E. Ayers is a multi-published author of
over twenty books and has spent plenty of time on Amazon’s top 100 authors
list. She’s best known for her sweet westerns and her sexier River City novels.
She’s also a proud member of the Authors of Main Street, which means her books
are suitable for the average adult audience. Her newest release is Campaign (Brad and
Ryn’s Story), a River City novel. Just jump into this series because the glue
that ties the books together is the city. Learn more about E. at her blog and
website.
Today E. joins us with some interesting
suggestions for leftovers.
Hi Cloris, it’s fun to see you again. Cooking can be boring or
wonderful. I think the day-to-day drudge used to get to me. Breakfast, lunch,
dinner, breakfast, lunch… Then all it takes is one picky-eater in the family
and well, you know how that goes. Add to it a tight budget, and I got creative
in the kitchen. In those days, there was no surfing the web for exotic recipes,
but I often hit the cookbooks looking for something different.
Parents who had been through two World Wars and were married during the
Great Depression raised me to eat everything that was on my plate. They
encouraged me to try new things, but once it hit my plate, I was expected to
eat it. Omigosh, do not waste food! Mom saved every little thing, then had a
meal that she called her merry mix-ups, which was nothing but leftovers from
the week. I tried that a few times but my husband refused to eat leftovers no
matter how I tried to disguise them. Nor would he eat that last tablespoon of
green beans. I didn’t have the heart to toss them in the trash. What was I to
do?
Guilt crawled over me and I’d eat whatever was left. My husbands motto
became waste it, don’t waist it. Okay, I got his point. I didn’t need to gain
extra pounds.
The most important thing I learned to do was keep clearly marked containers
in the freezer. One was for leftover veggies, the other for leftover potatoes,
then one for beef, one for chicken, and one for ham. Leftovers hit the
containers! Not plate scrapings but leftovers. You made six hamburgers but ate
five, that little end piece from the roast, the ham bone from Sunday’s dinner,
the tablespoon of peas, the leftover squash, a quarter cup of beans, that
dollop of mashed potatoes, those ten little french-fries, and that half of the
baked potato because the youngest only eats half. These containers became my
budget stretchers and my source of free or almost free meals!
Leftover mac and cheese can easily be added to a beef-based soup, as can
leftover spaghetti. I’d cut the spaghetti up into tiny bits before freezing.
And add it to beef soup.
Also do not use plastic containers that had once contained store bought
foods or takeout. Use containers specifically designed for freezing. This is
important to maintain the quality of the food being stored. I’d permanently
mark the containers and reuse them for the same foods.
To save time later, I’d cut up the vegetables before I froze them. And
depending on the size of the meat, I might or might not cut it up. That little
wedge of beef will flake apart, but if I cut it up, it won’t take as long to
cook. Most of the time, I pulled the chicken off the bones, but allowed any
leftover legs or thighs to remain whole. Chicken leg bones make better stock
than the thin breastbones or wings. Ham tends to remain whole, so cut it into
small chunks. Always save that ham bone for the stock!
When I had a full container of chicken, I dropped it in a large soup pan
and covered it with water. Let it simmer with a carrot, onion, that celery that
lost its crunch, and a dash of salt to taste. I’d lift the chicken and pull it
from the bones. Then I’d lift the veggies from the pot, strain the broth, run
the carrot, onion, and celery through the blender with a little broth and
return it to the stock, add the chicken meat, a pinch of turmeric to give it a
little yellow color. Often I’d return the stock to the refrigerator overnight
or for several hours. This allows the fat to come to the top and be skimmed or
lifted off. No one wants greasy soup. A few little bits of fat does add flavor,
but lowering the overall fat content is important.
If you’ve made a huge batch of stock, you can freeze the plain stock.
This will save time later. It can be added to other recipes or used as a base
for gravies.
Use some fun noodles such as ABC’s or stars. There are lots of
interesting miniature noodles and pastas available today and they aren’t that
expensive to use. Kids love seeing different types of noodles from the
traditional ABC’s or stars. Most of the time you will find these on the
grocer’s shelves near the spaghetti noodles or in their gourmet section. (Don’t
forget to check the Chinese food area!) Or you can use rice or beans. Put the
stock, meat, frozen veggies (optional,) pasta or rice back on the stove and
cook until the noodles or rice are done. Free or almost free soup.
Or thicken it a little bit and add dumplings and a handful of frozen
peas, and maybe a little more sliced carrot for chicken and dumplings. Keep the
noodles out of it and add potatoes. After it gets good and thick, put it
between two pie crusts and you have chicken potpie!
Do the same thing with the leftover beef, except this time add the
vegetables and potatoes for a hearty beef vegetable soup. If you have lots of
potatoes, you can cook it longer. It’ll thicken until you have beef stew! Or
put it between pie crusts for beef potpie.
Ham? Lentil, split pea, or bean soup. (We’re talking under a dollar to
buy some dried beans and make a big pot of soup!)
Vegetarians can make a vegetable-based stock with leftovers. I’d often
make such stock especially in the summer when my garden was overflowing. I’d
cook everything and then when it cooled, I run it through the blender and make
a slurry. This can be added to gravies or used as a soup base.
It doesn’t take a lot of meat. If you have two or three pieces, you can
make a small pot. Most of the time, I had enough leftovers to make a beef soup
and a chicken soup at least once a month. Occasionally I’d buy a beef soup bone
from the butcher. (After making the stock, your pooch will love the bone, just
be certain it’s bigger than his mouth. You don’t want him choking on it!) If I
didn’t quite have enough to make a hearty soup but I had a tasty stock, I’d cut
up an extra potato and add it, or I’d use more pasta.
With today’s crock-pots, it’s twice as easy!
Free or almost free food is a great way to avoid waste and stretch the
budget to the max. And you really don’t need a recipe, just do it. No little
pastas? Use the big ones! That half-cup of ziti or rotini at the bottom of the
box - toss them in. Rice noodles, bean threads…experiment! If you want to add
some basil, cilantro, or oregano, do it. A little sea salt, freshly ground
pepper, and extra onion… You know what you like. Taste it as you go! If you
hate it, toss it! You would have thrown all those leftovers away, anyway.
Things I learned not to add: pickled beets, cabbage, okra, or any strong
tasting vegetable. I kept my tomato-based things in a separate container.
Tomato and chicken didn’t go over very well in my house. Pickled beets would
show up the following day as my favorite leftover. Cabbage does work with
ham-based soups so I’d freeze it in a small container, but sauerkraut didn’t
seem to be worth saving for soup. Mashed potatoes will thicken anything!
When the empty nest set in, I figured my days of leftovers were gone. I
think they doubled. No matter how hard I tried to cut down on portions, it was
impossible for two people to eat everything! But I did learn to make smaller
batches of soup or I’d share with my married children, or an elderly neighbor.
Soup is freezable! I’d freeze it in individual-sized batches, dump one in a
microwave-safe bowl and nuke it for lunch!
Campaign (Brad and Ryn’s Story,) a
River City novel
Brad Shoemaker was blindsided when he discovered that love could be
silent, and Kathryn “Ryn” Demary is mute. But when Mayor Bruno Giovanni is
forced into early retirement, he chooses Brad to run in his place. Ryn is
determined to campaign at Brad’s side, but instead of being an asset, she just
might be his biggest liability. Ryn finds herself campaigning not just for Brad
to become mayor but also for his love. Politics can get dirty and Ryn’s caught
in the middle.
Buy Link (also available as part of Kindle Unlimited)
