For some, leftovers can be a doom sentence. While some of us look at leftovers as the best thing in the world. All will agree that the leftovers with all that green furry topping are pretty ugly. Leftovers eaten three nights in a row can be pretty bad. Leftovers made into great tasting meals can be a good thing and believe it or not can save money. Let’s take a look at ways to use those leftovers to our benefit.
Re-purposing Those Leftovers
Holidays – Leftovers during holidays usually surmount into outrageous quantities. If you are getting tired of the same old turkey or ham sandwiches for the following week, try changing it up for breakfast. Combine the mashed potatoes, stuffing and diced meat in a pan creating a little creator for an egg. Pop it all in the oven for ten minutes on 350 degrees and you have a hearty egg in a nest for breakfast. This is a complete meal with your meat, grains and dairy. It’s also not a bad way to start a day off from the turkey hang-over from the night before.
Meat – A staple of many households is ground meat. It is a perfect start to practice re-purposing leftovers on. A couple pounds of ground beef can be used for hamburgers, then the next day for tacos and finally as an addition to spaghetti sauce or a warm crock pot of chili. Steaks are also great leftovers to utilize for a couple of days. Eaten first as a main dish with mashed potatoes and green beans, cut into strips to top a hearty salad and finally cut into chunks for stews or soups.
Remember to have fun with you leftovers. Try a different spice or mix and match them to create a new treat for everyone to try. Just remember that the taste is what is most important. Watch the ingredients while watching the taste. Sounds hard? It’s not. Let’s take a look at how to accomplish just that.
Ingredients
Let’s take the hamburger meat as an example. What ingredients did you put into it for the actual hamburger? Salt, pepper and maybe some Italian seasoning were used. Keep these ingredients in mind when re-purposing the hamburger because it may not need more salt in the dish you are trying to create. If there was plenty of salt for the hamburger, cut out the salt in the new recipe and see if that works well. Bread crumbs, ketchup and possibly even some A-1. If you went heavy on the A-1 sauce, this might not work well re-purposed as a breakfast casserole. A meatloaf on the other hand might be the way to go. Just remember what you put in will determine what kind of dish you want to reuse the meat for.
Taste
Let’s use a holiday breakfast make over as an example. One can only assume that since mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey all go together in a meal, that they can all be used together in a single dish. Pretending with your mouth can get you a long way when cooking. If you think it will taste good together, go for it. If your instincts tell you otherwise then don’t try it. Think about how the food will taste together to get a good idea of the expected outcome.
Yes there is a good, bad and ugly to leftovers. Reusing leftovers can be a challenge but it can also be a blast. Have fun with your leftovers. Remember to keep tasting as you cook to insure you are on the right track. Most importantly be sure to use those leftovers before they become a green furry mess that ends up in the garbage disposal. Try reusing your leftovers to make hearty nutritious meals for your family and watch the dollars begin to stack up.
What are comfort foods? I’ll take Soups, Gravies and More for $500, Alex. In the long standing tradition of long-standing traditions, soups, gravies, broths and other indulgent liquids has been a constant reminder of the cold weather outside and the warmth inside. There are many varieties and variations on these simple, yet elegant, bases, some of which you may or may not know. Let’s dive right in to the world of warm, comfort foods.
That spice rack? Everybody has one of those but do you know the spices that are on your spice rack? Are they the spices that every kitchen has? Salt and pepper are there I bet along with basil, oregano, sage, rosemary and thyme. All of these are great spices but slowing loosing their spot at the front of the rack. 
What can be more warming than curling up with a cup of mulled cider or hot chocolate on a cold winter day? A warm beverage can take the blustery blues out of winter and give us a warm cozy feeling from our heads to our toes. The possibilities for something warm to curl up with are endless and here are just a few ideas.
pices are incorporated into our meals everyday. They give our foods a flavor and aroma that can bring even the pickiest of eaters to the table. Spices not only peak our smell and our taste buds but certain spices can also help us fight off a down to bone winter chill. This is just a short list of spices that can warm the toes and tickle the taste buds. 
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in Grandma’s kitchen. Smell those fresh baked cookies, cakes and scrumptious pies? Just the thought of baking can give you that warm to the toes feeling. Baking doesn’t have to be a culinary art. It’s simple, fun and can make a cold winter chill vanish in a blink of an eye.
For many people food is a part of their comfort zone. When it’s a frigid winter we look for way to find comfort from the cold. Food, in moderation, can be that comfort. There are many foods that just yell out warmth while there are certain foods that can make that cold to the bone feeling more prominent. 
Cooking at Christmas is stressful enough without the hassle of forgetting something from the store. Every cook has been through it at least once and it makes for extra stress and bedlam. This grocery list will help with making sure you don’t have to experience that again.
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