I was just so proud of myself that I couldn't stand it... I think I hit a record with my leftovers. When we eat leftovers, it never comes back as the same thing, and I make it a game to see how far I can stretch a meal.
I got a huge thing of chicken breasts from Costco, and I baked them all at once, chopped them up and packed them into meal-sized packs to put into the freezer. This is way more efficient than freezing it raw.
This chicken was put into pasta sauce that was leftover from previous pasta and had been in the freezer for about a month. I also added mushrooms, spinach and frozen broccolli. The pasta noodles were from a big bag of organic whole wheat noodles, also from Costco. So that was dinner the first night.
The next day, I had a bit of noodles left, and a bit of sauce. So I mixed a bit ranch dressing (I didn't have mayo or it would have been dairy-free), some avocado from the last one I had that was getting a bit overripe, a little salsa, and added some chili powder and more garlic to the sauce. I had a bag of organic blue corn chips, and I opened a huge can of red beans and made a layered casserole - chips, sauce, beans, chips, sauce. The rest of the beans I froze into two batches for another day. I baked it in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes, long enough to make rice in the pot the sauce had been. This made the rice slightly red and tomato-flavored.
Then the next day I had some leftover casserole and rice, which we ate for lunch.
Then the next day, I just had leftover rice, and the leftover noodles from the pasta. I made rice patties with the rice which we ate with some salsa (these didn't taste that great to me, but I think it was a pregnant thing), and I turned the noodles into pasta salad with a bit of organic virgin olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, some sandwich ham, and diced tomatoes.
Then today I will finally finish off the pasta salad for lunch, and for dinner I'm going to get out another pack of frozen, cooked, sliced chicken. :)
Coming Next Year!
Good stuff, especially the patties.
BUT! You're pregnant??!! I hadn't realised! Congrats, belatedly, lol.
2 questions, 1- why are you shopping a Costco and 2- why are you eating Tyson/Purdue chicken and feeding you feeding your children unethically raised, hormonally and antibiotic laden food. Do without if it is a matter of cost rather than promoting agri-business that is poisoning us while ruining their communities. Get educated on where and how your food is raised.
#1 I am in Canada and Costco is one of the best environmentally friendly grocery stores for bulk organic foods around here.
#2 I am in Canada and I never buy Tyson which is not available here. It is Lilydale chicken and growth hormones are banned in Canada. The chickens are grain fed and no antibiotics are allowed to be in the food by the time it reaches the table. They are raised free range in a barn (not cages).
#3 A little presumptuous, eh? Get educated about who you are talking to.