Recipes for "Planned overs" (rather than left overs) ?

[Cookee.]

We like to cook but we don't have a lot of time on weeknights. We hate "fast food" or "frozen ready made food". So on the weekend we often make a plan for several meals at one time then we freeze and/or refrigerate for a variety of uses during the busy week.

We both carry lunch to work every day so we need to make some "grab & go" portions into individual containers ready for the microwave.

Other parts of our "planned overs" are used for meal starters during the weeknights when it's too chaotic to cook totally from scratch. We like to have part made ahead but then we'll add some fresh ingredients and the final part of the meal is freshly cooked.

This weekend, I started with a big pork shoulder. I cooked it in a crockpot with a dry rub, elevated the meat on an upsidedown bowl on high heat then turned it down to med to finish. No liquid is added so it just sort of roasts with the moisture trapped in the crockpot. A few hours later all the fat is in the bottom and we can just lift out the meat which is falling off the bone tender. This will be the basis for several meals.

We'll use some of the pork for simple BBQ sandwiches and I have some potato skins in my freezer that I'll fill with pork and bake with a cheesy top. Some goes into a chili that will go over rice or pasta.

Now we need to use the rest. I'm hoping someone can recommend ways to make this fit our "cooking ahead" style.

Here are some of our ideas we hope someone might have a tried & true recipe for:
Filled stuffed gorditas
Pupusas
Hum bao (asian steamed buns)

Do you have other uses for this kind of pork?

We'd also like to hear anyone's ideas for other types of cook ahead / planned overs that can stretch one cooking session into many meals.
Does anyone else agree there's a big difference between leftovers versus planned overs?


PS: We still have some homemade tamales in the freezer so don't need that as an option today.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I plan like this all the time.

A beef roast become sliced beef for sandwiches, or a version of a cottage pie, beef pot pie, or beef salad (salad green, onions, peppers, tomato topped with the reheated beef slices, shoestring french fries and ranch dressing).

A ham becomes sliced for sandwiches, ham and scalloped potatoes, ground up for western eggs sandwiches, bean soup.

 

[Claire]

I don't have recipes per se, just ideas.

Roast a chicken and serve. If there is a lot of meat left over, chop it for chicken salad, or use it in a stir-fry or fried rice. Reserve all the bones and make stock.

Roast beef? Beef stew, stroganof,

Pork roast? Barbecue, your favorite sauce and buns

Almost any leftover meat can be turned into a stir-fry or fried rice.

And really, almost anything can be turned into a soup, which is nice this time of year. Chop and dump into a pot of broth. Thicken with a flour/water slurry or instant mashed potatoes.

 

[Claire]

There are only two of us, so I almost always have a second meal in mind when I do a meal.

 

[Zhizara]

There are only two of us, so I almost always have a second meal in mind when I do a meal.

I make taco meat mixture and make tacos with it, the next day, I use the leftovers to make chili. I like to make mac & cheese at this time too, because a scoop of mac & cheese in the bowl filled with chili is a real treat, chili mac. To the leftover chili, I add a couple of sliced Bar S sausages, and cook them in the chili for chili dogs (hot dogs will do nicely too.)

 

[babetoo]

night before last had ct. style pork ribs and carrots. then as planned carnitas last night. breakfast tonight. tomorrow night the , i hope, last of ribs on a sub bun with melted cheese done on the george forman. any left will go into the freezer. i loved planned leftovers.

 

[Robo410]

Absolutely...from roast to casserole to sandwich to soup...I plan from the start and nothing goes to waste.

 

[MostlyWater]

I'm not good at that so I'm watching this thread. We do eat baked chicken and the leftovers get put into something pretty often.

 

[Skittle68]

I make a beef roast in the crock pot, with onion and a can of beefy mushroom soup (if you can't find that, just use beef gravy), serve it with mashed potatoes and a veggie. Then I shred the meat and add it to the remaining gravy, and have hot open faced roast beef with gravy sandwiches, with mashed potatoes, and the remaining meat I make into shredded BBQ beef sandwiches, on a kaiser roll.

I also like to make blts and use the leftover bacon for quiche, make a whole chicken and use the carcass for soup... If I think of anything else no one has mentioned I will come back lol

 

[Zhizara]

I make a beef roast in the crock pot, with onion and a can of beefy mushroom soup (if you can't find that, just use beef gravy), serve it with mashed potatoes and a veggie. Then I shred the meat and add it to the remaining gravy, and have hot open faced roast beef with gravy sandwiches, with mashed potatoes, and the remaining meat I make into shredded BBQ beef sandwiches, on a kaiser roll.

I also like to make blts and use the leftover bacon for quiche, make a whole chicken and use the carcass for soup... If I think of anything else no one has mentioned I will come back lol

Leftover bacon Ain't no such thing. I'd have to make bacon for the quiche AND enough bacon for a bacon Swiss sandwich or burger.