What are your favorite tricks for using up leftovers?

[Sarahfeena]

I'm always looking for ways to use up leftovers...especially chicken. There's a great book called The Dinner Doctor that has some good ideas for quick meals, made with stuff you might have around the house. The following is a recipe I adapted from the book, that I like to use for that purpose. It's really tasty and easy as pie:

MOCK CASSOULET:
Olive oil
1 pound kielbasa, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 medium onion, choppped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans great northern beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dry red wine
Thyme and Oregano to taste (about 1 teaspoon each)

Cook the onion, garlic, and sausage until sausage is browned. Add chicken, beans & tomatoes with their liquid, wine, thyme, and oregano. Simmer until heated through and thickened.

[Glazer]

Simple I eat them oldest first.

[Hatshepsut]

If I have fruit that is starting to age and I know we're not going to finish it before it rots, I throw it in the freezer - then when I have a lot, I put it into the crockpot with some cut-up apples and maybe a stick of cinnamon, slow-cook until it's all mushy, and strain it. Voila, deliciously sophisticated applesauce. The best was when I made it with a blood orange, peel and all.

Vegetables get cooked and whirled in the food processor with homemade chicken broth, cream, and flavorings (depending on what veggies I'm using, perhaps lemon juice, tarragon, or bacon salt) for a tasty and nutritious soup. This works especially well with broccoli and white or sweet potatoes.

Another way to use up languishing veggies is to make them into tomato sauce that I can freeze and use later - put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pot, add roughly cut up onions, garlic, tomatoes, capsicum, and/or carrots (the carrots should be cut into fairly small pieces as they take the longest to cook), cover the pan and let cook over low heat until the veggies are soft. Then process til smooth, adding herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram, etc.) and salt to taste. If the veggies did not include a lot of tomatoes, you can add a bit of canned tomato paste to get the right taste, color and consistency.

Meats and cheeses can be used as calzone fillings - I make a nice whole-grain dough, roll it out into rounds, and smear tomato paste on the dough, then add cheese/meat/pesto/onions/whatever, fold in half, brush with eggwhite and sprinkle the tops generously with sea salt, slash a couple of times, and bake.

Lassagna is a good place to hide bits of things you want to use up, although I don't do it often because my son doesn't like pasta (except for ramen - he's pretty Asian in his food tastes, not surprisingly).

You can also make old fashioned biscuit dough (more delicious if you add freshly grated parmesan cheese and rosemary, sage or thyme), roll it out as if for a jelly roll, sprinkle generously with any old filling, roll up, cut into slices, and bake. That can be good but sometimes a little dry - the biscuits may need gravy, chutney, or ketchup on the side.

I also like to throw leftovers into baked goods - for example, bananas/zucchini can be turned into banana/zucchini bread or muffins, carrot cake is yummy, and almost any fruit makes an excellent upside down cake - but try not to do that much because we end up with a surfeit of baked goods that my small family can't finish.

Can you tell I'm a thrifty Yank who hates to waste food?

Also, what Glazer said.

[Sarahfeena]

Wow, Carol, you're good.

[Hatshepsut]

I forgot one - some fruits (berries, peaches, mangoes, bananas) can be cut into chunks or mashed and stirred into yogurt; sweeten if necessary, then put into those homemade popsicle molds and freeze. Makes a refreshing and healthy snack, especially nice here in the hot tropics.

Not only am I a thrifty Yank, I'm a thrifty Yank with a great big freezer.

[dogbutler]

Leftovers?

[Orual]

I tend to eat them cold for breakfast. I think that might mean I'm ... uncouth.

[vison]

I have a boarder who has them for lunch.

[Muffin]

I feed them to my neighbour's dog and my neighbour's neighbour's dog.

[D. Fenestrator]

I usually eat them for the next day's lunch, but occasionally I will get creative. Veggies in a stir-fry or over pasta, for example. Most of the time, however, I just eat 'em.

I like the ideas I have seen here, however, and really need to try them!

[Zuul]

Man, you guys make me feel like a slacker. Leftovers around here are either heated up the next day or turned into some bizarre soup or casserole.

Lasagna soup is pretty darn good, though.

[Zenster]

One of the all-time winners for disposing of leftovers is to make shepherd's pie. A bit of roux, some broth, whatever meat needs to be eaten and all those ailing vegetables in the crisper (or a tin of Veg-All) and, presto!, dinner is served. No, mashed potatoes? Use a frozen pie crust or cubes of fresh bread.

[TheFlame]

One word. Curry.

[Roxy Rouge]

I forgot one - some fruits (berries, peaches, mangoes, bananas) can be cut into chunks or mashed and stirred into yogurt; sweeten if necessary, then put into those homemade popsicle molds and freeze. Makes a refreshing and healthy snack, especially nice here in the hot tropics.

Not only am I a thrifty Yank, I'm a thrifty Yank with a great big freezer.

I have a toddler and we live in a warm, ok, hot climate. I puree all the just going out fruits and freeze them in popsicle form. I use tall shot glasses and popsicle sticks, but I swear when I was young my mom had a tupperware set that we used.

I feel good that my kid can get his popsicle and at the same time it is good for him. Also, they are tasty and sometimes I want to cool off as well!

[Hatshepsut]

I swear when I was young my mom had a tupperware set that we used.

I'm sure she did. Keep your eyes open and you'll probably be able to find something like it eventually - it's a Walmart-type-of-store kind of thing.