KP Duty for Leftovers

I have some great ideas for making over your leftovers. I love having meals that do double duty, cooking once, and eating twice (or more). My favorite double duty meal is shredded beef (or pork). I start with a roast in the crock pot. Season generously with salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder. I also add fresh garlic, 4-5 cloves, and if you have it on hand a few chipotle peppers in adobo. Add water and cook on low for the day, and there you have it, shredded beef for tacos or burritos. Then, for the next day, simmer your leftover shredded meat in bar-b-que sauce for bar-b-que beef sandwiches. I like to top mine with coleslaw. Another super versatile ingredient is rotisserie chicken. For a family of four, we are able to get 2 meals out of one chicken. I like to use half of the chicken in a pasta dish, and the other half in a soup or salad. For the pasta dish, I combine any bite sized variety of pasta, cooked, chicken, also in bite sized pieces, pesto, fresh tomatoes, diced, and Parmesan cheese. Save a little of your pasta water to loosen up the sauce. I have also added cream to these ingredients to make it a little more luxurious. So, for the soup, use your imagination. You could go with the standard chicken noodle, or chicken and dumplings, or try the Thai Chicken soup recipe from the Food Network magazine. Or you could skip the soup all together and make a pizza. One of our faves is buffalo chicken pizza. For the boys' portion of pizza, I use Ranch dressing for the sauce, and on the adult portion, I use wing sauce. Top with the chicken cut in bite size pieces, and mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with Ranch just before serving. You could also use the leftover chicken for a Chicken Cobb salad, or make it a Southwestern Cobb salad by adding black beans, corn and a spicy Ranch dressing. I have made the same salad with leftover steak too. Leftovers don't have to be leftovers, makeover your main ingredient to create a whole new meal, your family with thank you, I promise.