What to do with leftover bratwursts and canned corn?

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and Spring is in the air- hopefully!  It's a perfect day for cajun food!  Okay, any day is a perfect day for cajun food.  I myself have never been to New Orleans, but my husband Andy has for Mardi Gras.  According to him, Mardi Gras is crazy and the food is great.  He loves cajun food, so he was a big fan of this dish!  From start to finish, it will take you less than an hour, and you can feed a crowd of 5-7 adults with it.  Serve some toasty french bread on the side and you'll have a feast!

Cajun Rice

Ingredients:

1 Box Red Beans and Rice

1 Small Onion

1 Green Pepper

1 Orange, Yellow, or Red Pepper

1/4 Cup Canned Corn (this is all I had, you can add more)

2 Bratwursts

1 Cup Chopped Ham

1 TBSP Garlic
1 Can Tomato Soup
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 1/2 Cans of Water (use the diced tomatoes can)

1. Dice onion, green pepper, and colored pepper. Put into a large soup pot with red beans and rice mix.
2. Cut up brats into small pieces.  Add brats and ham cubes to pot.
3. Add garlic, tomato soup, diced tomatoes (with juice) and water to the pot.  Mix all ingredients together.
4. Cook covered, on high until rice mix comes to a boil.  Stir occasionally so the bottom won't burn.
5. After rice starts to boil, turn heat down to medium and cook covered for 20 minutes.  Continue stirring occasionally so rice won't burn on the bottom.
6.  After 20 minutes, uncover and turn off stove.  Let sit for ten minutes to thicken up and cool.

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What to do with Clementines and Oranges

Celia and Charlie love clementines.  They're so cute and little and the kids can peel and eat them by themselves.  However, when I looked in our refrigerator yesterday, I realized we were each going to have to eat about 5 clementines a day or they were going to go bad.  So that this didn't happen, I made a clementine-orange salad.  It's a basic creamy fruit salad, so if you have any fruit besides clementines and oranges available, throw it in too.


Sunshine Salad
Ingredients:
6 Clementines
2 Medium Oranges
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 Cup Whipped Creme
1/4 Cup Sour Creme
1 Vanilla Pudding Snack-Pak
1 TBSP Brown Sugar

1. Peel and separate clementine segments.  Make sure the clementines don't have any seeds.  Throw into a large bowl.
2. Peel oranges.  Cut each orange into four circular slices going against the segments (so it looks like a flower or a star).  Separate circle into triangles.  Make sure you take out any seeds.  Throw oranges and chopped nuts in with the clementines.
3.  In a separate bowl, mix together whipped creme, sour cream, vanilla pudding and brown sugar.
4. Gently pour creamy mix into fruit and nut mixture and stir.  Sprinkle a few chopped pecans on top and serve.

What to do with tortilla chips?

My husband Andy loves all Mexican and Tex-Mex foods.  I could make tacos and burritos every night of the week and he would be in heaven.  However, our daughter Celia, wouldn't like it very much.  You can imagine Andy's surprise when his daughter did not pop out of the womb wanting some nachos.  In fact, it took her three and a half years to find something on the Taco Bell menu that she actually likes besides cinnamon twists.  Lucky for Andy, they started selling cheese roll-ups- melted cheese and a tortilla, which Celia loves.  So now, we can regularly visit Taco Bell again. 

Last night, when I started to make dinner, I wanted to make something Mexicany for Andy, but I was tired of tacos.  I had a few tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag that I wanted to use, so I made a Tex-Mex Meatloaf for dinner.  It was really good and moist!  The best thing about it is, if you have any leftover, crumble it up, throw in some taco seasoning and beans and have tacos the next night. 

I did not make the meatloaf very spicy so Celia and Charlie would eat it.  Add some red peppers and use spicy salsa to heat it up.

Tex-Mex Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Turkey
1/8 Cup Dried, Chopped Onions
1 TBSP Dried Green Peppers
1 TBSP Dried Red Bell Peppers
2 Eggs
1/2 TBSP Southwest Seasoning Mix (I used a Pampered Chef one)
3/4 Cup Crushed Tortilla Chips (divide into 1/4 Cup and 1/2 Cup)
1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
3/4 Cup Salsa (divide into 1/4 Cup and 1/2 Cup)
3 Slices Colby Jack Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, onions, peppers, eggs, southwest seasoning, 1/4 cup crushed tortilla chips, bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup salsa.
3. Spray a glass bottom pie pan.  Form meat mixture into a log and place on pie pan.  I did this by making two large balls.  I placed them next to each other on the pan and filled in between them with the rest of the meatloaf mix.
4. Spread 1/2 cup of salsa on top of meatloaf.  Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, place cheese slices on top of meatloaf, bake for another 10 minutes.  When timer goes off spread 1/2 cup of crushed tortilla chips on top of melted cheese.  Bake for another 15 minutes.
5. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes after you take out of oven.  Serve with salsa.

What to do with a little bit of icing?

We went over to our friends' house for dinner last night and I made a chocolate cake for dessert.  Thanks to the modern convenience of cake mix boxes and icing tubs, it turned out great!  However, I had just a little bit of creamy, chocolaty icing leftover.  I definitely thought about just getting a spoon and eating it, but in the end, I made it into something new.  These are very easy to make and a great chocolate fix.  You might want to make them and hide them for yourself.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Balls
Ingredients:
4 Whole Cinnamon Graham Crackers
3 TBSP Chocolate Icing
2 1/2 TBSP Peanut Butter
1 Tsp Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Powdered Sugar

1. Smash graham crackers into small bits.  You don't want to grind them to a powder so your balls have some crunch, but you don't want them too big so they won't hinder you when you're rolling your balls.
2. Mix in 2 of the TBSP of chocolate icing, 2 1/2 TBSP of peanut butter and 1 Tsp of Powdered Sugar.
3.  Fill a small pot with water.  Place on the stove and place a bowl on top of it.  (or if you have one, use a double-boiler).  Heat your water and pour your chocolate chops into the bowl.  Mix in 1 TBSP of chocolate icing with them.  Heat water until your chocolate becomes a large, soft ball.  Make sure you stir constantly so your chocolate won't burn.
4. After chocolate melts, pour into graham cracker mixture.  Mix until smooth.  Roll chocolate mixture into small balls.  Roll these balls into powdered sugar.  This recipe will make 12 to 15 balls.  Place in refrigerator until ready to eat.

What to do with ham and potatoes?

Happy Anniversary What's for Leftovers? readers!  It's been one month since our blog was started!  I have really enjoyed sharing my recipes with everybody and I love reading your comments.  I look forward to more cooking suggestions and ideas from you!  To celebrate, Andy and I are taking our little ones to McDonalds tonight and not cooking.  So tomorrow night, tune in for leftover McDonalds :) 

Since today is rainy and cozy, I made my family Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup for lunch.  It made our house smell great while I was cooking it and then it tasted delicious when we ate it.  Plus, I was able to use up the rest of the ham my mom and dad had bought me from the Amish store at the Lake of the Ozarks.  After the soup was done cooking, the cheese separated from the broth a bit.  When I make this soup again, I'll make a paste out of a little bit of broth and flour.  I'll mix it into the soup and bring it to a boil.  This should make it a little bit thicker and help with the problem of separating.  If you make the soup and include this step, let me know how it turns out.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup
Ingredients:
4 Medium Baking Potatoes
3 Medium Carrots
1/2 Cup Choppped Yellow Onion
1 Cup Ham Chunks
1 Can Chicken Broth (I used reduced sodium/fat-free)
1 Can  Evaporated Milk (I used fat-free)
1/2 Cup Water
Salt
Pepper
1 Cup Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Peel and chop potatoes and carrots.  Put potatoes, carrots, and onions into a medium-sized soup pot.  Add ham, chicken broth, evaporated milk and water.  Start cooking on high.  Stir frequently, so milk won't burn.  After soup starts to boil, turn burner down to medium and cook for 30 minutes.  Continue stirring frequently so soup won't boil over or burn.  After 30 minutes, potatoes, onions and carrots should be completely cooked.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Toss in shredded cheese, let it melt and then turn off burner.  Serve as is, or topped with croutons.  This recipe will make enough soup for 4 adults.

What to do with a little bit of sour cream?

When I was in college, my friend Christy used to make this great dip.  She would bring it to all our sorority get-togethers and it was known as Christy's dip.  When I looked in the fridge tonight, I realized I had a whole bunch of little bits in there: a little bit of mayo, a little bit of cheese and a little bit of sour cream.  I tried to recreate Christy's dip with it.  It didn't turn out exactly the same, but it was still yummy!  Serve it with salsa and tortilla chips and it's an instant party.


Christy's Dip
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Cream Cheese
1/3 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Pack Taco or Burrito Seasoning
1/2 TBSP Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Chopped Black Olives
1 Cup Thick Salsa

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream and mayo until smooth.  Add taco seasoning and onion soup mix.  Stir until mixed in.  Finally mix in cheddar cheese, black olives, and salsa.  Serve with tortilla chips and salsa.