Mar

Don’t Waste Those Leftovers!

I always get upset when food goes to waste, so I am always on the hunt for new recipes and ways to use up produce before it goes bad and leftovers. We’re not big on leftovers in this house so it’s always a challenge to recycle them in some delicious way to they get eaten.

Today I made banana nut bread with six bananas that were going bad. Yummy stuff, six bananas made two loaves and we’ll be enjoying them for a week or so. If we don’t get to them these will freeze well and we can enjoy them at a later date without an spoilage!

Here are a few other ways I have found to use up leftovers, share your ideas for recycling your leftovers in the comments!

Mashed Potatoes

I often use leftover mashed potatoes for the top of Shepard’s pie, potato pancakes, and periogies (pasta similar to ravioli filled with potato).

Chili

I often make big batches of chili in the crock pot and we always have leftovers. This is great to use on chili cheese dogs, chili cheese tater tots or fries, burritos, nachos, or on top of pasta.

Stew

Another dish I make large portions on in the crock pot is beef or chicken stew. I put the leftovers in a pie crust, either homemade or store bought and bake for an easy pot pie. This is a big hit at our house!

I also often make the stew from leftover beef from a pot roast or steaks.

Chicken

Leftover chicken can be shredded for chicken salad sandwiches. Used in soups and stews, I’ve even used leftover chicken to make chicken enchiladas or tacos.

Stuffing

I don’t make stuffing too often around here, but it’s always a leftover at Thanksgiving and at other holidays when we have a turkey. I often stuff a meatloaf with the leftover stuffing and have used it as the topping on baked casseroles.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

If I have fruit sitting a bit too long I often juice it to make sure it gets used or I make fruit salads, breads, muffins, and cakes. Fruit can be used in all kinds of baking recipes along with some veggies like carrots and zucchini.

Veggies are great in omelets, soups, stews, pot pies, stir fry, and casseroles.

I freeze a lot of the items that I make and often freeze items that we are just not going to get to. This saves money and prevents waste. Not to mention it’s fun to come up with new ways to recycle food!

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Tags: Baking, Chicken salad, Cook, Home, Mashed potato, Meat, Pot pie, Pot roast