Leftovers/ Freezer Meals – Page 12

Using up leftover sauce- Eggs Diablo

If you have been following my blog at all, you know I love a nice runny eggs, especially on top of leftovers. I have made this on the blog a while back. If you ever have any leftover sauce, like marinara, meat sauce, or Ragu, you can make this easy recipe.
I made some sausage and ground beef sauce for lasagna the other day.

Mushroom and Meat Sauce:
This makes 3 batches for our family of 5.
First diced up 1 onion and 1/2 head of garlic. Cook that for a few minutes in a bit of butter and olive oil mix. Then add an entire 16 oz. container of mushrooms to your dutch oven. Cook that down for a bit. Add plenty of salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram). Then add 1 28 oz. can of tomato sauce, 1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, 1 28 oz. can of crushed plum tomatoes, 4 squirts of tomato paste, 1/3 bottle of red wine, and 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire, 2 pats of butter, and about 3 tablespoons sugar. The wine and Worcestershire just give it an extra layer of flavor, especially since you are making mushroom and meat (beef)in it. The butter and the sugar help to add a bit of sweetness to the sauce and mellow the acidity of the tomato a bit. Cook for 2-4 hours. The longer the better. Add in browned ground beef and sausage and cook another 1/2 hour or so.

For your Eggs Diablo:
Put your leftover sauce in a cast iron skillet (add some hot sauce to make it extra spicy) and place a few eggs gently on top. Cook in a 350 oven for 15-20 minutes until your eggs are cooked- whites are cooked, but yolks are still runny. Serve with more hot sauce and some crusty bread for dipping.

Leftover Moussaka

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals

A couple of days ago, I ordered some Moussaka from our favorite Greek Place. Moussaka is kind of like a greek lasagna, but instead of pasta, the meat sauce is layered with potatoes and eggplant. It was quite yummy, but very filling, so I brought home leftovers. I opened up the container and immediately thought to put a nice runny egg on top. It was scrumptious! I find adding an egg on top of or in a leftover somehow makes the dish fresh and new. Oh, ya…don’t forget a splash of hot sauce!

Pork Ragu and Cheesy Polenta

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, Pork, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Christmas Eve Dinner was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself! I made pork ragu with a nice big pork butt. I also made Giada’s cheesy polenta recipe. It was pretty spectacular! I had some again for dinner tonight, and I think it would be amazing for breakfast with a runny egg on top, naturally!

I have made the Ragu a few times. Here is one of the recipes I used from before…https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/09/02/pork-rib-ragu/ I used a pork rib instead of a butt last time. This time I also added a few carrots, celery, and dried herbs to the mix (thyme, marjoram, and oregano). Since I also used a whole bone in butt, I let it cook for a good 6 1/2 hours. This is fool-proof. You can add whatever veggies and combinations of spices and let this baby slow cook all day long. Slow braising meat is one of the easiest and delicious secrets of chefs and home cooks out there!

Here is the Giada’s recipe I used for the Cheesy Polenta
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/cheesy-polenta-recipe/index.html
Ingredients
9 cups water
1 tablespoon salt, plus extra for seasoning
2 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal or polenta
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot. Add the salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the cheese, milk, butter, and parsley. Stir until the butter and cheese have melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

If you have never had polenta, it is made from a yellow cornmeal. It is very similar to grits, which are a southern United States dish made of white cornmeal and served with lots of butter and salt at breakfast or as a “shrimp and grits.” In my recipe, I left out the parsley, so my middle girl would eat them. I called them polenta, but also said yellow grits, and she ate them right away. If it had parsley, she probably would be more wary. Grits never have anything green in them.

Clean Out the Fridge Soup 12/18/13

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, One pot meal, Soups, Vegetarian

So tonight I decided we needed to have a clean out the fridge night. Everyone ended up having leftover Chinese. I wanted soup. More specifically, I wanted a healthy veggie soup; well, I was in luck. I had 1/2 of an onion, 1/2 of a poblano pepper, 1/2 of a jalapeno, a container of mushrooms, 3 carrots, a bunch of spinach, and some leftover Chinese fried rice and broccoli in the fridge. In the pantry, I had a container of chicken stock (you can use veggie to make this vegetarian), a can of corn, and a can of chopped green chilies. I added salt, pepper, and a dash of red pepper flakes. I added a dash of hot sauce at the end for an added kick. I am glad I made enough for leftovers. You may not hear from me for a few meals. YUM!