mix), a mayo mixture (mayo mixed with tabasco and lime juice – could also use half plain yogurt), avocado, and homemade pico de gallo salsa. Yum yum.
Use the leftover salmon for chowder. You can add leftover corn and/or potatoes as well. Very yummy!
My favorite item for left overs is a roast. I can cook the roast in the crockpot, and serve with potatoes and veggies day 1, then shred leftovers, add your favorite BBQ sauce and put on a bun for delicious sandwiches, or use salsa, cheese and tortillas to make quesadillas. I also saw a suggestion somewhere that the leftover beef is also great to use in beef stew, but I never have enough left to try it. This is one item that never goes to waste at our house. I always buy an extra to keep in the freezer when they go on sale. They can go from the freezer straight to the crockpot. Great for those busy weeks when there is little time to cook.
Whenever I find a good deal on fresh ground beef I take it home brown it in a pan with salt, pepper worchestshire sauce and garlic (we pretty much start all of our ground beef meals with those seasonings!). Then I divide the cooked beef into meal size baggies and freeze. Cooking the meat is the longest part of meal prep to me, and this gives me a great head start when I get home from work. We are always ready to put together a quick spahgetti, Sloppy Joe (we also make Sloppy Jose by adding refried beans and cumin to the meat), sheppards pie, french bread pizzas, mix it into cornbread with veggies for a quick casserole, and on and on…
If I have just a small amount of leftovers, especially rice & veggies, I add them to a container in my freezer. Once it’s full I make what I call “kitchen sink soup.” I add whatever needs to be added: noodles, rice, more meat, garlic, etc. Some type of broth – either chicken or tomato juice. It usually turns out very tasty. I’ve been doing this all summer and I’m about ready to make some soup with it. It’s a great way to not waste food and then you get to clean out the freezer. I also do some of the other suggestions above – pizza, quesadilas, etc., etc.
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