The ultimate using leftover food up collection

[Skethylita]

I thought we might share ideas. In a bit of a financial squeeze right now, what with the holidays, but I have learned a lot from my grandparents' wartime generation. So how do you make the most of leftovers?

Today, I have used leftover bolognaise to make chilli by adding lentils, beans and appropriate herbs/ spices and a bit of cocoa powder. Cooked with rice, I didn't have to prepare too much.

I also mashed up some leftover meringue, added leftover random fruit (a mix of cherries, bananas and peaches) and served it with leftover cream meant for hot chocolates for pudding.

I saved a colleague some money last year by suggesting he added his leftover pumpkin to some mash for a sweet shepherd's pie layer and he loved it.

What is it you do to save a bit of money and use up food you may still have lingering around, but which isn't enough to make a meal by itself?

We've got a chicken, nduja, new potato and Mediterranean vegetable tray bake for dinner tonight. Any left over veg or potatoes will go into a fritata tomorrow.

Perfect, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for!

I've made lasagne tonight and after making up the lasagne I added taco beans, chillis, spices and mexican rice to the left overs. That will make Burrito bake on Saturday using the left over hashbrowns from tomorrows fry up to top it.

Egg fried rice is great for using up small bits of leftover meat and any lurking veg.

Every week we have either a fritatta or a veggie curry to use up any leftover vegetables at the end of the week.

Also save any vegetable peelings and off cuts eg broccoli stalks and freeze them until I have enough to make stock.

Left over stale bread I use to make croutons.

Left over mash with tuna, chilli, chives, parsley and finely chopped gherkins = tuna fishcakes

I love egg fried rice and regularly use bits of meat and veg up in stir fries.

Keep them coming 😊

fried rice - with leftover rice and any odds and sods of veggies, meat etc. perfect for using up that last piece of pepper, that half an onion, the slightly limp green beans, the chicken leg from Sunday roast etc

Left over veggies get put in the soup maker with stock and any lentils I have in

I use up leftover Bolognese sauce or chilli etc and make quesadillas and freeze them if needed.

Soup is an excellent way of using up veg that's starting to get a bit past its best.

I wish I had the skill and creativity to be able to do this! Very jealous, huge respect! 🙌🏼

Left over vegetables or roast chicken etc can be used in Asian style noodle broth. Use stock from Marigold or similar if you don't have any home made stock, just add some Asian flavour spice, and soy or sweet chilli sauce.

Courgette grated, or sweetcorn, made into fritters, used as a side or a snack with drinks.

Chop up left over cooked vegetables and add to cous cous for a quick lunch. Or use a sheet of puff pastry with leftover vegetables to make a quick tart, add cheese if available, cooks quickly.

I make a leg of lamb on a Sunday sometimes for the three of us and then use the significant leftovers to make a shepherds pie and either a lamb biriani or curry. Gets three big dinners out of one joint of meat.

Egg fried rice too here for leftover chicken/rice/veggies etc. just watch out for the temperature of rice and how long it's left at room temp - I've always been v blasé about this but it came back to bite me the other day after eating rice that had been left out at room temp for too long. 4 days of food poisoning! So don't get blasé like me, I won't do that again!

If I have leftover chilli I sometimes make crispy baked quesadillas with them -sprinkle cheese and chilli over a tortilla wrap, fold, place on an oiled tray and bake until crispy and gooey.

I’m happy to eat random mixes of things so won’t post those 😂

Some stuff I boil & strain for stock, freezing if not immediately using & dumping soggy bits into composter

Watched SortedFood put their veg/spice scraps in oven to dry out then blitzed them into powder for seasoning

I used to dry papaya seeds out for pepper mill but never thought of making seasoning out of end bits of ginger, scallions & the like - hoping to give it a go at some point

Any overripe bananas go to make either banana cake or flapjack or whizz up with milk for a healthy milkshake.

Any overripe fruit such as apples, berries, pears, peaches etc even carrots make a great smoothie.

we mix leftover with egg and bake in muffin tins.
great for lunchboxes or afternoon snacks

Each Sunday I either make a big batch of bolognese or chilli then it saves me cooking a full on meal a few nights a week as I do the following

Bolognese:
lasagne
with pasta
with jacket potatoes

chilli:
with rice
in wraps
with jacket potatoes

I also do enough to freeze some to pull out as an emergency meal if needed in future. Pack the chilli with a few tins of mixed beans which coat about 40p a tin and add lots of goodness and are super filling. I also add red lentils to my bolognese.

This afternoon I will be roasting two chickens (or two trays of chicken pieces, whatever is on offer). The meat will be picked off, and then one will be used for curry, with the leftovers being made into curry pies the next day. The other chicken will be made into stew with dumplings. Leftover stew (leftover dumplings just don't happen!) will also be used to make a pie. The chicken bones are used to make soup.

Later in the week I will be making cottage pie, with added tinned lentils to bulk out the meat. The leftover sauce will have tomatoes, herbs and garlic added and be used to make a lasagne. This way, 750g of mince will feed 6 people, twice.

Older veg, veg stalks and outer leaves go into soup. Extra chilli makes nachos or dip. Caesar salad with leftover roast chicken, with crisped up roast potatoes instead of croutons.

Lots of leftovers go to make work lunches.

Keep bread in freezer for toast and put a couple of slices in the toaster at a time.

If I have leftover potatoes or mash, I make potato cakes and freeze then just toast for a quick breakfast.

Ripe bananas make a lovely banana loaf