Leftover night...

I've been trying to clean out our refrigerator of all the leftovers, and the result has been a few fun meals over the last few days! Leftover night doesn't have to make everyone groan; it can fun and yummy, too! Here are two dishes we like to use leftovers in:



Chinese Chicken/Beef, Broccoli and Rice

(this is a great way to use leftover meat and veggies; you can throw various things in here, depending on what you have left over. I usually don't measure anything; just throw it in, and adjust the amount to how much meat and veggies I have on hand)





1 chicken breast (I usually use two or three), boneless and skinless
2 TB flour
2 tsp fruit juice (anything will do; you can also omit this, and just add 1 tsp brown sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 lb broccoli florets (steamed)
3 TB vegetable oil
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 TB ginger (or 2 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp cinnamon)
2 TB soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp sugar

Slice chicken breast into strips, or cut into chunks. Toss the chicken with the flour, fruit juice, salt, and pepper to evenly coat it. Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and ginger, add chicken, and stir-fry until the chicken is white and opaque. Add steamed broccoli, soy sauce, chicken broth, and sugar. Stir-fry until broccoli is tender and heated through. Serve over rice.

This recipe is modified from one I found online; it called for various ingredients that were more expensive and that I didn't already have in my cupboard. But, with the substitutions I've made, you'd never really even notice the difference.

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Pizza Calzones

(again, another great way to hide leftovers; stuff these with whatever is still in your fridge. I've stuffed mine with cheese, leftover spaghetti sauce, leftover chili, pepperoni, leftover bacon, tomatoes, etc.)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 envelope Fleischmann's RapidRise Yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup very warm water
2 TB olive oil or vegetable oil

Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir very warm water and olive oil into flour mixture. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Separate dough into four parts. Roll out each small ball of dough into 1/4 in thickness, and place on floured pan or pizza stone. Fill one half of the circle with stuffings (cheese first, then sauce, tomatoes, pepperoni, bacon, whatever...), and then fold the other half over to form a filled semicircle. Seal the edges and crimp with a fork. (optional: spray tops of calzones with cooking spray and sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese and pizza seasoning on top) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!! :-)