Left over food from the kitchen is mostly neglected and thrown away. This leads to a lot of wastage of food stuff which can actually be put to good use. Here we have compiled some of the best and simple meal ideas which you can prepare from left over food in the kitchen. So, instead of wasting the small bits of left over food items be creative and give a feast to your family.
1. Bits of bread
Bread is one thing which is readily available in most kitchens. Most people like to keep a stock of this food stuff for emergency situations. Left over bread in most cases turns out to be a nuisance and is generally thrown straight into the dust bin. But there are plenty of recipes out there to utilize this left-over bread. Here we will go with everyoneâs favorite, bread and butter pudding. Itâs a hassle free recipe and can be prepared quite easily.
Ingredients:
⢠50gms butter
⢠5-6 slices of soft bread
⢠Raisins
⢠¼ tsp cinnamon
⢠350ml milk
⢠50ml heavy cream
⢠2 large free range eggs
⢠25g white sugar
⢠1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to about 355 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut the bread slices into small triangles and place them in the bowl layer by layer with raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg, do until the dish is filled.
3. Heat the milk and cream without boiling them.
4. In another bowl beat the eggs by pouring the milk until they are fluffy, with a bit of vanilla extract.
5. Now pour this mixture over the bread and place in an oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes.
2. Leftover Chicken chunks
Pieces of chicken going waste is common in every household. Chicken is a versatile ingredient and a lot of dishes can be prepared with it. Here we are going to look at the easiest and the quickest method to turn those leftover chicken pieces into a finger-licking dish called Chicken barb-eque.
Ingredients:
⢠Left over chicken pieces
⢠Barbeque sauce
⢠Onion(s)
⢠Green pepper (diced)
⢠Cheese
⢠Potato rolls
Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese) in a bowl and heat the contents until the pepper, onion and chicken turn soft.
2. Place this mixture on the potato roll, top up with the cheese and hereâs your nice and easy chicken recipe.
3. Left over cake
Dry cake serves as a wonderful base for trifle puddings. The surprising thing is that dry cake makes even better trifles than fresh ones. Dry sponge cake can be made use of in a large number of ways, letâs see the quickest one, the Trifle. All you require for this delicious dish is your left over cake and a flavored ice cream.
Method:
Just mix the ice cream with the crumpled up cake to serve up a yummy dessert which can cater to anyoneâs sweet tooth. I bet it doesnât get much faster than that!
4. Left over meat minces
Left over lamb and beef minces are quite cumbersome to handle and can pose some issues. They tend to rot faster than other types of meat, so disposing them off early would be a good thing. However, you have plenty of options to use the left over meat, ranging from stews to pasties. We are going to go with the stew over here.
Ingredients:
⢠Vegetable oil
⢠500g mutton or lamb minces
⢠Potatoes, peeled
⢠Onion, roughly chopped
⢠Leeks, finely chopped
⢠Carrots, roughly diced
⢠Dark beef stock
⢠Salt & pepper to taste
Method:
1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil well and add half of the lamb pieces. After the pieces have softened, remove and place them in a hot case with vegetables.
2. Repeat the above process again for the reaming lamb pieces.
3. Now add the beef stock to the cooked lamb and vegetables and cook it in the oven for about an hour. Keep adding water in between to maintain the stock levels.
4. Garnish with salt and pepper
5. Cheese tit bits
Cheese is another versatile ingredient which can be used as a base for creating many dishes. The number of preparations using cheese is humungous, so we better restrict ourselves to the easiest ones. Cheese soufflé is an all time favorite which is quite easy to prepare and scrumptious.
Ingredients:
⢠Butter for cooking and greasing
⢠All purpose flour
⢠Dijon mustard
⢠Grated Emmenthal cheese
⢠Milk
⢠Fresh eggs, yolk and white separated
⢠Salt and pepper
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to about 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Melt the butter and add some finely cut leeks to it.
3. To the above mixture, keep adding milk with occasional stirring.
4. Beat the egg yolks in another separate dish and add the cheese to it, until it reaches its melting point.
5. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they turn fluffy using an electric beater.
6. Mix this egg white with the soufflé base carefully and try to hold back as much volume as possible.
7. Now grease an oven dish with butter and place this mixture; baking it for 15 minutes.
8. Serve immediately as souffléâs can melt fast!
6. Cooked vegetable leftovers
Cooked veggies can sometimes go waste, so why to waste the wholesome goodness of these veggies? You can use them in a variety of ways, one of them being a dish called Bubble and Squeak. The required ingredients are the simplest ones to be available easily. They are butter, onion, leftover veggies and salt and pepper to taste.
Method:
1. In a pan melt the butter and sauté the onions until they turn pinkish brown.
2. Now add the veggies to this pan and toss them around for about 10 minutes until they soften.
3. Serve with fried eggs.
7. Vegetables (uncooked)
This is probably the easiest of the lot. It needs no telling when it comes to making salads with left over veggies. Any salad of your choice can be made and served.
Caesar salad is the perfect dish that can be made by using uncooked vegetables. You can use tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, olives, etc., to make a good and healthy salad. You don’t even have to cook any of these items and can just cut them up into small pieces and mix with a little bit of oil and salt and other condiments of your choice to make a salad.
