Reuse your Leftovers

May 29, 2009 by Monica
Filed under Family Food

Leftovers can be real lifesavers at meal time. However, they could also end up adding up to the fridge clutter until the next time you clean it (unless you only have a tiny pot in pot, of course.)

Most people would eat leftovers one day out, but quickly get tired of eating the same thing over and over. Here’s a way to fix the problem if you or someone in your family is the same way.

Here a couple of suggestions:

You prepare a roasted pork loin and rice for dinner one night. Your family doesn’t have to eat the pork loin as is. So, chop that pork loin up into bite size pieces.

Then, in a large skillet or wok, stir fry the leftover rice with a bag of frozen veggies, an egg, and some of the chopped pork loin to make pork fried rice. Add a little soy sauce and you’ve got a whole new meal.

This is just one way that leftovers can be turned into a new dish with a new flavor. The same can also be done using other meats like chicken, seafood, or beef.

If you have hamburgers left from dinner, chop them up until they resemble ground beef again. The meat can be combined with taco sauce to make beef tacos. Or, add some beans, chopped peppers and tomatoes, and sauce to create a pot of chili.

If you have the imagination, there are an unlimited number of possibilities of what you can do with meats and side dishes from a previous night’s dinner.

Once you get used to transform leftovers into completely new meals, you’ll do it without much thought. In fact, several dishes seemed complicated until I started using leftovers as ingredients.

Transforming meals is fun, but besides that, you will save money on your grocery bill and won’t be throwing it away in the trash. When you plan a meal, think of re-using leftovers first.

photo credit: I Love Egg.