I do not understand people that don’t like leftovers. I live for them. I love leftovers like Lulu loves sun bathing. A LOT!
They are the only thing that allows us to have home cooked dinners seven nights a week (most of the time)! Now I’m not talking about make the same meal over again leftovers. I’m talking about leftovers that are recreated into a new an exciting meal, but in half the time it took to make all the parts of the first round.
Tonight’s rice and bean quesadilla is the perfect example.
Here’s what I had in the fridge:
- whole grain tortillas (from last weeks burritos)
- 1 jar beans (left out of the freezer from the batch made in the crock pot)
- french onion and mushroom rice (from our visit to Steve’s family last weekend)
- 1 red pepper (staple)
- 1 red onion (for Easter egg dying…yet to come)
- part skim mozzarella (who knows how long that’s been sitting in there; maybe it’s from pizza?!)
- spinach and lettuce
Everything was screaming EAT ME now, before I go bad! And so the rice and bean quesadilla with side salad was born. Dinner was on the table in 15 minutes flat because the most difficult parts (rice and beans) were already cooked. Plus it saved me a bit of money by avoiding the grocery store just one more day and by preventing food waste.
So the next time you are thinking about throwing those leftovers in the trash…think again! Save it and recreate it! Treat it like a game. What can I concoct from only the foods I have on hand? How do I incorporate protein, fiber, veggies, and some fat? If you can fill all those needs, it’s a meal!
Now go out and conquer that fridge!
What meals have you created, purely out of the luck of using leftovers?
