Give Your Leftovers a Facelift

In an ideal world, we would have the time, energy, and resources to prepare everything immediately before we eat it from fresh ingredients. Of course, many people can barely find time to eat a meal, much less prepare it themselves, much less from fresh ingredients. I would certainly find it difficult to take a 2-hour lunch break every day to cook fresh meals for myself.

So, we occasionally have to eat leftovers. It's a huge time-saver for me to make more than enough food for dinner, and be able to use it for lunches the next day or even another dinner. I am starting to experiment with ways to revamp the leftovers and turn them into something different so we're not eating the same exact thing for 2 days straight.

Here are some ideas:

1. Make a vegetable stir fry and cook a bunch of rice. For different meals, add different kinds of protein like peanuts, chicken, or tofu. When you heat up the food for a second or third meal, chop up some raw veggies and throw them on top. They add crunch and brightness and life to the leftovers--and help you get the mix of raw and cooked vegetables that many experts say is ideal. Also, don't add flavoring sauces (like soy sauce or teriyaki or sriracha) until right before you eat, so you can personalize each dish and create variety. One final idea is to create fajita filling out of the veggies and toss them in a tortilla for Mexican night.

2. Cook a bunch of pasta and a lot of tomato sauce. Create different meals by adding different things to the sauce. For example, one night could be meat sauce, the next night throw in a cup of pesto, and the third night mix it with some homemade alfredo. You can also make a casserole with the leftover pasta and sauce, and add a bunch of fresh veggies and maybe some italian sausage, and top it with cheese. Lastly, get creative and experiment with spaghetti tacos or spaghetti burritos--for an Italian/Mexican night.

3. Make a big pot of chili full of vegetables. Serve it in the traditional way with biscuits and cheese, onions, and sour cream the first night. For a change, serve it will rice or pasta. A third meal could be nachos with chili on top, or even tacos or burritos filled with chili.

Good luck with your leftovers, friends!