Ideas for Dinner Leftovers from 4 Grandmas4U

Food Leftovers: Dilemma or Delight

Once more we are placing containers with leftovers from the supper we just ate into the fridge. What will I do with these tomorrow? I might just wait for a few days and then they will possibly not look good and I can throw them out without feeling guilty. Or, as part of the senior world, I could go for lunch with a friend and suggest that my husband (I’m still lucky to have one) could eat the leftovers for lunch and that would be that. But, I put them in the fridge with the possibility of eating them sometime.

We who grew up in the forties, fifties and sixties experienced the need to save every leftover. Some of our (the 4 Grandmas’) parents lived through hard times in Russia before coming to Canada in the 1920’s. In the difficult 30’s that followed our parents tried to be good stewards as well as frugal.

Using leftovers can be a creative, innovative experience. Trying to get the “makeover” word into a food reality and do it so no one can recognize that they had this food before.

I have 2 recipes that I want to share with you. The first recipe is a new dish using leftover fish.

Catch of the Day in Alfredo White

To make the sauce, brown 1-2 tbsp butter and garlic. Whisk in 3 tbsp flour and add 1 cup chicken broth, whisk and boil. Make sure it is smooth and thickened. Add 1 cup or more of whipping cream, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmering boil. Add chunks of fish, peas and carrots, corn, or other vegetables from fridge or frozen. Serve over pasta or rice. Add raw vegetables or a salad. Just like that, a new yummy dinner.

Ham Biscuit Bake

Cut leftover ham into chunks. Boil 2 cups mixed vegetables in salt water, drain. Mix a can each of cream of potatoe and mushroom soup with 1 cup milk, add to the vegetables and ham. Place in a casserole dish and bake at 375 degrees until it bubbles. Mix a batch of baking powder biscuits, space them on top and bake until browned. Serve with a vegetable plate or green salad and you have a complete dinner on the table. Surprise!

Marlene Froese


Leftovers, leftovers, so many leftovers
What to do - toss a few or make a meal
Now that’s a deal!

Beef Stew

Cut leftover roast beef into cubes, add onion, garlic, peppers, carrots, corn, peas, etc. Add beef gravy with mushroom soup and also leftover cubed potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Make a salad, biscuits and voilà, a meal.

Hedie Harder