One day this week DH didn’t feel like grilling the chicken thighs I’d marinated, he didn’t want broccoli and he was NOT in the mood for roasted sweet potatoes.

So, he decided to bring home some take out Chinese.  He is a “Fried Rice Fanatic“.  Me, not so much. I know our local (read that only) Chinese restaurant hasn’t a clue on how to make a good egg foo young, so I went with the vegetable lo mein.

I wasn’t feeling all that hot-just had a Reclast infusion, so I ate about 1/3 of it and ignored the brown rice.

Ever wonder why rice is added to a noodle dish?

The noodles gave dh a good sized lunch for the next day.  But now I wondered how to clean out the fridge since shopping day was coming near.

I made a savory rice pudding instead of the spuds that were supposed to be used that night.

Rice and/or noodle pudding doesn’t have to be a sweet dish.  And this is a great way to re-create what’s left in the fridge!

Here’s what I had:  the remainder of a can of diced green chilies, the last ounce or so of a chunk of pecorino romano (remember this is sheep’s milk, so I’m okay with that), the last of a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, a sweet onion, some eggs and almond milk.  I quickly sautéed the onions with some evoo, salt, minced garlic and warmed up the artichokes.  I made a custard with the eggs, almond milk, salt, pepper and some cumin.  mixed all of it together with the box of cold brown rice and poured it into a 8×12 glass pan that had been sprayed with some evoo.  I topped the whole thing with the now grated romano and baked it at 350 covered for 45 minutes, uncovered it and baked for another 15.

Delish.  Don’t have the above veggies?  Don’t cry-chop up what you do have and cook the same way.  We actually were able to stretch this out to serve us 2 dinners and 1 lunch for dh!

How do you re-invent leftovers?