Food-Waste Fighting Meals | the lunches-only edition
When I make breakfast and lunch for myself, I almost always do so with an eye to using up odds and ends of food. And every now and then, I post a collection of these breakfast and lunch meals I make.
However, I have not had a string of creative breakfasts of late. So, this edition will be comprised solely of lunch concoctions!
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Sometimes, I'm able to make a cohesive meal out of the random things in my fridge.
Other times, this happens:
That's a leftover hot dog, an avocado with a few bad spots cut out, some grape tomatoes, some leftover rice, and a fried egg.
This next plate is a result of an enormous bag of broccoli from Hungry Harvest. I sauteed some florets in bacon grease with salt and pepper, and I fried up some leftover bratwurst as well.
More broccoli! I mixed some florets with some leftover dressing (from this strawberry-pear salad recipe) and added the last of the sausage.
You might be thinking, "Where are the carbs?" Well, I'd eaten a container of Wheat Thins on the way home from class that day, so that pretty much covered my carb desire. 😉
Next, I had some pizza leftover from our date night, so I put it into the oven on convection to reheat it. So much tastier than microwaving, and it only takes a few minutes longer.
Leftover fettuccine with shrimp plus fresh basil from the plants on my deck.
Leftover ground beef from these Korean wraps, plus pickled carrots, an avocado, and dressed with the leftover sauce from the wraps.
The next salad is made from a bagged salad kit that was an extra at the food pantry.
Fried egg on the side because an egg makes a meal!
A brussels sprout salad (another bagged salad kit) with lemon dressing and a sliced, browned leftover chicken sausage.
Another food pantry salad kit. I added an avocado plus some crunchy seasoned corn kernels, which are delightful on a salad.
This next lunch was leftover chicken, heated in a skillet, sliced on top of spinach.
Hungry Harvest carrots on the side, dipped in Hungry Harvest hummus. Also, a leftover homemade oatmeal dinner roll.
This is leftover rice topped with sauteed asparagus, a random piece of bacon, and a fried egg.
For this bowl, I sliced and browned two leftover chicken sausages (which I'd bought on a clearance markdown).
Then I combined them with leftover rice, the last few cherry tomatoes, and a container of takeout sauce that Lisey had brought home since she thought I'd like it (and I did!)
These fries were leftover from a date night I went on with Mr. FG.
I heated them up in the oven on convection (always choose dry heat over a microwave!) and I fried an egg as well.
Lastly, I made a quesadilla with the last of the corn tortillas. On the side, I ate the last of a cucumber, the last of the blackberries, and the last of the watermelon.
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If you just looked at these meals, it would seem like we eat a LOT of sausages! It is true that I buy chicken sausages and bratwurst fairly regularly.
But, I think they feature so prominently here because they are a super easy protein to go along with other random things that need to be used up.
And the same goes for eggs. Eggs make a meal!
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If you want to see more food waste fighting meal ideas, here's the first one I posted.
Here's edition #2.
And here's edition #3!
Everything looks delicious! That Lisey brought you the sauce is so sweet. Makes me miss my mom!
I agree with you that an egg makes a meal and it makes a difference if you pay attention to HOW you reheat leftovers.
Personally I also like to add some toppings like grated cheese and some sort of acid (a squeeze of lemon or a nice vinegar) on meals in general, and leftovers in particular - it makes them taste super fresh. This may work for some who don't like eating leftovers. Though I must admit I can't understand people who don't like leftovers - they are like a gift from your past self to your present self.
These meals look delicious! And the Bratwurst sounds/looks very familiar ;-). I live in Bratwurst-Land!
I agree that reheating food in a microwave does not taste as good as reheated in the oven or on the stove top. That's why I never owned a microwave. And the few minutes it takes longer to do so are worth it to me if the result makes me happy!
@Lea, so missing Thueringer Bratwurst
We're coming into the season when I can make soup--which usually uses up a bunch of leftover stuff in the refrigerator--and eat it for many of my lunches during the week. I love that. So easy to just heat up a bowl of soup. Easier than putting together a salad, which is the summer version of soup. Or maybe soup is the winter version of salad.
You are the queen of zero food waste lunches! I am impressed!
Your lunches look like mine! People ask “where did you come up with that idea?” I tell them it’s a refrigerator lunch.
I also make refrigerator soup. Husband will ask “can we have this again?” Of course we could. IF we have the exact same leftovers again!
Also @AR- a gift from my past self!!!!!
@Deborah,
My husband calls it "junk soup" and loves it, but dislikes that it's never the same, which, of course, it isn't going to be.
@JD, My husband calls these "refrigerator garbage soups."
@Lindsey, I call it trash soup!
I eat this way too, making concoctions from leftovers. Our toaster oven is great to heat and crisp. I agree that adding eggs is very tasty. Anytime I don’t have to cook a whole meal from scratch is fine by me.
I ❤️ Leftovers!
Those look so yummy! I will make up brown bag lunches of leftovers and fill in around the edges with seasoned rice, spinach or broccoli, which is always in the pantry and freezer. And I'm always up for trimming the bruised fruit and adding a little yogurt.
For lunch today, I'm making minestrone soup inspired by yesterday's comment by A. Marie. Great way to use up odds and ends.
Yesterday I made a "pizzadilla" for lunch and used up part of a leftover grilled chicken breast, the last of some pizza sauce, and some wilting scallions. It was really good! So fun to see what you can create from what's left in the fridge...now, if only I'd added a fried egg 😉
My aunt makes quesadillas with an egg in the them...eggadillas. 🙂
That sounds delicious!
Thanks for inspiring me to finish up the last of some salad in the fridge! 🙂
I sometimes have some of those "odds and ends" lunches that look, well, odd, but they are filling and the food is good even if it is not traditionally served together.
I usually have leftover mini-meals to take to work, no problem. Where I run into problems is the weekend. For some reason, I plan every weekday to have leftovers for lunch at work, but on the weekends, I often forget to make extra, and have to scrounge in the fridge to find something to eat. My husband can have a sandwich, but I don't eat bread, so I have to get creative.
Your meals looked quite tasty, and now I'm hungry.
Protein, veggie, carb, fruit - that's my general goal for anything for lunch!
Today, my lunch will be:
- some homemade broth poured over some leftover frozen mixed veggies to make a soup
- a can of tuna
- a container of Two Good yogurt (I bought some Two Good containers try, and BLECH - I'd so much rather just eat regular Greek yogurt with a small amount of jam to keep the "sugar" down than literally anything with artificial sweetener. Thankfully, this is the last container!)
I don't have a fruit because my pears aren't ripe! Boo. Hopefully tomorrow.
All of that looks good and as result, I added chicken sausage to my grocery list!
I eat a lot of "scraps" and odds-and-ends lunches. It is a great way to keep the food budget down and it's more interesting than a sandwich. Adding an egg or cheese or salsa makes almost anything into a meal.
Those are some mouth-watering and inspiring photos!
I agree with others, those meals all look great. I mostly just reheat dinner leftovers, since most recipes seem to make 4 servings at the least and my kids are too young to eat a full serving so we always have at least some leftover. I do like when I have a chance to be a bit more creative though. It’s like a game to see how I can fix up something unappealing to make it appealing. Sauces and crumbled cheeses really help, I also like adding everything bagel seasoning and I recently had some French’s fried onions leftover from a recipe which add a nice crispness to things.