4 Quick, Easy Ways to Use Up Your Christmas Leftovers
There are many reasons to cut back on dumping leftovers from Christmas dinners and using them for future meals. Not only is it wasteful to dump perfectly good food that you can freeze and reheat, but you also have an instant trove of food ingredients that you can cook in different ways.
Here are a few quick and easy ways you can use them up or save them for later meals:
1. Mix the leftovers into rice.
Fried rice is the standard go-to for chopped leftover meats and vegetables from last night’s Christmas dinner, but you can also mix up the recipe by adding cheese sauce and baking the mixture in the oven.
There are many recipe guides online that you can refer to for different ways on how to spice up fried rice post-Christmas dinner, which you can even have fun experimenting with.
2. Wrap and store them in the freezer.
While this may be the first thing to come to your mind with leftover food, a lot of people underestimate the power of a tightly sealed container and a refrigerator. When kept well, leftovers can actually last you for the rest of the year and can save you a lot of time and effort in cooking because you can simply reheat them.
A simple test to determine if your leftovers are still edible goes: sight, smell, touch, and taste. If it looks (i.e. presence of mold) and smells bad, throw the leftovers out immediately.
3. Embrace the stock pot.
Ham bones, roast turkey, beef, or even chicken can be made into stock that you can use for future dishes, especially when left for a few hours to simmer. While the meat does end up flavorless, all the juices are absorbed into a delicious, flavorful broth.
You can also use the stock pot and leftovers to make the stew of your liking, as well as reheat large chunks of previous dishes with added spices to taste. Once that’s done, you have a free meal that takes very little effort to cook, and it can even last you for one to two days.
The trick to using the stock pot effectively is to keep the ingredients simple and to allow the water and heat to work its magic to produce the symphony of flavors you usually wouldn’t associate with leftover foods.
However, a stock pot can also be made for many things, including cooking beans, lentils, and even blanching vegetables before adding in with other leftovers. Its versatility in the kitchen makes it indispensable for anyone looking to do other things than feed a crowd of people.
(Disclaimer: This list is compiled in no particular order.)