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Sometimes we get to the end of the week and have so many left-overs in the fridge! Many little containers of small amounts of left over dinners. Normally these get eaten up in our lunches (I will tell you more when I get to my upcoming series “What’s for Lunch Picards?” but this week, for a variety of reasons, that part of our menu planning didn’t work out.
How I try to serve leftovers for dinner
If at all possible, when we have a dinner made up of leftovers, I try to add some fresh fruit or vegetables into the mix. If I have time, I may also add a healthy baked good. This helps ensure there is lots of choices on table for them to chose.
Last night’s menu
Consisted of:
- Left over rice and Greek giant beans
- Left over teriyaki salmon and roasted sweet potatoes
- Left over Almost “Rabbit” Stew (courtesy of our Minecraft Cookbook)
- Fresh raspberries and blueberries (and a leftover apple from lunch)
- Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (I was in the mood for pumpkin waffles yesterday and so I opened a can of pumpkin. Now I will be baking with pumpkin for the next few days to use it up).
Are my leftovers still good to eat?
I had been starting to wonder if that salmon was still good to eat. And I really hate wasting food. For a brief period of my life, I lived in a remote part of Canada and at that time we had chickens. Chickens love leftovers – so we never had to worry about food waste then.
However, if you don’t currently have a flock of chickens and ever find yourself in the same boat – check out this website. Stilltasty.com is an amazing resource to find out how long foods will last in your home. Here is some information from their page on what their sources of information are.
StillTasty’s food storage information is drawn from multiple sources. A primary source is the food safety research conducted by U.S. government agencies, including the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our content also incorporates research from state government agencies as well as several non-profit organizations and associations that conduct studies on food storage and safety.
www.stilltasty.com
So are leftovers a hit in my house?
My oldest really likes the Giant beans, so he grabbed the whole container and asked if he could have it. We said – sure! He also ate half the pint of raspberries, a few of the pumpkin cookies and some of the Almost “Rabbit” Stew.
This picture of my younger son’s plate is misleading. He has more on his plate at the beginning compared to the end. What is not shown is that he ate many cookies and many raspberries in between! He had a few bites of his apple too.
So what?
I have heard from many friends and families that left-overs don’t go over well in their house – so I know I am lucky that my kids and husband will eat them. What I love about leftovers is its takes almost no work to get them the table. It also was quick to clean up so we had time to go to the park and for a short bike ride after dinner. Bonus! I was also able to clean out the fridge and avoid food waste. Win-Win!
That being said, if leftovers aren’t going to fly in your house, you could check out one of my favorite cookbooks, which has a whole section on “planned overs”. This is a fancy way of taking leftovers and turning them into something else. For example, in one recipe she uses left-over roast pork by serving it with ramen.
How do you deal with leftovers in your house? Will your family eat them up or do you constantly wish for a flock of chickens to do the job?
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