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Recipe Wednesday: Leftovers 2.0

by Kirsty on April 15, 2009 · 2 comments

in Cooking

When your husband is deployed and you’re working 50 hours week, dinner is often the last thing on your mind. You’re conscious of the fact that it’s cheaper and healthier to cook, but you often don’t have the energy and don’t want to deal with all those leftovers. So the subject of today’s Recipe Wednesday article is “Leftovers 2.0″ or reinventing last night’s dinners to be delicious today. Here are just a few of our favorites. Be sure to leave your suggestions in the comment area.

Leftover veggies

Grilled veggies are a great filling for a panini for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner. Add a dollop of goat cheese for flavor.

Leftover chicken

Every good cook has some Chicken Broth in stock at all times. Take your leftover chicken, any leftover veg and simmer in the broth for some wholesome chicken-vegetable soup.

Leftover meatballs

Leftover meatballs are great chopped up to use the next day for homemade pizzas. I love using a tortilla, adding some pizza sauce, lite mozzarella cheese and a topping like this, and cooking on a tabletop grill. It’s a crispy, healthy alternative to my favorite comfort food.

Leftover French bread

I love frequenting the bakery and picking out a really nice loaf of bread. But, it’s a big waste if you can’t find other uses for the leftovers after its gone stale. Try chopping it up, tossing in olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper and toasting it in the oven. Keep your new, fresh croutons in an airtight container or Ziploc.

Leftover rice

How about taking a little leftover rice, adding some chopped vegetables and a can of tuna fish for a light variation of tuna fish salad.

Leftover pasta

Leftover pasta is gorgeous with some leftover vegetables tossed in a little balsamic vinaigrette.

Photo by: sweetpotatoe

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  • http://www.neoconblonde.com Tracy

    When I save pasta, I put it in a gallon ziploc bag with a splash of extra water and then in the fridge. This keeps it from getting crunchy. You can do the same with leftover rice [great for takeout Chinese rice].

    An easy way to cut time on meals is to roast a chicken or other meat on Sunday. Save all leftovers for salads and sandwiches. I can get at least a three days out of a whole large roast chicken. [Chicken, Salads, sandwiches, soup]

    I often freeze portion sized ziploc bags of soup for quick meals.

    My best leftovers meal is pizza. Get the frozen dough and then throw all sorts of leftover veggies, meat, etc. on with some cheese [if you have enough veg, sauce is optional]. So good!

  • http://www.neoconblonde.com Tracy

    When I save pasta, I put it in a gallon ziploc bag with a splash of extra water and then in the fridge. This keeps it from getting crunchy. You can do the same with leftover rice [great for takeout Chinese rice].

    An easy way to cut time on meals is to roast a chicken or other meat on Sunday. Save all leftovers for salads and sandwiches. I can get at least a three days out of a whole large roast chicken. [Chicken, Salads, sandwiches, soup]

    I often freeze portion sized ziploc bags of soup for quick meals.

    My best leftovers meal is pizza. Get the frozen dough and then throw all sorts of leftover veggies, meat, etc. on with some cheese [if you have enough veg, sauce is optional]. So good!

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