The thing about leftovers…

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again – I don’t love leftovers.  Very few things taste as good to me the next day.  I’m doing a little better at eating them, mostly because I hate throwing food away, and it makes for easy packed lunches.

I think it’s just something about the microwave.  You cook food to perfection the first time around, and then reheating it cooks it to a point that is way past “done”.  Breads get soggy, meat gets tough…  Fortunately for me, some foods can be repurposed and made into a completely different meal.  You can dress Cinderella up to go to the ball and she is almost unrecognizable.

Last night was one of those meals for us.  I was working on a project that’s due in a few days and completely lost track of time.  Before I knew it Josh was home and dinner needed to be made.  When I looked in the fridge I saw a bowl with a little bit of leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip from the Superbowl (I know, how could any of this be leftover?!?!)  My first thought was to reheat it and eat it in its original form.  But dip does not a meal make.

Then it hit me, mac and cheese.  Buffalo chicken mac to be exact.  I cooked up some whole wheat elbow noodles, and put the dip (about 2/3 of a cup) in a small saute pan with 1/4 c of milk.  I stirred that together and heated it up.  Once the noodles were cooked I combined it all.

Served over a bed of spinach to get some veggies in there.

I wasn’t so sure how the sauce would work with the noodles, but it was great!!  And dinner was on the table 15 minutes later.

I’m sorry this isn’t a formal recipe.  But it’s more of an idea.  You don’t have to eat your leftovers as is.  Repurpose them and make a new meal to add some variety.  I’m going to try to do this more in the future, and I’ll be sure to share any more brilliant ideas I have.