Love Your Leftovers

Hopefully you don’t have too many leftovers after planning your portions, checking what your guests like and dislike and encouraging them to go back for seconds or thirds if they want to eat more instead of piling plates high…but it’s Christmas, so of course you’re going to have some leftovers!

This is where you turn to the superhero in your kitchen the fridge freezer! Most of the foods we tend to indulge in this time of year e.g. meats, vegetables can be frozen quite easily. Day 10 of our 12 Days of Waste Free Christmas shows you how easy it is to freeze some of our more regular foods. Check it out here – 10 foods-a-keeping. If you’re not sure freezing is for you, then maybe these myth-busting freezer facts from Hubbub can help you decide.

Instead of eating the same thing for days or throwing away leftovers because you can’t face eating brussels sprouts for the third day running here are a few ideas for delicious things you could cook – using your leftovers as ingredients.

Turkey / Ham / Duck

• Turkey, stuffing and cranberry Chelsea buns
• Turkey pot pie
• Turkey and vegetable soup
• Turkey curry including tikka masala or chickpea and coconut
• Omelette – just add pieces of turkey
• Turkey bake
• Turkey and sprout hash
• Ham and mushroom pie
• Turkey Pilaf
• Turkey bolognaise
• New Year Cassoulet

Potatoes

• Spiced potato cakes
• Add to curry (whole or in pieces)
• Dill and potato rostis – substitute roast potatoes into this recipe
• Hash browns
• Roast potato tortilla

Brussels Sprouts

• Creamed brussels sprouts, eat with turkey or any other meat you have left
• Gammon, sprout and cheeseboard risotto
• Bubble and squeak
• Sprout and cheese frittata
• Charred sprout dip

Mixed vegetables

• Roast dinner soup
• Leftovers bake
• Curried roast vegetables
• Vegetable pie
• Creamy veg crumble
• Cheesy vegetable ramekins
• Wintery veg stew

Savvy Storage

You’ll get the best from your leftovers if you make sure they’re stored in the most appropriate way, before you package everything into plastic boxes in the fridge check the temperature in your fridge.  If it’s warmer than 5^oc, it’s too warm and the food won’t last as long.

• Before putting in the fridge, put leftovers in airtight containers or wrap securely in foil or cling film, try to use within 2 days.
• Most things can be frozen, just label the container with the content and the date before putting in the freezer
• You can freeze your excess Christmas cheese – hard cheeses like cheddar can be grated then frozen to use on pizza toppings or cheese on toast without defrosting. Stilton freezes really well without grating and can be defrosted for the cheese board or for a quiche or soup.
• Most fruit and vegetables last longer in the fridge except bananas, pineapple and potatoes
• Wine, beer and juice can be frozen in ice cube trays and added to stews, casseroles and drinks