Thursday, January 15, 2009

Stretching Leftovers

I try to save all the leftovers I can. Most end up in small containers in my refrigerator freezer compartment. Every couple of weeks I dig around in there and see what I have to work with for a meal or two. A few weeks ago I cooked tacos and had leftover taco meat. I also cooked 2 pounds of black beans and froze in 2 cup portions. I did the same with a pound bag of brown rice. I figure it takes just as much gas and time to cook the entire bag as it does one serving.

Earlier this week I pulled out all three items. I mixed the rice and leftover taco seasoned meat together, added the black beans, and some thawed frozen corn with lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing for the taco salads. I did not use all of the rice/meat mixture or the black beans.

So the next day I put both together along with the salsa from an almost empty jar, some taco sauce, and a bit of spicier green salsa plus some shredded cheddar cheese. This was wrapped in whole wheat tortillas and baked in the toaster oven until crispy. I think the mixture was better the second time around.

On their own none of these items would have been enough for more than one serving. Mixed together with some other ingredients on hand I ended up with two extra meals. Be creative with those leftovers. If you only have a single serving of a meal left, pop that in the freezer. You have a homemade frozen dinner for another day.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. We were too busy eating to drag out the camera.

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