Recycling Leftovers

Well, it’s now Day 5 of Thanksgiving leftovers and I was actually thinking of springing for pizza. So far, I have had turkey sandwiches, turkey wraps, turkey rolls and turkey biscuits. I started getting tired of turkey, so I had ham sandwiches, ham wraps and even a ham and egg breakfast burrito. Then I ran out of ham and bread. So breakfast today? A turkey and egg wrap. That was interesting. I never realized that poultry just does not go well with eggs. So I was thinking, maybe I will order a pizza tonight. It would be a nice break from leftovers. But leftovers are fun. It makes the week after Thanksgiving a great inexpensive time to eat, and it certainly expands your creativity with different ways to serve the same two meats over and over. After reviewing the crazy creativity it took me to live off ham and turkey for five straight days, I decided to blog some other crazy leftover ideas. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Leftover Steak Salad – Most of the time if you go to dinner at a steak house, they bring enough steak to feed three and I rarely feel the urge to eat the whole thing. I used to just throw it away but now I get a “doggie bag” and take the steak home. The next day, I reheat the steak briefly until warm, throw on some spices and herbs then slice the leftover steak in thin slices and mix with a Caesar Salad. This makes a great, nutritious, quick meal for one or two people.

Spaghetti Pancakes – With the right mixture of leftover spaghetti, a bit of ham and eggs, you can fry up a pancake looking dish which is really tasty. I found this recipe online and really loved it.

Pizza Sandwiches – When you have leftover pizza, everyone knows you can throw it in the oven or microwave and reheat and enjoy. But, what if you are no longer craving pizza? Get a bun, pull off all the yummy toppings and cheese, maybe even add your own special toppings like bacon bits, onions and grated cheese. Cook in the oven at about 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes and you have a deli-style hoagie.

I even went off topic a bit and took this to non food items such as:

Leftover Mail – Whenever I get random junk mail like credit card offers and mortgage refinance offers, I never throw them away. I have a cardboard box next to the fireplace and I save all those papers and envelopes to use as starters to get my kindling going.

Leftover Soap – When you have those little slivers of soap leftover, rather than throw them away, get them really wet and stick them to the new bar of soap and leave them stuck together until the next time you take a shower. It’s crazy, but it works, and it’s a great way to save money on soap and create your own random fragrances.