If someone gives you leftover ham… Is that considered a hammy-down? We all love a good piece of leftover pizza now and again but what if we told you, you could lift your leftover game and be eating leftovers that are fun, easy and delicious?  If today’s your third day of the same spag bol’ - we’re putting a stop to it. Here’s how to make your leftovers fun, easy and delicious.

Prepping for Leftovers

Every time you are about to cook dinner, plan the sort of ingredients you might use and what you can use those leftover ingredients for during the week. So, that bland spag bol’ taste you’ve become accustomed to after eating it for three days, could be improved with these few tips: The common spag bol’ often includes pasta, mince, garlic, onion and mushrooms etc. Pretty much any vegetable you have in the fridge. A good way to go about doing a big spaghetti cook-up is to prepare your bol’ as usual but store the reusable ingredients separately. That way you’ve got your mince sorted for tomorrow night’s quesadillas and plain pasta for Thursday night’s carbonara. You’ll spend way less time cooking, have a lot less food waste and fewer complaints from the kids. Genius? We think so. We’ve combined some of the most exciting yet simple leftover meal ideas for you below.

Try them out and let us know your favourites.

Leftover Veggies

Vegetable Stock

Cutting up veggies? Keep those unwanted carrot ends and other vegetable scraps and make your own veggie stock. Stash all of your scraps in a zip lock bag and freeze until you’re ready to make it. Simply pour the veggie contents into a pot, add enough water to cover them and simmer for about an hour - easy peasy.

Leftover Meat

Quesadillas

Probably one of the most underrated meals there is. For a super simple solution, all you need is a few wraps, leftover mince, mushrooms, beans and cheese and fry in a frying pan and serve with sour cream. Yum!

Toasties

Simple, fun and delicious - ticks all the boxes. You can pretty much put anything on a toastie and it will taste good. Chuck on some leftovers from last night’s steak or chicken, add some cheese, avo, and tomato and a drizzle of mayo and then lunch is sorted! 

Leftover Fish

Fish Cakes

Mix in breadcrumbs and eggs with your cooked salmon from the night before and chuck them in a pan to fry. Place them with a simple salad and a dressing and voila! Delicious fish cakes that get that leftover fish smell out of your fridge, pronto.

Leftover Rice

Paella

Made a chicken curry last night? Use your leftover chicken and rice and make a chicken and chorizo paella tonight. The Spanish meal is delicious and requires a few ingredients that are common leftovers like meat, prawns, rice and veggies. You could call it the holy grail of leftover meals? And it’s an absolute crowd-pleaser. 

Get Back in that Kitchen

So what have we learnt? Don’t just cook up a big spag bol’. Plan ahead, separate your ingredients and use them to make different meals that are simple, fun and delicious.   You’ll save heaps by using up all of your groceries.

Save even more by grabbing your ice cream, sweets, nuts, soft drink, chocolates and more at your local GCFO!