A little left over? Use it up…use it ALL up!

My husband would tell you if you don’t like leftovers, you’re not cooking the right things! At our house, we have been known to fight over our favorite leftovers when trying to pack lunches for the next day. But what about when there’s not enough left for a whole lunch? What if there’s only one serving of a veggie or meat and there are 3 to feed? The rule is, even if you have a little left over, use it up…use it ALL up!

There are lots of ways to do this. Let your mind be free and open to ALL the possibilities. I did this over the weekend like never before. Those who know me would agree I’m a rule follower. So, it’s been an area of growth for me to adjust recipes, substitute ingredients and now, use leftovers in ways I had never imagined…all in my effort to use it ALL up. No waste here!

Lunch

Everyone in my family has taken leftovers for lunch as long as they’ve had a microwave available at school or work (my son insists he seldom actually heated anything and STILL loved his lunch leftovers). Particularly if you’re working out of debt or saving for something big, taking your lunch is one of the best things you can do to help your budget…and probably your health if you cook Whole30 or some other clean method.

“Clean up the fridge” lunch

Don’t really know what else to call it ‘cause this name says exactly what it is…refrigerator cleaning time! I take everything out, heat it up, set it out, and everyone grabs some of everything they want. My neighbor’s son went home after one of these meals with a whole list of recipes he said his mom needed to get from me!

I’ve done this for my own lunch as well. Four or five small Rubbermaid containers with a mismatched group of options, all thrown together for a wonderful lunch…guaranteed to make at least one co-worker say, “What ARE you eating?”

My “go to” to use up tidbits

Frittatas are my first choice when using up single servings or even smaller amounts of meat or veggies left over. This happens most often with turkey breakfast sausage. Somehow, as much as I try to divide it evenly, I’ll end up with ½ a serving…not enough for 1 person, much less two. Into a frittata it goes, with whatever veggies I have on hand. This time it was a handful of my homegrown grape tomatoes I sautéd in olive oil and the last serving of those colorful roasted veggies. Perfect! (Check out other “kitchen sink” options here.)

“Chicken” Salad

This one may send you over the edge. But if I cook a BIG batch of a meat and we’ve had a meal or two but aren’t really jazzed by it or got tired of it quickly, I’ll chop it and put it in my favorite salad. Here’s what happened this week.

I had a pork loin in the freezer I had cut into large thick chops when my daughter was home. After she left, I pulled these out and cooked them in the InstantPot (which I normally love)…BUT it did me dirty.

I left the room for a few minutes while it was building pressure, and it started counting down the cook time BEFORE it actually sealed! I pressed the handles together, and it sealed easily. But NOW I wouldn’t know for sure if the meat got cooked to the appropriate temperature.

Well, I went on and did something else knowing pork had to finish cooking then should be slow-released at least 15 minutes to be moist and tender; so, I had some time to wait. Wouldn’t you know it, it COMPLETELY released all by itself at 10 minutes, I guess because of the short time it was actually sealed. End result? It was cooked through, but it wasn’t nearly as moist and tender as it should have been.

And given these were THICK chops (read that “slabs”), one pork chop fed BOTH of us. After two meals like this, we were kinda done with it. And with only two of us, NINE pork chops were gonna last forever! (Shoulda cooked these before my daughter left!)

Taking a risk to use it up…

Remember the old ad proclaiming pork as the other white meat? Then why couldn’t you use it instead of chicken in a mayo-based salad? I took the plunge, chopped those babies up and came out with 5 cups of meat. Three I put into a new chicken salad recipe I wanted to try (it’s the third recipe here and pretty yummy though I think I’d cut back on the salt…plus I added a chopped Gala!) and froze the other 2 for a casserole later.

That may sound a little far-fetched, BUT we’re no longer gonna have pork chops for the next umpteen meals (that salad is already gone between supper last night and lunch today), AND the pork wasn’t as chewy or dry as before. Win, win!!!

Let me know if YOU get crazy and put pork in your next “chicken” salad. I’d love to hear about your kitchen adventure in the comments below!

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