Ever made a meal, and while it was decent it just wasn’t as tasty as you imagined? And then you had leftovers that weren’t exciting. You’d feel bad if you wasted them, but who wants to eat again something you didn’t find tasty the first time around? What if you could make blah leftovers better?
While writing and testing my Tasty Meal Templates (stay tuned…ebook coming soon!), I made a sheet pan meal that was SO beautiful. I mean picture-perfect, see?
But I didn’t season it well, and it just fell flat. We ate it alright after I added some of my favorite Greek seasoning (see that recipe here). In fact, we even had lunch the next day of the leftovers with more seasoning. Then I found myself dreading the rest of it. Those leftovers needed a makeover!
Brainstorming a “leftover makeover”
I started by brainstorming what I could make using ALL the leftovers…a casserole was a possibility (see how you build one of your own here), but honestly, seeing all the ingredients together made me think of the non-exciting meals we’d eaten, and I needed a complete change.
Since this was originally a sheet pan meal (which can cook several things at once but doesn’t fully meld them together), I decided separating the parts could be the answer. Immediately, a couple of things came to mind.
Makeover meal #1
My daughter-in-law shared an Instant Pot recipe with me for Chinese Chicken Soup. The recipe started with all raw or frozen ingredients, but why not make it even faster on the stovetop with some ingredients already cooked?
It calls for noodles (which I generally don’t use nowadays) so spaghetti squash “noodles” would work. These and the chicken just got chopped smaller and added after the rest of the soup cooked as they only needed to be reheated.
I added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, coconut aminos, broth (mine from the freezer), and a little hot sauce, and suddenly we had a tastier option that lasted the 2 of us 2 more meals! And it took 20 minutes to make…WIN WIN for sure!
Makeover meal #2
That left me with cooked asparagus and tomatoes. I chopped the asparagus a little more, then dropped those veggies into a frittata with some cooked breakfast sausage and spinach. Ten minutes to mix it up and 30 to cook. Now we have a hearty breakfast for 2 days or more.
Can you make blah leftovers better? Certainly!
It takes a little thought and creativity but taking leftovers from one meal and crafting another that you like better CAN be done! Quick meals AND cost savings using up what we had…all a success in my mind.
Not sure how to do this on your own? Coming soon…Tasty Meal Templates will help you do it!
