So…..in an effort to clear up the controversy my post caused on eating leftovers and rolling them forward into other meals (which honestly, came out of left field and surprised me), I wanted to share a simple recipe and show you what I meant.
Come on. Really? Does this look disgusting to you?
Of course not, because this is common sense for most people.
I wanted to make a short post today and just show you how we “roll forward leftovers into a meal”. As you remember, we had hummus for lunch a couple days ago, and while there was not enough left for another full lunch, there certainly was enough to add to a meal. So here are our Red Pepper Hummus wraps.
Using a red pepper from the garden, parsley from the pot growing in the windowsill, leftover hummus and tortillas, and some tomato flavored rice (using my homemade tomato power I made from drying skins of tomatoes from last year’s garden), we had a lovely, filling, healthy lunch for five people, and ended up with enough to send a full huge wrap for my husband to work the next day.
Work smart, not hard, when it comes to food storage. If this were in the winter, I would soak dried red peppers and simply blend them into the hummus or cook them into the rice like I did the tomato powder. If you do not have a dehydrator, you might want to check into Thrive foods, which my friend Karina sells (see ad at right). They have lots of lovely options for quickly stocking a pantry with dried foods you can use immediately in a pinch.
Enjoy the recipe.Â
And share some ways you use your leftovers in new meals so our awesome new friends who are just getting started can get some ideas. 😀
Blessings,Â
HeatherÂ
Red Pepper Hummus Wraps
6 store bought or homemade tortillas
3 cups cooked rice, warm, seasoned
1 diced red sweet pepper
6-8 sprigs of fresh parsley
3 cups hummus
On each plate, place a large burrito size tortilla. Top with ingredients in this order: 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup hummus, sprigs of parsley, red pepper dices.
Tuck the edges over to middle of tortilla, and roll it into a wrap. Cut in half and serve.
Makes 6 generous servings with LOTS of good healthy veggies and protein.
Sounds and looks yummy. I was raised off of “re-purposed” meals so I love to have great ideas like this. Thank you!
I can’t believe that leftovers caused controversy! Thats crazy. We use leftovers to make lots of things! And they are good! Why would anyone w giod food away?!
Wow, I think answering that would certainly take a good long couple of posts. However, I also think there was a basic misunderstanding of some people thinking I meant scraping plates after people are done and reusing it. That all being said, yep, there certainly were some folks who could not stomach the thought of reusing most things and would rather throw them away. Lets hope this post changes their minds a little. 😉
I am always surprised when people carry on about using leftovers, if you use them and transform them into something else altogether you are not only being frugal but you are serving your family and friends lovely nourishing meals, why, Sandra Lee has a program on the Food Network where she always has a round two recipe that she uses the leftovers for; and this is from” money saving meals”!
I take leftover chicken and make chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos , chicken spaghetti ( just to be plain not from the same chicken) and often I make wraps with leftovers and have never heard a squawk from my husband or my children when they lived at home.
In a world where people are homeless and do not know where their next meal is coming from it seems almost criminal and certainly selfish to throw something away because you do not have the skills or the imagination to take basic ingredients and transform them into something wonderful for your loved ones. And to raise children who think they are too good to eat leftovers says something truly scarey about our society.
Of course I was raised by a parent that went through the depression of the 1930’s and knew what going hungry was about and she taught my sisters and I to use and re-use and re-purpose just about everything. I did not always do this especially when I was young and thought new was always better but after a few years of marriage and a few hard knocks I found out how really smart my mom was!
I really urge women and men too to learn to use what they have if you haven’t any cook books and no money then go to the library and search the internet study and practice what you learn this may come in very handy in the very near future.
O.K. I will get off my soap box but really this is so important, we are unfortunately a nation that wastes far too much and we need to learn to conserve and an easy way everyone who cooks can do that is by using their leftover’s judicially.
By the way I did not say but those wraps look great and I am going to try that recipe this week end when my grandson comes over .
Thanks Heather for all you do I know this is something you do because you are called to do it , but I also know your health has caused you to tire easily and things take longer to do , I am praying for you and your family and know that the Lord will give you whatever you need He will help you thru all this..And know there are lots of us folks out here praying blessings for you and yours. Pat H.
Amen.
It appalls me to think that ‘left overs’ are disgusting. However, i have dealt with this thinking as well. People may one day soon be delighted to get some previously cooked food. The recipe is creative, and I bet the kids love it. stay strong.
We eat left overs all the time. I usually plan a meal on Sunday that will be part of two or three meals the next week. My mom always did a huge roast on Monday and then made three to four meals from that roast. I try to use all food up until there is just enough left to cover the cat food for the cats in the barn, usually less than a cup. And yes, I have taken food off a plate at the end of the meal and used it later for a lunch.
No not disgusting at all. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party.