Whenever we go to restaurants, it seems like such a waste to throw away all of those bread sticks or rolls that they give you. Often their servings are so large, we end up with 5 to 6 leftover. Here is a recipe that uses those bread sticks or rolls. If you don't have the bread sticks, simply substitute torn up bread pieces. If you don't have leftover pasta salad, use leftover or fresh cooked pasta. To make this recipe a complete meal, add cooked chicken and serve a salad on the side. Enjoy!
Baked Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
4 Cups Bread sticks, toasted
4 Cups Pasta Salad
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 Can Cream of Soup
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Envelope Onion Soup Mix
Parmesan Cheese
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut or tear bread sticks into large chunks and put in the oven until lightly toasted. Let cool before mixing with other ingredients.
2. Mix together bread sticks, pasta salad, egg, sour cream, soup, milk, mozzarella cheese, and onions soup mix in a large bowl.
3. Spray a large baking dish with Pam. Pour mixture into dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes. Dish is finished when top is starting to brown and bubbly.
Good Evening!!! I can't believe it's already the end of September. This school year is really flying by. It has been a challenge keeping up my posting and working full-time. But, have no fear, I have a pile of What's for Leftovers recipes that I need to post. They're just waiting for some spare time!
Here's a new recipe that you can use with leftover tuna salad. My husband, Andy, only like a few types of fish: fried catfish, tuna fish and shrimp. A little while ago, I made a speedy dinner of tuna fish. I made a large batch, so we had quite a bit leftover. Since tuna fish salad doesn't last very long, I wanted to have it again the next day, but didn't want to have tuna salad sandwiches again. Soooo, I baked it. It turned out fantastic! Enjoy!
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10 to 11 inch baking pan with Pam.
2. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes. Baked Tuna Salad is finished when the top is lightly browned and bubbly.
My mom is semi-Southern, so, we grew up eating fried okra. For us, it was a treat when my mom would take the time to cook this Southern delicacy. Although, I have battered and fried okra by hand, I am lucky enough to be able to buy it in the grocery store. I love it when it is on sale for $1 a bag. While I think fried okra is simply delicious, I was very surprised to find out that my children aren't as thrilled about it (although they both tried it for me!). With all this fried okra leftover, I seriously thought I might have to throw it out, but then I got to thinking. I hid it in this Cajun Spaghetti that went over extremely well with my husband and father. Enjoy the recipe, it's spaghetti with a twist!
Cajun Spaghetti
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Diced Onions
2 Celery Stalks, Chopped
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
2 Chorizo Sausage Links
1 Brat or Smoked Sausage
1/2 Cup Chopped Ham
1 Diced Tomato
1 Cup Fried Okra
I Can Diced Tomatoes
1 & 1/2 Cups Spaghetti Sauce
1 Cup Water
1 TBSP Creole Seasoning
4 Cups Cooked Pasta
1. In a large soup pot, saute diced onions, celery and minced garlic in a little olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. When celery turns bright green add chorizo (decased and crumbled). Cook for another 5 minutes. Add smoked sausage, ham, tomato, fried okra, diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, water, and creole seasoning. Simmer on high for 10 minutes.
3. Turn to low and mix pasta in. Cook until pasta is thoroughly heated. Serves 6 people.
Happy rainy Monday!
Last weekend we had a really fun engagement party for my sister Jen and her fiance Austin. As with most parties, there was a ton of food leftover. Lucky for us, my mom brought a whole bunch of the leftovers to my house. Jen had made this really fantastic tasting, simple to make, Pesto Dip for the party. I added some half and half to it to turn it into a creamy dressing for a pasta salad. The pasta salad can be served warm or cold, depending upon what your family likes. Here's the dip recipe, plus the Pesto Pasta Salad recipe. This way you can plan your leftover meal in advance! Enjoy!
Jen's Pesto Dip
Ingredients:
Half a Jar of Pesto
1/2 cup (or so) chopped roasted red pepper
1 Bar of Cream Cheese
3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Combine pesto and cream cheese, add peppers and walnuts.
Serve with crackers or french bread
Pesto Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 and 1/8 Cup of Pesto Dip
3/8 Cup Half & Half
1 TBSP Dried Minced Onion
4 Cups Cooked Pasta
3 Roma Tomatoes, Chopped
2 oz Mozzarella Cheese (shredded or cubed)
1/2 Cup Turkey or Ham Lunchmeat, Chopped
2 and 1/2 Cups Cooked Cauliflower, Chopped*
1. Mix together pesto dip, half & half and minced onion until creamy.
2. In large bowl, stir together cooked pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, lunchmeat and cauliflower. Pour dressing on top and mix.
*If your family does not like cauliflower, substitute 2 and 1/2 cups of peas and chopped green peppers.
This weekend my wise, older brother turned 33. Yea Mike! My mom and dad threw him a really fun surprise party with lots of family and friends. We were fortunate enough to be the beneficiaries of some really yummy food leftover from the party. Lately, we've been so busy that I really haven't had a lot of time to cook. On Monday I looked into our fridge and knew I needed to cook a lot! Our fridge was stocked with food. So, from the leftover French Onion Dip was born Mini Turkey and Broccoli Cannelloni. I made them with a red sauce, but I think they would be even more delicious if you used a white alfredo sauce.
Mini Turkey and Broccoli Cannelloni
Ingredients:
1 Box Manicotti Noodles
1 Lb Ground Turkey
1 Package Chopped Frozen Broccoli
1/2 Cup French Onion Dip
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Bag Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 and 1/2 Jars Red Spaghetti Sauce or 2 Jars Alfredo Sauce (or a combination of the two)
1. Boil manicotti noodles following the directions on the box. When finished, drain water and cut noodles in half.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cook broccoli in microwave for 5 minutes. Let cool when finished. If there are any large pieces, chop them up.
4. In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, broccoli, french onion dip, ricotta cheese, 3/4 bag of mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and the egg.
5. Spread a thick layer of spaghetti or alfredo sauce on the bottom of two medium sized baking dishes. Stuff manicotti noodles with turkey mixture and place in baking dishes. Cover finished noodles with remaining sauce.
6. Bake covered for 35 minutes. Add remaining mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to the top of the noodles. Cook for 5 more minutes uncovered. Let cool before serving.
We have quite a variety of salad dressings in our fridge. Earlier this year, my friend Kimberly taught me how to really use coupons to save money when grocery shopping. Because of this, I have an even larger variety in our pantry waiting to be savored on delicious salads. I have completely stocked up because of low, low prices! Opening a new bottle of salad dressing is a fabulous surprise, you really never know what new flavors you're going to get. We have a bottle of Imo's dressing that has been hanging around in our refrigerator for awhile. I've been trying to finish it up so I could open a new bottle of dressing. Last night I succeeded when I made this yummy pea salad. It's a spin on the version you might have eaten at church dinners and you'll love it! Bring it to your next church dinner or picnic.
Peas and Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Frozen Peas
3 Cups Cooked Pasta
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
2 Hard-boiled Eggs, chopped
1/2 Colby Cheese, diced
1/4 Cup Red Onions, diced
1/4 Cup Italian Salad Dressing
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Tsp Dill Weed
1. Pour frozen peas into a large bowl. Do not cook them.
2. Add cooked pasta to the bowl
3. Chop and dice bell peppers, eggs, colby cheese, and red onions. Add to bowl.
4. Pour Italian salad dressing and mayo into the bowl. Sprinkle dill weed on top. Mix thoroughly.
Your salad will need to sit out while for awhile (1/2 an hour to an hour) to allow your peas to defrost. After that, stir and either serve immediately or put in the refrigerator to enjoy later.
I made a Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin on Valentine's Day for my little family, my parents and my brother. It was huge! We had about 1/2 of it left. So last night's dinner was a dish made with leftover pork loin and tonight's will be too. Growing up, my mom used to make a great beef stroganoff. It wasn't fancy, but it was really good. She made it with hamburger, but since we had so much pork leftover, I made a version of it with pork. We had some friends over for dinner last night and they seemed to really enjoy it. I hope your family does too!
Remember, you can make any recipe provided by What's For Leftover's healthier by using low-fat and fat free ingredients.
Pork Stroganoff
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Medium Green Peppers- Chopped
1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Onion
1/2 Cup Water
1 Can Cream of Soup (I used celery)
1 Can of Milk (use the cream of soup can)
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Spaghetti Sauce
1 1/2 TBSP Sugar
2 Squirts of Ketchup
1 TBSP Minced Garlic (refrigerated kind)
3 Cups Chopped Pork Loin
Salt
Pepper
2 Cups Uncooked Pasta (3 cups cooked)
Cook Pasta in a separate dish.
In a large frying pan, saute green peppers and onions in water. Cook until water is almost gone and onions start to become translucent. Next add cream of soup, milk, sour cream, spaghetti sauce, sugar, ketchup and minced garlic. Cook until sauce thickens up. Generously season with salt and pepper. Add pork loin and continue cooking. After pork loin is heated, add cooked pasta and cook until dish is nice and creamy.
