In these unstable times, many of us are struggling to make ends meet, in fact more of us than not. It can be a challenge all the way around, but, there are many ways we can make things work for us, and as I have been reading around the blogosphere, many women are admitting that they have learned a lesson in all of this, that is they see that once they were too wasteful or too extravagant in their purchases, especially in the grocery department...
Another factor in trying to make meals is boredom with the same old foods. There are only so many choices for meats, potatoes, rices and so forth. Our greatest variety lies in fruits and vegetables, though we might not be able to always afford the various types and kinds, so, we make do, over and over again....
There are ways to shake up the menu. You can use leftover meats in a wide variety of ways. You can make Chinese with beef, chicken, pork, or ham. You can also make dishes with different sauces on leftover meats, such as stroganoff on leftover beef, fajitas with leftover chicken, or tacos, or enchiladas, you can make BBQ pork sandwiches, and well, there are lots of ways to make the meat spread through at least 2 meals, and making each of them different from the first one...
One great dish for leftover ham is scalloped cheese potatoes and ham. Ham is a good purchase for you should be able to get at least 3 - 5 meals out of it. For scalloped cheese potatoes:
About 8-15 potatoes (the more potatoes you add, you might need to add more butter and so forth), peeled and sliced into thin slices, rinse well...
Make the sauce in a saucepan:
About 2 tablespoons of butter, maybe 3
About 3 tablespoons of flour, I also add some garlic (fresh or powdered, some seasoned salt, some parsley (dried), and some pepper...
Melt the butter, and stir in the flour, remove from heat
About 1/2 small or medium onion, chopped
Add to the butter and flour, stir well,
Add about 3 or 4 cups of milk
Put pan back on heat and mix, let come to a boil, stirring frequently.
About a 3 inch chunk of Velvetta cheese, and about 3 slices American cheese, and some grated Cheddar cheese.
Add the Velvetta and American cheese to the milk mixture and stir until melted.
Cut up some left over ham and sprinkle throughout the sliced potatoes, add the cheese sauce, cover, and bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours, stir the mixture at least twice during baking. Remove cover, add the grated cheese and bake for 15 - 20 more minutes. Stir up the mixture one last time, if it is still kind of loose, it will thicken more as it sits, and if it doesn't sprinkle some flour in it and stir good, though I have never had to do that... This is a very tasty and hearty dish, serve with a vegetable and you have a great way to use leftovers... NOTE: use can use more or less of everything, use your taste and discretion...
Roasts are another good investment, for they too can be made into a wide range of dishes. Sometimes I use the leftovers to make hot beef sandwiches, sometimes I make beef and noodles, sometimes I make Chinese:
Take cubed roast beef, put in skillet, add a bit of olive oil, add a 1/2 to a whole onion, 1 - 4 ribs of celery, cut into slices, 1 - 2 carrots, diagonally sliced, and simmer this on med. heat with a cover.
Cut up some red, yellow, orange, or green pepper, or all four.
About 4-6 green onions, chopped. You can add water chestnuts or bamboo shoots (rinse well)...
Add some soy sauce, about 1/4 cup to simmering meat and vegetables. I add garlic as well. Put about 3 cups of water in the simmering pot, add beef bouillon cubes, about 2.
Add some flour, about 2 tablespoons ( I use flour as opposed to corn starch as corn starch aids in fat deposits in your veins, leading to hardening, but, you can use cornstarch, which would be about 2 teaspoons and a 1/8 or so of cold water) and stir well. When working with flour, you do not want to add to hot food, so when you add the water, add the flour and stir it well, smashing the balls of flour you see, if any. Return to simmering, let simmer for about 20 minutes.
You can add any variety of vegetables you want, I usually add peas and mushrooms, but, most people like broccoli added, so, use your taste and imagination.
Now add the peppers and the vegetables, taste the sauce and see if it needs more soy or beef flavoring, or any other spices. Continue on low, low heat for a while. You will need to make some rice or noodles during this time, the choice is yours. I use brown rice, which takes 45 minutes to cook, so, I start that before I do the chop suey.
At the end of the cooking time for the rice or noodles, add some bean sprouts. Fresh are the best, but, if you use canned ones, make sure you rinse them in cold water first, to remove that flavor, for it will change the entire flavor of the dish. Turn to med. high heat and just heat to boiling, Serve over rice or noodles. NOTE: You can make this with that bottled stir fry sauce, or any Chinese seasoning pack of your choice, whatever you like...
Each of these dishes are a great way to stretch small amounts or more of leftover meat, and, they are not hard to do, plus, they are hearty enough to satisfy and mostly healthy...
I know these are not original ways to use leftovers, but, they do offer a change and a great way to use them. I will share some of my favorite Mexican and Italian dishes soon...
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