How many times have you heard that collective groan from your kids when they realized that you were having leftovers for dinner? Although they loved your lasagna the first time around, they may be less than excited on the lasagna’s second or third visit to your dinner table. But you don’t want to the leftover food from last night’s dinner to go to waste. How are you going to make your leftovers more attractive to your family?
Getting your kids to happily eat leftovers is simply a matter of presentation. By choosing a few creative methods to make your leftovers more exciting you can banish groans from your dining room forever.
Declare one night a week to be “Leftover Night.”
You can save all of that week’s leftovers for the big event. Create anticipation of “Leftover Night” by discussing what you are looking forward to eating that week. Before long, your kids will be calling “dibs” on the dish that they’re looking forward to revisiting on “Leftover Night.”
Create a whole new dish with your leftovers.
Leftovers can be granted a whole new life by simple using them to make something else. Leftover chicken is perfect for making chicken salad. Leftover mashed potatoes are the perfect ingredient for making potato pancakes. Your kids may not even realize that they’re eating leftovers.
Give your leftovers new life by adding extra flavor.
One of the most frequently-heard complaints about leftovers is that the food simply doesn’t taste the same the second time around. Avoid that argument by spicing up your leftovers. Adding extra garlic or seasoning to leftover pasta is a great example. Likewise, melt cheese over leftover chicken breasts to keep them moist.
Make it easy for your family to find leftovers.
No one wants to open the mystery container at the back of the fridge. Who knows what they might find? Take care to label your leftovers, or, better yet, place them in see-through containers that make it easy to find the leftovers you’re looking for. Now when your family members are grazing through the kitchen, they might actually happen upon those leftovers and enjoy them.
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