Using Up Leftovers--Meat Edition

I'm starting a new series that is going to focus on my favorite recipes that use up leftovers. As I recently wrote in a blog post, making sure that you are a "no wasted food household" is going to help you signicifantly cut down on your food budget.

I find that the one of the most expensive parts of our budget is meat. Shane doesn't consider it an actual meal if it doesn't include meat of some kind. I'm also a little picky about my quality of meat. I enjoy buying meat from small farmers if possible, and you pay for the high quality. Because of that, it hurts me a little bit to have to throw away any meat.

I like to use up leftovers by making bowls (blog post here), but if I'm not in the mood for that, I have a few recipes up my sleeves. So here are some of my favorite recipes for using up leftover meat:

Leftover Hot Dogs:

Meaty Pork and Beans

This recipe is nice for using up leftovers from a grill out. The amounts of meat are super flexible. Add in what you have.

5 (15oz) cans VanCamp's Pork and Beans--or any other similar brand

1 large onion, chopped and sauteed

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup molasses

3 tablespoons yellow mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar

10 slices of cooked bacon, chopped

12 chopped hot dogs

1 pound browned hamburger (or chopped up leftover hamburgers)

Bake at 325 for 2-3 hours in a 9x13 pan.

Crockpot--4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

To freeze for later, after baking, put in bread-size pans and cover with tin foil. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes if thawed, or 350 for 70 minutes directly from frozen.

Leftover Chicken Breast:

Jacob's Green Chili

5 cups diced chicken breast

3 cans of white Great Northern beans, drained

2 cans of green chilies

1 can of corn, drained

4 garlic cloves, diced

1-1/2 onion, diced

6 cups of chicken broth

1/2 cup diced celery

12 oz of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 jalapenos, deseeded and diced

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons montreal steak seasoning

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Saute onion, celery, jalapenos, and garlic until soft. Add broth, chicken, beans, chilies, corn, and seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes. Slowly add in the shredded cheese, making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Easy Chicken Salad

3 cups shredded chicken

1/4 cup sweet relish

1/4 cup sour cream (or mayo)

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together, and serve on crackers, on bread, or on top of chopped lettuce.

Leftover Ham:

Homemade Pizza

You can do whatever you like on top of this pizza crust recipe, but this recipe is one of my favorites.

Crust:

1 oz yeast (1-1/2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water (I heat up my tap as hot as it will go and use that...)

3 cups bread flour (regular flour will work)

2 teaspoons garlic salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings:

1 cup marinara (my homemade Roasted Tomato-Basil Sauce is killer on pizza!)

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup diced pineapple

1 cup diced ham

1/2 an onion, sliced very thin

Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Add oil and garlic salt, and whisk. Slowly mix/knead in bread flour.

Roll out dough until it stretches across a round pizza pan. Rub olive oil over the top of the dough, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garlic salt, if desired. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes while you prepare your toppings.

Assemble pizza.

Bake at 400 degrees for another 20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.