Friday, December 30, 2011

Using up leftovers.. what can you make with it?

I made a mock "shepard's pie" and more ham potato soup!

We have leftover baked beans - sooo.. here goes...

1 pound ground meat (beef, white tail, pork, or whatever you have)
1 to 2 cups leftover baked beans
1 small onion
oil or butter

Chop onion and saute in butter or oil. Add ground meat and cook until browned. Add in baked beans and stir until combined.

Now here is where I got creative - I had half of a spaghetti squash that I needed to use up.

1/2 of a small spaghetti squash that has already been baked
1 egg
1/2 cup half and half, cream or milk
1/2 cup or more of shredded cheese (I used colby jack)
Season to taste with onion powder, garlic and salt

Mix all those ingredients together.

In a baking dish - layer meat and bean mixture and then on top gently spread the squash mixture. Bake in the oven about 45 minutes.
Allow to rest a few minutes after removing from the oven. Serve and enjoy!


Ham and potato soup!
We have quite a bit of leftover ham - I already used the bone in soup a few days ago - but no one is eating the ham, so into a soup it goes!

One of the keys in making a good hearty (wheat free) potato soup is the amount of water you use.

so.. here ya go...

3 stalks celery - cleaned and diced
1 medium onion - cleaned and diced
butter or oil or a combination of

In a large stock pot - saute your celery and onion in the butter/oil over medium to low heat until they just start to get tender. While those saute - peel about 7 or 8 potatoes. Dice the potatoes and add them to the pot and then add some water - add just enough to not quite cover the potatoes - a few pieces will be above the water line, but not many. Bring everything back to a simmer. And chop up your ham - add as much or as little as you want. We love ham in soup so I probably added about 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Give everything a good gentle stir. When the potatoes are tender - give them a good mash with a masher and give them another good stir to get everything off the bottom of the pot.

Add to your soup
about 1 cup of shredded cheese (I used colby jack)
and stir until the cheese is melted
Then add
1 to 2 cups half and half - 1/2 cup at a time stirring it until you get the consistency you like.

Let the soup rest off the heat for a few minutes. Give one more stir and then serve!

The mock shepard's pie is new to us but I really like it!

The soup is a favorite here and often I never make enough even if I have two pots FULL!