Tag: Leftovers

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

A couple of days ago, we had KFC for dinner and we had our wings and drumsticks left over. I wanted to use up our leftovers and also make something new. As a result, this casserole was born. If you don’t prefer spaghetti, you could use other noodles, such as egg noodles or bowtie pasta. I used vermicelli, but that’s just what I’ve always used. I break my pasta in half, but you can also beak it smaller for this casserole if you want an easier time serving. I used 3 pieces of chicken. I warmed them, de-boned, removed cartilage, then tore up and added the chicken and the skin. Other than that, I served my pasta casserole right away, however it was pretty messy with the big noodles. The leftovers were very easy to divide and serve. Absolutely delicious, and I plan to make this dish or a similar version again in the future. Also, since I used KFC chicken it had plenty of flavor. If you plan to make this with a very plain chicken, you should consider doubling the spice in the casserole to add more flavor.

  1. Bake one chicken breast till internal temperature of 165 F is reached. (Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. You may also use a whole can of shredded chicken, or 3-4 pieces of fried chicken and skin.)
  2. Using a mixer, shred the chicken. Place 1 cup of shredded chicken to the side and preserve the rest.
  3. In a large sauce pan, bring water to a boil and cook 12 oz of spaghetti until al dente and strain.
  4. In a 3 qt casserole dish, add your shredded chicken (1 cup), 1 can of cream of chicken concentrate, 1/2 can of milk, 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp curry powder. Stir together.
  5. Heat oven to 400 F.
  6. Add spaghetti and stir together. Add 6 oz of your choice cheese. (I used 4 oz shredded mozzarella, 1 oz shredded white shape cheese, and 1 oz crumbled white American cheese.) Stir together until cheese is distributed.
  7. Top with even layer of parmasean, then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Serve right away, or refrigerate, cut, reheat, and serve.
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Broccoli Sharp Cheddar Carbonara

I make carbonara quite often. If you want an adult mac & cheese, this is perfect for dinner dates, or for the whole family. This carbonara recipe is more authentic Italian than most, because carbonara is not supposed to use milk/cream, however many choose to use them to thicken and make a creamy sauce. However, as long as you don’t over cook your eggs when adding your pasta, your sauce will come out plenty creamy. This recipe is unique because I have added sharp cheddar to the cheese sauce. This makes the sauce less mature with the parmasean flavor and a little more like a homemade mac & cheese. I also added broccoli for a healthy touch and to add color to this mono-toned dish. This recipe made 5 adult sized portions.

  1. Steam 1/2 a small head of broccoli, about 2 cups.
  2. In a large sauce pan, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add 12 Oz of spaghetti. Boil until al dente.
  3. In a medium large serving bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1 cup of grated parmasean, and 1 1/2 cup of chopped white sharp cheddar.
  4. Once noodles reach al dente, take 1 cup of pasta water. Add 1/4 cup to your cheese mixture, and stir for 30-45 seconds.
  5. Strain your noodles and shake 3 times before adding to cheese mixture. Move quickly and begin stirring noodles till sauce becomes smooth. Add your steamed broccoli and stir. Serve right away.
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Ground Beef and Tomato Curry

Curry is an easy dish to make, but all you really need is the spices. I’ve made curry before, but this time I tried a couple different things. This time I used tomato products, and I added enough spices to get some actual spiciness off of the curry. Curry makes a lot of food, and after eating it for several days, we froze the remainder to enjoy again later. The hot spice on this curry mellowed out over time, but I inevitably froze it due to eating up all the white rice I had cooked with it. And, as long as you don’t mix in the rice, the curry will reheat with the same texture and flavor after it’s been frozen. This curry recipe makes approximately 11 adult sized servings. Finally, for this recipe I used leftover sauce from a stromboli we had gotten about a week prior, and I diced up the leftover grilled zucchini, so I didn’t have to heat it as long as you will if you are starting from raw.

  1. In a medium saucepan, add 1 1/2 cup of rice. Rinse the rice under running water until the runoff is almost completely opaque (4-5 rinses). Add 2 cups of water to the rinsed rice, then add to stove over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low, then cook for 18-20 minutes. Then, remove from heat.
  2. In a large dutch oven, add 1 qt of diced tomatoes and juice, and 1/2 a jar of tomato sauce. Turn heat to medium low and cover.
  3. In a frying pan, brown and breakup 1 pound of ground beef. Dice an onion and add 1/2 to the beef, cook till translucent. Add the beef and onion to your dutch oven. Add 1 Tbsp oil to your pan. Dice and add 2-3 small zucchini to the pan and cook until very tender. Add zucchini to your dutch oven.
  4. Turn your dutch oven heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a simmer. Once simmering, add 1 Tbsp curry powder, 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger, 2 tsp Cayenne pepper powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp paprika. Stir. Cook until rice is done, but for at least 4-5 minutes to let the flavor permeate.
  5. Serve curry over rice.
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Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s pie is a large meal that is easy to make. I like making it when I have lots of leftovers I can use in it to clean out my fridge and to finish up some food. This time I used some of my leftover turkey stock from thanksgiving, but I recommend using beef or veggie stock. I also recommend stock or gravy, so you do not have to thicken it as much as broth.

  1. Make your favorite mashed potatoes (find my recipe here). With a large dutch oven, begin browning 1 lb of ground beef or venison. Dice one small onion (1/2 cup) and add to browned meat. Cook your onions until translucent. Preheat oven to 450 F.
  2. Add strained cans of sliced carrots, peas, and corn. (You can also use fresh or frozen. Add your fresh veggies with the onion, add frozen veggies with this step.) Add 2 cups of stock and 3 Tbsp flour, stir and simmer until everything is hot and bubbly.
  3. Transfer into a 7×10 casserole dish, and bread pan if you have extra. Top with mashed potatoes, place in oven and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.
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Christmas Leftovers: Ham, and Mac and Cheese

Mac & Cheese is another one of my favorite childhood foods. It is cheesy and packed with carbs. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! My mom made a roux based sauce, that is butter and flour, then we add milk and an entire block (8 oz) of cubed white sharp cheese. The recipe below is enough for pretty much just me and my husband since I love it so much, however there is enough in the recipe to serve another person if it is paired with a protein and a veggie.
Also, some cheese brands don’t melt as evenly as others, so if your cheese tastes a bit gritty once it’s cooked, you should probably use a different brand next time. I usually use Aldi’s brand, cracker barrel brand, or Kraft. We have had Cabot work out sometimes while other times it is gritty, and Helluvagood always comes out gritty.

  1. Cook 1 1/2 cup of macaroni to al dente and drain.
  2. While that is cooking, preheat oven to 375 F. Dice 1 small onion (1/2 cup) and cook in 4 Tbsp of butter until translucent.
  3. Once onions are translucent, add 4 Tbsp of flour stir, then add 2 cups of milk. Heat to a slight simmer.
  4. While that is heating, cube one block of cheese (8 oz) by cutting the block in half the short way, then slicing into slices 1/4 inch thick. Once milk is simmering, remove milk from heat and immediately add cheese and start stirring until all cheese is melted.
  5. Place drained macaroni into a 2 quart size or bigger backing/casserole dish. Then pour the hot cheese over top and carefully stir.
  6. Bake your mac & cheese for 30 minutes until the top has begun to brown and is bubbling hot.
  7. With only 10 minutes left, slice ham and fry in a frying pan with 1 Tbsp butter. Serve together.
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