What to do with leftover food

I'm guilty of throwing away leftovers because I don't want to eat the same thing a few nights in a row. Usually, we will save an extra portion for Justin's lunch the next day, but I often have extra ingredients in the fridge.

My quick and easy solution is to make leftovers into pizza toppings. Everyone loves pizza and this is a great way to clean out the fridge. My latest leftover night was this shaved asparagus, goat cheese, and prosciutto pizza. I made a cheesy sauce with white cheddar and Parmesan, assembled the toppings, and baked until golden brown. It was the best leftovers I've had in a while.

  LESSON LEARNED: Find ways to be creative with leftovers!

Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

I love pasta dishes where half the plate is veggies. This dish screamed "Spring" to me with asparagus, snap peas, and carrots. I loved the flavor of the quick sauce made from chicken stock, heavy cream, and Dijon mustard. As a bonus, it was super fast to make for a weeknight dinner.

LESSON LEARNED: To make this dish in even less time, prep the veggies the night before. That's what I did!

Recipe for Pasta with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Carrots

Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Rhubarb is one of our favorite spring vegetables! We love it in all sorts of sweet applications, but I wanted to create a few savory dishes as well.

In this dish, I made a rhubarb marmalade to top over grilled salmon. The tartness of the rhubarb cut through the richness of the salmon, so I really thought the two flavors worked well together. I served it with a green salad and it was a quick (and restaurant quality!) lunch.

LESSON LEARNED: If you have extra marmalade, it is excellent mixed into yogurt for a healthy breakfast.

Recipe for Salmon with Rhubarb Marmalade

Beef Kabobs

It was Justin's birthday a few weeks ago and he requested this meal as his birthday dinner. In fact, all 3 birthdays that I've known him, he's requested this same meal! We've now made this birthday dinner in Tucson (AZ), Hudson (OH), and now Maumee (OH). Hopefully there's no more moving for us!

Pieces of steak are marinated in a mixture of dry onion soup mix, ketchup, oil, mustard, and vinegar plus a few other ingredients. This may sound a little strange, but the marinade is simmered on the stove for a little bit, then cooled, and tossed with the steak. The steak is threaded onto skewers with cherry tomatoes, onion, and green pepper and grilled until charred. The whole thing is served over rice with extra marinade sauce.

LESSON LEARNED: Marinate the beef at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Recipe for Beef Kabobs

Caesar Salad with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

Looking for a hearty main dish salad? This is it! You begin by making a creamy Caesar dressing with garlic and lemon juice. The dressing is tossed with crispy bacon, fried capers, browned Brussels Sprouts, shaved Parmesan cheese, and two types of lettuce. Usually Justin isn't a big fan of having salad for dinner, but he was thoroughly satisfied after eating this dinner.

 LESSON LEARNED: Fry the capers and Brussels Sprouts in the same pan you cooked the bacon. It creates less dishes to clean later.

Recipe for Caesar Salad with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

Cheesy Veggie Dip

Oh my gosh! This is a FABULOUS snack. Imagine a homemade white cheddar cheese creamy dip with chopped spinach, scallions, and asparagus. It is topped with crumbled goat cheese and baked until bubbly and golden. YUM! We served it with tortilla chips, but it would be equally good with bread or fresh veggies.

LESSON LEARNED: Use any veggie you have on hand to make this dip.

Recipe for Cheesy Veggie Dip

Curry Beef Noodle Bowls

I never worked with curry before, so I was super excited to try this recipe. I thought the curry paste that I chose was really flavorful because I tasted spices first and the heat slowly built up. It wasn't too spicy, but you can add as much spice as you like. Who knows, if I keep using curries, I might start making my own blend!

Thin slices of steak are browned in curry and stir fried with onions, garlic, red pepper, scallions, and edamame. A quick sauce is created from fish sauce and chicken stock. After the sauce simmers for a few minutes, you toss in cooked whole-wheat noodles and you are ready to enjoy this Thai inspired stir fry!

LESSON LEARNED: Don't be afraid of using curry. It adds a lot of flavor to a dish with little effort.

Recipe for Curry Beef Noodle Bowls