Make good use of those Christmas leftovers!

So the fridge is full of leftover food, stuffing, bread sauce, gravy, cooked potatoes of different varieties, cooked vegetables, meat and the list goes on.  What to do with it all??

Well I re-use and freeze as much as I can by making the following:

Soup – blend the leftover meat, gravy, potatoes and vegetables, add some meat or vegetable stock cubes dissolved in water until it is at a consistency you like and also add some leftover cream if you still feel like indulging.  The soup can be eaten over the next few days or frozen for a later date.

Spanish Tortilla – chop the meat, potatoes and vegetables into small pieces, place in a greased oven proof dish.  Add some whisked eggs until all the leftover food is partially covered and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees until the mixture is set (20-30 minutes). Eat either hot or cold or freeze until a later date.

Bubble and Squeak – I use all my leftovers for this, I mash everything together, potatoes, vegetables, meat, bread sauce and stuffing in a bowl.   Then I either fry it up in a frying pan or mould the mixture into balls, dip them in some whisked eggs and then roll them in some bread crumbs. These can then be fried or placed in the oven at 180 degrees until golden brown (20-30 mins). This is great served with some leftover meat or with a salad.

Gravy – I quite often freeze leftover gravy in small containers to use at a later date.

Christmas Pudding – this is great frozen and used later in the year or used as the base for a black forest trifle.

Cheese – Remember you can freeze all types of cheese and use it in cheese sauces throughout the year. I usually cut the cheese into chunks first, then when needed I take them out of the freezer and then throw them in some cream and slowly warm through. This also makes fantastic pasta sauce.

At a time when food seems to get more and more expensive don’t throw it away, recycle and re-use that fridge full of leftovers.