Risotto turn into Risotto Cakes

Enjoy your risotto left over in a different way.

Stir lightly beaten eggs, grated zucchini and cool risotto. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 200oC. Grease muffin pan.

Half fill the muffin pan, then put a cube of mozzarella cheese on top of each. Cover with rice mixture to the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until set.

Serve with salad.

Couscous turn into Couscous Stuffed Squid

Got couscous leftover? You can make this delicious couscous stuffed squid.

Mix couscous with finely grated lemon rind and juice of a lemon with a fork. Add finely chopped tomatoes which has been seeded and stir to combine. Season with salt and ground black pepper.

Clean the hood of whole squid. Fill each squid with couscous mixture.

Heat oil in a pan and cook filled hoods for 6 – 8 minutes, turning often, until golden on all sides.

Add finely chopped garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute, then add white wine and sinner 2 minutes before serving

Roast Lamb turn into Shepherd's Pie

For this you need roast lamb or beef (minced), potatoes, butter, milk, olive oil, finely chopped vegetables of your choice (carrot, celery, zucchini) or use frozen mixed vegetables to save time, onion and garlic (finely chopped), tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock and grated cheddar cheese.

Boil potatoes until tender then drain them. Add butter and mash until smooth. Add milk and beat to combine.

Heat oil and fry the onion, garlic and vegetables until they are soft. Add minced lamb/beef, sauce and beef stock. Keep on stirring until mixture comes to the boil. Simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 200oC. Sppon mixture into small ramekin dish if you prefer personnal size or big oven dish if you want to serve them together. Top with mashed potato. Rake the top with a fork then sprinkle the cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Risotto turn into Risotto Cakes

If you have risotto left over, you can turn them into risotto cakes.

All you have to do is mixed the risotto leftover with some crumbled fetta cheese. Then shape them into risotto cakes.

Heat oil in non stick pan and cook the risotto cakes for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden.

Serve with bread and salad.

Spaghetti Bolognese turn into Beef Ravioli

If you cooked spaghetti bolognaise and has some left over of the minced meat with bolognese sauce, you can turn them into easy beef ravioli.

You need to get gow gee pastry wrappers. Place 1.5 teaspoon of the minced beef in the centre and brush the edge with water. Top with another wrapper and seal. Do this until you finish all wrapper. Place them in a single layer on a lined tray.

Heat oil in saucepan and cook onion and garlic (both finely chopped) until golden. Add 1 canned tomatoes and 3/4 cup of beef stock. Bring to boil. Then reduce heat and simmer until thickened (about 10-15 minutes). Stir in basil.

Boil salted water in large saucepan. Add ravioli and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and spoon over sauce. Enjoy.

Stir fried Noodle turn into Spring Roll

If you have stir fried noodle (both the yellow noodle or the rice noodle one) left over, you can make spring roll from them.

You can also use any left over stir fry on its own if you want. Just make sure to put only the dry part of the stir fry.

Get the spring roll wrapper. You can find them in chinese groceries, but many supermarkets now have this in their frozen section.

Defrost them according to packet instruction. Once they are defrosted, lay flat one wrapper and fill in with the noodle, a piece of meat and vegetables.

Warp them in the shape of a spring roll and seal the edges with water.

Deep fry the spring roll until golden and enjoy with your favorite sauce

PS : you can also bake the spring roll in the oven, just spray them with some oil first. But I find that the end result is not as crispy as it would compared to when you deep fry them.

Beef stroganoff or casserole turn into pie

Just a note on beef stroganoff or beef/lamb casserole.

You can use the left over to make pie.

Defrost some ready made puff pastry. Line them inside pie dish. This can be the individual small one or the big shared one.

Put the stroganoff or casserole inside puff pastry, but make sure you do not put too much liquid or it will be a mess later on.

Then cover the top of the pie.

Bake according to the pastry direction and you've got yourself a beef pie.

Another cheap way to make chicken stock

On the topic of chicken stock, you notice that we do not eat the pointy end of chicken wings, right?

That's why when I buy chicken wings, I always cut the pointy ends and keep them to make chicken stocks.
If you only buy a small amount, don't discourage. Keep them in the freezer until you think there is enough amount to make stock.

If you want, you can make large quantity of stocks all in one go, but what I like is to keep them in plastic bags in the freezer, just in the right amount to make one pot of stock. This depends on how much your family needs. This way, every time I need to make a pot of chicken stock, I just boil the water and take out one plastic bag containing enough wings end to make one pot. Easy.

BBQ Chicken Carcass turn into Chicken Stock

When you make BBQ chicken, you can use the chicken carcass to make chicken stock.

First you need to clean them from the stuffing to avoid making the liquid cloudy. Then for 1 BBQ chicken, you put the bones with 3 litre of cold water in a large pan and cook over medium heat.

Bring them to simmer, then turn the heat down to low and let it cook for 1.5 hours to reduce the liquid.

Strain the liquid through a very fine sieve.

You can use this chicken stock for cooking straight away, or you can freeze them for later.

For extra taste, you can also add carrot, celery, leek and onion. Just boil them together. But if you do want to add anything at this moment, you can always put the vegetable later when you cook like I always do. This way you make sure you put what you need according to what you want to cook at that time.

Roast Beef turn into Beef Stroganoff

For this recipe I cheat by using a can of mushroom soup. It's just make the cooking a whole lot easier.

Start by cutting the roast beef into bite sized pieces. Fry the onion in oil and butter. After they are translucent, put in the roast beef, mushroom soup, water (enough to dilute the soup so it makes a sauce), sour cream, a bit of paprika, salt and pepper.

Cook over low heat, but since you already have cooked meat, it will not take that long.

Serve with pasta.

Roast Beef or Lamb turn into casserole

For this casserole you need :

Roast beef or lamb left over

1 onion and 1 carrots, diced

1.5 tbsp plain flour

2 cups beef stock

Worcestershire sauce

soy sauce

4-5 sprigs of thyme

Put oil in a pan, add vegetables and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle flour and still until the vegetables are coated. Gradually pour in stock while still stirring.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir until boils.

Put in the roast beef or lamb, cut into bite sized pieces.

Then you can continue cooking the beef in a casserole dish in the oven, or keep in on the stove. Just make sure you stir it now and then and put more water to keep the ingredients just covered.

If you cook beef or lamb casserole from the beginning, you need need sometime for the meat to get tender, but because you put in cooked meat, it will not take that long for your beef or lamb to be ready.

Serve with pasta or rice

Roast Chicken turn into Chicken Soup

Roast Chicken is very versatile as a base for many recipe. Fried rice and stir fries are good choice. But for a change, this time it's chicken soup.

Just boil chicken stock and season it with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Then put in vegetables such as carrot, celery and sweet corn and the roast chicken cut into chunky pieces.

Enjoy it as is if you want a clear chicken soup.

If you want them a bit heavy, just add some milk and thicken it with a bit of corn flour diluted into water.

Fruit Jelly

Another simple recipe incorporating fruit that will be love by kids are jelly. For this you can use any fruit other than kiwi, papaya or fresh pineapple. Tinned pineapple is fine. Those fruits has enzyme in them which prevents jelly from setting.

Just cut the fruits into small pieces. Then follow the instruction in jelly or gelatin pack. Put the fruits in before you leave them to set.

A variation is to use milk instead of water then put in cocoa powder. Of course you can only use this with clear jelly. If you do not want the jelly to be too rich, add milk half half with water.

Or you can also use milk, water and orange essence without the cocoa powder.

Simple Apple Pie

I thought about this recipe when I have too much apple in my fridge and no one wants them anymore. When I turn the apple into apple pie, it was a big hit for everyone!

Peel and core the apples, then cut them about 0.5cm x 0.5 cm. Put them in the pan then put some water to cover it, one cinnamon and some brown sugar, about one tablespoon for every 2 apples. Cook them until they look soft enough.

Watch them while they cook all the time, so you can stir them and make sure you have enough water. Don't worry if you did not put enough water at the first time, just add hot water later to make it right. When they are ready, set them aside until they are cold (fridge is a good place to shorten the time).

Then prepare some puff pastry. Make sure the filling is cold when you are ready to put them in the pastry, otherwise your pastry will soften considerably and you risk making a hole. Put the apple filling inside and close them. Brush with beaten egg, then put them in the oven.

You can make them as a single serve (like the one sold by McDonald's and the easiest I think) or a big one for sharing.

Pasta Bake turn into Quiche

If you have pasta bake left over, you can change it into an easy quiche.

For 2 cups of filling, this is what you need:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
3 tablespoon of melted butter
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 1/2 cup grated cheese
Herbs of your choice

Whisk the eggs, milk, melted butter and flour together.
Fold in cheese and fillings.
Pour into oven proof dish and bake for 40 minutes at 180oC.
Serve with salad.

If the filling is not that much, you can always put in some stir fried chicken or fish to add the filling. Just season them according to taste when you stir fried them.

Roast Pork turn into Rice Porridge

Roast pork makes a nice filling for rice porridge. Prepare them by cutting them into thin strips.

Begin by making yourself some rice porridge. While you can start from rice and cook them you like you would with risotto, it is a lot easier to start with cooked rice.

Put a tablespoon of oil into a deep pan and fry some garlic. When they are golden, put in chicken stock, and put the cooked rice. The amount of chicken stock depends on how much cooked rice you put in. You can always add a bit more chicken stock if you think the porridge is too thick. Stir them frequently to prevent them sticking at the bottom of the pan. Once you get the right consistency, season them with salt, pepper and soy sauce. Then put in the roast pork and finish by stirring one beaten egg to give a glossy finish.

Roast Beef turn into Beef Pie

We often have roast beef left over. Cut your left over roast beef into smaller size. Prepare ready made gravy. Fry some thinly sliced onion if you like. If you want to add some vegetables, you can add some fresh carrots or peas, but make sure you boil them first so they are cooked. Or if you are lazy, pop some frozen vegetables into the microwave to get them ready.

Defrost some ready made puff pastry. Line them inside pie dish. This can be the individual small one or the big shared one.
Combine the roast beef, onions, vegetables and gravy inside puff pastry. Then cover the top of the pie. Bake according to the pastry direction and you've got yourself a healthy beef pie.

Clear Chicken Soup turn into Minestrone Soup

Clear chicken soup is a good base for minestrone soup.

Pour two tablespoon of oil and fry some thinly sliced onions. Add a can of tomatoes and some sausages. Make sure you break those tomatoes as smooth as possible. Add some vegetables such as carrot and peas. Pour some chicken stock to add more soup. Season with salt, sugar and pepper.

You can enjoy the minestrone soup with pasta or garlic bread.

Chinese Stir Fry turn into Fried Rice or Fried Noodle

If you cook Chinese stir fry with chicken or beef, you can turn their left over into Fried Rice or Fried Noodle.

Cook the rice or noodle according to direction. The best rice is the long grain variety so it does not get too soggy.
Pour a tablespoon of oil into the wok. Put some garlic and shallot in. When they turn golden, put in the rice or noodle and left over. Add some more seasoning with soy sauce, salt and pepper according to taste and garnish with deep fried shallots.

If the left over is too little, you can add some more filling. Fish cake cut into sized, prawn, eggs, additional vegetables such as peas will give additional taste into your fried rice. Put the additional filling just as you your garlic and shallot turn golden and cook for a while before putting your rice and left over in.

Chicken Curry turn into Samosa

Chicken curry is among favorites. If you have left over chicken curries, get frozen puff pastry. Cut into four and put them inside the pastries. Close the pastries so it forms a triangle then glaze with beaten egg. Bake according to direction and you have your self samosa to enjoy.