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Making Leftovers More Appealing


Our Leftover Buffet

It's Kitchen Tip Tuesday!!

We had a Leftover Buffet for supper Saturday night. I'd say about half the time, we have a night of the week where we take all the bowls of leftovers out of the fridge and use them for supper.

We use most of our leftovers for our lunches. It's cheaper than eating sandwiches, which requires purchasing bread, sliced meats, cheeses, condiments and chips. We have literally saved thousands of dollars over the past 25 years just by Larry "brown bagging it" for his lunch. The savings from what he would spend on his lunch goes a fairly long way in paying for our nights out.

I have found that leftovers are a bit more attractive to my family if I empty them into a smaller casserole dish, reheat and top with fresh toppings - such as cheese or crushed crackers. The small casserole dishes in the picture are my favorites. These are from Pampered Chef. I can't find them in the current catalog. I'm not sure they're still available. If you can find something similar, they are great for re-heating leftovers and cooking things like hot dips and spreads!

If your leftovers seem a bit dry, stir in a small amount of water, broth or milk to moisten them.

Serving fresh bread with your leftovers is also a great way to add a new item without a lot of work or expense. Breads such as Biscuit Rolls or Hush Puppies are inexpensive and quick and easy to prepare. I've posted both recipes below.

I always feel a small bit of satisfaction when I serve our little Leftover Buffets, seeing all the food the Lord has provided and enabled me to prepare for my family.

A quick tip for preserving leftovers. I hate to throw away food, but sometimes, no matter how hard I try, our schedule just doesn't allow for us to eat everything before it ruins. A great way to preserve these leftovers is to coat a muffin tin with a bit of cooking spray, spoon leftovers into prepared tins, freeze, remove from freezer and pop out these individual-sized servings. Place these into a freezer-weight Ziploc bag and take out servings, as needed.

I would for y'all to share ways you make good use of your leftovers!!

“Biscuit” Rolls

I buy the cheap, store-brand butter-flavored canned biscuits. Depending on the size of your family, you can use the 5-count or 10-count rolls of biscuits.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter.

Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. Place a refrigerated biscuit into each muffin cup. Spoon melted butter over each biscuit. Bake for about 10 minutes.


Hush Puppies

I use frozen hush puppies that I get at Wal-mart. The bag just says - Hush Puppies. It does say distributed by Wal-mart on the back of the bag. These are really good, better than some restaurants!

For more great recipes, meal ideas, and kitchen tips, visit:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Kitchen Tip Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Comments

  1. mubSeptember 1, 2009 at 3:19 AM

    I love these tips! We do a leftover buffet every now and then, but I love the idea of sprucing them up a little!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SamanthaSeptember 1, 2009 at 11:01 AM

    Connie,
    Thanks for the great left-over tips and that chicken noodle casserole belo sounds great !!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JulieSeptember 1, 2009 at 11:52 AM

    Leftover's are regularly on the menu at our house too. Thanks for the tips on making them taste a little better.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 1, 2009 at 12:11 PM

    THANKS!!! for the tips. Geri

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 1, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    Great ideas. Thanks for sharing. I hope to see you at Crock Pot Wednesday on diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com. Thanks again for posting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownSeptember 1, 2009 at 4:17 PM

    i love the idea of freezing leftovers in muffin cups and having individual portions! however, in our house we rarely have leftovers... my husband and i usually fight for them, cause a lot of the food i make (casseroles, soups, salads etc) tastes better the second day then the first.

    shannon

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lisa@BlessedwithGraceSeptember 1, 2009 at 8:54 PM

    Great ideas. I have several left over containers in my fridge, at this moment. My husband is a hard sell on left overs. I usually eat them for my lunches. Thanks for the tips and linking to TMTT.

    ReplyDelete

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