What to do with leftovers

9 Tips That Make Weeknight Cooking Faster & Easier

  1. Think about what you might want to eat ahead of time when you aren’t busy.  

It’s all about having a plan, even if that plan is loosely followed.  While you’re zipping through social media, take note of things that look good to you that you think you can tackle.  While watching TV, notice things that you might be hungry for.  What about a dish you ate while you were out? Can you duplicate that?  Talk to the people in your house about what they might like to eat.  Decide how many meals you are going to cook for the week, and then make a list of your ideas.

2. Plan on a couple of your meals feeding you twice.

Look up recipes that follow your ideas, save the recipes and jot down a list of ingredients. 

Leftovers can help you get through your busier nights without having to cook or with very little cooking.  Embrace this concept, and your life will be easier.  Double recipes if needed to feed you more than once. Keep in mind that leftovers can be the same meal or a variation of the first meal.  For example, that roasted chicken you made with rice and salad on Day 1 can be eaten the same way on Day 3, or you could chop/shred the chicken, mix it and some rice with a little water and taco seasoning and make tacos for dinner. The chili you made on Sunday could turn into chili mac or nachos on Tuesday. 

Learning to create new dishes with your leftovers can prevent waste and save you time without everyone getting bored.

3. Go to the store with a list and follow it.

This will help you shop faster, stay on task, and not forget the things you need to fulfill your plan. Be sure to buy all your non-perishables in one visit to save you time down the road.  If you know you will use canned tomatoes a few times in the next month, buy a few cans.  Having a well-stocked pantry will help when unforeseen problems interrupt your plans and you need to improvise.

4. Be flexible, plan your time, and don’t bite off more than you can chew for a weeknight meal.

If you know you will get done working later on certain days, plan on using your leftovers those days. Plan the more time-consuming meals for days when you are off or not working as late.  Have a backup meal in the freezer in case of unforeseen problems during your workweek.  If you thought you would be finished early on Monday, and you were planning to cook, but you ended up working late, swap in one of your faster or leftover meals instead. 

5. Combine and double up on tasks.

If you know you will use 3 onions this week, cut all three of them at once and separate them for the other meals.  If you are already roasting potatoes for one of your meals, maybe another vegetable can be roasted at the same time for a different meal.  If you are making ground meat for tacos, and then again for sloppy joe’s, cook all the ground meat at once and then cool and store the second half for the other meal.  This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it will be a time-saver you will appreciate when you need those things.  You can also cut and freeze vegetables you will cook later, like onion, celery, carrot, (Mirepoix) in recipe size bags for later use.  Next time you are making soup, sauce, stew, you can pull them out of the freezer.  I often wash and cut all my vegetables for the next 3 meals on the weekend (except salad stuff that doesn’t hold up well after washing). It not only saves time but also saves on dirty dishes day to day.

6. Make use of some pre-made products.

In a perfect world, we would only eat whole, unprocessed foods all the time, but this is far from a perfect world.  Things happen, and time is at a premium.  It’s ok to use pre-made foods to save time and supplement your recipes sometimes.  The rotisserie chicken from the grocery store can be eaten as is with a side you make, or it can be used to make chicken tacos, thrown in pasta with your own sauce or a container of store-bought sauce, made into BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, or used as part of a Cobb salad.  Jarred sauces, canned soup, artichokes, beans, frozen vegetables are all good things to have on hand.

7. Make extra for the freezer.

Making some red sauce for pasta, double or triple the recipe.  Making meatballs, make enough for 4 meals instead.  You are making the kitchen dirty and spending the time anyway, and it won’t take double the time to make double the amount of food.  Freeze liquid items in freezer-safe zip lock bags flat, and they will take up less space and thaw faster.  Label your frozen foods so that you use the older items first, and you aren’t guessing what is in the container. Having frozen food like red sauce, gravy, pesto, chicken stock, meatballs, pasta dishes, rice dishes, etc., will give you something fast to eat on nights you are running late.  Individually wrap burger and sub rolls in plastic wrap and then seal in zip lock bags for freezing, this way they stay fresh longer, and you always have a bun available for a quick sandwich.

8. Make use of time saving kitchen equipment.

Having a slow cooker or a pressure cooker will save you a lot of time and planning.  You can load the slow cooker up with food the night before, then before work, take it out of the refrigerator, put it into the base, and turn it on.  When you get home or in 2-10 hours (depending on what you are making), your food is ready to eat with only one pot to clean.  Recipes for slow cookers are plentiful and usually easy.  Pressure cookers are also great at speeding up dinner.  Many items take half or less of the time to cook in the pressure cooker, even if they are still frozen.  Say you wanted beef stew, but you don’t have 4 or more hours to cook it, pressure cook it in 2 hours.  Forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer to thaw, it will only take a few minutes longer in the pressure cooker if it’s frozen.  Fish fillets take a total of about 8 minutes from pressurizing to pressure release when frozen (2-3 minutes of actual cook time).  More recipes are being added online for pressure cookers every day. 

9. Jump start your veggies in the microwave.

Some vegetables take a long time to cook.  You can speed this process by first placing them with a ¼ cup of water into a microwave-safe container with a lid for 2-3 minutes.  This will steam the vegetables quickly. Check them with a fork.  When they are halfway done cooking, drain the water and sauté, roast, or grill them until they are done.  

By Chef Kerry, ago

Fast & Easy Pantry Superbowl Snacks

It’s a few hours before the big game, but you still don’t know what to do for snacks?  Maybe you didn’t make it to the store, or maybe you just got too busy to think about it.  Whatever the reason, don’t worry, all is not lost.  I’ve got a few easy ideas using items you probably have on hand in your kitchen.  

Pigs in a blanket

1 package of hot dogs or cooked sausage

1 roll of Crescents (Pillsbury)

Ketchup (optional)

Mustard (optional)

Pre-heat oven according to Crescent roll package.  Open and unroll Crescent rolls onto a clean working surface. Separate them according to the perforations. Spread a light amount of ketchup and mustard (if using) only on the wide end of each roll.  Place one sausage or hot dog at the wide end of each roll and roll them up. 

Place them on a lined or sprayed baking sheet a few inches apart. 

Bake according to package directions.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then cut them to size.  Serve with more ketchup and mustard, melted cheese, BBQ sauce, or hot sauce. 

Cheese dip

1 Eight ounce box of Velveeta

½ cup of Rotel tomatoes drained or ½ cup of salsa excess liquid drained

½ cup of cooked sausage or left-over cooked meat chopped fine (optional).

1 scallion, sliced thin keeping white and green parts separate (optional)

Place all ingredients, except the green parts of the scallions, in a bowl and microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after every 30 seconds, until Velveeta is completely melted. Stir thoroughly and sprinkle the top with scallion greens. Serve immediately. If it gets too cool and starts to be hard to dip, microwave for 30 seconds, and stir.

Variation:  Omit Salsa/Rotel and meat and stir in a can of chili instead.

Air Fryer Taquitos

1 ½ – 2 cups of left-over cooked meat and/or cooked veggies

1 cup of shredded Cheddar, Monterey, Gouda, Colby or Taco blend cheese

4-8 inch flour or corn tortillas as needed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tsp ground garlic

Jarred sliced hot peppers (optional)

Mix meat and/or veggies with cumin, chili powder, and garlic.  Mix in hot peppers if using.  If the mixture is too dry, add 1 Tablespoon of water at a time. It should be moist but not dripping.  Put cheese on one end of a tortilla, place meat/veggie mixture on top of the cheese, place a little more cheese on top and roll up.  Depending on the size of your tortilla, you should have about 3 Tablespoons of filling (including the cheese) in the tortilla, don’t overfill.  You should be able to roll it easily.  Place seam side down in a single layer in the air fryer basket.  Repeat until all the filling is used.  Spray Taquitos with oil spray and air fry on 380 for 6-8 minutes until light brown and crisp.  Cool for 2-3 minutes before biting in; they will be very hot inside.  You can serve salsa, sour cream, guacamole on the side for dipping. 

Buffalo Cauliflower or Brussel Sprouts

2 cups of Cauliflower florets (can be frozen)

Or 

2 cups of cleaned, trimmed, and cut in half Brussel sprouts

Frank’s Original Hot Sauce or Buffalo Sauce

Ranch or Bleu cheese Dressing

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Place Cauliflower or Brussel sprouts in a Microwave safe bowl with a lid and add ¼ cup of water (if using frozen, don’t add any water), cover and microwave for 3-4 minutes or until a fork offers only slight resistance.  

Transfer to a strainer and drain off any liquid.

In a large bowl, Toss Cauliflower or Brussel sprouts in Frank’s until well coated.  Transfer to a lined and sprayed sheet pan.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until they are brown.  Check after 10 minutes.

Serve with Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing for dipping.

By Chef Kerry, ago

What to Do with Left Over Veggies – The Frittata

It’s late Sunday morning, you’re leisurely sipping on a warm cup of coffee or tea and thinking about what to have for brunch.  Maybe you’re still feeling the aftermath of the last glass of wine you had after supper, or perhaps you just aren’t in the mood to invest much time into this.  You head over to the refrigerator to see what the options are, all the while wishing leftover pizza will suddenly appear out of nowhere and be sitting on the shelf.  Sadly, a magical pizza fairy has not blessed you this day and the only left-over food you see are some cooked vegetables from supper.  How will you turn these vegetables into a meal that’s not too involved or time-consuming? The answer comes from Italy, make a Frittata.  

The Frittata is a bit like scrambled eggs, crustless Quiche, Spanish Tortilla (which usually includes cooked potatoes), or an unfolded Omelet.  In Italy, mothers and grandmothers will whip up a Frittata as a quick and easy snack using whatever meat or vegetables they have around the house. You might also see a Frittata at a bar being offered as a bite to eat between meals with an espresso or glass of wine.  In my experiences, they were always served at room temperature in Italy, but at home I like to eat it hot with melted cheese on the top.  

It’s perfectly acceptable to add whatever cooked vegetables and meat you have handy.  Fresh herbs or fresh spinach added at the end of cooking are nice too.  In this recipe, I used zucchini and mushrooms that have been cooked with onion and garlic.  I typically add a few dashes of Tabasco, but that’s not traditional.  Don’t be afraid to make it your own, this is a forgiving recipe.

Frittata

Serves 2 -3

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon milk (nut milk or animal milk)

2 dashes of Tabasco (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

2 Tablespoons Parmesan or Pecorino cheese grated (optional)

½-1 cup cooked vegetables 

Shredded cheese of your choice (optional)

¼ cup fresh baby or chopped spinach (optional)

1 Tablespoon of olive oil 

Heat olive oil in a non-stick oven safe sauté or fry pan until shimmering slightly.  Add the cooked vegetables evenly across the bottom of the pan.  

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, Tabasco, Parmesan, pepper flake, salt, and pepper.  Pour egg mixture evenly over vegetables in the pan and reduce heat to low.

Method 1:  Cook until edges start to brown slightly then turn out onto a plate and slide back into the pan.  Continue to cook until edges start to brown slightly.  Optionally,  sprinkle with shredded cheese, fresh spinach, fresh herbs, and cook until cheese is melted. 

** This method can be difficult and messy, so it’s not my favorite.

Method 2:  Place pan into a preheated oven at 350 degrees and cook until eggs set up and begin to brown slightly.  Gently shake the pan to test for doneness.  Optionally, sprinkle top with shredded cheese, fresh spinach, fresh herbs if using and cook until just melted. 

Method 3 (my favorite):  Cook until edges start to brown slightly.  Cover with a tight fitting lid and continue to cook until set.  Gently shake the pan to test for doneness.  Optionally, sprinkle top with shredded cheese, fresh spinach, fresh herbs if using and cook until just melted. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

By Chef Kerry, ago