After Tea last night time to use the leftovers

After our super tea last night there are a lot of left overs which are not going to be wasted.  I  have told OH per se that I am not cooking tonight but that we will be having "leftovers".  There is quite a lot of meat left over and there was mash and veggies left over so they have been turned into Bubble and Squeak rounds and served with the meat and gravy.  Unfortunately the lovely gravy I had left over last night which was destined for tonight's tea got knocked over accidentally whilst I was getting it ready to go into the fridge which I was not happy about as it was really tasty.   I have therefore had to make a new batch of gravy using veggie water, onions, stock, white pepper and a little Arrowroot to thicken it up.  For me Arrowroot does a better job at thickening a gravy than Corn starch or as we know it Cornflour and of late I have been using this more and more.  To buy it from the supermarkets it is expensive.  However Holland and Barratt have a bag of it for sale about 1lb in weight for £1 something or other as I recently bought a couple of bags.  When I was learning to cook at school and make fancy pastry flans, quiches, and sweet pudding type flans we were introduced to it as a better thickener for the fruit juices.

If there is still any meat left which I think there may be then that will probably find its way into the freezer with some gravy for another day.  As I have said I am not fond of wasting stuff.

I must admit that when I buy a joint of meat it always tends to be bigger than we actually need on the basis that for me a larger joint of meat seems to cook better all around, uses the oven once on the cooking side which works out more economical as I also put other things in the oven whilst it is cooking to get my money's worth i.e. a batch of scones, some coconut cheesecakes, some sausage rolls.  The meat that is left over I slice and then freeze in gravy and so in effect you have made your own ready meals for your freezer to use during a busy working week which also saves time in the longer run.  You just have to remember to get it out the night before, cook some fresh veggies (if you have already frozen some as in one of my previous posts you are set) all you have to do is peel some potatoes, cook the veg and tea is perhaps ready within 40 minutes of being home.  On a weeknight that saves a lot of time.  Especially if you have a young family that you also want to spend time with.  So there are means and ways around things just sometimes you need to employ a different mind set to approach a recurring problem and deal with it overall.  Oh and the meat and the gravy I just ping in the microwave and then add the veggies after.  You can also make additional gravy which I tend to do in any event, and pot up any excess to be used yet again.  Whatever you do enjoy it.  There is nothing better than a home cooked meal on a cold winter's evening.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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