Are you a leftovers family? We often eat leftovers for lunch and sometimes for dinner. I always try to make sure we waste as little food as possible. One way I do that is by freezing some of our leftovers to use in meals at a later time.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!For example, I bought two rotisserie chickens and we did not finish both of them. So, I took all the meat off the chicken and I placed it in a freezer bag to use at a later date. I put the carcass and skin in a separate bag that will be later made into chicken broth.
I made chicken noodle soup almost from scratch. By combining the leftover chicken and the frozen ingredients to create enough soup for our family. I like to use frozen egg noodles from the store (maybe one day I’ll make my own), which I keep on hand. In the winter months, I especially enjoy making batches of chicken or turkey noodle soup. I always have celery on hand for soups, snacks, and kids’ lunches.
We canned several jars of carrots this summer, so they are ready to just dump into the soup. I cut up an onion, throw in some spices to taste, and it makes a quick tasty meal.
Taco
Taco meat is something we sometimes have leftover. I keep a bag of it in the freezer for when we have company and need a little extra. Typically cook 1 pound of taco meat for our family of five. I make the meat stretch by adding refried beans which my kids really like and black beans. I found that adding both types of beans helps our meat stretch further, especially with tacos. This method might not work one day when our kids are older and eat more but for now it works great for us.
Spaghetti – Leftover Meat Sauce
Spaghetti meat sauce is another dish we always seem to have extra of after dinner. It’s easy to freeze for later, which is convenient when we have company or need more than what I make with 1lb. of meat and one jar of homemade sauce. Having a little extra on hand also comes in handy for quick lunches or meals.
Holiday leftovers
It always seems like we have an abundance amount of food leftover after a holiday, usually the main course. For Thanksgiving, we buy a turkey each year. I make sure to get a large enough one to have leftovers, but not so much that we will be eating it for the next year. One of my favorite dishes to make with leftover turkey is turkey noodle soup, although I have also made turkey noodle casserole. Personally, I don’t care for plain turkey after the holiday.
This year, we also have extra leftover ham from Christmas While the ham was fantastic, we ended up with more than we needed. I do enjoy having leftover ham, as there are so many meals I like to cook with it. So far, I have made cheesy potato soup, breakfast burritos, eggs and ham, and ham sandwiches.
I used a food sealer to freeze the leftover meat for the first time every using one. Let me tell you, I don’t know why have I not been using one for years! It was so easy and I feel like I’m less wasteful using it than when I put food in plastic freezer bags. Be on the look out for more post about using a food sealer.
What are some of your goto meals or foods to freeze? Do you usually eat leftovers in your house or do you prefer to make something new from leftover ingredients?
Faith
God has allowed our world to become very innovative in ways to help preserve and make things last longer. There’s something to be said about canning and preserving, but it’s also nice to have freezers and refrigerators to assist in that process of preservation in a different way. God shows us in the Bible that he will provide.
A prime example is the story of feeding the 5000 with five fish and three loaves of bread. It proves that when you have faith, God will be our miracle and provide for us. God’s grace is abundant, overflowing, and always more than enough for our needs. Just as Jesus provided more than enough for the crowd, He offers an abundance of His love, mercy, and provision to us.
John 6:1-14 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.