My parents were alive during the Great Depression and thus raised me not to waste anything.
Mom could make a meal out of what seemed like scraps - leaving money for the occasional store bought treat for my brother and I and a cold beer for Dad on the weekends.
I'm much the same way. Our kitchen is quite small as is our 1940's refrigerator but we have a HUGE chest style freezer in the walk out basement and lots of cupboards of storage space down there as well, where the temperatures are never too warm or too cool, perfect for storage of canned goods. So for today, just some tips on adopting some of the same practices in your home if you're not already doing so.
For today's recipe selections there are several recipes involving ethnic dishes. Meat and potatoes are the start of our leftovers but with what we make from them we try and create dishes that normally we would go OUT to eat to enjoy, such as Mexican, Chinese, Thai etc. Making the dishes ourselves, out of leftovers with just a few exotic ingredients all available on Amazon, saves us a TON of money.
Here are my basic guidelines, please share your own in the comments if you have any you'd like to.
(1) Think ingredients not leftovers. If baking a chicken or other large cut of meat, plan on enough for your meal, and maybe lunch or another meal tomorrow (I simply vary the sides so it's not too boring) with enough remaining to freeze a bit.
Chicken is great in wraps, in soups, in stews, or on a salad during garden season. Other cuts of meat are the same and all leftover protein makes a great stir fry.
If making pasta sauce, I double the recipe and freeze it for spaghetti, lasagna, or a stuffing for a baked potato or biscuit dough placed up the sides of a muffin tin, then topped with sharp cheddar and baked.
Leftover coney dog sauce makes some really tasty nachoes.
If making rice or vegetables, make extra and freeze. Even leftover grits from breakfast can be made into dinner with some leftover bacon (if that rarity should occur) salsa, and sour cream
and Fried rice is a great way to use up leftover rice, veggies, and protein.
This was stir fry with leftover rice and protein, fried up with 1 Tablespoon Thai roasted chili paste or “Nam Prik Pao” and 1 teaspoon Red Boat fish sauce per 1/2 cup of rice (plus protein). Topped with carrot, basil. and lime it was as good as the restaurant stuff.
(2) Dedicate two nights a week to leftovers night, so your fridge and freezer don't get too full. Make sure you rotate foods from oldest to newest in the freezer. Sometimes we just do a "leftover buffet" and bring it all out of the refrigerator and make up our own plate of our favorites to microwave. Kids too, are less picky if you let them chose from an assortment of items.
(3) Forget the Tupperware - if you store most of your leftovers in freezer bags (which can be washed and reused) you can better see what the leftover is. Otherwise, you may end up with a science experiment in a couple of weeks. The only Tupperware I use in the refrigerator is soup (in case of leaks) and muffins - so they don't get squished.
(4) "Mexican" night is way cheaper than eating out. To use up leftover rice, beans,or bits of meat and cheese. Grab some lettuce and hot sauce and the corn or flour tortillas for tacos or burritos or make enchiladas by rolling the ingredients in a tortilla and placing in a 8 x 8 inch pan. Simply cover with a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with a can of Rotel, and a little cheese and bake til heated through (about 30 min, at 350 F.)
(5) Leftover vegetables? Keep a bag in the freezer to which you add those little bits that don't seem worth saving on their own. With that make soup, or soup stock, add it to eggs for a frittata or with some red sauce to make pasta sauce.
Guinness Stew
If you wish, separate them by type. Zucchini and squash winds up in spaghetti sauce. Broccoli and cauliflower go into beer-cheese soup. Green peppers and onions wind up in sloppy joe's or spaghetti. All other veggies can be soup or "shepherd's pie," which is also a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes
Pate Chinois
Small bits of diced veggies, especially onions and peppers, are great mixed into hamburger for the grill, and you can always top whatever goes on a bun with whatever assorted bits of lunch cheese, breakfast meats, or salad that's in the fridge. Here's some pulled pork topped with bacon and coleslaw on a homemade roll.
To make vegetable stock, dump the gallon bag of leftover veggie bits in a big pot when it is full, cover with water, simmer on low for a couple of hours and strain. This is great for making a stock that's very low sodium, compared to the store bought stocks which are loaded with salt.
(5) Roasting vegetables. Those make great, tasty soup. In a blender puree the leftover roasted veggies, or a variety and blend in a blender with 2-4 cups of broth, then warm in a pot. Since they're usually seasoned as they roast, simply serve the soup with salt and pepper and some croutons.
(6) Have a juicer? Juicing can be a bit pricey as you're using lots of fruits and veggies to make one big glass, but it's a great way to get a whole bunch of enzymes and phytonutrients and I do a juice or smoothie daily during cold and flu season. So how not to waste all of the pulp that remains in the juicer after you are done? I add a bit of veggie juice pulp to stews or soups, stir the fruit based pulp into a fruit salad or yogurt and my favorite - with the 4 carrots/half a cucumber/2 granny Smith apple juice that is my go-to juice, I make muffins out of them with whole wheat flour and just a few other items. They taste like little healthier versions of carrot cake without all the white sugar and flour and they are a favorite around here.
Juicer Pulp Muffins
Makes10 high fiber/low fat muffins
INGREDIENTS
1 and 1/2 cups plus 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Cardamon (substitute nutmeg if you wish)
1 cup fresh fruit/veggie pulp from your juicer (remove any bigger pieces)
1/4 cup vanilla flavored Greek Yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey
Note: If using a pulp that's high in fruit (and thus water content), you may wish to omit the extra 2 Tablespoons of "milk" You want it thick, but not with dry bits in the batter.
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom together. Then add in the pulp followed by the yogurt, banana (or egg) almond milk, maple syrup (or honey). If you use plain yogurt add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix until just combined and moist adding more milk if needed.
Add batter to lightly sprayed muffin tin. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes. Muffins will be done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the bottoms and sides are just starting to brown.
(7) Stale bread - if it 's it's just starting to get old - make french toast out of it. If it's harder than that, cut the loaf crosswise, drizzle it with some good quality olive oil, rub it with the cut side of a halved ripe tomato, sprinkle with a little garlic salt and parmesan, wrap in foil and bake til warm. Stale bread is also great for French Onion Soup,
If you have a single or small household and can never get through a loaf of bread before it starts getting old, put a third of it in the freezer so it can be turned it into breadcrumbs later. The only equipment you'll need is your oven and a food processor (or cheese grater for a DIY version)
(8) Leftover Spaghetti - Spaghetti and meat sauce is one of my favorite dinners and we eat it every couple of weeks. But sometimes I end up cooking more noodles than I have sauce for. Try making a spaghetti Frittata.
The frittata link above is a really tasty recipe that's high in protein. I also will use leftover spaghetti cut into smaller pieces in a stir-fry with veggies and protein and some sort of leftover oriental sauce, adding it in the last couple of minutes of cooking.
If you want a spicy little snack or something vegetarian this recipe for curried noodle patties will be a favorite.
Thai curry soup is an easy-to-find recipe on the internet and great for using leftover bits of meat and noodles.
(9) Leftover pizza - Partner in Grime is more than happy to eat it cold for breakfast if it's my homemade pizza. But if Pizza night is a busy Friday work night and delivery pizza we normally do pancakes in the morning. You can pull off the toppings and add them to an omelet on Sunday morning, or make a fancy frittata out of the slices, chopped up. The crust is also good cut up into small pieces and toasted to make croutons for tomato soup.
(10) Family sized packages. Got a "buy one get one free" bread or rolls or tortillas? Place a sheet of waxed paper between the portions, wrap and freeze. With the family packs of meat, save what you will use this week and freeze the rest.
(11) Just a little bit of juice left in the container. I make DIY energy drinks out of it. In reusable glass bottle mix 1-2 Tablespoons of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/4 cup fruit juice and add mineral water. It makes a tart, refreshing drink that will give you a boost of energy with the B Vitamins and the Enzymes in the ACV. This is especially good with stronger, unsweetened juices. If using OJ, you may wish to use more juice and less mineral water.
(12) Eggs that are close to or just past the "best by" date make great scrambled eggs or mini frittatas to freeze.
I found eggs for .49 cents a dozen and cooked up an extra dozen for single-serving-sized instant breakfast burritos for my husband, who eats before going to work. (I usually am chugging a smoothie as I drive to get out the door as quick as possible). All he has to do is thaw, microwave. and wrap in a tortilla with the sauces of his choice.
(13) Bones - all bones in the house are boiled down to make broth which is then frozen.
And finally, to get the most nutrients in a broth that doesn't taste like, well bones and water, follow these steps.
Blanch the bones in water that's brought to a boil and boiled for 20 minutes to remove any impurities. Then drain and roast.
Roast the bones after the blanch and on a HOT temperature. That browns and caramelizes them for a great flavor. 450 degrees F. and not just for 15 minutes, bring them up until they're on the edge of starting to burn and you will have an incredibly aromatic stock or broth.
Easy on the add-ins. Just onion and garlic (or a bay leaf and a pinch of thyme instead) and cracked pepper is enough. If you blanch and roast you'll have a great flavor. This is NOT where you want to put all of your leftover veggie bits. Add those after the broth is created when you make soup out of it.
Use just enough water to cover and let them GENTLY simmer in a BIG pot several hours (chicken bones will take less time), I will sometimes add a splash of Bragg's apple cider vinegar as the acidic ingredient will help leach minerals from the bones.
Cool quickly as bacteria loves hot liquid. When done and strained, throw in a few ice cubes and put the broth in a wider container to let it cool faster putting it in the fridge when it's "warm" but not "hot". (if canning follow the instructions for prep after the simmer is done.
I hope this gives you some ideas. You'll find, not only that you aren't throwing out food, you are saving a lot of money.
Which can be used for important things.
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