Leftovers

Recently, Shawn and I deeply hurt a family memeber.  It was completely unintentional, but also very, very careless on our part.  We forgot, I suppose, that actions--even the lack of actions---speak louder than words. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:  "Your actions are speaking so loudly that I cannot hear your words."  I think it was Emerson...either him or Thoreau...anyway...it's really true.

Our words, even our heartfelt apologies, fell short because our lack of action spoke so loudly.  And I made up all these excuses to myself about how we had been so busy doing this and that and running here and there...but what it all boils down to is this:  She got our leftovers.

And that wasn't fair.

I started thinking how often I give people my leftover energy, my leftover time, my leftover patience.

And then I took it up a level; how often do I give God what's leftover of my time and energy?  How often do I say a quick prayer at night and fall asleep halfway through?  How often do I just "get by" and think "I'll have time for God later"?

Yeah.  A lot.

But the amazing thing is this:  God does miraculous things with just my "leftovers."

So today, as I was looking at our fridge full of leftover food I thought, "Okay, I'm going to do something with this.  I'm going to make the effort, starting with our food and ending with my words, thoughts, and actions, to do something MORE with the stuff left over."

We had leftover boiled chicken from the chicken pot pie I made last night.

So I shredded the chicken and threw it in a pan with some teriyaki sauce.  I added leftover fresh green beans, a couple of green onions that were hanging out in the fridge, and some dried minced onion.  Because I love dried minced onion.  And onion powder.  They're my favorite flavorings right now.

Anyway, I threw some rice and chopped carrots in a pot.

 

 

And, after letting it all simmer and cook thoroughly, I mixed it together. 

 

Wah lah!  Chicken teriyaki bowls, using leftover chicken and leftover vegetables!  Things I would ahve otherwise thrown away.

 

 

 This was Shawn's lunch.  Everyone at work was sincerely jealous.  Because it smells as good as it tastes.  Thing Two, of course, ate all of his, but Thing One, in a moment of rareity, chowed down on this chicken!  I call that a great big fat success.

 





We also had leftover cupcakes from a new recipe.  They were really dense.  It was like eating flavored cornbread with icing.  I didn't want to throw them away, so I chopped them up like this.



















I mixed together 2 cups of milk and four eggs and poured it over the cupcake cubes.  This would be a great way to use up stale cake or cupcakes.

 

I baked it at 350 for...30 minutes or so...Honestly, I'm not sure.  I got distracted changing diapers and passing out snacks and cleaning up spilled juice and soggy Goldfish crackers.

But when it turned golden brown on top, I stuck a toothpick in; it came out clean, and I took it from the oven, all while dogding a 2 1/2 year old and stepping over  a 9 month old. 

I took the leftover icing and thinned it out with a bit of water, making a nice glaze.

And there you have it...bread pudding from cupcakes I was going to throw away.

I sent a little portion of this for Shawn's dessert.  He said it almost caused a brawl at work.  I'm not exactly worried.  He can always bargain his way out with his homemade lunches.  :)

Here's to making great things from our leftovers!

We Ate WHAT for Dessert?!

Shhhhhh.....don't tell!

Don't tell my family they had beans for dessert....and LIKED it.

How did I manage to give my family a vegetable for dessert without them having any idea?

I disguised the beans!  They were like Clark Kent, glasses on, and then, BAM! They put on their cape and all their nutritious glory and made my family  a little bit healthier.

And they had no clue...heh heh heh

This is what I made:
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/


Cookie dough dip.

Who can resist cookie dough?  No one in my family, that's who.

I served this bean dip with graham crackers for dessert, and we were literally scraping our bowls with our fingers.  My husband even tossed the crackers aside and chowed down with just his spoon.

And I felt very, very satisfied...

And totally sneaky.

There were a couple of times I had to bite my to tongue with the side of my mouth to keep from laughing at the absurdity of my family lapping up bean dip for dessert!

But I had vowed for my New Year's Resolution that we would start eating healthier, especially where desserts are concerned.  Thing One has a SERIOUS sweet tooth, proving, of course, that he is my child.  Because this has peanut butter and chocolate in it, Thing Two didn't get to try any.  But I have a feeling he will, two months in the future, love this.  Because he loves everything that comes near his mouth.

Even paper.

What do you do?

Hide beans in desserts, that's what you do.