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Food is a big part of holiday festivities and with any major cooking endeavor, you want to make sure there’s enough to go around for everyone. However, that usually means leftovers once all the holiday celebrations are over. So what should you do with all the extra good food?
Leftover food is one of the biggest sources of food waste for many households. Either it gets forgotten about in a cluttered refrigerator, we don’t know how to reuse it, or we just aren’t in the mood to eat the same meal again.
Shockingly, nearly 40% of all food in America is wasted. Additionally, 108 billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States each year – that equates to 130 billion meals and more than $408 billion in food thrown away.
Whatever the reason it may be for letting leftovers turn into food waste, leftover loss is a huge problem. Thankfully, it's an issue that can be easily tackled in your own household with some simple solutions for repurposing your food and giving your leftovers life again!
1. Make Something Old, New Again
Finishing leftovers doesn’t mean you always have to reheat and eat the same old food. By reimagining leftovers into new meals, you can make them a little more exciting and even have some fun in the process.
Depending on the original taste and seasoning of your leftover meal, you can add leftover meat, vegetables, or seafood to a new creation such as fried rice, pasta, casseroles, tacos, or soup.
Let’s say you have leftover roast chicken and vegetables one night. You can cut up the chicken and vegetables and add them into fried rice for lunch or dinner the next day. Or, let’s say you have some leftover seafood like salmon and shrimp. You can make a batch of delicious salmon cakes and turn the shrimp into surf ‘n turf tacos.
Wondering what to do about the uncooked leftovers you have lying around, like cheese remains and cured meats from party platters? We have solutions for those too! If you have a few random blocks of cheese in your fridge, try making a three-cheese pasta bake that combines all of your different cheese ingredients. If you have leftover cured meats like salami and prosciutto, pack them onto a yummy homemade pizza and top it off with your remaining cheeses.
Remember that just because you had it one way the first time doesn’t mean it has to be the same the next time!
2. Dedicate A “Leftovers Night”
Bringing on a new twist to just heating up and eating old meals, “leftovers night” turns your dinner into a fun buffet while allowing you to finish all of your leftovers in the fridge.
Plan one night a week to have a leftovers buffet and try to bring out other foods that may go bad soon, like a half-eaten container of hummus which would go great with your leftover vegetables.
If it makes sense with the leftovers you have, you can even set up a toppings bar to complement the food and make “leftovers night” more fun. It can consist of foods like grated cheese, salsa, sour cream, green onions, chopped nuts, or anything else you wish!
Not only are you making eating reheated leftovers a little less boring, you’re also saving the planet from food waste with every bite.
3. Make the Freezer Your Friend
When you have leftover food from a meal, consider freezing it instead of leaving it in the fridge (and accidentally forgetting that it’s in the fridge). Freezing your leftovers can generally preserve most of the food’s original nutrients and vitamins, and it lasts longer than it would in your fridge.
It’s also helpful to think about how you plan to use the leftover food in the freezer before putting it in the freezer.
For instance, if you have leftover chicken that you’re thinking of saving for stir fry or soup next week, cut the chicken into smaller pieces fit for those dishes before freezing everything. That way, part of the cooking prep will already be done and you won’t even have to wait for the chicken to thaw to cut it into smaller pieces.
Another helpful tip is to store leftover food that you’re planning to freeze into individual portions and food containers. If you only need to reheat and grab one person’s portion later down the road, the frozen leftovers will be ready to go because of your prep.
4. Embrace Soup and Stew
One of the easiest ways to to create something new and reinvent your leftovers is to make soup or stew, which are remarkably easy to cook and pair well with sandwiches or baguettes.
If you have leftover steamed broccoli, it can be transformed into delicious broccoli cheddar soup with some chicken stock, half and half, sliced carrots, and some seasoning.
A hearty stew is another option when you want to maximize all of your leftovers in one go. For instance, make a pseudo-minestrone soup by adding your leftover meats and vegetables into your stock and then topping it off with grated cheese or even pairing it with bread. We also love this year-round soup cookbook filled with 200 delicious soup recipes, season by season.
Additional Tips
Of course, if you’re regularly facing the issue of having leftover foods and not knowing what to do with them, we suggest cutting your favorite recipes in half or quarters to prevent having leftovers in the first place.
However, producing leftovers is inevitable sometimes, so here are some additional tips we hope will help you in your journey to conquering leftover loss:
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours
- Store leftovers in the top shelf of the fridge and make sure they’re all clearly visible so you remember to use them
- Use refrigerated leftovers within 3-4 days
- Thaw frozen leftovers by putting them in the microwave, leaving it in the fridge overnight, or in a leakproof container in cold water – never thaw leftover foods by leaving them on the counter
- Learn everything you need to know about freezing food from this ultimate guide for how to freeze leftovers
Thoughtful Living With Arden
Be your own superhero by repurposing leftovers in the fight against food waste and a healthier community and bored taste buds too!. Appreciating what you have and being mindful of the implications of your actions are small ways to spark a positive change – no matter who or where you are.
At Arden Living, we’re focused on building a meaningful 55 and wiser community with a holistic perspective rooted in research and a growth mindset that challenges the status quo. If you’re interested in learning more about us, take a look at some of our Arden communities here.