With the new budget plan in place I have been making a greater effort to plan out the menu at least the night before based on what ingredients I have left over. It has not been hard and fast as you will see!
I will start this thread with December 29th since that seems to be the beginning of this chain of leftovers.
Dec 29th for dinner we had Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops with steamed rice and green beans. I cooked extra rice because I had a little bit of fresh broccoli, the end of a box of velveeta and some whipping cream left in the fridge that I wanted to use up.
Dec 30th for dinner I used the leftover steamed rice, the end of the velveeta, the rest of the broccoli which I steamed, and some whipping cream. I also sweated some mushrooms and grilled up some chicken tenders that were getting freezer burned to put in the casserole. All of this was put together and then baked in the oven for about 20 minutes and served with some garlic bread. I had extra grilled chicken after this dish was put together.
Dec 31st for dinner I wanted soup since it was cold here so I used the leftover chicken tenders in Chicken Tortilla Soup. In the process of making the soup I opened a large can of diced tomatoes so I had half of that left to use up.
Jan 1st for dinner I went with a family request instead of anything to use up the tomatoes. We had Flanken ribs, salad and Teriyaki mushrooms.
Jan 2nd for dinner we had tostadas which allowed me to use up some of the tomatoes in with the taco spiced meat but not all of them. I brought the leftover tostada fixings with me for lunch starting on the 4th.
Jan 3rd for dinner was another family request, this time the 6 year old. We had some chicken nuggets in the freezer and he asked for those with mac and cheese. I did not have the stuff to make mac and cheese so they were served with wild rice.
Jan 4th for dinner we had smoked sausage with baked sweet potatoes and for those who wanted it leftover wild rice.
Jan 5th for dinner was Creamy Spinach Sausage Pasta which used up the leftover tomatoes ( I used the leftover diced instead of the tomatoes with green chilies that it called for), the leftover smoked sausage, and more of the whipping cream I am trying to use up. This recipe did leave me with 2 cups of leftover chicken broth. I went on pinterest last night to look for recipes and cannibalized items from several for tonight's dish.
Jan 6th for dinner the plan is to eat the chicken legs I have in the crockpot. I tried an idea I came across online which was to put balls of aluminum foil in the bottom of the crock pot to keep the chicken from getting soggy. I also stole another idea and poured the leftover chicken broth in the bottom of the crockpot so it would "rain" on the chicken while it cooked and keep it moist. I did not like any of the sauces in the recipes so I just crusted the chicken with a BBQ dry rub this morning and set it in there. The plan is to serve this with mashed potatoes which should use up my last 2 baking potatoes and the rest of the whipping cream!
We will see what is leftover tonight and if I need to hit up the recipe books and blogs for ideas tonight.
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