Snack Time!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the snacks I have been noshing on:

 

 

I've been really into the fruits-n-nuts combos.  Oh, and the middle photo is veggie stix and cheddar cheese.  

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Leftover Cooking

Today's post will focus on the art of leftover cooking.  Regular readers of this blog know about my love for re-cooking leftovers and creating something new from them.  While there are many ways to give new life to old meals, I have a few favorites.

One of my favorite ways to re-use leftover is to make it into a pizza.  I adore pizza in all of its delicious forms.  If you have good leftovers, like this Lubyia (Lebanese Green Beans in Olive Oil with Garlic) John's mom made, just throw it on some dough and bake it like a pizza.   

It is really a side dish, but SO good, as long as you don't mind smelling like a garlic factory.  Are there such things as garlic factories?  ANYWAY.  I added lots of Parmesean Cheese on top, because that's how I like my pizza.  It works for lots of things, especially things that have a little bit of their own sauce to keep them moist in the oven. 

Check it out!  I just rolled out the whole wheat dough, spread the leftovers on, added P. Cheese, and baked it until the crust was done.  It doesn't get any easier than that (at least to make pizza) and it is soooo good.

Another way I like to revive leftovers is with garlic, onions, and oil.  We have discussed my penchant for greens with garlic, onion, and olive oil, but you might not know that it extends to all food.  For this leftover meal, I added mushrooms to the mix.

They all sauteed until it was one mix of yummy flavors.  Then I added the leftovers, a mix of brown rice, toasted almonds, black beans, and other things that John had made for dinner one day. 

See?  Leftovers can be fun!

 

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Crockpot Rice

For the past few days I have just been "cleaning out the fridge" and making new meals out of leftovers.  For example, the pumpkin ravioli stuffing has been eaten as lunch and breakfast.  Today, I was running super late and I wanted to make a easy crockpot meal with things I just had lying around.  I found this recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking.  It looked pretty good, so I tried it.

I started out really well with the pictures.  Above, rice in a cup.

Then... the battery died.  So just imagine me adding beans, tomatoes, and seasonings.

 

When I got home from work it looked like this.  MmmmmMmmm

I shredded some yummy cheddar over it.

Check out that cheesey goodness!!!!

The rice was overcooked and mushy, but I liked it.  John didn't.  To each his own, I guess.

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Thrown Together Meals

Let me just start off with the end products. 

I came home after work today completely exhausted.  I hadn't planned dinner AND I was hungry and cranky.  I wanted a Macaroni Monday, but didn't want the typical topping.     After snooping around in the fridge, I found the mushrooms I bought.  ::LIGHTBULB::  MUSHROOM SAUCE.  Yeah. 

 

I started with a little bit of butter melted in the pan.  (Shhhh....Don't tell John!  He doesn't DO butter.)

I added the sliced up Portabellas and let them simmahhhhh.

Once they were set, I added 2 sliced up onions and a bunch of sliced up garlic to the mix.

John smashed the garlic, THANKS JOHN!!

Eventually, the flavors all blend together and are just steamy.

Check out those flavors floating through the air!  You know it's ready when you can smell it and you can barely keep yourself from devouring it! 

Of course, what meal is finished without dessert?  What do you get when you mix:

 

1 melted banana,

3 spoonfuls of peanut butter, 1 spoonful of cinnamon syrup,

 

and a just-about-cooked-brownie that is so delicious that I may or may not have been scooping secret bites from?

HEAVEN!!

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No Stove Day

Okay, I totally made this title up as I was writing it.  I was trying to come up with a way to tie together the things in this post aaaaaand being cooked on the stove was the ONLY things they all shared.  Woot Woot. 

BRUNCH.

It doesn't have a name, really, it was just throw-it-in-the-pot-mush.  Go with it.

I started by heating up a banana in a little pot to get it all smushy and sweet.

I added some homemade walnut butter to melt in next.

I figured I should throw in some ground flax seeds, shredded coconut, and cinnamon for good measure. 

And who doesn't love plump raisins?!

When it was all melty and mixed, it was absolutely divine.

DINNER

Remember when I wanted to make Pumpkin Ravioli?  Well.  It didn't work.  They were gross.  BUT I have them anyway and I am not one to waste perfectly (well, maybe not perfectly) good food.  I made a sauce for it tonight.

I took the leftover filling  from the raviolis and stuck them in the pan.  It is pumpkin, onions, and garlic, I think.  I forgot, actually.  Whatever.

I added LOTS of parmesan cheese and parsley on top once it was warm.

Then a GENEROUS pouring of balsamic vinegar... MMmmMMMmmMMm

Plopped on top of the ravis?  Not too bad!  I don't know why the ravis have that dark tinge to them.  They have probably grown some awful fungus or something.

Or not. 

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Lentil Soup Remix (with a side of Microwave Musings)

John is feeling better (YAY!!), but there was still a little bit of Lentil Soup left.  I started heating up a small pot of the soup on the stove. 

Normally, I would have stuck it in the microwave, but I am trying to use it less.  Not so much because of a "fear of radiation," although who really knows.  I am using the stove/oven instead of the microwave to keep my kitchen cleaner.  Crazy, right?  NOT AT ALL!  When the food is in the microwave, I spend the 1-2 minutes waiting.  Impatiently.  On the STOVE, however, I feel like I am cooking.  There isn't a set time for it to be finished, so I straighten up the kitchen as I wait.  Bonus?  I wind up being MUCH more creative!  Case in point?  Lentil Soup Remix.

As it started to heat up, I added some plumped up raisins... some slivered almonds.... and some cinnamon.  WOW!

 Not using the microwave is going to be MMm MMm Good!

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New Toy #2 and Meatloaf/Potatoes

Have you been dying to hear about my other new toy?  I know, I know, you must have been on the edge of your seat waiting for this post!

I GOT A CAMERA!!!!!

My parent's gave us one for Christmas.  They knew we had been wanting one for wedding/honeymoon/future use and were saving up for it.  So..... THEY GAVE US ONE!

Of course, until then, I need to practice by photographing food.  Of course.

Right......

My mom's meatloaf was always a favorite of mine.  As an adult, I find that it's just the recipe on the back of the Lipton Soup Secrets Onion Soup Mix.  Since the box came with 2 packets of "spices," I made the potato recipe on the back, too!

POTATOES:

Clean 4 potatoes.

(How great is this picture!  Now, if you are a photographer, you will probably not be impressed.  HOWEVER, if you have seen ANY of the past pictures I have taken with older cameras, you will notice how much better all the photos in this post are.  Be impressed.  Please.  For me.)

Cut 4 potoates.  Try your hand at different photography settings on new camera.

Make sure you cut them into even sized chunks so they cook at the same time.

Mix the potatoes with a little oil (I used grapeseed oil) and the packet of onion mix.

Spread it out on the baking sheet and bake it at 425 for about 30-40 minutes.  Make sure to stir it occasionally.

ENJOY!

MEATLOAF:

 

I like to use a mix of ground beef, pork, and veal.  Toss it into a bowl and follow the directions on the back of the box of soup mix.

Shape it into a loaf.

Or a brain.  Doesn't it look like a brain?!

 

Bake it for an hour at 350.

Slice and enjoy with potatoes! Or whatever. 

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