We had a luscious beef stew on Saturday. With tons leftover. I couldn't stomach another helping of beef stew. What to do? Reinvent my leftovers. I added more vegetables, more beef stock and a little flour to thicken the sauce. Then I topped it with puffy pastry. Voila! Beef pot pie. Saute a little bok choy and we had ourselves another winter hearty meal. With leftovers. See? There is joy in having leftovers!
Some people love 'em. Some people hate 'em. Me? I'm in the "love 'em" category. Especially holiday leftovers. We're finishing up the last of them and I'm actually kind of sad. I keep looking to the next big holiday and wondering what I'll make then - so I can have lots of leftovers. When you love what you had, having them again makes it twice as nice. Plus, you don't have to cook again. Just zap in the microwave and you have dinner! Yep. I'm weird. I find joy in leftovers.
I know I've sung the praises of leftovers before but tonight they were a lifesaver. Ok. That might be a bit melodramatic but I found joy in them, all the same. We were going to order pizza and take it to our neighborhood pool for a fun evening dinner. The kids would swim and my husband and I would enjoy each other's company, nibbling on the left over pizza crust. But just as I was going to tell the kids to put their suits on and order, the sky opened up. Lightning. Thunder. The works. I took a peek at the radar and we were stuck for a while. I didn't want to go out in that mess and I certainly didn't want to have a pizza driver have to deliver in it. So I went to the freezer, pulled out a frozen soup from a month ago and Voila! Dinner is served thanks to joyful leftovers!
Saturday we grilled chicken. Last night we grilled sausage. Tonight I have leftovers. And I'm so excited to use them in a spicy gumbo soup. It got a little cold again where I live so soup is the perfect meal tonight and I have just the right leftovers. Served over a little rice it's going to be heaven in a bowl. I can't wait. And I can't believe I'm finding joy in leftovers!
