leftovers

I am the queen of leftovers. On the weekends I make up giant batches of chilis, curries and sauces big enough for an army even though I'm only feeding our micro family. Our fridge is container city by the time Sunday evening rolls around.

The problem with leftovers is that no matter how good a meal it is things get a little less than exciting by the second and third go round.

I just have no motivation on weeknights to start a meal from scratch. It's not the actual food prep. I love the cooking part. It's the cleanup. When I come home in the evenings I want to go for a run, quickly reheat my dinner, and then park my butt on the couch for the rest of the night.

Technically the rule in our house is whoever cooks doesn't have to cleanup. But guilt usually takes over when it is time to tackle the dishes. Why should Chris have to wash dishes and tidy the kitchen (read: crappy hated job) after I've just messed it up doing something I love.

So I have been on the lookout for ways to make leftovers a little different each night, but with minimal effort. The other night it was veggie chili with some fresh bread. Tonight its veggie chili on a baked potato. Not exactly night and day, but I was pretty excited to think of it. I love potatoes, but I rarely bake them. I in fact googled 'how to bake a potato' just to confirm the oven temperature. Clean them, stick them in the over and forget about them for an hour or so. Easy. And no dishes to cleanup



I foresee alot of baked potatoes in our future.

Any tips for making leftovers a little more interesting?

The face of anticipation

Fletcher is a pretty perceptive dog. He is half border collie and they are the world's smartest dog. Fletcher has learned that certain preparation activities mean that outdoor adventures are afoot. Generally this involves grabbing equipment and clothing from our 'outdoors room' (aka the downstairs extra bedroom). He watches Chris and I get dressed in our merino layers and ski pants and it is almost as if you can hear him thinking 'oh, this is going to be a good day'. Many of the times he's right. Like last week's snowshoeing excursion on Burke Mountain.



But sometimes all this preparation means we are going skiing and snowboarding. And sadly most ski fields don't let dogs on chair lifts. It's so sad seeing that happy face, full of anticipation and knowing that we're going to have to leave him behind.

Luckily he is easily distracted by food. Much like me.

After a day skiing doing absolutely anything I love throwing together a homemade pizza and kicking back with Chris. Homemade pizza is the meal most likely in our house to trigger the comment 'I love our life' from either of us.

Summer pizzas are my favourite when I am able to slather on homemade pesto, tomatoes from our garden, a freshly snipped herbs. But wintertime pizzas are not too shabby either.

Last night's consisted of spinach, goat cheese and caramelized onions among other yumminess.



While I tried to snap a picture last night Chris whined noted that his dinner was getting cold. When we finally dug in, not only was it not cold but the crust bottom was that little bit extra crispy from leaving it on the stone leading Chris to proclaim this was my best pizza yet. I take his praise with a grain of salt since he makes this statement nearly every time so obviously the boy is easily pleased.

What are your favourite pizza toppings? Do you make your own crust? (I don't, but I definitely plan to give it a try at some point)

Goat Cheese and Spinach Souffles

I have wanted to try to make souffles ever since I bought my Kitchenaid mixer last year....longer even. So on New Year's Day I decided to go for it. New Year. New Challenge.

I entrusted Gordon Ramsey's Goat Cheese and Spinach Souffle recipe for my initial attempt. And yes, I forgot the spinach. Wilted it. Dried it. Minced it. Set it aside. Forgot about it.



Poor forgotten spinach

Prepping the ramekins
Here is something you might not have guessed. I have never before separated eggs. Hard to believe for someone who spends as much time in the kitchen as me. But I've only ever cooked recipes that called for egg whites. In which case I just break out the handy Naturegg carton.

Gordon instructed me to whip them into firm peaks. But my kitchenaid manual included descriptions for 'stiff and not dry' and 'stiff and dry'. What is a virgin souffle maker to do? I made a judgment call which was probably wrong.


Not looking very appetizing yet
I was so nervous while the souffles were in the oven I sat on the floor, staring through the oven window, sipping eggnog with rum and forbidding Chris to speak in anything above a whisper.


Rise little souffles rise
In the end they turned out okay. Not the poofiest souffles I have ever seen. Not as picture perfect as Gordon Ramsay's. Pretty tasty all the same. And certainly not the epic fail I feared.


As he finished eating inhaling his souffle Chris said 'I'm glad you forgot the spinach. It was nice to have it without.' Making me feel better after kitchen related goofs. Just one of the reasons I married him.

Have you ever made a souffle? Do you have any kitchen challenges to tackle in 2011?