What Will You Do With Your Holiday Leftovers?

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Posted by Theresa111 • 7/05/11
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In many homes today, there is plenty of food leftover from yesterday. What are you going to do with your leftovers tonight, tomorrow? Will you freeze any portions for later use, or will you combine them into fresh dishes?

One of my favorites ways to use the food is to recreate it and dress it up the very next day.

Since we had seafood, I shall remove the crabmeat from the shells, make a Neuberg sauce, bake some puff pastry shells and reheat the steamed veggies. Fresh slices of tomatoes with lemon juice, capers and baby Boston lettuce will do the trick.

What are you making ... or remaking?

creative ideas, discussion, sharing, using leftovers

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0 votes

urbanideas (7/05/11)

very nice and yummy.... Usually leftovers become lunches next day. With all types of meats I usually freeze them right away on their own sauces or juices, then when I have enough of them I make meat croquets with them. Seafood I shred it all into small pieces them mix it in a béchamel sauce. I make some mashed potatoes and pour it in a round deep pyrex. I create a hole in the middle of the mashed potatoes then add the seafood béchamel in there. Cover it all with shredded cheese and place in the oven until hot and golden on the top and VOILA a brand new dish!

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1. 0 votes
  
  Theresa111 (7/05/11)
  
  I haven't made croquettes in years! thanks for the reminder. You know how it is ... things are all the rage one minute and then the next it is something else and those long ago fads become retro. I love your mashed potatoes casserole idea. That is one I can try here at home.
0 votes

Christopher51 (7/06/11)

Fortunately, the only thing left for our forth of July celebration is a little bit of my wife’s wonderful potato salad. Nothing else remains.

For everyday leftovers, I use a Food-Saver vacuum-bagger. If you have mushy things like meatloaf, separate any gravy and hold that aside in the fridge. Take the meatloaf and put it into the freezer for a few hours until it’s just firmed up. Then put the meatloaf into a prepared bag. Then throw in the gravy. Try to get the gravy around the meat. Then seal the bag.

When it’s time for dinner, get a sizeable pot of water up to a medium boil. Take your bagged food and drop the whole thing into the water. Bring it down to a low simmer, cover the pot and forget about it for about an hour. It’s not going to dry out. It’s been packed in its own juice or gravy. When it’s time to serve, it’ll be just as good as the day it was cooked.

I’ve saved all kinds of foods with this method; including mashed potatoes and mac’n cheese.

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1. 0 votes
  
  Theresa111 (7/06/11)
  
  Mmm ... Christopher, my Father would have done the same thing as you. I gave away two of my vacuum and seal gizmo''s and opted for the inexpensive hand-held Reynolds Handi Sealer. It is more user-friendly for me and the bags are re-sealable, and allows one the convenience of removing a portion of food, then sealing the bag again. Most of the time I try not to have leftovers, but your way is cool! It reminds me of those Banquet dinners I would buy as a teenager and boil my supper. Does your wife have a secret potato salad recipe? My late Mother-in-law had a magic style of making hers and we don't know what it was, because none of ours can touch the way hers tasted. Maybe you can snap some photos the next time you are sealing your foods and teach us the trick of placing the gravy around the meat before sealing. Sounds tricky.
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  Christopher51 (7/18/11)
  
  Theresa: I’m actually working on my 2nd Vacu-Seal since 1998. I use it quite often. Freezing liquids is no mystery. Sometimes I make a bag, fill it and then fold the open end over and hold it closed with a “Chip-Clip.” Then throw it in the freezer. When it’s frozen then just seal it as usual. The other method that I use on stuff that will not freeze easily is to make a bag and fill it. Then I prop it up and actually bring the machine to the bag. This requires a bit of practice.
  
  I’ll try and squeeze her potatoes salad recipe out of her. It’s really quite good.
3. 0 votes
  
  Theresa111 (7/18/11)
  
  Christopher,
  
  This makes so much sense! I was trying to vacuum the whole thing with juices, and I would become very frustrated with the juices trying to get into the machine, or onto the area that needed to stay dry for sealing. You have addressed the problem I was having.