Some people think leftovers are the thing to avoid. They just can't do leftovers. I've never been that person, but I do get it. I grew up with meager means, to say the least so my personal panic button is thinking about wasting food. With the boat we're in now, in order to make sure it doesn't sink, I have to find a way to make leftovers appealing and not like leftovers at all.
So there are the chicken teriyaki skewers I made the other night. They were DELICIOUS and easy and super inexpensive. I just took chicken tenderloins and marinated them in soy sauce, hoisin, and a little bit of sesame oil. (Now these are all things I have on hand minus the chicken pieces so that was all I had to buy. To me, if you've got a little Asian salad dressing in the fridge, just use that!) I then soaked my skewers while the chicken marinated. So I sprinkle a little Kosher salt and some pepper on both sides and pop them in a 350 degree oven for around 20 -25 minutes. A simple salad on the side and you've got an inexpensive, healthy meal!
Now...on to the leftover part. I've got enough chicken skewers left to send with Adrian (AND Cameron) for lunch and then some. So he's had them for supper. He's had them for lunch. LAST thing he wants is to have them for supper again!
What to do??
I took some flour (unbleached organic for us for health purposes, but any kind of all-purpose will do), yeast, olive oil, honey, warm water and a little salt (all lying around the house dying to be used!) I made pizza crust from scratch (SO easy, recipe to follow), and poured some barbecue sauce we had in the cabinet (organic, thanks for the gift, Karen Merritt!) over it, and sprinkled the leftover chicken on top. I sprinkled a little shredded cheddar we had lying around on top and popped it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. VOILA! Barbecued chicken pizza! (Adrian and Cameron both took the pizza for lunch the next day!)
Let's talk this through: Two packages of the chicken came to about $8 and I used pantry items and staples for the rest. I made dinner and lunch and dinner and lunch again, two different ways. I fed three people. So four meals and three people comes to roughly (and for all my math OCDs out there, I do mean ROUGHLY) a dollar per meal per person!
Every morning I get to wake up, I remember I'm leftover from the day before. I try to remember that when it comes to my food and fuel, and the respect it deserves for the role it plays in mine and my family's life.
(Getting past the serious stuff and moral of the story...here's the quick and easy pizza crust recipe!)
2 cups flour
1 pkg (or 1 tbsp dry active yeast)
3/4(ish) tsp salt
1 cup WARM water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
Pour flour into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and salt. mix well. Add water, oil, and honey and mix well. Cover and place in a warm spot for 10 - 15 minutes to rise.
Punch down and press into a greased 14-inch pizza pan (or 10-inch for thicker crust) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
YUM.