Friday, May 12, 2017

Waste Not, Want Not…and a Light Dinner Out

As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t believe in wasting food.  I would estimate that 98% of all food products that we purchase are consumed…mostly by myself via breakfast or lunch creations. 

The following are some examples of our ‘creations’, a couple of which stem from leftovers and others where we utilized food items that we overbought with good intentions and had been in the pantry for a while…


We’d made tacos one night… Consequently, we had seasoned taco meat (hamburger) left over and I needed to do something with it.  So I scrambled some eggs with cheese and the taco meat and then added spicy taco sauce when it was finished.


Laurie kicked it up a notch, adding pickled jalapeno slices and a dollop of sour cream…


…and then she wrapped it up in a soft taco shell.  It was very good!


Another time, we’d open a can of pineapple rings and we had about half a can left in the refrigerator.  Laurie volunteered to make pancakes with a pineapple ring and cherry in the middle…surprising, since she doesn’t like pancakes!  She thought that these were pretty good though!

Now…what in the heck am I going to do with a partial jar of cherries!? (To be determined)


We had an old box of tuna helper in the cupboard and we’d finally made it up for dinner, adding spices, some shredded cheese and baby peas.  Then there were the leftovers for me to deal with.  I put them in a frying pan with a bit of butter, and then fried an egg, dropping it in the middle of the leftovers.  It was a very nice breakfast!


Then there was a leftover grilled boneless pork chop… Reheat it and place it on top of a toasted buttered English muffin.


…and then of course drop a couple of fried over-easy eggs on top.  Yum!


On another occasion I decided to use up an old box of Uncle Ben’s rice.  So I opened a can of Kirkland’s Chicken that we’d had in the pantry for months and ‘fried’ the chicken in butter to provide a little more flavor and texture.

Laurie cooked the rice in her rice cooker and then we added the chicken, some small pieces of leftover bacon and a bit of cheese.  Laurie plated her meal with some crushed croutons and added the cherry tomatoes for color.  We thought that it was a decent if not great use of our old pantry stock.


Leftover breaded Tilapia filets…  Heat them in butter in the frying pan and…


…add two easy-over eggs for a very satisfying breakfast!

We’ll end this leftover food posting with an actual meal out


One evening we decided to stop by the Tanasi Bar and Grill (Tanasi Clubhouse in Tellico Village) in Loudon Tennessee for a light dinner.  Laurie ordered the Southwest Chicken with a side salad and chips. ($12.00) She liked it and said that she’d order it again…


I went super healthy with my choice.  This is the Citrus Herb Salmon with broccoli and grilled green beans. ($14.00)  It was perfect!  Those grilled green beans were a real winner and the salmon with the citrus based sauce hit the spot…

The Tanasi Bar and Grill is located at 450 Clubhouse Point just off TN Hwy. 444 in Tellico Village/Loudon Tennessee.  Phone: 865-458-9392.  While this restaurant doesn’t really have a website, I’ve attached a link to their menu: http://places.singleplatform.com/tanasi-bar--grill/menu.  

That’s about it for now… I apologize for all the food and restaurant related blogs but we haven’t been out exploring much lately so my usual historical or sightseeing posts have suffered as a result. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

6 comments:

  1. Looking good, especially the pork chop

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  2. Good morning Dave, you are a couple after my own heart as I hate wasting food. I love all your ideas on creating meals from left overs.
    When I have left over fruit I turn it into Summer pudding which is simply fruit in the base with a sponge mixture on top. It's a lovely pudding.
    I think it is such a shame that there is so much food waste nowadays. My mother, Phyllis told me that when she was young , there was no such thing as food waste, everyone ate what they had in there cupboards. Nothing was wasted, because they could not afford to be wasteful. I come from the generation where our plates were cleared, we could not leave a morsel on our plates.
    I try to live by my mother's way. Occasionally I slip up, but very rarely. I just wonder if people totted up how much money they were throwing away they would think twice.
    Right, that's me stepping off my soap box.
    Have a wonderful trip to Edinburgh, both you and your wife will have a wonderful time as it is a beautiful city.
    Best Wishes
    Daphne

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  3. Way to go, Dave and Laurie! You definitely know how to take care of leftovers! That's great!

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  4. Looks very good, not to mention creative! Thank you so much for sharing, Dave!

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  5. David I think like you !! That is because I make always so meny fruit's desserts ! And hate waste food.
    And all these plates look awesome and delicious !!

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  6. Dear Dave, I hate to waste food myself. Your leftover creations all look pretty good and everything seems to go perfectly with a fried egg. I love eggs too.
    I wish Laurie a beautiful Mothers Day. Catherine

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