Need Input....Need Input.....

If you're near my age, chances are that you remember the movie "Short Circuit" from the 80s, starring Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg. Number Five, the cute little robot that you can't help but adore, is on a quest for "input" due to a malfunction in his circuitry.

I know that has nothing to do with leftovers, but in looking at my blogging (or, more accurately, total lack thereof), I need input!!! I haven't done anything that I consider particularly creative lately. I definitely still cook with my leftovers, but most of what I've done has been directly related to other posts I've done in the past. I don't want to bore anyone with repetition, so I haven't posted anything. I'm not happy about this, and I want to change it, but right now I'm just plain out of exciting ideas.

Not too long ago, I had people leave comments with their current leftovers and called it a "Leftover Chopped" of sorts. That was fun and challenging, and got me blogging, but then I ran out of comments and ran out of commentary. So here I am again. Do you have items you need to use that might inspire a post? How about something you eat frequently but never know what to do with the little bit that remains after dinner? Let me know! I hate to leave my followers and subscribers hanging with no new postings, so how about a little help?

I will definitely be posting after next week, with all the Thanksgiving leftovers, so at least I'll have topics then, but surely there are some items in your refrigerators and cabinets that you want gone before the holiday. Maybe I can help! Let's try it. I'll be watching and waiting for comments. :-)

On another, unrelated topic, I will be having a giveaway soon on my other blog, At Home with My Monkeys. I think it will be a fun prize pack, and I will post here when I get the giveaway underway. Please be sure and enter, as I will have TWO winners!

Now...comment away!! Thanks!!

The Versatile Rotisserie Chicken

I know I've posted about using a rotisserie chicken in the past, but there are always so many things to DO with it that I had to post again! I purchased a lovely rotisseried bird at Sam's on Wednesday because I just can't resist the $4.99 price. Now, granted, my son made a point of reminding me that I have a Baby George Rotisserie sitting idly at the bottom of my pantry, but I just told him to hush! ;-)

My DH was off work on Wednesday and Thursday, and on both days, we had chicken with various leftover side dishes. Believe me, he can eat a lot of meat, even at lunch! I then deboned the rest of the meat to see what was left, which was enough for another dinner for all of us. I placed the bones in my crock pot and covered them with water, leaving them to cook on high for a couple of hours before switching to low so they could simmer. The resulting broth was a gorgeous color and has the most wonderful aroma - it's just better when it's been rotisserie-cooked, don't you think?

After the broth was strained and the carcass had some time to cool, I got enough more meat off the bones to make a chicken alfredo pizza. Tonight, I'm taking the broth and remaining chicken and making chicken and dumplings. So out of that $5 chicken, I ended up with two lunches for two, and two dinners for five. Who knew a rotisserie chicken could feed 14?? That works out loosely to $.36 per person, per meal. Not bad, eh?

There are a million things you can do with a rotisserie chicken. Entire cookbooks have been written on this topic. What things do you do with one? Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments - I'd love to hear them!

What To Do With Too Many Eggs?

Hello, my wonderful readers! I'm sorry to have left you hanging for so long. It definitely isn't that I haven't been using my leftovers; it's more that I haven't done anything I felt was worth posting. That or I'm just too lazy to use my camera! ;-)

This post, at first look, doesn't appear to be about leftovers, but I still felt it suited my purpose here. It's about not wasting food, and creatively using what you have on hand. This is the overall idea of Not Just Leftovers. Read on.....

So this morning I realized that I had 2 dozen eggs in the refrigerator that expire tomorrow! Yikes!! I planned quiche for dinner, but that wasn't going to use nearly enough eggs. I needed something that used a LOT! I thought about it a bit, and the idea of an angel food came came to mind; however, I dismissed it because I can't imagine making one from scratch.

The more I thought about it, though, the better that sounded. And, really, why not at least TRY it? If the eggs are going to go to waste anyway, if the cake doesn't turn out, what am I really out? I decided I could always cut it up and turn it in to a trifle if it was too terrible.

So I went onto allrecipes.com and found this recipe. Looks simple enough, right? And I already have the pan since I bought it for a quarter at a yard sale, just in case. I decided to go for it!

Let me tell you, it's a little nerve-wracking waiting 45 minutes to find out if your cake is looking okay or if it's a flat mess. I didn't want to peek and risk making it fall. Of course, after about 35 minutes, I couldn't resist and I did look. It looked great!!! I was so excited!! Admittedly, it did fall a little bit after I peeked, but that might be normal....I have no idea. It went from about an inch over the top of the pan down to pan level by the time it was done, but that was just the right size!

Want to see it??? Here you go:



Does that look GOOD, or what???? I can't wait to try it! I have already eaten several crumbs, as well as a piece from the bottom that you can't see...hehe! It really tastes wonderful. I can't believe I did it! What an awesome way to keep eggs from spoiling and going to waste....

Another Episode of Leftover Chopped!

Hello again! I am very sorry for my delay in helping with leftovers in your fridges! I had a substitute teaching gig in Kindergarten on Thursday, and apparently one of the sickly ones decided to share with me. I've been fighting a flu bug for the past couple of days and I just haven't been feeling too creative. I'm still not so hot, but it's more like a bad cold, so I'd like to try and tackle a challenge, albeit too late for the poor contributor, I'm sure! I really am sorry!

Here was my first "Chopped" request, from Jodie:

Oooo...great idea. Let's see what in my fridge... meatballs, carrots, and eggs. Of course I have all manner of rice, pasta, yada yada.

Now the only problem with this sort of thing is that I don't know if the items (i.e. carrots) are cooked or raw, or if they've been seasoned somehow. I'm going to assume for our purpose that the meatballs are cooked and unsauced, and the carrots and eggs are in their natural, raw state. If the meatballs were already covered in spaghetti sauce, then I would definitely chop them up and make either a pizza or a lasagna dish. That would be easy! :-)

If there are only 3-4 meatballs, so therefore not enough to feed the family again with meatballs as the centerpiece, I would suggest making a stuffed bread. Chopped up, the meatballs would be like seasoned hamburger, so you could add a bit of ketchup and mustard and some shredded cheddar for a nice cheeseburger stuffed bread. You could add some spaghetti sauce and shredded mozzarella for a "meatball sub" stuffed bread. The possibilities are endless with stuffed bread!

If there are enough for a full meal, you could have meatballs and sauce served over rice. Just basic brown gravy works well for this, or you can get more creative with cream gravies flavored anyway you choose. A favorite in my extended family involves a combination of grape jelly and chili sauce, so you can truly put together any flavored sauce that tickles your fancy. You might be able to create a sauce with shredded carrots in it!

For the carrots, here is our favorite way to prepare them: Cook either baby carrots or carrot slices until tender. Drain the water and stir in 1 T. sugar and 1 t. salt. This produces a slightly sweet, slightly salty coating that is very tasty.

Another possibility is to chop up the meatballs and make a quiche. My mother used to make hamburger and eggs for us all the time when we were kids (just scrambled eggs with cooked ground beef), so I don't see why you couldn't make a meatball quiche! Here is a simple recipe I've tried for quiche that works well. You could probably shred up the carrot and put it in with the chopped meatballs, but I think they would be better served as a side dish as indicated above.

I hope that gets you started Jodie! I tried to keep most of the sauces and additions open so you can use what you have on hand. If you'd like me to get more specific with recipes, just let me know! And again, I'm very sorry that this was so late. Happy cooking!!

Chicken and Rice

I confess....I'm cheating a bit here. I have three notes with leftover items that need to be used, and I'm starting with the most recent one. I know I should start at the beginning, but when I read this one, I immediately had a recipe thought. I'm taking the easy way out, I know!! :-)

Here is the comment:

Barb, sfo said...
What would you do with chunks of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rice, and NO soy sauce?

There is a recipe that I make quite often with these two key ingredients. It's actually from Campbells, and it's called One Dish Chicken and Rice Bake. Here is a link to the recipe as Campbell's printed it: http://www.campbellkitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?ab=B&recipeID=24702
It can easily be done with chunks of chicken breasts, and doesn't require any soy sauce.

Another wonderful recipe that my entire family loves is Jack's Ranch Chicken. I have served it often over rice - the ranch sauce tastes great with steamed rice! The chunks of chicken are perfect!!!

Or how about a chicken and broccoli casserole? Cook the rice and place it in a casserole dish. Cook the chicken and place on top with some thawed frozen broccoli. Cover it with shredded cheese (Velveeta would be good!) and bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350°.

And one more. Chicken tacos. Cook and shred your chicken. Cook the rice, substituting tomato sauce for one cup of water, and adding a little extra water. Combine the chicken and rice, stirring in some taco seasoning. Use as taco filling or as the meat mixture in a taco salad.

How's that for a start? There are lots of things you can do with chicken and rice, but those are my favorites. Let me know if any of those work for you, Barb, or if you need more ideas! :-)

Thanks!!!!

Let's Play a Game!

I admit it....I LOVE the show "Chopped" on the Food Network! It's always entertaining to see what the chefs do with the bizarre sets of ingredients they find in the famous baskets. I'm frequently amazed at how they put together foods that I would have never even dreamed of including in a single meal. I also find out about a lot of foods that are new to me - I've never even heard of many of the things they are given to cook!

So I was thinking today...wouldn't it be fun to make up my own version of what they do on "Chopped?" It wouldn't involve any competition or short cooking times, but how about I have you, my wonderful readers, send me a list of 2-4 ingredients that you have on hand and see if I can put them together in a meal?

The premise of this blog is to take leftovers and turn them into new meals, but I can't possibly dream up every food combination you might encounter in your kitchen. So let's have some fun! Leave me a comment with a few items you need to use, and let's see if I can come up with a mealtime idea. I'm up for the challenge - tell me what's in your fridge and I'll try to make it a meal! :-)

Breakfast "Trifle"

This one is a bit different, even by MY standards!! :-) I've been doing something fun the past few days, letting each child choose what he or she wanted for breakfast. I made blueberry muffins one day, bacon and eggs the next, and then we got to my older girl. She couldn't decide what she wanted. We discussed a variety of options she liked, but she wanted something different. Here's what we created:

I call it the Breakfast Trifle, even though I didn't make it in my trifle bowl; I made smaller versions in glass mugs for them. It could also be a parfait, but breakfast parfaits generally call to mind yogurt; this is more similar to what I would put in a trifle.

I had made whole wheat banana muffins for dinner last night and had some left over. We cut up the muffins into cubes and I made some chocolate Malt-o-Meal hot cereal (yum!) I layered the muffin cubes with the cereal and sliced bananas. It had a coherent theme of chocolate and banana, so the flavors blended well. The kids enjoyed them, and I enjoyed eating the leftover Malt-o-Meal. I used to LOVE that stuff when I was a kid.

I know this is a little bit high on the "weird" scale, but it ended up being a filling and fairly nutritious breakfast with the wheat flour, bananas, and hot cereal included. And it's another way to use up some of those leftovers!!

For great recipes from people just like you, be sure and visit Grocery Cart Challenge today for the Recipe Swap!

A Smooth Way to Use it Up

Earlier this month, I purchased a bushel of peaches from a local farm. There is just NOTHING like fresh peaches, and once you've tasted them, you'll never look at the ones in the grocery store again. We ate quite a few while they were fresh, and then I canned up 12 1/2 quarts to enjoy throughout the year. Even canned, they taste better than the grocery store stuff! :-)

I opened my first quart jar earlier this week with a dinner. We ate most of them at that first sitting, but there were a few left that I finished off later in the week. Today I noticed the jar in the fridge with just the peach juice and about 3 small slices of peach floating in it. I started to remove the slices to eat with lunch and dump out the syrup (which was of the extra-light variety) as is the common procedure.

But then I paused, contemplating that yummy peach-flavored, lightly-sweetened liquid. I didn't want to drink it, but how could I use it in a less wasteful way? Inspiration struck and I pulled out the blender. I poured in the syrup, as well as the peach slices that had been in it moments before. I went to the counter and picked up an over-ripe banana, peeling it and adding it to the concoction. Then I opened my freezer and took out a small bag of strawberries I had frozen. I contemplated blueberries or blackberries, as I have those in the freezer as well, but the strawberries won.

I turned on the blender until I had a thick puree, then added some milk and pureed again. I ended up with a very cold, extremely tasty smoothie. I served it to the kids with their lunch today and they were mesmerized, asking for more before they had finished what they had! I didn't add a bit of sugar beyond what was in the extra-light syrup, so it was a fairly healthy beverage.

I'm going to make this a new habit - why waste the delightful syrup with bits of fruit in it at the bottom of the jar? If you enjoy commercially-canned fruits instead of canning them yourself, you could still do something similar - it would just probably have a bit more sugar and additives....but it would still taste great and if you add other fruits, would be just as good-for-you!

I wish I had a picture of the beautiful creation, but it was gone before I even thought about blogging about it. :-) You'll just have to trust me - it was G-O-O-D!!!!

Rotisserie Chicken

First, I am so sorry that I've been mia from the blogging world. I don't really have any excuses, other than life got in the way. Between losing a dear friend to cancer and school starting and a general "blah" kind of feeling lately, I haven't done much with my blogs. I'm trying to get back into it, since I really do enjoy it! So tonight, I'm going to talk about rotisserie chicken. Don't you love those?? The wonderful warm and moist chicken that you bring home for an easy dinner that the family loves..... Yum!! But after a tasty meal, don't you end up with something that looks a bit like this?:

Not quite so pleasant, eh? I think most people just look at that and think, "Leftover rotisserie chicken. Yuck. What am I supposed to do with THAT?" Somehow it just isn't quite as appealing sitting there cold and refrigerated, with the once-delightful juices now congealed and just plain icky! But you should never, never waste the chicken that is left. You can do wonderful things with it!! In this particular situation, I got two more meals out of these leftovers.

My initial advice is to avoid the congealing. It's just pretty much disgusting. Allow the remaining chicken to cool until it can be handled and then pick the meat off the bones before refrigerating. If this isn't possible, you can always rinse off all the "goo," but I know it's a deterrent to making this meat last. I removed as much meat as I could from the bones, and then I set the bones aside in the fridge for making soup later.

Out of some of the shredded meat, I made THIS:


Delicious fried rice made with some of my other leftovers, including some cole slaw mix that was left from bierocks I made earlier in the week. I also tossed in some zucchini from the last picking of my garden. It was soooooo good!

The next night, it was a little cooler and rainy, and just felt like a soup night. So I simmered the bones in a pot of water to make a nice stock and made chicken noodle soup. As I still had quite a bit of chicken left (and still had zucchini, too), I made chicken-zucchini stuffed bread to go with it. Doesn't this look good?:

It was quite tasty! I used some veggie noodles I had gotten very cheaply at the store with a sale/coupon combination to make a very inexpensive soup! I also chopped up some carrots that were left in the fridge. Both of these meals were great use-it-up strategies that didn't FEEL like leftovers. That's kind of the point, isn't it?

Next time you get a rotisserie chicken, be sure you get at least two meals out of it. Even if your family eats most of the meat the first night, you can definitely cook some stock/broth out of it. You'll likely be amazed at how much MORE meat you can get once you've simmered it awhile, too. Rotisserie chickens can be used for multiple meals so you definitely get your money's worth! This just gives you a couple of examples. Let your creativity go, and see what you can do with the sad leftovers of a deli chicken!

Leftover "Pizzas"

Last night we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner because I needed something simple. After dinner, I had about 3/4 c. of sauce and 2 large meatballs left, which we promptly refrigerated.

Today for lunch, I looked in the fridge for some ideas. I saw the container of sauce on the shelf but had to figure out how to make lunch for three kids out of it. In the drawer of the fridge, I spied some flour tortillas that really needed to be eaten. There were four of them...perfect! I made tortilla pizzas:


In order to give the pizza slices enough support to eat them, I always use two tortillas for pizzas.....I place one on the baking sheet, spread a bit of pizza sauce (or in this case, spaghetti sauce)on top of it, and then "glue" the second tortilla on top. Then I top that second tortilla with my pizza toppings. If you really like a nice crispy crust, before topping the second tortilla, brush it with a bit of olive oil and pop just the "crust" into the oven for about 5 minutes, then proceed with the pizza-making.

For today's pizza, I chopped up the two meatballs and sprinkled them around each pizza, then covered it with shredded cheese. Into the oven they went for about 10 minutes at 400°. My kids absolutely LOVED them, especially how the tortilla edges crisp up. I had to admit, I ended up sharing the lunch with them because they were very good. :-)

Lunch made from two meatballs...see what you can do with leftovers???