Don’t Let Easter Leftovers Go to Waste

If you are like me and had a wonderful Easter dinner, your refrigerator is probably full of leftovers. There is a time limit as to how long foods can stay in the refrigerator, so you want to make sure you use these so they don’t go to waste. If you know you can’t use the food within the recommended time limit consider creating casseroles that you can freeze. That away, you can still eat it later and enjoy a night off from cooking. You can also freeze many of these foods quite well, like ham and homemade rolls. I also like to keep the ham bone; it makes a great pot of soup beans! Many people just throw this away. So, don’t let your leftovers go to waste. Store them properly and save money later by having meals ready to be put in your oven or meat ready to be put in your casserole.Here are some recommended refrigerator storage times for a few popular Easter foods:

Cooked ham slices- 2-3 days

Hard cooked eggs- 1 week

Dressing- 2 days

Gravy- 1-2 days

Here are some recipes that are going to be made in my house with leftover Easter foods.

Creamy Potato and Ham Bake

1 (1 lb. 4 oz.) Bag of Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns

1 Cup Frozen Peas, thawed

8 oz. Diced Lean Ham

1/2 teaspoon Dried Parsley Flakes

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 (10 oz.) Can 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix potatoes, peas and ham. In a smaller bowl mix soup, parsley and pepper. Pour the soup mixture over the potatoes and mix well. Pour into an 8X8 square dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Serves: 4 Per Serving: 268 Calories; 4g Fat (14.3% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 36mg Cholesterol; 1366mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain (Starch); 0 Fat. From: Aimee’s Adventures

Leftover Easter Candy Cake

2 c. coarsely chopped leftover Easter candy*
2 3/4 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 lg. eggs
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 c. sour cream
Optional: Confectioners’ sugar*Such as: Chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, chocolate bunnies, candy eggs, jellies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a tube or bundt pan (10 to 12 cup capacity) and dust with fine bread crumbs. Tap out excess crumbs. Set pan aside. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In large bowl, cream butter until soft, add vanilla, almond extracts and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients with sour cream, scraping bowl as necessary. Place 1 1/2 cups mixture in prepared pan. Add candies to remaining batter, fold in gently. Pour this mixture into pan over plain batter. Bake 1 hour or until tests done. Cool 15 minutes. Cover pan with rack and invert. Remove pan. Let cake cool. Serve plain or with confectioners’ sugar dusted on top. NOTE: This is a great way to use up any holiday’s leftover candy – Halloween treats, Christmas candy canes, Valentine sweets, etc.

What do you do with your leftovers?