So often when I post about leftovers, I will get comments or emails about folks not eating leftovers. Usually it's the husband but not always. This morning as I was stirring together the chicken, broccoli, barley casserole that we're having for our meal today, I started thinking about this.
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First, I'm not trying to convince anyone to start having leftovers or try to force leftovers on someone who doesn't want them but, because of the convenience and cost savings (using everything), I'm just wondering about things.
Second, there are some things I don't like as leftovers. If we grill hamburgers or steak, Vince loves having those as leftovers. I do not. In fact, I won't even eat either as leftovers. As much as I loved roasted chicken, I won't eat it heated up unless it's in something else - not just a piece of leftover chicken, no matter how much BBQ sauce or other sauce I put on it.
I guess I probably don't like any meat heated up unless something else is done to it.
Take pulled pork. I don't like just reheating pulled pork but if I make twice baked potatoes and add sour cream, butter, chives, and chopped up pulled pork, I love that. Also, if I make a pot of dry beans - Lima, pinto, cannellini and once the beans are cooked, add the chunks of pulled pork, I love that. I don't like the pork boiled but just added the chopped (in small to medium chunks - bite size) pork to the hot pot of beans is enough to heat it up.
Probably because I've always cooked more chicken than other meats combined, I love chicken leftovers. As soon as it cools, I'll pull all the meat off the bones. If there's enough to freeze, I'll vacuum seal it in bags in the amount I need for whatever recipe I plan to make. Here are some of the things I will make with leftover chicken:
- Chicken Gumbo of course but that's something we usually only eat in the fall and winter. Come early cold weather. I'm so hungry for gumbo! I sometimes will smoke the chicken for gumbo.
- Chicken & Spaghetti casserole (the kind without the red sauce).
- King Ranch Casserole.
- Broccoli, Chicken and Rice (we use barley instead of rice). I don't use a recipe. When we have roasted chicken, we have steamed broccoli so I have both of those left over that don't need cooking before adding to the casserole. We use barley and since that takes a while to cook, I cook it ahead too and make enough to have several dishes. We sometimes use barley instead of oatmeal for breakfast and with red beans and sausage so tomorrow, we're having red beans and sausage from a jar over barley. To the leftover chicken, broccoli and
- Chicken & Dumplings - I remembered that this recipe is on the old blog so I went back and copied it. Because it was copied, some of the formatting is weird but the recipe is there. This is another dish I LOVE during fall and winter.
- White Chicken Chili - Another one I love in fall and winter.
- Chicken Salad Crescents - A summer recipe. This is so good on a hot summer day with a salad and grapes on the side.
- Chinese Chicken Salad - We love this. It's on the menu for next week.
- Smoked Sausage Cajun Alfredo - Love this one. Finding good Cajun sausage here is a bit of a problem. I need to remind Chad that he needs to make some.
I think a problem with leftovers is that you are eating the same stuff for days without making improvements. I recently read that reheating white rice is bad.
ReplyDeleteOr, the leftovers are frozen and become iced up, so defrosting the stuff is gross.
I think that you tend to freeze properly (freeze and vacuum seal) and use the items within a reasonable time frame. And you modify the food via making soups, salads and so on. So I am like you and make new dishes with previously cooked foods.
I try to make sure we aren't eating it but once. The chicken, broccoli and rice today - there were enough leftovers for three meals but I froze two of them and we ate one today. Sometimes during the next month or so, we'll eat the other two.
DeleteYes, I use the Super Cubes and once everything is frozen solid, I take them out, and vacuum seal the food so it usually tastes pretty fresh. I get very frustrated about wasting food and even more so when it's food I took the time to cook.
Thanks for your comment. It helps to understand why some people don't like leftovers but . . I suppose some people just don't like leftovers and that's ok too. Maybe if I wasn't the cook and kitchen cleanup crew, I would like them less. :)
I love leftovers! Now that I’m cooking for one, it’s hard to make a a fresh meal in a small quantity. So I have gotten used to eating the same thing for three days.
ReplyDeleteI normally would not eat things several days in a row but my main concern is that I don't want Vince to have to eat the same thing several days in a row. If it were just me and often it was when Vince was working out of town, I never minded eating the same thing over and over. It was usually really quick with just a few dishes to clean. Back then I was quilting and that gave me more quilting time.
DeleteI am lucky that my husband loved leftovers. There were certain dishes he’d order at restaurants fully intending to take much of it home. It also cuts down on cooking when you only have to cook once for two (or three) meals!
ReplyDeleteI understand you making something different, but I rarely cook plain meats…occasionally a roast chicken. So I always tried to have something else the day after, then have the leftovers. Just so we aren’t eating the same thing without intermission.