I found myself doing the dreaded 'fridge freeze' today while trying to figure out dinner. It's that pose where you open the refrigerator and stare into it. A deer caught in headlights. Since I couldn't determine what to make from the hodgepodge inside, I closed it, sat back down on the couch where I do much of my writing and continued blogging while Rachel Ray bubbled on in the background.
Shortly thereafter, I was pulled from my writer's trance by laughing, clapping and happy screaming. Rachel and fellow cooks were racing around the stage trying to compile a meal as quickly as possible from leftovers. They came up with a chicken waffle sandwich, leftover soup and ice cream with sauteed fruit.
When we say leftovers in my house, the kids scream too. But not like that. It's more of a banshee noise than glee. Visions of creative thinking, camaraderie, team work and dinner DONE began to float as I devised a plan of action.
That night, I gave the girls 10 minutes each to view the contents of our fridge and pantry and take notes. I then let them research ideas via internet and cookbooks for 20 minutes with the guidelines that whatever they created for dinner needed to:
Here's what they made:
We even cut 2 styrofoam to-go boxes in half that had various leftovers in them and used for plates! Less cleaning makes everyone happy. If you're finding yourself stumped for ideas, How Stuff Works has some clever ideas for leftovers.
Share your tips and I'll post them on Facebook!
For healthy dinner ideas, download a copy of Need Help Mom? on Amazon.
When we say leftovers in my house, the kids scream too. But not like that. It's more of a banshee noise than glee. Visions of creative thinking, camaraderie, team work and dinner DONE began to float as I devised a plan of action.
That night, I gave the girls 10 minutes each to view the contents of our fridge and pantry and take notes. I then let them research ideas via internet and cookbooks for 20 minutes with the guidelines that whatever they created for dinner needed to:
- be nutritionally balanced
- be made in 30 minutes or less
- put to use mainly items near expiration
Here's what they made:
- Pinwheel sandwiches by rolling up the 2 pieces of sliced turkey with the one piece of bread that we had left
- Green beans and tomatoes sauteed in olive oil
- Sliced grapes and peaches with mint and honey (details here)
- Microwaved potato crisps sprinkled with butter and Parmesan cheese using that one potato growing eyes in my pantry
We even cut 2 styrofoam to-go boxes in half that had various leftovers in them and used for plates! Less cleaning makes everyone happy. If you're finding yourself stumped for ideas, How Stuff Works has some clever ideas for leftovers.
Share your tips and I'll post them on Facebook!
For healthy dinner ideas, download a copy of Need Help Mom? on Amazon.