Hi reader,
I wanted to share an idea I stumbled across last week that helps us answer the dreaded question:
What should we do with leftovers when the family is tired of eating them?
Well, ideally, we're intentional to make sure this doesn't happen in the first place.
We can halve recipes… or serve half and freeze half for later… but sometimes it still happens.
This happened to me when I made slow cooker salsa chicken a couple weeks ago.
My family LOVES this dish… served over Instant Pot brown rice or over baked potatoes or even over plain noodles.
They love it so much, that the time BEFORE I made this, there wasn't anything left for my husband's lunches!
So this time, I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers. Smart thinking, right?
Until my husband took it to work for two days and came home pleading for me to not make him take it a third day in a row.
OOPS!!
So… what was I supposed to do with that quart of leftover dinner in the fridge?
I usually live by the mantra, "When in doubt, freeze it," so that's what I did. I put it in a freezer-safe container and stuck it in the fridge so it A) wouldn't go bad, and B) I wouldn't have to look at it in the fridge.
A couple weeks later though, I was making my meal plan based on foods we already had in the house (rule #1 to reduce food waste and save money!) and I needed to use up those leftovers!
I stumbled across a recipe in a magazine for a blended chicken adobo soup… which as I read through the ingredients, was pretty much my leftovers along with a few things from the pantry!
I don't know if this recipe will ever make it to the blog or not, but I'd like to share it with you. Everyone in my family LOVED this soup, and my kids even asked for seconds. That's how you know you have a winner!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup chicken stock (how to make homemade chicken stock for free)
- ¾ cup chopped white onion
- 2 whole chipotle peppers (from a can)*
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1-15 oz can pinto beans (or 2 cups homemade pinto beans)**
- 1 quart leftover slow cooker salsa chicken
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine all of the ingredients except the pinto beans and slow cooker salsa chicken in a blender. Puree until smooth.
- Pour into a medium stock pot and add the beans and leftover slow cooker salsa chicken. Bring to a simmer.
- Serve warm with your favorite toppings. We like tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese and cilantro!
* You'll probably have leftover chipotle peppers. Use them up in this easy Instant Pot vegetarian chili or our favorite spicy citrus black beans recipe!
** You can save money by cooking your own dry beans vs. buying canned beans. I did the math in this post.
You can also save TIME by making two pounds of dried beans at one time in the Instant Pot (I have the 8 quart DUO).
If you DON'T have an Instant Pot but are considering one, here's how the Instant Pot can save you money and 20 things you should know BEFORE you buy.
Have you come up with any creative ways to reinvent leftovers? I'd love to hear them! Hit "reply" and share your favorite secrets with me!
Blessings,
PS: Using up leftovers creatively is an EXCELLENT way to avoid food waste. And less waste means more money saved!
In fact, this idea of controlling what you do with food at home (like using up ALL the leftovers) is one of the key points in my Crush Inflation Challenge!
You can join the FREE challenge anytime by clicking here.
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