Finding leftovers lurking in the deep dark depths of your fridge is like finding gold at the end of a rainbow! When you first hear leftovers you think gross who wants to eat that. Especially if its an undesirable that has been pushed to the deep depths of your fridge shelf’s. I challenge you to change your mindset. Instead of thinking gross, think how can I recreate this leftover undesirable into a whole new dish. That my family and I will be excited to eat. Let’s face the facts if you just put the undesirable food on the table it will go untouched once again. Now if you hid or recreate the undesirable into a new dish most of the time it will get eaten up. I like to pretend I am on Chopped. That makes it more fun and exciting.
Some of you are probably thinking who cares if I throw out that little bit of food. It doesn’t matter. Ohhh, but it does friends! Why you ask? Well, first up you spent your time shopping for those ingredients, putting them away, and preparing that undesirable. Second, you spent your money on that food. Even if it’s just a pennies worth of food. A penny is a penny, 10 pennies add up to a dime, 10 dimes add up to a one dollar, and so on. Over the course of a week you could potentially be throwing $5.00 or more in the trash can just by not eating the leftovers. Would you throw a $5.00 bill in the trash can? I bet not!
There is a few ways I get rid of leftovers in my house. I am constantly rearranging my containers to have the leftovers towards the front of the fridge. That way it makes it hard to forget about it. Most days of the week lunch is leftovers. That gets rid of most things. Every 3 – 4 days, I take a few minutes to open all the containers in the fridge and see what I have left. Then I start thinking of ways I can recreate those things that have been in the fridge for a few days. If I can’t come up with anything or we are just tired of eating whatever it is that is left. I will freeze whatever that thing is. Almost everything can be frozen. Frozen foods are a life saver on nights that I am just not feeling it or if the day got away from me. Instead of ordering pizza or going thru the drive-thru for $30.00 and up. I can spend the same amount of time and energy on heating up the once undesirable frozen leftover. Remember that undesirable is costing me nothing!
My favorite way to use up leftover meat with a gravy or sauce, and veggies is to add it to a pot of beans. It is super simple all you have to do is rinse the beans, and sort them. Add about a pound of beans, leftover meat with sauce, veggies, and some chicken or beef bouillon to a pot, slow cooker, or instant pot. Then you add water I like to have about 4 inches of water above the beans. That makes it soupy but not too watery. Cook until the beans are soft. Regular pot and slow cooker takes about 6 hours on medium. Instant pot use the bean or stew button on mine it takes 45 minutes. This recipe works with any variety of meat with sauce, and veggies. I have never had a bad combination. It always tastes delicious!