Food is the source of life, and it breaks our hearts to see people wasting food and tossing leftovers into the garbage. People waste food because they cook too much, especially during family gatherings and parties. Whether you are eating out or at home, do not throw away leftover food. Instead, if you are eating out, pack your food and take it home or give it to someone in need. If you are cooking at home, keep the party leftover food in the fridge and make sure you use it again; don’t forget about it.
This festive season, when you are entertaining guests, no food will go uneaten. Here are a few ideas for guaranteeing that your party leftovers are never thrown away.
THINK OF IT AS AN INGREDIENT!
Stop thinking of your party leftovers as food and start thinking of them as an ingredient you’ll be adding to other dishes the next day. Once you look at leftover party food as individual ingredients for a variety of other dishes, you’ll find it much easier to use.
LEFTOVER VEGGIES
It is the easiest to repurpose. If you have a lot of salads or veggies left over, you can use them to make breakfast, brunch, lunch, evening snacks, or light dinner.
Sandwiches: chop some greens, spread mayonnaise on the bread, place the chopped leftover veggies in the bread slice, and toast it.
Pasta: Add these raw, chopped veggies to your regular pasta with pasta sauce or add roasted veggies to add more nutrients to your pasta.
Vegetable Pulao/Biryani: combine your greens with your rice to make a mouth-watering vegetable pulao. You can also cook these vegetables separately in oil with spices before adding them to the rice and mixing them in.
Soup: Making soup is the quickest and most convenient way to use up leftover veggies. Chop the leftover vegetables and sauté them in oil, or simply place them in boiling water. Seasonings, sauces, cream, cornflour, and other ingredients can be added to taste.
Omelette: Cook an omelette or scrambled eggs by braising chopped veggies in butter or oil until tender, then adding eggs as needed and cooking until eggs are set.
LEFTOVER FRUITS
Fruits are typically consumed quickly. Fruits are commonly peeled and sliced at parties, but they are usually overlooked by the guests. If you have a tray full of leftover fruits and don’t want to eat them raw, here are some delicious ways to use them.
Smoothies- what can be a better way than to use leftover fruits to make a smoothie out of them. Freeze the fruits before making smoothies and add either water or milk to the fruits in the blender as it will help in blending the ingredients. It can be an amazing and healthy breakfast for your family and kids.
Fruit Custard: you can buy a packet of custard and mix in all the party leftover fruits. It is, without a doubt, the basic and best way to use all the fruits.
Dessert: You can make muffins and fruit cakes with the leftover fruits. Blend these fruits into your muffin and cake batters or add them on top of your cake.
LEFTOVER PARTY CHIPS
Chips and other crunchies are a popular type of leftover food. The simplest way to use them is to crush them into fine particles inside a bag. Now completely immerse the chicken or fish that you intend to deep fry in the batter, then place it in the crushed chips bag, take it out and deep fry it for 4-5 minutes. Your crispy chicken and fish are ready to serve.
LEFTOVER TORTILLAS
Party leftover tortillas can be a pain to see because no one wants to eat them the next day because they are not soft. Breaking these unwanted tortillas into small pieces is the best way to turn them into delicious eatables Add oil to a pan with the vegetables and seasonings. Cook the veggies until tender, then add the tortilla pieces and mix well. Cook on a low flame for about 4-5 minutes. Serve immediately.
LEFTOVER CHICKEN AND RICE
Leftover chicken and rice can be combined the next day to make fried rice. You can grate the cooked chicken pieces or tear them into tiny bits and heat some oil in a pan, sauté onion, beans, or any vegetable of your choice, spices with chicken pieces for a few minutes, and then add rice and mix everything together. Keep it on a low heat with the lid closed for 7-8 minutes. Serve with any leftover sauce, dips, or chutney.
The basic way to use the chicken is to make chicken soup from those thin, tiny chicken nuggets, or you can also stuff that chicken inside all-purpose flour, steam it, or you can also directly deep fry it for 7-8 minutes.
There are numerous finger-licking recipes for party leftover food that you can learn from the best chef at home.
If you despise eating party leftovers, try to avoid them by preparing food that can be consumed on the same day.
From an environmental, social, and financial standpoint, it makes sense to consume all of the food that you prepare, as this is the only way to reduce waste, conserve resources, and save your hard-earned money. Do not assume that the food leftovers left out for a few hours or overnight can’t be used again. Use your party leftover food and show your leftovers some love right now.