How to Make the Most of Leftovers

With the rising costs of food these days, no one wants to waste food. There are a lot of ways you can reuse your leftovers. My husband and I usually take our leftovers from dinner to work the next day. This saves us time and money, as we're not running out to some fast-food place on our lunch hour and spending a fortune on a quick, not-so-healthy meal.

If the weather is warm, and you want something quick and easy to make, try a salad. Salads can be made with a variety of different ingredients. Almost anything tastes great on a bed of lettuce - leftover meat, veggies, even pasta.

If you prefer down-home country-style meals, some great choices for your leftover chicken would be Chicken and dumplings, a Hearty Pot pie (use canned biscuits instead of homemade crust, to save even more time), Penne pasta with broccoli and asiago cheese, some Noodle soup (this takes only minutes to prepare), Orzo or rice pilaf.

Or, if you are in the mood for Mexican flavor, try making Tacos, Enchiladas, or Quesadillas. These can be made with leftover chicken or beef. One of my favorite things to do with leftover chicken is to make Chicken Enchiladas Suizas. You simply mix cream of chicken soup with one small can diced Ortega chilies, 1 cup shredded cheese and 8 oz sour cream. Spray some PAM in a casserole pan and roll up chicken and a little sauce into flour tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce and more cheese. Bake at 350 until bubbly, and serve immediately. These are delicious, and take very little prep work.

You can even combine leftover meats with cheese and broccoli and put inside Pillsbury croissants - this works especially well with chicken.

If you are in the mood for soup, throw your leftover meat or veggies in a pot with chicken broth or beef cubes. Cover with water, add an onion and some carrots, celery, pepper, herbs, and let it simmer for a few hours. Perfect for risotto or soup, and is very simple to make.