making the most out of leftovers

Like many in America, I really wanted to kick off 2010 by improving my food choices. I'm not much of a calorie counter, but I wanted to make a conscious effort to put fresh, good food in my body. I soon realized that it took me the same amount of time (& less money) to make lunch everyday with dinner leftovers than running out to get a sandwich or slice of pizza. This whole pizza thing was happening way too often. Neither Robby or I are one to reheat something in the microwave, so up until this point we have been a no-leftovers kind of family. Up until now that is. I have started a system that seems to be working out pretty well. When I'm preparing dinner the night before, I prepare extra of all of the ingredients. In this case I was making roasted garlic lemon shrimp over pasta. I simply cut a few extra vegetables, and left a few shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. By the time lunch rolled around the next day, I was prepped and ready to go. In 11 minutes, I had made this delicious pasta dish. The recipe was familiar and all of the tedious parts were already accomplished. I dirtied one skillet (that washed up very quickly), and a rubber spatula (that I threw in the dishwasher; have I mentioned that my dishwasher is my saving grace?).

Now I'm not oblivious to the fact that most people work in an office setting or have littles that require their constant attention so this concept would be completely unrealistic, but for some, this may be a refreshing approach to lunch. My best tip would be to think about lunch while you're making dinner. What can you prep right now, while you already have the cutting board, knives, and ingredients out? You could even test your creativity by thinking of a slightly modified dish with the same ingredients.