Do you eat your leftovers? If not, you are making a huge mistake! Don’t believe me? You need to read this post and find out all of the beautiful benefits of loving your leftovers.
Already a fan? Read to find out more ways enjoy those lovely leftovers.
THE BEAUTIFUL BENEFITS OF LOVING YOUR LEFTOVERS
Oh, leftovers! How I love thee.
You make my life so much easier and you save me so much money. I can count on you and you never let me down.
There are few things in life so wonderful.
Here are all of the ways you rock.
LEFTOVERS ARE ALREADY COOKED
That’s basically take-out. Or a prepared meal at the grocery store.
Except better, because it was cooked by you, how you wanted it to be cooked.
This is incredible because it means that you don’t need to cook!
Don’t feel like cooking lunch or dinner? Leftovers are the answer!
LEFTOVERS ARE VERSATILE
They can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks!
There isn’t one right time of day to eat them.
They are always delicious!
Do you have leftover steak or roasted potatoes? Throw them in your eggs in the morning. Yum!
Leftover dinners make perfect lunches.
Lots of different leftovers can be used together to make a whole dinner.
Whenever you eat them, whatever they are, leftover are there for you!
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER
Small leftovers can be saved for a snack. Like for when you come home from work and you’re starving. Or for when it’s almost bedtime but suddenly your husband needs something to eat.
Large leftovers, like the kind you get by thinking ahead and cooking a double batch of a meal, can be used to feed your whole family dinner. A home cooked meal. Without having to actually cook it!
And when there is just one portion left of a meal, that is absolutely perfect for a work or school lunch!
REPURPOSE
If you don’t want to eat the same thing again and again, that’s totally fine!
Take what you have and turn it into a brand new meal.
This is one of my favorite ways to use leftovers.
Here’s an example of what it looks like to repurpose your leftovers:
If you have leftover rice, shredded chicken, and mixed veggies you can make chicken fried rice. Just dump those leftovers in a large skillet with a little onion, garlic, red pepper if you have it, and fried egg if you want. Then add some soy sauce and a little salt and pepper.
And you’ve got a simple, delicious, easy to make meal.
GET THE KIDS INVOLVED
Your kids can love their leftovers too!
Make it a rule that they don’t need to clean their plates at every meal, but instead, when they’re feeling full they can save the rest of their meal.
Use these leftovers as a snack later on or for a meal the next day.
This is a great way to instill healthy eating habits and save money on feeding the children in your life.
(Isn’t it amazing how much these tiny humans can eat?!)
WHAT ABOUT MY MEAL PLAN?
Eating leftovers doesn’t have to mean that you can’t meal plan.
Just leave a little wiggle room in your plan for leftover.
For me, this looks like only planning 4 or 5 dinners a week because I know at least 2 dinners will be leftovers. It also means not planning lunch for my husband or myself because I know we’ll eat our leftovers for lunch.
Read more about how I meal plan here.
SKIP THE EXCUSES
Stop with the “I don’t like leftovers” or “it’s just rice, why save it?” or “no one is going to eat this”.
Give leftovers a chance.
Clean out your fridge, and clear some room to store them.
You might be surprised at how much you love them!
FALL IN LOVE {WITH YOUR LEFTOVERS}
I hope I’ve convinced you to take advantage of the beautiful benefits of leftovers.
Start saving and eating your leftovers today.
Enjoy saving money, time, and energy. You’re going to love it!
Psst… Want to save even more? Hop on my email list here. It’s my favorite place to give you money saving tips and insights that I just don’t share anywhere else. Plus you’ll get lots of free financial tools just for signing up.
Keep reading. Here are some of my best posts:
Just reheat with oven or stovetop, never microwave, it ruins food.
I love leftovers! Leftover dinner is usually my lunch the next day and bringing lunch to work every day saves me at least $2000 a year! If that’s not a reason to love leftovers I don’t know what is!
YES!!! Leftovers make such a great lunch!