Sometimes I am very organized and I plan ahead what I want to make, purchasing the necessary ingredients on the weekend when I go grocery shopping. I have lots of staples in the house like seasonings, dry pasta, canned soup, baking supplies, frozen ground beef, and way too many frozen bags of rhubarb and pumpkin!
However, sometimes I just don't really know what I want to make and don't have a lot of desire to make anything anyway. Then it's time for a Mom's Throw-Together. That's what these meals have come to be known. I don't know if I started the notion of "throwing some stuff together" and then it evolved into, "What are we having for supper?" "Oh, I'm just throwing things together." Now they are just referred to as Mom's Throw-Togethers and my husband is usually very happy to hear that it is time for another one.
I'm sure this is nothing new. You open the fridge, see what is left over in some various plastic containers, check the freezer, look in the pantry and create something. Usually in casserole form, these meals are great to use up bits of this and that. Throw-togethers are never the same thing twice.
As I was driving home from work I was thinking about what I was going to make for supper. I knew there were sausages left over from two nights ago (unless the husband ate them late at night!) so I started building a meal around those in my head.
Here's what I ended up throwing together!!
Three leftover cooked sausages (and a piece of my finger apparently, at the side of this picture!)
Some leftover boiled red potatoes got cut up and there was a handful of leftover peas.
I boiled up some frozen green beans and threw them in, too.
I normally would use a can of mushroom soup but shockingly I didn't have any (I DO have several cans of tomato soup, guess I keep forgetting I have some on hand and keep buying more), so I found a can of cream of celery soup, which I mixed with a half of a can of milk.
I put in a half a container of French's crispy onions, just like the kind used in green bean casserole.
A few dashes of Worchestershire sauce helps.
Bubbling hot out of the oven, it is ready for a sprinkling of the rest of the French fried onions.
And, voila! Dinner is ready.
What about the rest of you? Do you make use of your leftovers? Do you create your own versions of throw-togethers? I look forward to your comments!
I rarely have left-overs, but I usually don't let them go to waste
ReplyDeleteI'm all about whipping things together, on the fly. Such great fun for me. As for eating out, I do zero of it. But Hubby will order pizza or eat lunch on the road.
ReplyDeleteThat was a creative creation.
ReplyDeleteI guess tonight's dinner might have qualified as a throw together.
I had some oldish 1/2 & 1/2, some really tired mushrooms, 4 asparagus spears and some cheese that's been around for a while. So that turned into a quiche, and very good it was, too.
That's exactly what I'm talking about! That sounds very good, and you have reminded me I still have some asparagus in the fridge. Guess I know what I could make tomorrow night.
DeleteYes! I do this, too. This is such a fun way to cook. And a great way to use up leftovers. In addition to casseroles, I something throw in a whole bunch of leftovers into a pot, add some broth and turn it all into a soup. That's always a nice treat. Your casserole looks so delicious!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely eat those lefftovers! All you need is a little imagination and youve got it. I can see why Mom's Throw-togethers are popular.
ReplyDeleteIm looking for a recipe at the moment to turn left over stewed dried beans into rissoles/burgers. I'll like them for sure, just hope certain other people do!
I do most of the cooking in our house. Sometimes the thrown together meals are the best. Left overs always seem to taste better - perhaps it gives the food time to absorb the different flavors.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
That's really clever. We rarely have any leftovers and I'm not very good at conjuring up meals like that. I plan the week's menu ahead. Paul cooks at the weekend.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the best tasting dinners have those thrown together with leftovers. I have a few stand by in case of bad day at work meals in the ready, I keep all the ingredients in little baskets at the back of the cupboard. A favourite from childhood is; elbow mac, tomato soup, green pepper, onions with ground beef (now ground soy) with garlic bread - a meal to satisfy.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had some dishes invented in the depression, she called them "desperation dishes", which ended up as recipes for the rest of her life...I often make refrigerator soup with toasted cheese on toast to go with it and sometimes the sort of casserole you described. They're often delicious. but one of a kind.Sometimes they are stir fries of the leftovers and serve with rice.
ReplyDeleteMY mother used to call a throw together meal "sheep Sh** and Cherry Pits". I call it Pish Pash. I loved it as a kid and still do, as long as there isn't too much potato in it. My mother used to cook a huge cauldron of potatoes on Sunday and then recook them one way or another all week. Stale cooked potatoes can get a rather strange flavor after a couple of days, y'know.
ReplyDeleteOh, I wouldn't like potatoes day after day either!! -Jenn
DeleteI never throw leftovers away. (Used to work with a gal that said neither she nor her husband [they didn't have kids] would ever eat anything left over. I asked what she did with leftovers and she said, "I put them down the garbage disposal." She even did that with a pot roast they didn't finish. Arrrrgh! Takes all kinds, huh?) We usually have an ample supply of our own fresh eggs so I think I probably use most of my leftovers that way. Small bits of veggies or meat in scrambled eggs. Left over rice and veggies in scrambled eggs. Warmed up scalloped potatoes with eggs on top, etc., etc. Chopped up leftover meat made into hash . . . sometimes with an egg on top!
ReplyDeleteThey all sound yummy - my kind of eating! I usually top everything with grated cheese and broil it until it's toasted.
ReplyDeleteI'm not that clever. I need a recipe.
ReplyDeleteYou have an official invitation to come throw together dinner at my house any night of the week! That looks fabulous!
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