I mentioned in my last post that we were living on leftovers last week, and some of that is still happening this week. It’s easy to get bored with leftovers, especially when it’s just a bunch of meat, and this calls for a little creativity. After all, the go-to strategy for leftovers is typically sandwiches, but with bread being banished from the diet, this gets a little more challenging.
First, keep in mind that the freezer is your friend. When faced with a ton of leftover meats, be honest about how many meals you think you’ll be able to stand with it in the short term and put the rest in the freezer. You never know when you’ll need something quick to thaw and eat on a day when you don’t have time to cook, and you’ll be grateful that it’s there to keep you from hitting a drive-through.
Then, start looking online for paleo recipes similar to the one you made or that use the meat as an ingredient. Many times you can find casseroles, salads, and stuffings that use the meat and can help mix things up to avoid boredom. We still had some pulled pork in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I found this gem on Paleo Leap over the weekend and adapted it for our dinner last night. The result was fantastic, and we got to thoroughly enjoy another pulled pork meal without having to wait an hour to eat.
Incidentally, baked sweet potatoes are pretty quick if you let the microwave help the process. All I did was poke holes in the potatoes with a fork (2 potatoes), put them in the microwave for about 15 minutes (the time it took for the oven to preheat), and then in the oven for another 20 while the asparagus roasted. Voila!
The sweet potato was perfectly cooked, too! Very soft inside with no burned or scorched sides; even the skin was yummy! Great job with the dinner last night; I’m glad the pulled pork is turning out to be so versatile!