Uses/Saves for messed up recipes and leftovers.

[Ennis-TX]

I was raised to not let anything go to waste, this was further enforced by spending a few years so broke I was living off of local flora and what ever I could get.  So when it comes to cooking, I do new recipes every few weeks, and the mistakes get turned into something else for me to eat. Here are some examples of what to do with mistakes.

Baked goods, say your cookies crumble, your brownies mess, up, you cakes go flat or your breads are dry or mush. No worries, it can still be eaten as something else.

Cookies, After baking making sure the eggs are cooked, say they are too crumbly or what ever is wrong. Let cool, Measure out 3/4 cup coconut oil, put half a blender, throw in your messed up cookies crumbling them, add the other half, blend completely, if they were over dry you might need to add a bit more oil or nut milk. This makes Cookie Butter which you can eat by the spoon or use as a spread.

Cakes/Muffins/Brownies. . Same as above in smaller batches or you can add almond milk/coconut milk and throw in a food process/blended and turn into a thick batter, From here you have many options, 1, pour in a mold and make cake Popsicle, Pour into ice cube trays for later use in shakes/smoothies, or you can water it down with more almond milk, and store. Shake well, pour in blender with ice and make cake milkshakes. I also like using the cubes mixing with eggs and making dessert omelettes or eating string in more eggs and a thickener to make porridge.

Breads, Breads can be crumbled up to make dressing, they can be made into bread pudding, they can be dried into croutons, or mixed up, watered down, mixed with eggs for pancakes, or bread and egg scrambles.

Most baked goods can also be mixed with more eggs and a bit of almond milk til about batter consistency and loaded into a waffle iron, but this is a really iffy bet that can make messy results but sometimes comes out wonderful.

Other dishes,
Fish, so your grilled/baked fish fell apart, or was not seasoned well, as long as you did not burn it many time it can be salvaged by mashing it up in a bowl, and follwing a simple tuna fish recipe. Textures vary but mayo etc. parirs well with most fish recipes, and you just adjust with other seasonings

Steak, If your meat is dry/freezer burned, the best thing to do is cut it up and slow cook it in a crock pot with water follwing a simple roast recipe seasoning, or you can bring it to slow boil in water, simmer for a bit to make tender, From here you can go soup, or chili

Bacon/Sausage, sometimes you over crisp it, or make too much for everyone to eat.  As long as it is not overly burned you can use it in other recipes. Now I only use turkey based versions but same uses.  You can chop them up and store in sealed containers in the fridge for other uses. They can be used over the next 5 days in most cases before going bad in the fridge. They can be added in with scrambled eggs, mixed in with poatoe dishes (salad, has, baked etc) used as salad toppings, in soups, quiches, casseroles.

Did your tortillas,chips, or pork rinds go stale? Well in my family growing up (mothers Hispanic), we never let them go to waste. If super stale you crushed them up and let them soak in with a 4-8eggs for 5mins in a bowl then scramble. In most cases they were crushed in the bag, dumped in a skillet, then eggs cracked in and scrambled up served with salsa and a fork we called them migas.

Make a huge pot of soups/chili/etc and get tired of it by a few days? You can freeze them in various methods, Tovolo Ice Cream Containers (tall cylinders) can be used to freeze these and and not burst. You can also use ice cube trays for some thicker chili and soups which can then be tossed in with other dishes a few at a time when you need chili on top or in something.

If anyone else has any uses for "failed" or left over foods feel free to post.


 

[GFMomofMany]

On 6/9/2019 at 3:26 PM, Ennis-TX said:

If anyone else has any uses for "failed" or left over foods feel free to post.


 

These are great tips. I use failed sweet recipes for ice cream toppings. For savory things, I will mix with either mashed potatoes or cooked rice, an egg or two, and a few tablespoons of gluten-free flour and pan fry the patties ("bubble and squeak"). or I will roll whatever we have plus maybe some cheese into warmed corn tortillas, brush with oil, and bake at 375 until sizzling and tortillas are starting to get crispy (an untraditional taquito, if you will). 

I can usually get my kids to eat whatever my latest kitchen fail is 😆