Miracles with Leftovers

One of the most effective tools for quick meal preparation is the ability to use leftovers creatively. A true leftover magician can create 2-3 meals from one dish without the crowd catching on to the fact that they're eating last night's dinner - again. Hint: it's all done with mirrors. Okay, that's not true, but there is a knife or two involved.

Bread:

• Egg Cubes: cut bread into cubes and dip into egg yolk seasoned with sea salt and pepper. Saute each side of cube in a little butter.
• Croutons: cube, spray or toss with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with pre-mixed seasoning such as Spike, Mrs. Dash, or Italian seasoning. Oven toast for croutons.
• Bread crumbs: place toasted bread in a plastic bag and step on it until the bread is all crumbed. You could use a rolling pin instead, or whirl it in a blender or food processor but it wouldn't be as much fun.
• Bread Pudding - recipe in upcoming UnDiet Step.
• Stale, but still soft bread slices can be rolled flat with a rolling pin then used to line greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees until very lightly toasted, about 5 minutes, then fill with any of the following:
  • Tofu Quiche - place back in oven and bake until done, about 30 minutes
  • creamed vegetable - heat until hot before placing in bread cups
  • any creamy Neutral or Starch soup - heat until hot before placing in bread cups
• UnDiet French Toast: dip bread into batter of egg yolks, soy/nut/seed/rice milk, vanilla, and maple syrup or honey.
• Coconut Cookies: dip bread slices in sweetened soy/nut/seed/rice milk or coconut milk, then in unsweetened shredded coconut. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven until coconut is browned.

Coffee:

If it's Folgers just dump it, but when you've paid $12 a pound for real coffee it's worth it to save what's left at the bottom of the pot. Since I usually don't drink more than a cup or two and even then I drink it pretty slowly I turn the coffee maker off as soon as the coffee is finished brewing. That way even if I do drink the entire pot it doesn't have that stale, acidic taste. Then I either just leave it and reheat it when I need another cup, or I place it in a thermal container to keep it fresh all day. Any leftover coffee can be refrigerated and reheated, served as an iced coffee, or used to make a Dirty Hyper Monkey.

Cake:

Make a double batch of cake batter whenever you make a cake. Freeze the second cake then use it to make the following desserts:

• Layer leftover unfrosted cake with slightly softened ice cream, freeze and slice for a new dessert.
• Cake Pudding: Prepare one package of UnDiet compatible pudding mix according to package directions. Fold 1 batch (2 cups) UnDiet whipped cream into cooled pudding. Place leftover unfrosted cake, broken into pieces, in bottom of a serving dish or bowl. Pour pudding mixture over cake. Chill several hours to overnight.
• Quick Tiramisu: drizzle liqueur over each serving then top with UnDiet whipped cream.

Cheese:

• Bits of leftover cheese, including soft cheeses like cream cheese can be melted with milk, heavy cream or creme fraiche (sour cream will curdle) for an easy cheese sauce. I often freeze cheese I've bought on sale, leftover bits that are too small to use for a sandwich or cheese that I'm afraid will go bad before I can use it.
• Stir mix of hard and/or soft cheeses into:
  • soups
  • scrambled eggs, omelettes, frittatas
  • already prepared sauces - cheese is even good added to tomato sauces
• Place any of the items below in a pie tin. Top with bits of leftover hard cheese. Broil until cheese is melted.
  • pear or apple slices
  • steamed veggies
  • Perfectly Neutral Mashed "Potatoes"

Egg Whites - cooked:

• Chop and add to:
  • salads
  • meat sandwich fillings
  • casseroles
• Dip sliced egg whites in uncooked white or yolk seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and your choice of any other herb or spice. Roll dipped slices in ground pork rinds or sesame seeds (whole or roughly ground), and fry in skillet or oven until hot and crispy.

Egg Whites - uncooked:

• make meringue
• make Fruit Whips - recipe in upcoming UnDiet Step.
• drizzle in a slow stream into hot broth soups to form egg threads

Egg Yolks - cooked:

• grate or chop over salad
• Deviled Egg Filling: using a fork mash yolk(s) with mustard, mayo, sea salt & black pepper. Use to:
  • fill cooked egg whites
  • fill celery sticks
  • top cucumber slices
  • Use as a sandwich spread.
• Season roughly mashed firm tofu with a dash of unpasteurized, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, sea salt and black pepper then stir in Deviled Egg Filling for a Mock Egg Salad. Use with any of the above suggestions.

Egg Yolks - uncooked:

• custards
• sauces
• add to scrambled eggs
• any of the Egg Whites - uncooked suggestions.

Fruit:

• If you've bought too many grapes and are afraid they'll spoil, freeze them for a great snack.
• Too many bananas? Break them into chunks and freeze. Use to make Fruit Ice Cream, shakes and baked desserts.
• Slightly bruised Fruit? Cut off bad parts and use for Fruit salad, pie, or add to tuna, chicken, or turkey salad - apples, pears and grapes are delicious this way.
• bake a Fruit dessert and freeze
• citrus Fruits - juice them and use the juice immediately or freeze in ice cube trays then store in labeled freezer bags
• apples - peel, core, slice and use for shakes and baked desserts
• berries - freeze whole (remove stems from strawberries) and use for shakes and baked desserts
• cherries - pit, remove stems, freeze and use for shakes and baked desserts

Meats:

• Leftover meat can be used in a Protein sandwich or finely dice and mix with mayo and diced veggies to make  a sandwich spread.
• Heat meat slices in leftover sauce and serve over
  • toasted Protein Bread
  • Soy Spatzle - recipe in upcoming UnDiet Step.
  • buttered spaghetti squash
  • steamed veggies

Miscellaneous:

• I like to think of leftovers as convenience foods. I rarely use store-bought convenience foods because I always make a double batch of whatever I'm cooking and use the leftovers to make an entirely new meal. To make leftovers taste fresh, add a new ingredient such as sauteed onions, garlic, vegetables, broth, rice, pasta, meat, more spices or herbs, or another leftover ...
• Getting the last smidgen out of a container: when you get to the bottom of the ketchup, salad oil, salad dressing ... prop the container upside down for an hour or so and you'll get at least one more serving. After extracting that last serving add water to the bottle and use the liquid to flavor pasta, soups, rice, stews, salad dressings ...

Vegetables:

• Keep a tightly covered container in your freezer and add leftover veggies with their cooking water. Keep Starch veggies in a separate container. When you have enough, make soup by adding broth  and/or broth powder and your favorite herbs and spices. Starch soups: add pasta, rice, beans, tofu. Proteins soups: add meat, egg, cheese, tofu.
• Add leftover cooked veggies to green, pasta, or rice salad - or to a sandwich spread.
• Potato Hash: brown diced cooked potatoes in a little oil or butter over high heat with tofu cubes and/or diced veggies.
• Veggie Puppies: mash leftover starchy vegetables, add egg yolk, and bread crumbs to thicken to the consistency of ground meat. Form into sausage link shapes. Saute, or spray with oil and bake at 400 degrees until outsides are crispy.
• If you've bought too many fresh veggies and are afraid they'll spoil, get out the food processor to prepare them for freezing. I've directed you to cook some of the veggies before freezing because they'll turn brown if frozen raw. Freeze the rest of these veggies raw, or cook first with spices and mix several veggies for quick pasta, rice, soup, casserole dishes at a later date:
  • beets - peel and shred
  • bell pepper -dice or thinly slice
  • broccoli - peel stem and shred, chop flowerets into small pieces
  • carrot - shred or dice
  • cauliflower - chop stem, chop flowerets into small pieces
  • eggplant - peel, chop or slices lengthwise or into rounds and cook before freezing
  • green beans - snap off ends, chop or julianne
  • mushrooms - dice or slice
  • onion - dice or thinly slice
  • potato - cook then shred, dice, or thinly slice
  • spinach - remove stems, place in colander and rinse very well. Leave in colander to drain well. Use your hands to lift and turn the leaves in the colander to allow water to drain from leaves.
  • tomatoes - freeze whole, great raw in soups, salsas and sauces
  • zucchini - shred, dice, or thinly slice

Tips & Tricks

Taking vinegar to help the body burn fat is an old model's trick. Stir 2 teaspoons of unpasteurized, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (not white vinegar which has a PH balance that's incompatible with the human body) into a glass of water and drink 10 minutes before any meal that contains cooked foods.

$$$avers

When you use ground meat in a recipe reduce the amount of meat, adding extra veggies to give you the same amount of bulk. Keep the meat you save a freezer bag to use for burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, etc. Besides being a $$$aver this is a good UnDiet trick to get more veggies in.

Step By Step

1. Open fridge.
2. Remove leftovers.
3. Add extra ingredients.
4. Eat.
5. Move onto the next Step, An Education in Acid & Alkaline Foods.

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last revised November 4, 2008
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