Using up Leftovers

I love having leftovers for dinner, because it means not having to cook that night. Sometimes, however, there are just little bits of several things left in the fridge, not enough of any one thing to make a meal for four out of. That’s what happened this week.


I decided to clean out the refrigerator and make stew in the crock pot today. The stew began this morning with the delicious pot roast that Fred had made for Sunday’s dinner. It went into the crock pot with a large carton of beef broth.

After lunch I added a few scrubbed, sliced carrots and a few scrubbed diced red potatoes (no peeling needed), and some sliced mushrooms.   Later this afternoon the leftover cooked vegetables from the refrigerator were added.

As dinner time was nearing, the house smelled so good! The stew looked good, but I decided to thicken the broth into gravy using a roux.

A roux consists of butter and flour, usually in equal portions, that are cooked for a few minutes in a pan over medium heat. The roux can be cooked longer until browned as well.

For this stew, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet, stirred in 2 tablespoons of gluten free flour (today I used Jule’s gluten free flour, but I’ve also made a roux with sweet rice flour or white rice flour). I cooked it for a few minutes over a medium heat. I began adding some of the broth from the crock pot, a little at a time, while stirring with a wire whisk. When about 1 to 2 cups of the broth had been stirred into the roux until smooth, I heated the roux/broth mixture for a few minutes while stirring. Then it was stirred into the stew in the crock pot and allowed to cook for another half hour.



We enjoyed a lovely, flavorful stew for dinner with my Gluten Free Cheddar Biscuits.



I would love to hear other ideas for using up leftovers. 
Cindy

This post linked to Frugal Tuesday Tips at Learning the Frugal Life and Hearth and Soul Hop with Premeditated Leftovers.

Comments

  1. 'BeccaOctober 25, 2011 at 1:08 PM

    Avoiding waste is such an important way to save money on food! Here are my recipes for using up leftovers:

    for miscellaneous fruit

    for miscellaneous vegetables

    for tofu, even if it's a week old and you forgot to change the water!

    And did you know cauliflower leaves are edible?

    ReplyDelete
  2. CindyOctober 25, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    'Becca - thank you for all the great recipes for leftovers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Melynda@Scratch Made Food!October 31, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    Using up leftovers is always a great topic! Thanks for sharing with the Hearth and Soul hop.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CindyOctober 31, 2011 at 8:55 PM

    Melynda - Thank you for hosting the Hearth and Soul Hop. It's a great place to get ideas for new recipes to prepare for my family.

    ReplyDelete

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