by Texas Homesteader ~
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The other day RancherMan & I celebrated a special occasion by going to the Cheesecake Factory. But they always serve so much food that we decided to split the entrée so we would still be able to enjoy a piece of super-decadent chocolate cheesecake for dessert.
Oh we got the cheesecake alright, but even splitting the entrée there was no way we could eat it all and then enjoy cheesecake too. And that specialty cheesecake is the reason we picked THIS restaurant to celebrate in the first place.
So RancherMan suggested we stop eating our entrée, put the leftovers in a to-go container (thankfully I always bring my own GLASS reusable to-go container – I HATE those styrofoam monstrosities! ) and move on to dessert right then.
So we bundled up the leftovers to bring home and enjoyed that cheesecake! But I’m going to make sure these leftovers are not wasted, I can remake that meatloaf into something new and delicious. Tonight I’ll make them into quesadillas!
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Leftovers Into A New Dish
I chopped up the meatloaf and sat it aside. Then I pulled out the other ingredients from the fridge that needed to be used – the other 1/2 onion and 1/4 bell pepper from the Salisbury steaks I made earlier in the week, the last of the diced jalapeno left in the fridge and some shredded mexican-style cheese from the freezer.
I chopped up the onion & pepper and put a little olive oil on my *2-burner cast-iron griddle (dang I <3 that thing!) and cooked them until the onions were translucent. Then I scooped them all up and mixed them with the chopped meatloaf.
A little more olive oil on the griddle and I tossed a tortilla down, added a sprinkling of shredded cheese and spooned on some of the meat mixture.
I finished with another sprinkling of shredded cheese.
I topped the whole shebangie with another tortilla. By then everything was all melty and heated.
So I flipped the quesadillas and let them cook just long enough to turn lightly brown on the other side. Then BOOM! Supper in a flash!
Remade Dish Still Makes A LOT!
I served those quesadillas with a side of salsa verde, a few of those sliced jalapenos and a dollop of my homemade yogurt (a low-fat sour cream substitute for me)
Supper was fast, delicious and since we were using leftovers it was dang near free!
And since leftover onions/peppers/cheese were added, those two leftover slices of meatloaf were made into four very filling quesadillas. So we had plenty for lunch the next day as well. YEA!
What are your favorite ways to remake leftovers?
~TxH~
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- Planned Leftovers: Carnitas Tacos From Pork Roast
- Leftover Meatloaf Made Into Quesadillas
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…and MUCH MORE!
See All Our Recipes
Side Dishes We Love
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See All Our Recipes
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This is exactly how we survive around these parts by remaking our leftovers! You always provide such practical meal inspiration. Thank you for sharing with us on the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth each week! 🙂
I wouldn’t have thought about using meatloaf in a quesadilla, but that looks AMAZING. Thanks for sharing at the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop!
For us, meatloaf is the perfect thing to use in quesadillas – it’s already perfectly seasoned & cooked which makes whipping up quesadillas lightening fast! ~TxH~
Quesadillas are so good! I am always using leftover chicken to make them at our house. Thanks for joining the Family Joy Link Party!
HI Tammy! Man that is right up my alley! Meatloaf quesadillas, YUM! Hubby would love those!
My husband has been asking for meatloaf. I have been putting it off in fear of the leftovers! Ha ha
Here’s the solution!
My hubby will thank you for making his request a reality!
Michelle
Meatloaf is one of our faves Michelle, and we use leftover meatloaf in many different ways – crumbled for spaghetti sauce or pizza toppings or quesadilla filling. Depending upon the prevalent flavor in my meatloaf I can also crumble leftovers into chili, homemade ravioli or taco filling. It always gets used and since it’s already cooked/seasoned it makes the remake menu super quick! ~TxH~
A great way to make leftovers into something new! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up and don’t forget to leave a comment at the party – Next week’s features that also leave a comment get pinned and tweeted!
Dinner plans are often made by glancing in the fridge and seeing what needed to be used up, Edye. I just hate wasted food. Thankfully RancherMan is pretty open to me remaking leftovers or heck even eating them as they were served the night before. His comment has always been “that supper last night was delicious, and it’s bound to be just as delicious tonight!” Sure makes using up leftovers easier! ~TxH~
This is just the inspiration I needed for supper tonight! Thanks so much for sharing! Sometimes I just can’t seem to come up with good ideas to use my left overs. 🙂 Hope you have a great day!
Oh my gosh! What a great idea to take a glass reusable to-go container. The quesadillas look yummy!
I truly HATE styrofoam on so many different levels so that’s my main driving force, but I even have restaurant servers comment that they love the glass dish for leftovers idea. Hopefully I’m planting a seed… ~TxH~
Meatloaf into quesadillas — that’s just brilliant! 😀
Leftovers are the best, but boy does it inspire a person to get creative. There can never be enough ideas for remaking leftovers.
Thanks for posting!
God Bless,
Christina
Yum! You can’t go wrong with quesadillas! So smart to use your leftovers; I like to re-imagine my restaurant leftovers, too. Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday this week!
In the early days I would choke down the rest of that restaurant meal so it ‘didn’t go to waste’, but these days I just bring it home and put it to some REAL use. ~TxH~
I love using up leftovers! Most of the time I purposely cook enough to have leftovers for our lunches or for busy evenings. One of my favorite things to make is “leftover soup” where I throw just about anything into my soup pot along with some broth and call it supper.
Tammy, I have that same griddle and LOVE it! We rarely have leftovers with 3 men in the house but when I do it’s all thrown into a casserole of some sort to stretch another meal our way. The cheesecake factory has wonderful cheesecake, seems a road trip is in my future very soon. Have a wonderful weekend! Patti