Brunch With Leftovers

 I am a firm believer in leftovers. As I have mentioned before, I dine out often. One of the best things about dining out is leftovers. There are lots of folks who won’t eat leftovers. I don’t blame you, since most leftovers are served up as a soggy mess from the microwave. No. That is a horrible thing to do to your food. Leftovers should be “repurposed”. And most of them can be. Here is a good example of the way I use leftovers.

One of my favorite meals at the mexican restaurant is chorizo mexicano. This is spicy mexican sausage fried in a skillet with jalapenos. It is flavorful, greasy, and hot. All the good stuff. There are always leftovers. Mostly because of the chips and salsa. I usually eat enough of that to make a meal. So, there are usually plenty of chorizo leftovers.

Scrambled eggs with chorizo (for 2)

1 tbsp olive oil

6 eggs

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

leftover chorizo

¼ cup half and half

salt and pepper to taste

Put olive in skillet, turn heat to low- medium. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into skillet. I like to make my scrambled eggs low and slow. So, you have to continually stir them to keep them from sticking on the bottom.

Bacon

I like to make bacon in the oven. It is less dangerous (no grease popping up out of the pan). There is also less mess. Take a cookie sheet with sides. Like the one shown. Line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Make sure to cover the sides of the sheet. Lay your bacon out flat on the sheet. I often make a whole pack. I use it for grilled cheeses and breakfast sandwiches later in the week. Place sheet with bacon in the oven. Turn the oven on 375° F. Do not turn the oven on until the bacon is in there. If you have lots of bacon it takes around 20 minutes. If you only have 4 or 5 pieces, it’s less. Keep an eye on it. Don’t open the oven, though! Use the light to check it. Once it’s done, remove it. I place it on a plate with a paper towel. Then I use another paper towel to soak up the grease. Let the grease that is on the aluminum foil sit for a while. If you have cats, watch them. They LOVE bacon grease. Once it’s hardened, you can just remove the foil and throw it out. Voila! No greasy cookie sheet or skillet. If you like to save your grease for future use, you are on your own.

Cookie sheet with lip

Blueberry Pancakes

This is another good use of leftovers. We went to Cracker Barrel the day before and I got the pancake breakfast. That comes with eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I usually eat the eggs, the bacon and a pancake. The other pancakes go home with me. Ew! I hear you saying, those must taste nasty reheated. They do if you use the microwave. Don’t use the microwave! I use the toaster oven. If you don’t have a toast oven, use your regular oven. Set the toaster oven to bake at 375° F. Put the pancakes in there flat. It took about 10 minutes for them to get heated nicely. It also gives them a little crisp around the edges, which I love.

Bam! Brunch with leftovers. We did not eat all of the eggs. So, I’ll make a breakfast burrito to eat for lunch later this week.

Eggs, Pancake, Bacon

After rereading this, I realize it sounds like we live on bacon and eggs. We don’t. I usually eat yogurt for breakfast. On the weekends, I make oatmeal. And my oatmeal rocks! But this weekend we went all out and did the big breakfast thing – twice. For the vegetarians, I’m sorry. You could easily use leftover veggie fajitas for this.