Lentil Left Overs: Lentil Soup!

There is a famous saying: When life gives you lentils, make lentil soup.

Now, I may be adapting the phrase just a tad…but I like it better this way. One question I am constantly asking myself is “what is better than lentil soup?” Strangely the answer I constantly give is a definitive “NOTHING!”

It even has healing powers.

It was really easy to turn our lentils into delicious soup.

First, dump the leftovers into a pot.

They may look slightly undead, but unlike zombies they make fantastic soup.

Then add tomato paste, one box of chicken broth, cumin (to taste), and salt.

Just in case you were unsure what these things looked like

Once the vegetables are cooked through (they weren’t quite done in our original lentil dish), take out a bit of the soup and blend it together. I’m not sure why you are supposed to do this step – but I promise it is vital to the whole magical process.

Do your thing knockoff magic bullet

Because I am now a culinary genius (though I had to look up how to spell culinary), I thought a little lemon zest and juice would make the soup even more scrumptious (that I know how to spell).

And it did!

In about 20-30 minutes, I had lentil soup! After ladling it into a bowl, I added even more lemon juice (Seriously, is there a thing called lemon soup? If so, I would probably eat it every day). For me, this week included a good Sunday meal and AMAZING leftovers!

 

Leftover Beef Wellington in a Red Wine Reduction Sauce

• Food: Beef Wellington in a Red Wine Reduction Sauce
• Ingredients: leftover beef wellington, red wine, shallots, beef stock, butter
• total time: 10 min

Jill and I got sophisticated this week in honor of the Oscars and made the most delicious meal in the history of our blog: Beef Wellington! That’s right, it’s so fancy I had to capitalize it. For leftovers, I knew I needed to kick it up a notch in order to maintain this snazzy streak we are on. Ergo, I decided to try making a reduction sauce.

Reduction sauces are basically really delicious gravy. My dad always makes them with steak, and he is an amazing cook, so I knew if I was successful I would have something to be proud of. My dad likes to joke about how I don’t like gravy unless you call it a “reduction sauce.” I also don’t like meat loaf unless you call it “meat balls,” or hamburger unless you call it “ground beef,” or yard work unless you call it… nope, there is nothing you can call yard work that will make me like it. Sorry, Dad.

Spoiler alert: The sauce was delicious.

 

Who drank all the broth? – The case of the disappearing harira!

After our amazing weekend meal, Kelly and I thought we were in the clear for some fantastic leftovers!  However, on Tuesday at work, we discovered the broth had actually disappeared and we were left with glorified spaghetti.  Where did the broth go?  Did someone sneak into the fridge and sip out only the broth?  Did the chick peas get stuck in their straw?

That bag is full of delicious broth...and so is his mustache

 

The Most Delicious Chili Dog in the World

• Food: Chili Dog
• Ingredients: leftover chili, hot dog, bun
• Cook time: 45 seconds

One of the best thing about leftover chili is that there are 7.35 million different ways to eat the it. Chili is great on nachos, over rice, and (my personal favorite) on hot dogs! Last night, I used a 7-Eleven hot dog instead of making my own. Because 7-Eleven hot dogs are the most amazing hot dogs I have ever tasted. Seriously. Go get one right now. I’ll wait.

I'm getting pretty talented at these fancy photography shots, eh?

 

The Great Chili Revival

I’m not going to lie, our Sunday cooking adventure this week was a pretty epic fail. We tried to make chili and ended up with… warm tomato paste with a little hamburg. Thankfully, Jill’s roommate cooked delicious cheesy potatoes with sauteed cheez-its (SAUTEED CHEEZ-ITS!!) in honor of the Superbowl and we were able to stuff our faces on those instead.

Come Monday, we were faced with the prospect of eating a week’s worth of left-over lumpy tomato goop. So, we took action and decided to attempt to revive this sad, sad dish that once had so much potential. To our astonishment, it worked!

Help Wanted: Blog photographer. Must be able to make giant pots of food look pretty. Paid in left-overs.

 

Disco Pockets! A creative way to use leftover beef stew

• Food: Disco Pockets
• Ingredients: leftover beef stew, Grands Biscuits, cheddar cheese
• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 15 – 20 minutes

Raise your hand if you remember the Hot Pockets jingle from the mid 90’s… I really hope everyone reading this literally just raised their hand into the air – that is how amazing the Hot Pockets jingle is.  In case you are having a hard time remembering, or you just want a reminder as to the awesomeness of the pocket, check out this wonderful commercial.

 

If I had the ability to predict the future, I would say that some Sunday meal this coming spring will be a homemade Hot Pocket extravaganza.  However, I cannot predict the future, so I will not say that.  What I can say is that Hot Pockets are amazing, especially when they are homemade.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “why do I care about your love (obsession) with Hot Pockets–this post is supposed to be about leftover beef stew!”  Well, dear reader, Kelly and I outdid ourselves with the creative leftovers post this week.  We turned our beef stew into the filling of a homemade Hot Pocket.  It was our lazy version of an attempt to make a beef pot pie!

 

Kropkakker Nachos

• Food:Krub Nachos
• Ingredients: leftover krubs, butter, shredded cheese
• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cooking time: 15 minutes

I got creative tonight and turned my leftover krubs into nachos. It was easy and delicious and might have made me gain 100 lbs.

 

Lazy Leftovers: Fried Potato Dumplings with Maple Syrup

• Food: Fried Potato and Pork Dumplings
• Ingredients: leftover krubs, butter, maple syrup
• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cooking time: 10 minutes

This weekend, Jill and I cooked our first Sunday feast: krubs. Last night, it was time for leftovers!