Winter is a great time for converting your leftovers for lunch. While a cold sandwich or a salad might be fine for the summer, winter’s temperatures often bring appreciation for a warm and heartier meal. Plus, when you have leftovers for lunch, you are eliminating food waste. Eliminating food waste means eliminating the cost of additional food, as well.
Many people turn their noses up at leftovers. It is okay. I used to be one of them. One way to solve this is to freeze any leftovers you have and then bring them back out on another day. Of course we know that not all leftovers freeze well. Two examples are some types of pasta and cream-based dishes. If that is the case, you can have a leftover night and use up whatever is around, or do what I usually do, turn those leftovers into lunch.
If you don’t want your leftovers to seem like leftovers, then you’ll have to change them up a bit. Many things can be rolled into a tortilla, for example, for something different. You could also turn a meal item into a side dish to include in a home or bagged lunch.
Pasta can be added to canned soup for a twist, and ham or chicken can be turned into a hot or cold salad. Leftover teak can be turned into a cheese steak sandwich. There are many possibilities to try.
In order to make turning leftovers into lunch a little more successful, I usually try to keep sauces and gravies separate from the dishes they are enhancing, adding them at the plate instead of the pot. This gives you more options. The sauce can be used with another dish, and the main meal can be given a different sauce. It is all about giving yourself some flexibility to plan new and interesting leftovers for lunch.