I just ate a delicious meal, and I cannot share the recipe... there isn't one. I call it "Last Bites Mulligan Stew."
First, let me provide my definition of Mulligan Stew: a combination of whatever is on hand, stirred into one dish. For scout campouts, my husband used to have his scout troop bring a can of whatever they wanted to throw in the soup pot. One never knew what would show up... mushroom soup, pork and beans, corn. Whatever they brought, it was put in the kettle and cooked together. It always tasted good, no matter how bizarre it seemed.
So...I have my own little version of Mulligan Stew...Last Bites Mulligan Stew. For me, and my personality, this works. You see, I was raised in a "clean your plate" atmosphere. "Don't let perfectly good food go to waste!" This is a major downfall for me trying to stop when no longer hungry at mealtimes. My "full" meter might go off when there are only 2 or 4 bites left. It's a real struggle at times to stop eating. After all... will a couple more bites make a difference? Too often, I give in to that reasoning and clean my plate. But when I remember that I can make a mulligan stew out of it, then I don't feel wasteful and I stop eating.
I keep a container in the freezer--the right size for a meal for me--and when I have a few bites of food left (not enough to have for another meal), I put it in the container in the freezer. It might be a couple bites of spaghetti one night, and a few bites of stir-fried rice another night, and a little bit of dilled chicken fricassee, a portion of toast torn into bits, etc. When the container is full, I take it out and defrost it, mix the layers all together, heat it completely through, and wool-ah...Last Bites Mulligan Stew.
I know it probably sounds absolutely disgusting to some people, but I have never had a bad Mulligan yet. Ever. Serious. I have, however, had Last Bites Mulligan Stew so delicious I wished I could duplicate it!
The downside: If I get full when eating the defrosted meal, and there's only a few bites left, I cannot re-freeze it (not safe to refreeze), so I am back to square one...toss it, or eat it?
♩It's like the song that never ends... ♬
It goes to waste if it goes to waist. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI say...if there's a few bites left of something already frozen and reheated, toss it.
Your stew sounds....interesting. I read once that minestrone means "everything in it" so you could water it down and have minestrone.
Amelia Bedelia, watch out, here comes Trudy!