Transform Your Leftovers Into Delicious Weeknight Meals
After the first couple days in the week, I notice that I start to have leftover bits of cooked food hanging around in the fridge, that just doesn’t seem to go with anything and eventually will get thrown out. Anybody else have this problem?
Even though daunting at times, leftovers can turn out to be the pieces that turn into great weeknight dinners. Since most times leftovers are already cooked, they make for quick and easy meals. There have been times that I have ‘recycled’ left overs and turned them into a meal that was even better than the meal they originated from!
Anyone who is a home cook or responsible for the running of the household, understands and is very familiar with the cost of food among other household expenses and seeks to have as little waste as possible. Though I don’t recommended using leftovers that have been hanging around in the fridge for more than four days to create a new meal, growing up I remember the saying “Waste not, want not”. With that said, here are a couple ideas I have personally used to turn leftovers into delicious weeknight meals.
Leftover Cooked Rice
Whether its white rice or whole wheat rice, the possibilities are endless. One of the most popular transformations of white rice it to pair it with a protein and some vegetables to make a delicious fried rice dish. Some ideas would be fish, chicken, beef, shrimp or italian sausage. Another really good use for white rice is a delicious burrito bowl, which can easily be accomplished by adding beans,corn, avocado and cheese and a mexican spiced grilled chicken breast with a twist of lime.
Leftover Cooked Potatoes
Roasted or boiled potatoes can be turned into flavorful breakfast potatoes really easily, just by adding some onion and peppers and seasonings. Cooked potatoes are also good for making chowders and soups. With minimal effort you could transform leftover potatoes into a nice garlic mashed potato as well. Growing up we would also use leftover potatoes to make corn beef hash cakes, which is a family favorite of ours. If you really wanna turn those potatoes into something special you can even do a quick and easy potato au gratin!
Leftover Chicken
My favorite dish to make with leftover chicken, because the chicken is already seasoned lovely, is a chicken caesar salad.Great for lunch the next day! Adding cooked chicken to any pasta and sauce combinations works well too. Another favorite of mines is creamy chicken salad, which can be eaten on sandwiches or with crackers. Leftover chicken is great for casseroles too. There are so many dishes that can be made from leftover chicken, I could go on and on, but these are just a few.
Leftover Roast Beef and Steak
Beef is one of my favorite proteins, with leftover beef I like to do tacos and nachos and fajitas. Again the possibilities are endless. Stuffed peppers with a delicious beef and rice mixture, topped with cheese and roasted is a really filling treat for a weeknight meal. Shepards pie or a delicious Reuben sandwich on a fresh hoagie roll is a great way to use leftover beef too.
Leftover Vegetables
Vegetables that have been steamed or roasted and left kind of crunchy are excellent for making a vegetable stir fry the next day. They can also be used to make a healthy breakfast omelette. Vegetables that have been cooked to a softer consistency are good for throwing into soups and stews at the last minute. Leftover vegetables make great cheesy casseroles and are a great way to get kids to eat their veggies.
Using leftovers wisely, can be very cost effective, especially for households who are on a tight budget. When we plan our meals, it is a good practice to think about what meals can be made from the leftovers, should there be any. This way we can ensure that we have as little waste as possible and decrease the need to purchase additional food outside of our regular shopping days. Using the Shop Smart method of food shopping can be a big help in the meal planning process.
