Why leftovers are worth it
One of the things holding people back from cooking is that they think it isn’t worth the time, or they’re afraid of having too many leftovers and throwing stuff out. First of all, yes, cooking can be time-consuming, but it depends entirely on what you’re making. Some recipes take very little effort.
I’d like you to consider this - taking time to cook for yourself is totally worth it because YOU are worth it. Reaching for fast food or processed/prepackaged foods because you think you’re saving time doesn’t serve you well. You know you’re not doing your health any favors, right?
But when you look for recipes, most make 4-6 servings. Who needs 4-6 servings when you’re just cooking for yourself, or for 2? I kind of have that “problem” myself. I don’t have a crew to cook for. But that’s ok. If I prepare a recipe that says it serves 4-6 people, I know that I’ll have leftovers the next day. If it makes more than 4 servings, I can either cut the recipe in half or make the whole quantity and freeze anything we don’t finish that night, saving me time down the road. I can defrost it later, maybe during a busy week or if I get home late and don’t have enough time to cook.
There are lots of ways to use leftovers. Let’s say you steamed some veggies but have more than you can eat in 1 sitting. Take those and add them to an omelet the next day for breakfast, sprinkling on some herbs or cheese. Those veggies can become soup on another day, where you add broth, seasonings, pesto or olive oil. Or they can become part of a tomato sauce over pasta. Maybe you have some extra beans you opened. Put them on a salad, make burritos or a pureed bean dip by adding seasonings or herbs and garlic to dip your veggies in, or add beans to your soup. If you have leftover protein, like chicken or tofu, make a stir-fry with it the following day or put on a sandwich for lunch the next day.
If you opened some chicken stock one night, use the rest of it within the week by using it as the liquid in which you cook rice or quinoa. If you have some leftover rice or quinoa, mix it with some of those veggies, add olive oil and vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs and make a grain and veggie bowl. If you have the heel of a loaf of bread left over, cube it and fry up some croutons for a salad, or crush the bread in the food processor to make bread crumbs. Drizzle on a little olive oil, add some herbs, and use that to coat your fish before pan-frying it. Leftover rice makes great fried rice! In fact, most recipes call for previously cooked rice because it’s a little drier than freshly cooked, which is what you want. Leftover quinoa and ground turkey mixed together with some seasoning makes for tasty burgers.
You get the idea? Keep thinking of new uses for your leftovers. Get those creative juices flowing! Repurposing them minimizes waste and stretches your food dollars - never more critical than today with rising food costs. Cooking saves money and using leftover saves time shopping, but also time preparing food, because the stuff’s already cooked!
Once you start creatively and religiously using leftovers, you’ll never be at a loss when asking “what’s for dinner?”. You’ll always have something at the ready.
