No matter how much or how little I cook, bake, grill, prepare...no matter how excellent the flavors, how unique the combo, it seems like I always have some food remaining.

What to do with the leftovers?  What sometimes tastes terrific at first bite doesn't always translate too well two days later.  The family is enthused about the first peach crisp of the season, but if they don't finish it all on day one, it becomes a soggy and unattractive mess.

I am always up for a challenge, and just don't like to toss away perfectly good food that happens to be cocooning in my frig or resting on my counter.  If I end up with an extra piece of chicken, well, that's golden.  It can transform into so many dishes, from a simple chicken salad to the base for a seasonal pasta.  Same goes with a pot roast, the mainstay of Sunday dinner when I was a kid.  The leftovers look kind of unappetizing, until they get chopped into roast beef hash, or softened with some broth or a bit of red wine into a base for shredded taco meat.  Actually, meat, chicken, fish, pork are easy leftovers, the kind where you can summon up any number of uses and often wish you had more.  (It seems like you never have quite enough turkey leftovers after you prepare packages for all the Thanksgiving guests to take home, but ham is another story.  It expands and lasts a lifetime.  Truly.)

The challenging leftovers are things like breakfast scrambled eggs, or a salad already topped with dressing.  Vegetables that aren't quite finished, and no one wants to look at them for another day.  Even the highly sought after chocolate chip cookie isn't wanted, if it's the last one.  The almost black banana no one will touch, the bit of gravy, the small dish of brown rice...well, we all have these hanging around, and instead of wondering if it's time to give up, why not try to concoct something of your own?

Go recipe-free, and put together flavors that seem complementary.  Look for textures that combine gracefully, and dishes that might not be too far away from your regular fare.  Take chili.  It's easy to add the remaining beef or chicken or ground turkey.  How about that small amount of chopped zucchini or the few extra edamame beans you couldn't bear to part with?  We took a little piece of creamy melted Brie, really too small to wrap, and put it atop grilled chicken for a few moments.  No one could believe the fabulous flavor!  And that lone chocolate chip cookie:  crumble it on ice cream, mash it into pancake batter, mix it with some juicy fresh fruits, like berries. Why not added to oatmeal?  You get the idea.  How do you like to use your leftovers?