10 Leftover Ideas for Grains

Grains are a staple in most diets, but it’s often difficult to prepare the right amount for a single meal. The good news is that in most cases, it’s easy to use leftovers while they’re still good. Here are ten ways that you can use leftover grains, including breads, rice, quinoa and pasta.

1.    Overnight French Toast

If you’re always throwing away stale bread, French toast is a wonderful way to salvage some of it. In fact, you can even freeze your stale bread and use it to make French toast later on (so long as it doesn’t have any mold). Stale bread may actually hold up better than fresh bread in this overnight French toast recipe, and it makes no difference in the finished product.

Get a recipe: http://momintelligence.com/2012/04/overnight-french-toast-bake-recipe/

2.    Fried Rice

If you cooked too much rice for dinner last night, you can use the leftovers to make delicious fried rice tonight.

This is one of those cases where leftovers work better than freshly prepared ingredients, because the rice loses a lot of its moisture sitting in the refrigerator overnight. This keeps it from turning into a gooey mess when fried. You can take this recipe a step further and use leftover meat as well.

Get a fried rice recipe: http://www.asiafoodrecipe.com/recipe/classic-fried-rice/

3.    Pasta Salad

It’s easy to transform leftover pasta into a tasty pasta salad. All you need is to add a few fresh vegetables and some creamy or Italian-type dressing. You can find plenty of other great pasta salad recipes at various recipe sites, or you can make up your own. Just mix in some of your favorite dressing, some chopped meat and whatever veggies you have handy. You might even be able to make your salad entirely from leftovers!

4.    Bread Pudding

Particularly popular in the south, bread pudding is a sweet treat made from stale bread. You can use any kind of bread in it, from loaf bread to rolls to biscuits. It’s even great for using up what’s left of specialty breads such as zucchini bread or banana nut muffins.

Try a recipe like this for the traditional dessert, but if you’re craving something different or a more savory dish like the one shown above, you can find more recipes at Food.com.

5.    Croutons

Croutons are among the most popular salad toppings, and they can also be used to make stuffing. If you’ve ever wondered why the croutons at your favorite restaurant are so much better than the ones you buy in a box, it’s because they make their own out of stale bread. And you can too! French or Italian bread works best, but you can use pretty much any kind of bread that’s stale enough to cut into fairly firm cubes.

6.    Stuffed Peppers

If you have leftover cooked quinoa, this stuffed pepper recipe is a delicious way to use it up. It will also turn out nicely if you substitute cooked rice. If you have raw quinoa sitting around, you can cook it much like you cook rice. Just simmer one part quinoa with two parts water or other liquid until the liquid is completely absorbed, about 15 minutes. These stuffed peppers make a wonderful main dish for a veggie meal.

Get the recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/quinoa-and-3-cheese-stuffed-bell-or-poblano-peppers-323266

7.    Veggie Burgers

There are many ways to make veggie burgers, but cooked rice is a common ingredient. This recipe combines cooked brown rice with beans, oats, tofu and seasonings to create a flavorful alternative to ground meat.

You could also try substituting cooked quinoa for the rice. Serve the patties just like you would serve hamburgers. Find this veggie burger recipe with rice, oats and garbanzo beans here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/all-star-veggie-burger/

8.    Spaghetti Pie

How often do you overestimate how much spaghetti you need for a meal? If you have a lot left over, you can use it to make a scrumptious casserole. This spaghetti pie uses cooked spaghetti as a crust and comes out a lot like lasagna without the layers of noodles. You could also use just about any other type of leftover pasta as a base. Serve with salad and garlic bread.

Here’s the recipe for the spaghetti pie shown above: http://www.food.com/recipe/spaghetti-pie-20830

9.    Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Making grilled cheese sandwiches is one of the most popular ways to use up stale sandwich bread, mostly because they’re quick and easy. However, the standard grilled cheese can get rather boring. This recipe changes it up a bit, adding in ham and apples to create a sweet and savory treat. You can also experiment with whatever you have in the refrigerator. Turkey, bacon and tomato with provolone, for example, would make a nice combo. Add some potato chips and you have a complete and refreshingly different lunch.

Get the apple and ham grilled cheese recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-ham-grilled-cheese/

10.  Frittatas and Omelets

Leftover pasta, bread, dumplings and even rice are a great addition to a frittata or omelet. You can put in a little or a lot, throw in leftover vegetables and more.

Here’s a yummy looking frittata idea with spaghetti: http://www.thekitchn.com/tip-put-leftover-pasta-in-your-77472 and you can see a screenshot below. The writer, Elizabeth Passarella says you can even use pasta that has sauce or cheese on it. Anything goes!

Next time you have leftover grains, don’t let them go to waste. Use these ideas to turn them into something delicious!

As always, I want to hear from you. In the comments section below, please share how you use your leftover grains or tell me your variations of the recipes listed above that you would recommend to others.

That’s all for now. Until next time Divas, wear your heels well and be blessed!

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