Let's start a thread on ideas for leftovers. As an example, I make pork chops meal one night and fried rice the next. What are some of your leftovers ideas?

Sara

great post :)

For me I think I really use leftovers very well [ at least most of the times;) ]

If I make any chicken in the oven like roast chicken, I use leftovers to make bbq chicken pizza or chicken noodle soup.

When I make spaghetti with sauce , if I have leftover pasta I'll use it to make a casserol the next day with meat ,mushroom, bell pepper and tomatoe sauce..some cheese on top..mmm

I also use left over homemade bread to make croutons and bread crumbs.

I use leftover rice to make fried rice.

Leftover chili to make burritos, or I top it with mashed potatoes and put it in the oven.

Leftover pasta to make pasta salad.

Leftover mashed potatoed to make potatoe cakes, potatoe balls, shepperd pie and potatoe soup.

Leftover baked potatoes to make twice baked potatoes, or I slice them in circles and fry them, baked potatoe soup or potatoe salad.

Leftover veggies to make soup, add it to pasta salad, copycat of hot pockets.

Leftover spinich to make spinich pizza or spinich crostini with cream cheese.

this is what I can think of now:D

I take all leftover corn, beans, etc. and keep adding them to a large freezer container. When we fill the container, dh uses it as a starter for homemade soup. We also put in small pieces of chicken and such when there's not enough left over to really make another meal from.

Cookie crumbs can be kept and used as a topping for ice cream or yogurt.

This is our turkey week. I have had these huge turkeys in the freezer since the holidays and need the space so I cooked a 16 lb turkey on Sunday. Sunday we had it with stuffing, cranberry and green beans. Monday it became a stir fry with broccoli and cauliflower and pasta. Tuesday it was soup with rice, carrots and celery and today it is wrapped in a tortilla with peppers, onions and lettuce and tomatoes with caeser dressing. I made green salads with turkey and chopped turkey with mayo and celery sandwiches for our lunches this week. I think I'm going to freeze the rest now for quick stir fry later or to do with cream of mushroom soup over egg noodles.:toothy:

Great ideas ladies!

We have roast one day, stew the next and a beef pot pie on the third.

Leftover chicken becomes a pot pie.

Leftover chili becomes a Tamali pie.

Really great ideas...I also rememberd that I use left over cakes tomake parfies or trifel .

Left over leg of lamb becomes gyros

Left over ham (boneless) becomes ham salad sandwiches

Leftover ham (with bone) becomes pea soup

Leftover chicken or turkey (and any veggies that went with it)becomes potpies, or sliced for sandwiches

Leftover mashed potatoes becomes potato pancakes

Leftover sweet potatoes becomes sweet potato pie

Leftover Chili (I make mine really chunky) goes onto a pizza or in my lasagna

Leftover taco fixin's (seasoned meat, tomatos, salsa, guac. etc) becomes nachos as a snack.

Leftover fish hits the trash (yuck!!!!!)

Laura

Wow, these are great ideas. Leftovers don't do so well over here. I've done a lot of the ideas above and am looking for some new ones, so keep posting :)

At MILs house they put all the left overs in a pot, and on saturday morning, add a few eggs, mix it up and cook it like a giant omlet on the barbie, i have yet to be game enough to try it, but barry says its good.

Wow, those are very good ideas for leftovers!! I don't really have much that I can add to your posts except that when we roast a chicken I always use the leftovers for chicken enchiladas:D Oh, also if I make a london broil one night I usually use it to make pepper steak the next night:D

Wonderful ideas:cool:

When I make roast beef specially the tenderloin I use left overs to make philly steak sandwichs with sauted onions and bell peppers and top it with cheez wiz or provolon cheese or cheese sauce or montray jack...mmmmm:toothy:

Also leftovers roast beef can be used for beef strogonoff ...great with egg noodels on the side or any pasta of your choice.

Left over chicken can be used to make chicken Croquettes
also to fill eggrolls dough with vegetables [ cabbage ,carrots, sprouts] and soy sauce for a great tasty spring rolls

leftover rice can be use in rice pudding, rice salad, also as a crust for a quiche.

left over salad with vinegrette can be blended with some tomatoe juice as a gazabacho [ cold soup ]

vegetable peels like carrots, celery leafs, parsely ends and onion skins with some garlic to make vegetable stock for soups.

potatoe skins...toss them with some oil,salt and pepper or just pam and put them in the oven for a great snack.

left over pita bread, cut into triangles and toss with some oregeno,salt,pepper and olive oil, put it in the oven tell its toasted and golden..not only it smells so good but it is a great healthy snack and you can serve it with dips in parties.

:D

These are great ideas. I wish I had had them in the past and I may use them in the future.

Right now it would be hard to ever find any leftovers in my fridge.

My dh and I work the same place so I put all the leftovers in a big bowl then heat it up in the microwave. There is very seldom any left then because dh keeps coming in the office and raiding the bowl. LOL This way we are never tempted to order out for lunch and no food is wasted. It works for us.

Ewww..I like the leftover taco/nacho idea. Never thought of that. And I always forget about Philly Cheese sandwhiches. Gotta remember those..although meats never go to waste around here.

One of my favorites is to save all leftover meats and freeze. When I get "so much" I put it all in the crock pot (chicken has already been pulled off the bone before put in the freezer) and let cook all day in water. Then I drain..and mix with barbecue sauce.

We're not big on soups..so this works really well for us. Oh, and I usually make fresh bread for the barbecue sandwiches. Yum!

I just made a chicken last night. I took off all of the remaining chicken and threw out the bones (which actually would be great for a stock) and I also have some leftover potatoes and cornbread stuffing that I made. I am thinking about making a casserole. Or maybe adding it to some Stove top oven favorites that I stocked up on when it was on sale.....If anyone has any casserole-type ideas for me, please post them! will be starting dinner in a while! thanks :) nicole

Ok, here is my creation lol:
I had 2 boxes of pasta that only had a little in each, so I boiled some water and cooked 'em up. I had some peas in the freezer, so I added them in. When that was done, I added the pasta and peas to the leftover chicken. Then I took 2 eggs, lite ricotta, grated parmesan, a little milk, and some shredded cheddar and mixed them up and added them to the pasta and chicken. I put them in a casserole dish. I was just about ready to sprinkle some bread crumbs on, when I realized there wasn't any! So I looked around the cabinets. I found a box with a little bit of cheez-it in it. A light -bulb popped in my head. Hey, they use corn-flakes cereal for casseroles, so why not? So I put them in a baggie and crushed 'em up with a rolling pin and put it on top of the casserole.

Now let's see how this is gonna be! I don't eat chicken, so I will have to let you know after my dad and brother eat it!


Oh yeah, I had more than could fit in the dish (without the eggs and ricotta and all that) so I made some pasta chicken salad.

:)

I make potato pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes. Just ad about 1 cup of flour, an egg and any seasoning you like. Mix well and drop by heaping spoon into hot oil. Let getr brown on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve with sour cream.

We get chicken on sale here pretty cheap, so we tend to eat a lot of chicken meals. I usually boil it down and separate it off the bone and make a good stock. I then use it for chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, chicken over noodles, or chicken pot pie.

I am always open for chicken recipes.

We do our share of chicken salad, chicken fajitas, and chicken stiry fry.

Sara

I put as big a roast as I can fit into my Crock Pot and use garlic powder, salt and pepper on it and let it roast all day. The next night, we usually have burritos. If there's any left, we have BBQed beef (or pork) sandwiches the next night.

I often get a package of bacon and make it stretch two or three meals by using it as a condiment rather than a meat (we all know just how much meat is actually in bacon!). I will do a pot of beans with part of it or clam chowder. The rest I will use with veggies in omelettes or scrambled eggs. I also use a part of a package in spaghetti carbonara.

Wonderful ideas for the ladies on the Frugal wagon challenge! Thanks!