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SuperMom Tip of the Day – Get Creative With Leftovers

Last night we had egg rolls for supper.   When I was at the store, I only picked up one package of egg roll wrappers since it was just our son and I eating.  But I’m so used to making a double batch now that when I was chopping up veggies, I chopped up the usual amount.  And that meant that we had a bowl of filling leftover.

I didn't think to take a picture before I started using the leftover filling, so this is half of what was leftover.
I didn’t think to take a picture before I started using the leftover filling, so this is half of what was leftover.

Now with a teenage boy in the house, what to do with these kinds of leftovers isn’t a question that comes up often in this house, as most times they become an after school snack the next day.  But this leftover bowl of filling looked like it would be too much for a snack.

While I didn’t have anymore egg roll wrappers, what I did have was a ball of pie dough in the freezer that was leftover from making pies at Easter.  So last night, I moved it from the freezer to the fridge.

Then today, I rolled out the dough and cut out rounds using a Tupperware lid as a template.

cut-out-rounds

On each round I place a generous spoon full of the filling.

place-spoon-full-of-filling-on-round

Then I ran a bead of water around half the circle of dough and carefully folded the dough over and crimped the edges.

fold-over

I found it easiest to crimp the edges just a bit at first so that it would hold together and then I picked up the filled half-round and finished crimping by holding it in one hand and pinching with the fingers of my other hand like I do when making perogies.

crimps-edges-well

I continued making turnovers until I ran out of dough.  Before popping them in the oven, I poked each turnover with a fork to allow steam to escape.

poke-holes-for-steam-vents

Then I baked them at 375 F for about 25 minutes until the dough was a light golden brown.

Here they are… piping hot from the oven.

golden-brown-and-piping-hot

And this one… I just had to sample.  You know, just to make sure they tasted good.  It was delicious!

deliciously-yummy

How do you get creative with leftovers?   Share your ideas in the comments.

 

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3 Comments

  • Lily
    August 11, 2009 2:51 pm

    While I am happy to eat regular leftovers, but I do like to remake them so we don’t get bored. I try to make “planned-overs”. So I’ll make extra brown rice for a quick stir-fry later (it also freezes really well). I also transform stews into casseroles.

  • Tracey
    May 8, 2009 5:24 pm

    Those look delicious! Actually, we are having leftovers for supper tonight. Nothing creative, though – just setting up a buffet and letting everyone choose what they want!

  • Charissa @ The Stromski’s World
    May 1, 2009 11:30 am

    Cooking for 2 always provides me with leftovers and I pride myself on being creative in making a fresh new meal out of last nights dinner. One in particular that my husband went crazy for was Chili. The first night I made a pot of chili. The next night I used pizza dough from the freezer and made calzones. I just added some cheese w/ the chili and baked it. It was delicious (even w/ the beans in it).

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