Toni’s Tasty Tortilla Tuesday

“Don’t just make a delicious dinner. Use those darn leftovers.”

~ Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

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When I have no idea what I’m going to make for dinner, I rummage through the fridge, grab a tortilla or two, then see what’s in one of those mysterious to-go containers. Let’s see… what did I find today? There was a small styrofoam box with my leftover chicken fried chicken from lunch the other day. I found half an onion, an almost mushy tomato, a really ripe avocado, some black beans, an almost empty bag of shredded cheese, and a handful of baby spinach.

While the slivers of chicken and onion and black beans sautéed in the pan, I diced the tomato and the avocado. I’m usually not that neat and tidy, but I wanted to take a nice picture. (This would be a good vegetarian meal. Just leave out the chicken. There wasn’t that much anyway.)

The tortilla was so full, I decided to make only one instead of two, The bad part about having all those leftovers is, now… there’s enough leftover leftovers for another day. Oh no!

“It’s not leftovers that are wasteful, but those who either don’t know what to do with them or can’t be bothered.”

~Julian Baggini

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How blessed our we to not only have enough to eat, but enough left over for another day.

Tuesday:) Let’s Talk Turkey

“…no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France

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Thanksgiving dinner is synonymous with leftovers. I haven’t made a turkey dinner in several years. So, this year, I decided I was going to make a turkey and all the fixings. It was delicious…now, what to do with the leftovers…

Rule number one: always have several very big pots and pans.

Rule number two: try and use as many leftovers as possible. Experiment.

Rule number three: share with friends and neighbor’s because you couldn’t possibly eat all that food yourself. And, your freezer is probably as full as mine.

I boiled the remains of the turkey for three hours in a very large pot. Then, I carefully removed all the good meat and broth. There was enough to make two big pots.  I chopped carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions. One pot I made soup and the other I made a creamy stew. 

Then, there was some leftover turkey breast for making turkey salad. I added grapes, diced apples, cream cheese, mayo, then sprinkled with walnuts. 

Just when you thought I was done and couldn’t possibly make any more turkey dishes, I used some of the stew to make mini pot pies.

I rolled out some biscuits, buttered a muffin pan, filled with the stew, sprinkled with a little cheese, and topped with another thin layer of biscuit and bake. Oh boy! These were soooo yummy.

Yep, these are as delicious as they look. I just ate one. Yep, delicious. I’ve been sharing with friends. That’s rule number three.