Reusing Leftovers for Five Fast and Inexpensive Lunches

Reinvent your dinners into wonderful and inexpensive lunches. We're all busy, so why spend time making lunch in the morning when you're already making dinner the night before? Just spend a few extra minutes and you'll have a tasty lunch you won't have to even think about in the morning--and won't be bored from simply reheating last night's dinner.

Turn Meat/Gravy/Vegetables/Potato into Shepherd's Pie

This home-style favorite is extremely easy to make with any type of the above items. Lets say you have a pot roast--tender beef, roasted vegetables, potatoes and leftover gravy. Just smash one or two of the potatoes into a microwave safe container to make the "crust" and place the meat and vegetables inside. Add enough gravy over it all so that when you reheat it, it will remain moist and--you've remade last nights dinner into something fun! This works for chicken, meatloaf, turkey and more.

Pasta into Pasta Salad

Maybe you'd like a slightly cooler lunch so you don't have to heat it up. Just save some pasta from dinner sans sauce and turn it into my Dill-icious Macaroni Salad even if its not macaroni. Just be sure to add extra mayonnaise as called for in the recipe if you're going to store it for more than a few hours.

Rice & Chicken into Fried Rice

If you made chicken and rice for dinner, slice the left over chicken, stir fry it with the leftover rice, and add a few frozen vegetables. If you have stir fry mixed Chinese vegetables those are perfect, but the dish will taste great even with regular mixed vegetables. Season with Soy or Teriyaki sauce and add a scrambled egg if desired. This reheats extremely well in the microwave.

Salad into a Salad Wrap

Want something extra healthy and quick to make? Make a little bit extra tossed salad with dinner the night before & use it to stuff pita bread the next day! Use your favorite salad dressing instead of mayonnaise and for an extra kick, add a few slices of extra bacon from breakfast. If you want something slightly more filling, add sliced cheese, deli meat, or boiled eggs for the chef salad experience.

Chicken into Chicken Salad

Chicken is one of the staples of the inexpensive dinner. No matter how you make it, its fairly easy to make just one extra piece and chop it with mayonnaise for a delicious chicken salad sandwich the next day. Whats even better is that the seasonings from however you made it for dinner taste amazing on a sandwich. Just be sure to store the bread separately and make the sandwich at work when you're ready to eat to prevent sogginess.　

Just because you're trying to save money and time doesn't mean that your food has to be boring or your only choice is from a fast food dollar menu. Use parts of dinner from the night before and you'll be amazed with what you can come up with!