Leftovers can be so boring which can often lead to your family not eating them. Instead, come up with creative ways to make them interesting again:
- Transfer the leftovers to fancy serving platters and line them up along the table. Let specific family members fix their plate first. It could be oldest to youngest, the one who guesses the number first, the one with the best grades for the week, etc.
- Throw all the leftover meat into a skillet with some of your favorite marinade. Give it a funky name like “Mama’s Meltdown Mixup” and serve it with the leftover veggies.
- Find large potatoes and bake them in the oven. Scrape out the insides and mix them in a bowl with some of the tasty leftovers. Then stuff them back in the oven and top with cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes to make twice baked potatoes.
- Let one of the kids play restaurant and make up a menu and present it one at a time to each seated family member. Let them ‘order’ their food and let the little waitress serve the family.
Do you have any tips on how to make leftovers fun?
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We don’t often repurpose leftovers (except frito pie and chili dogs with chili–although not chili mac–my hubs and I discovered early in our marriage that we DO NOT like chili mac), but I will cook up a huge styrofoam pack of chicken breasts in the crock pot with water, use the broth for something, and then use the chicken in dishes over the next few weeks (or freeze it). We are big believers in the freezer.
We call it “clean out the fridge” day. We get creative and eat leftovers from the last couple of days.
Have a Disney Day!
We eat leftovers all week long, too. We home school, so lots of lunches are leftovers. I am blessed to have a family that looks forward to them and it saves me time during our busy weeks. Not to mention it is healthier then prepackaged or convenience meals!
Such a great tip!!! We do this every week
I like to recreate my left overs. Like when I make chili in the crockpot I will make 3 way another night, or chili dogs and tator tots. I also do this with roast beef or I make a whole chicken and make enchiladas. Taco meat is great because we get tator tot casserole or feista bake. I alway make enough for hubby to take leftovers for work and then recreate them so I don’t have to cook as much.
I hate to say it because I usually do not buy flavored items..but the Philadelphia Cooking Cream has become my leftover best friend…tonights chicken and rice is a chicken burrito for lunch with the Santa Fe flavor….steak one night can be sort of pasta and eggnoodles….you get the idea…I never thought a product like that would become a staple in the fridge!
You could get everything out and arranged on platters then pretend you are at the Crystal Palace Buffet! We do this at my house when it gets close to our Disney trip. We have a Disney themed night with dinner and a movie!
I have a friend who has a freezer container in her freezer and adds leftovers (meat, beans, vegetables, etc) to it. When it gets full, she thaws it out and makes a delicious soup out of it. It always tastes different but is always amazingly good!
I like to turn my leftovers into something else! Leftover spagetti sauce and meat now turns into chili with a few additions! Leftover chicken gets shredded and stuffed into enchaladas. Leftover roast or pork gets shredded and turned into bbq beef sandwiches! Usually you can take whatever you have and transform it into another meal.
Growing up Fridays were always “YoYo Night”-meaning “You’re On Your Own” and we had to make our own meals with leftovers. I still do this to this day-it clears out the fridge and helps everyone with their cooking skills. I got a few of my best recipes in my teen years from this method :D
Love this! I have been trying to figure out a way to get my 4 girls more involved in the kitchen. This is a great idea!
I cook Monday-Wednesday nights and then Thursda night is always “leftover buffet” and Fridays we go out. I like it because it makes the last two nights of the week easy.