I am a single mother that is short on time. When I cook, I have to make it count for more than one meal. Time is my most precious commodity at the moment, so cooking bigger sure helps in a time crunch. If I have a little wiggle room during the weekend to cook, I try to fill the fridge for the upcoming week.
Okay, it’s no secret that I love leftovers. They can be easy to eat as is for a second meal, or used as inspiration for a new dish. I use my leftovers both ways. If I cook a couple of extra pieces of chicken, that goes either in school lunches or to work with me for a second meal. Using that chicken as inspiration for another meal might mean a nice chicken casserole or chicken salad sandwich. Need some ideas? Let me outline my leftovers from the past few days.
Night #1. Leftover: Quinoa. Used the next morning as an addition to breakfast oatmeal. Quinoa powered up morning oatmeal following an 8 mile bike ride. It was a solid “recovery” breakfast.
Leftover quinoa added a nice nutritionally punch to morning oatmeal.
Night #2. Leftover: Goat cheese. It was leftover from a beet salad. My high schooler used it to spread on his “gourmet” sandwich, adding delicious creamy flavor to a weekday lunch.
Leftover goat cheese not used for this salad added flavor to a sandwich.
Night #3. Leftover: Home made vinaigrette. I used this drizzled over roasted veggies going into the oven. Homemade vinaigrette is super easy to customize ingredients and flavors to make even picky eaters happy.
Leftover vinaigrette. This isn’t just salad dressing. It has a zillion uses.
Night #4. Leftover: Roasted veggies. These leftover roasted veggies made the most amazing sandwich to take to work. I wish I also had some of that leftover goat cheese too, but it was quite tasty as is.
Roasted veggies made an awesome sandwich, panini style!
Night #5. Leftover: Pesto, shredded chicken. (Nonleftover freezer item: frozen cauliflower). I actually pulled this from the freezer to make a quick pasta dinner. Dinner was ready in the time it took for a pot of water to boil and pasta to cook. The cauliflower was microwaved. Everything was tossed together for a quick and easy one dish dinner for a busy night.
By now I am sure you get the picture. Be creative. When cooking, cook a larger portion than you need. Toss leftovers in both the fridge and the freezer. And start embracing the ease of the next meal using leftovers. Let me know what you make with your leftovers!
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