Loving those leftovers…

We are not good “leftover” people.

At our house, if something is really good, it usually gets eaten the day we make it (or one more day after), but if it is only so-so it can have a long, sad stay in the deep recesses of our refrigerator, getting pushed further and further towards the back every day…

(It’s o.k. to finally throw something out when you can’t recognize it any more.)

In trying to break myself of that nasty habit, I decided to use up some leftovers this weekend.  I pulled a small bag of left over white cake from the freezer, cut up some remaining strawberries, finished off a half used carton of cool whip, and mixed up a package of Cookies ‘N Cream pudding to use up the last of the milk.  (I didn’t have any vanilla pudding.)  I called it a “Trifle”, but my husband reminded me that a real trifle has pound cake, custard, gelatin, fruit, and whipped cream.

At least I got one ingredient right!

I just broke the cake into small pieces and made several layers of all the ingredients.  I let it chill for several hours before serving.  My dessert wasn’t big enough to get a good side view, but I did think it looked appetizing when it was finished.

And…

It was good enough some asked for seconds.

I wanted to take an artistic photo to show you (How do they do that in food magazines?), but couldn’t decided on which background to use, so I’m showing you all three.

Another leftover dish we pulled together this weekend was this pasta salad.

Using the leftover pasta from our fettuccine on Friday, we made this simple salad by cutting up a tomato and cucumber,slicing some olives, and opening a can of garbanzo and a can of kidney beans.  The dressing is Zesty Italian Salad Dressing.  (These were the ingredients on hand, but you can add almost anything.)

We sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top and it was ready to go.

I am feeling quite proud of my efforts.

Here’s hoping I don’t see any leftovers of my leftovers!

JoAnn