What to do with Christmas leftovers

The abundant preparations for the Christmas dinner, on December 24th, often leaves a lot of food unfinished or even untouched. Many of the dishes that beckon at the dining table seldom get consumed completely. It is often a problem having to deal with so much leftovers and bearing the guilt of having to throw good food away.

However, with little planning and creativity, Christmas leftovers need not go to waste. Many dishes can be reheated or recycled into other delicious fares. In fact, some foods taste better the next day.

The following general ideas will help a lot in minimizing, if not completely avoiding, leftover-food waste:

1. Identify the leftover dishes you think will spoil easily and make them a priority for reheating or recycling, or consuming as they are.

2. Pack dishes to be reheated in portions that can be reheated separately for one meal, so that the entire dish won't have to be reheated repeatedly until fully consumed.

3. Consume soups and sauced dishes first.

4. Store large chunks of cooked meats and poultry in the freezer to make them stand longer.

5. Reheat foods only up to a maximum of two times. Too much reheating overcooks food and makes the taste bland or stale.

Moreover, here are a few practical suggestions for putting common leftover foods to beneficial use:

Lechon. Cut the untouched parts into separate portions good for one meal each. Put in the freezer and reheat a portion as needed. Gather the smaller slices together and make into everybody's favorite lechon paksiw, with soy sauce, vinegar, a little white wine, and lots of garlic and onions. Lechon kawali can be boiled for a good number of minutes in water, vinegar, salt, sugar and spices, for a real tender humba.

Pork. From pork dishes that spoil easily, pick out cutlets or cut big slices into finger sizes and make into sweet-and-sour. Sweet-and-sour pork stands longer in the fridge, and tastes better as it gets older. And it's good to eat cold.

Beef. Slice leftover beef to use in sandwiches. Cubed beef is great for adding to salads (beef is particularly good with potatoes).Ground beef can be mixed with eggs and spices, for a delicious meat torta, which tastes good either hot or cold.

Chicken. Fried chicken wings and legs are especially good when eaten cold (straight from the fridge) the next day. Chicken breasts can be cut into cubes or strips for use in salads.

Fish. Poached fish is good to use in salads. Or it can be eaten by itself with just a little soy sauce and vinegar. If olive oil is available, also put some to the sauce mix; you will surely like the taste. It's also good to make into sweet-and-sour fish, which tastes great hot or cold.

Bam-i. Reheat for the next day's meals or snacks. Place it a microwavable food keeper, ready to slip into the microwave oven when needed. If not, pack in aluminum foil and reheat in a pan. Place the pack flat in the pan and turn over after a few minutes, for leveled heating. Careful with reheating bam-i directly in the pan; it may overcook the noodles and make it mushy.

Hard-boiled Eggs. Use in salads or just eat as they are. For variety, cut the eggs into halves and cook in thick sauce. Or, mash eggs with mayonnaise for tasty sandwiches.

Salads. Put leftover salads in the fridge's chiller (not in the freezer!) and make sure to consume within the next three days. The freshness of fruit- and vegetable-ingredients deteriorates with time. Moreover, dairy in the salad may begin to spoil after a while.

Rice. Make into a delicious fried rice with cubed meats or chicken leftovers.

Fruits and Vegetables. Make into crunchy, fresh salads; but only after you have finished off the older salads in the fridge. Or, enjoy a fruit by itself. The veggies you can also use to spruce up recycled dishes.

Drinks. Leftover juice drinks can be put into tray moulds and placed in the freezer for delicious ice pops. Wine and liquor will stand for sometime in the bottle so long as they are stored in the right temperature and the caps are tightly closed.

In these difficult economic times, it's almost a sin to throw anything away. Especially food. With little effort, no food need go to waste. Except perhaps dry bones and the fatty parts.