Leftovers, can I spell that for you l-e-f-t-o-v-e-r-s. Get to know it. it really is a saving grace when it comes to living a healthy life. I mean lets be real, it is nearly impossible to prepare and cook a different, healthy, gourmet meal every day of the week. Unless of course you hire your own personal chef. So that is where leftovers come in. It is a pretty amazing system that can save you oodles of time, energy and money. It kills me to know how many people just throw their excess food away. Or put it in the refrigerator “thinking” you will eventually eat them, just to have you throw it away in a week or two when it is spoiled. –>POINTING FINGER<– Shame, shame, shame! Okay, I may be a little picky in this department. Here, in this house, we don’t throw food away. Well unless of course it is an epic fail on my part when the dog won’t even eat it. Not that it would ever happen. –>COUGH, COUGH<–
If it is edible, it is reusable! Now I think the problem is that you just don’t want to eat them the same way two days in a row. While that is true and can be the case in some foods like casseroles, there are so many other options where you can take the food from a meal one night and turn it into a completely different meal the next night. And this is what I call a fantabulous (fantastic + fabulous, you get the drift) way to plan a menu. Lets take for instance this lovely meal. Harvest flatbread, a.k.a. fall flavors on a flatbread or very similar to one of our favorite salads, harvest salad. It has leftover shredded roast, leftover butternut squash sauce, and staples like apple, arugula and feta all drizzled with balsamic –>SQUEAL<–
And the better part, the two main ingredients are ones that many people would just chuck a week or two later because they didn’t use it. So here’s how this weeks menu went down;
- Sunday – Creamy Sausage and Butternut Squash Spaghetti with Crispy Sage
- Monday – Roast + Root Vegetables in Slow Cooker
- Tuesday – Spaghetti Squash Pie – leftover spaghetti squash from Sunday (coming to the blog soon)
- Wednesday – Brats + Roasted Sweet Potatoes Salad – leftover root vegetables from Monday
- Thursday – Harvest Flatbread – leftover butternut squash puree from Sunday plus leftover roast from Monday
- Friday – Slow Cooker Carnitas
Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers. I’m always thinking leftovers. It could be a sickness, I suppose? But this has to be my number one tip in how to eat healthy on a budget. Use every last morsel of food you cook, mkay? My philosophy, if you’re cookin’ healthy once, you might as well make it last through several meals. Cook once eat three times is how I like to roll. I know big aspirations! It works, but you have to plan for it and sometimes be slightly creative. Also known as daring in trying new flavor combos. Maybe this is why I love #flatbreadfriday so much. You just chuck whatever leftovers you have on my grain free flatbread and hope the heat melts them all together into a flavor explosion. Now you all know my secret. Throw it together, cross your fingers and let the oven work its magic.
When it’s done, just go ahead and drizzle it with balsamic because why not?!?
- 1 Grain Free Flatbread - Find Recipe Here
- 1 Cup Butternut squash puree
- 1 Cup Shredded beef roast
- 2 Apples, cored and chopped
- Feta cheese (optional)
- Handful of Arugula
- Freshly cracked salt & pepper
- Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Prepare flatbread according to directions.
- Top flatbread with squash puree, shredded beef, chopped apple, and feta cheese.
- Add freshly cracked salt and pepper.
- Place back in oven for 5-8 minutes.
- Remove and add arugula and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.
- Slice and serve.
