Quick and Easy: Beans and Rice

Extended Shelf Life for: Leftover Pico de Gallo

Sometimes, I just need to use up random leftovers, for example some leftover pico de gallo from a night with our friends and a meal of fish tacos. Since we were lacking dinner options and tortilla chips I did some quick thinking and came up with this dish.

Rice from a rice cooker.

Canned refried beans heated in a skillet with pico de gallo juice and a cilantro "ice" cube.

Rice topped with beans, cheese and pico de gallo.

There you go! Enjoy!

Re-Make: Chilie Sour Cream Breakfast Quesadilla

Having enjoyed Chile Sour Cream Pork Layer Enchiladas two nights in a row and having a smidgen of sauce leftover, I was quite happy to make up a quick and delicious Breakfast Quesadilla on Saturday morning.

For each quesadilla I simply scrambled to eggs, spread some sauce on half a large flour tortilla, scooped in the eggs, sprinkled with cheese and threw into the skillet until the outside was crisp and the inside was warm, gooey, cheesey and delicious!

Leftovers are friggin' fantastic when you can reuse them for new dishes!

Brownie Milkshake

Don't ask me how these things happen...why there would be two left over brownies sitting in our fridge for a little longer than necessary. Have no fear, there is always a way to use food items that are on their last leg! In this case, just throw two old (or not so old brownies) into a blender with some milk and ice cream and within minutes, you'll be downing a most supreme milkshake. Your welcome ^.^

Pork and Lentil Stew - Remake

Leftover Pork and Lentil stew + Pasta + Cheese = a whole new Easy Pasta Bake

Saving a Crepe

I wanted to eat a crepe...

I had put it in a Ziploc and caused it to crack...a lot.

I wanted to eat a crepe.

So, the solution. Throw it on a skillet. Whisk an egg, pour over, let it fill in the cracks, cook a bit, flip, cook through - stuff it and eat it.

Viola. Saved the Crepe. Enjoyed a solo-dinner.

Throw it in a Dish -- Call it Dinner

Occassionally (a.k.a. more-often-than-not), there are foods in the fridge that have been there too long, are in too small of quantities to do something new with, and that have lost their original intrigue (such as leftovers).

This "throw-it-in-a-dish" meal is one such example.

Leftover filling from Stuffed Peppers.

Diced Peppers that weren't stuffed.

Last of the Corn Tortiallas (two)

Bottom of a bag of Corn Chips (two small for dipping)

Cheese. Glorious Cheese.

Casserole Dish, followed by tortilla, followed by half the pepper filling and cheese,  followed by tortilla, more pepper filling and cheese, topped with tortilla chip crumbs and of course cheese.

Baked for about 20-30 minutes. Topped with Blender/Food Processor Salsa and Friends, you have a meal!

Stuffed Veggies: Unleash your creativity

This isn't so much about a recipe as it's about inspiration...kitchen inspiration that is.

You can stuff any veg...peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, zuchinni, etc.

I used some leftover kimchi fried rice to stuff a pepper for mike, topped with an egg (which was actually a bit tricky...) And stuffed a tomato for myself with spinach and cheese and again an egg (still tricky).

Regardless, it was a quick and tasty dinner...Stuff Things - it's what all the 'cool kids' are doing ^-^

French Toasted Bagels and Gravy

A few days back I whipped up these Grilled Cheese French Toasted Bagels and found the concept quite intriguing and begging for further exploration. Well, the moment came and I took another wack at the French Toasted Bagel and was not let down by the results.

Ingredients/Directions:

For two bagels I whisked 2 Eggs, a splash of Water and some Cajun Seasoning. Dip the bagel halves in the egg mixture then throw onto a hot and oiled skillet. Let it cook on one side 2-3 minutes, then flip. (Perhaps, if you have greater patience or skill you'll feel they are well done at this point, I however always want them a little crisper and can't quite get the egg to cook all the way through) Throw the bagel halves onto a cookie sheet, top with your choice of ingredients - this round I went with slices of Bell Pepper and Onion. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare gravy on the stove top. I lucked out and had an abundance of broth left over from the Guinness Beef and Mushroom Stew so I just skimmed off about 3-4 ladels of broth and goodies, heat in a skillet, added flour and milk until I had the perfect consistency and viola - Gravy was ready! When bagels are finished in the oven simply top with Gravy and some grated Cheese, get your knife and fork ready and enjoy a hearty meal with your loved one!

Slow Cooker Green Chili and a Re-Make

A dear friend of mine has a winner of a green chili recipe...I've made it before...here it is.

I cannot duplicate it in this foreign land, but I can come pretty close!

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs. Pork Loin
8-10 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Onion, diced
2-4 Potatoes, chopped
3-6 Green Chilies, oven roasted and diced
4-5 large Tomatoes, oven roasted and pulverized
3 cups Green Tea
Chicken Granules
Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder and Cumin to taste

Cornstarch or Flour + Water to thicken

Directions:

Sear pork in skillet. Throw all ingredients except flour+water into a slow-cooker. Cook for 5-6 hours on low. Last 20-30 minutes add flour/water to thicken the chili. Serve with tortillas and enjoy with good friends before a round of Rook or other enjoyable card game!

Remake:

Our dear friend Jen made an amazing corn bread to enjoy with the original pot of chili. With chili leftovers and a couple leftover slices of cornbread mike and I enjoyed a 'juevos ranchero' type dinner. Cornbread, topped with green chili, topped with cheese and a runny egg - FABULOUS!

Tortilla Roll-Ups

To bring in the New Year I worked out a bit of innovation and good ole tradition to put forth these tortilla wraps which I believe my mother first made famous.

The 'original' recipe is a simple compiliation of:

Cream Cheese
Refried Beans
Salsa

mixed together, then spread evenly on a tortilla which is then rolled up, chilled for at least an hour before being sliced to create an adorable pinwheel shape. This is what I wanted to contribute to our New Years Eve celebration. I was missing however, 2 of the 3 ingredients.

The 'innovation' recipe then was a compiliation of:

Mozzarella Cheese
Left over Chili (drained of excess liquid)
Salsa

mixed in much the same way although taking a bit more care in heating the chili, using an immersion blender to gain a more 'refried' like texture, mixing the cheese with the warm beans for a more 'cream' cheese like concept and finally adding salsa. They turned out wonderful and fulfilled my every desire to have a fabulous treat from home for the New Years.

Guisado - Remakes!

I had a bit of Carne Guisado left over.
I like leftovers allright, but I enjoy 'newness' more.

That being said, I used this Guisado to create TWO additional dishes.

Guisado Burritos:

Using the meat and potatoes (a.k.a non-soupy portion) of this stew simply lay out a flour tortilla, fill with warmed potato/meat filling, fry up an egg, place on potato/meat filling, add cheese and salsa, wrap burrito, heat entire filled tortilla up in a warm skillet. Serve with corn chips and salsa and enjoy!

Guisado-Ramen Fusion Dish:

Using the broth and a few leftover veggies from the Guisado Stew (specifically after removing some meat and potatoes for the above mentioned burrito) simply reheat the broth on the stovetop, add a package of Ramen and any additional veggies you may have on hand, heat until broth is warm and noodles are tender. For added protein, whisk one or two eggs, add to simmering broth/noodles, let 'set, stir and serve. Easy, peasy, Fusion-wusion!

Grandpa's Breakfast - Re-Mix

This dish reminded me of my grandpa's famous camping dish. His dish is canned potatoes, bacon and eggs. Bacon cooked first, add canned potatoes, heat through, add eggs cook eggs through and enjoy in the cool morning of a Wyoming Summer.

My dish made good use of some Thanksgiving leftovers: Scalloped-Potatoes were chopped down a bit, heated in a skillet with a touch of oil before about 5 whisked eggs were dumped into the mix. Eggs scrambled, potatoes hots this mixture was served in a bowl with a little cheese on top - would have been equally delicious in a toritilla with a bit of salsa. Uber-easy and extremely delcious!

What creative ways have you used leftovers recently?