Left Over! A Guide to Using Up the Used Food

Did you ever open the fridge, stare at a bowl of leftover rice, and wonder if there was anything you could do with it besides “reheat and serve”?  Or looked at a dish of leftover broccoli and hoped it had already turned brown and gooey so you could throw it away without guilt?   Or stared at the remains of a big Thanksgiving Day feast and wondered, Now what?

If the answer to any of these is yes, Left Over! is the book for you!

Americans throw away more than 40% of the food they bring into their homes and while there are many reasons for this, a leading culprit is poor leftover management.  The key to reducing waste is therefore to repurpose leftovers – to re-engineer the remains of last night’s meal into something new, different, interesting, tasty and nutritious.  Left Over! is a guidebook on how to do just that.

Each chapter deals with a common leftover food item (pasta, potatoes, rice, meat, veggies, bread, etc.) and offers a few dozen suggestions for how the leftovers can be repurposed.  Most recipes feature Variations that extend the ingredients you can incorporate into the dish.

Status of Manuscript: Manuscript is completed and available for review.  137 pages, 35,000 words.  Photo-illustrated.  To review the manuscript or converse with me, get in touch.

Advance Praise for Left Over!

“I really like the idea of a leftovers cookbook; your approach and recipes are spot-on and make the ms very appealing…”  Sian Hunter, University Press of Florida

“I finally got around to reading your cookbook and it is awesome!  Seriously incredibly useful. I am one of those people with no imagination in the kitchen so my leftovers consist of reheating what I already ate or more commonly, throwing away what goes uneaten. And Bryn [daughter] despises eating the same meal two days in a row (she’s a princess apparently).  So this is awesome. I think the recipes are particularly useful when you get a few options for ingredients (i.e., pancetta but also regular bacon).  It really is so useful. I will be making some pasta later this week just to make pasta e fagioli this weekend!”  Amy Donley, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Central Florida

“This is great!  I see lots of recipes I want to make.  The potato quiche is one of them.  Might try that this weekend.  I love your sense of humor and could almost hear you saying the words as I read them in your book….”  Daryl Flynn, Orange County (Florida) School Board

“I am so enjoying your recipe book.  I love your ‘add whatever’ approach, and occasional comments like – ‘it does not look very good, yet tastes great.’  Not being much of a cook, I sometimes find recipe books intimidating, so precise – yours isn’t.  One of my favorites so far is the rice quiche crust.  How clever and fun!  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read your book.”  Abby Walters, Associate State Director, Florida AARP