It’s time to stop wasting money and food because leftovers can go a long way. Instead of turning your nose away from leftovers, it’s time to start seeing them as ingredients. There are several ways as to how last night’s pasta, beans, or chicken can be turned a delicious dinner for tonight. And your daily runs to the grocery store will start to diminish. So roll up your sleeves and clear out the fridge—find out to reuse the most common dinner staples.
1. Pasta
When initially cooking pasta, we always tend to make extra—keeping the sauce as a separate counterpart. The reason: stand-alone leftover pasta will allow for more flexibility come day two. To revitalize their starchy goodness, you can easily add any leftover vegetables with olive oil; add an egg to get fried noodles; make a pasta bake, and create breakfast fritters.
2. Bread
If bread becomes stale or too dry, turn it into breadcrumbs. Simply take the bread against a cheese grater to get it into crumbs. Once you’ve got the breadcrumbs, store them in a plastic container and place it in the freezer. Freezing breadcrumbs will allow them to last longer.
3. Cooked Vegetables
Having leftover vegetables is like hitting the lottery. A container worth of roasted veggies can help plan a week’s worth of meals—stir fry, pasta frittatas, salad, tacos, snacks and much more. They’ll simply add flavor to any meal that you’re in the mood for.
4. Chicken or Steak
Leftover chicken breast and slabs of cut steak will help up the protein to any meal. Pair the meat with last night’s leftover pasta and veggies and you could have a chicken salad. Or we all love a good taco night.
5. Beans
Beans can add more quality to a meal—fiber and protein, which can keep you fuller for longer. They’re one of the most versatile foods, present in tacos, burgers, salads, bowls, and much more. If you have leftover beans laying around, throw them into your next meal.