Leftover Easter eggs

Got leftover Easter eggs? Make egg salad sandwiches, add to soup or meatloaf, make a potato and egg casserole with cheese and milk, cream a few of them with cream cheese and add bits of bacon or chives for a chip dip. Don't just let them rot away in the refrigerator!

Leftover Beans

Got leftover cooked beans? Rinse, drain, mash and add them to meatloaf. No one will ever know they're in there. It extends the meat and adds fiber, too.

Freeze leftovers for convenient use

Put leftovers in serving sized containers and freeze. Individual yogurt cups are great for this. Seal the lids with tape and mark the contents. When you're busy or tired, dinner is already cooked and everyone can mix and match to their heart's desire! Just run water over the containers to release the food, put on a plate and microwave. (Or put on an oven proof dish and warm in the oven.)

Dibs and dabs

Do you save the salt from the pretzel bag? How about the sugar from a package of candied ginger? Cookie crumbs? Bread crumbs? Those things add up faster than you might think if you have a special place to put them. And USE them. There's no sense in keeping dibs and dabs if you don't use them.

The last package of candied ginger I used yielded enough sugar to sweeten a cup of tea. Why not? I paid for it.

Leftover salad

Got just a few leftover, cut up vegetables? Put them in your blender, add some liquid if needed (tomato sauce, grapefruit juice, etc., whatever is appropriate) and make a cold soup or vegetable drink.

Or cook them (even lettuce!) and puree for soup stock. If you don't want to use it at that moment, you can freeze it for for later.