We are all currently loving our kitchens, the oven gets switched on almost everyday and it’s constantly messy. We are baking, cooking and eating in a way we wouldn’t have on a normal Wednesday morning or on a lazy Monday evening.

And before you know it you have so many bits + pieces left over from all your previous meals.
Now, let’s not stop cooking and baking as it is what keeps us happy during these times, let’s do something with all those extra bits + pieces.

What did we do? 

Here we give you some of our secrets to keep cooking + baking without having to waste,
of course we will definitely still recommend offering it to whom ever needs it most. 

Oven-roasted lamb

This one is really a very delicious leftover to have around. This can be the easiest lunch, or dinner in such a short time it might feel like cheating. 

• A hearty soup with pieces of lamb for chilly evenings. Here you can use leftover vegetables as well with some lentils or chickpeas.

• Very fancy pot pie, you’ve got the time, make your own buttery pastry. 

• Turn it into another flavour. More spice for a lamb korma with torn flatbreads.

Fresh vegetables

When you realise your pantry is filling up with certain veggies and it might go off soon, searching for a recipe to do something with it is not your only option.

• Pickle as much as you can, this can be adjusted according to your taste preferences by playing around with spices or anything that will develop a taste over time, for those who might not be very big fans of pickles, mix it up until you are happy. Some basics stay the same, but it is easily adjustable.

• Obviously the classic roast vegetable soup will never fail you. Again, experiment with the flavours, you don’t need to stick to a traditional veggie soup.

• Don’t forget that most vegetables freeze well, this may not be your favourite option as you might prefer fresh ingredients, but it is still an option.

• My mother started to let some vegetables show signs of new growth and then wait until they are ready to replant them in her vegetable garden. For those believers in slow living, you can try this.

• Make some jam with certain vegetables, a flavourful chutney is basically the best when homemade.

Roasted vegetables

Any form of already cooked, roasted, fried or steamed vegetables can be used again in so many ways.

• My all time favourite will always be an easy frittata, your vegetables with a delicious soft cheese, some spices or herbs for flavour and fill it up with milk + eggs. 

• A soup can also be your go to meal.

• Having a small selection of all sorts of vegetables can work so well in a dhal, you can add a few spices, add some chickpeas or spinach and then some coconut milk, cream or yoghurt.

• You can simply toss this into a bowl with fresh herbs for a salad and drizzle it with a herb oil or vinaigrette.

• Many root vegetables are very easy to chop in smaller sizes and to include it into a bread or muffin recipe. Think of a simple bacon + cheese muffin, now add some butternut. Look at our rye bread recipe on our Journal and add some spring onions and sweet potato.

Fruit

Fruit can easily become over ripe without having a chance to really use it.

• Look for something sweet you can bake, a cake or an apple tart. A lot of people have been baking banana bread, we have a few bananas that is over ripe and it is an easy go to recipe. Berries can be turned into a compote and this can be served over yoghurt for breakfast or ice cream or cake for desert.

• Jam in a lot of varieties such as a marmalade for citrus or a preserve for those beautiful fruits like pears. These keeps really well.

• Chop them smaller pieces and freeze them for smoothies.

Baked goods

From bread to cake and even cookies nothing needs to be wasted when you have too much of them around.

• Bread can be sliced + cut into biscotti sized pieces; dry it out. Sweeter breads tend to really replace the need for biscotti and savoury breads turn into a perfect “cracker” kind of biscuit that you can use as a crouton in salads or soups or with creamy soft cheeses and dips as snacks. 

• Cookies can be crushed to be tart bases or cheesecake crusts for when you bake.

• Cake pieces or pastries such as croissants and most breads can easily be turned into a baked pudding by covering it with a sweet egg milk mixture and placed in the oven, we always like to add a few extras such as dates. You can also change it to suit your taste; example, make use of your homemade jam. 

• Most breads can be crumbed and dried for when you might need bread crumbs for some binding, make sure it is completely dry and then place it into a sealed jar in your pantry.

There is definitely a lot more we can do with leftovers, but these tend to be the staple of most kitchens. 

You will realise as you start to make one thing it often opens the opportunity for another item to be used in the same dish, like we would say in Afrikaans “twee vlieë met een klap”. A lot of these mentions above can be used for other dishes, be creative and try to make new creations using your leftovers.