Impromptu Leftover Salvage

Saturday afternoon I had a hankering for scrambled eggs and hash browns. I must say, though, the thought of cubing all of the potatoes necessary was very daunting, resulting in my resolve shrinking. However, when I looked in the fridge to get the eggs out, I was distracted by all of the left overs we had in our fridge from the previous weekend. Among them? Hash browns my husband had cooked to go with sausage gravy and biscuits! The sausage gravy and biscuits were also still in residence. What to do...

In my effort to not only satisfy my desire for eggs and hash browns, I decided to save myself from throwing away food that would expire in a mere day or two. On a mission, I continued perusing my fridge for other forgotten items. Case and point: I found four egg yolks from the frozen nougatine I made the previous day, and a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes close to their demise. A scrambler was born! 

To begin with, I placed the leftover hash browns, complete with seasoning and onions, in a miniature bread pan - as to fit in my toaster over - and set the toaster oven to toast for about 7-10 mins. Note to self: Time will vary; Just keep an eye on it - It is very easy to burn things in the toaster oven.  

While tots were toasting, I combined my egg yolks with four more eggs and the sausage gravy. The egg mixture met the oiled iron skillet. I kept the heat at med-high, but I do not have a stove and used our plug in electric burner that is not consistent at all, so I had to baby sit it. Sometimes turning the heat up; other times, turning it back down. All the while, periodically running my spatula along the bottom of the pan and flipping the eggs in order to ensure that everything cooked. 

While everything danced with the heat, I chopped up the previously unloved tomatoes into quarters. 

By the time I finished my chopping, the toaster oven dinged, revealing crispy cubed hash browns. 

After mixing the tots in with the eggs and sausage, 

I added the tomatoes, stirring until blended. 

Once tomatoes were heated through, I served up lunch.  

It was yummy!!! And what I wanted: I didn't have to do an extraneous amount of prep work, and I cleaned out my fridge without throwing food away!! I smell - and taste - success :)

Later, for dinner, we had what was left over from the egg scrambler I made - yes it was that good. My husband put cheese on it. I don't know why I didn't do that the first time...I love cheese! I usually add it to everything...

Anyhow, I noticed I had an almost empty container of sour cream, which is great with just a spoon, and decided to put it on my eggs, too - after I added hot sauce. Now, I'm hooked: egg scramblers must always have hot sauce and sour cream! I can't believe I have never tried it before!

In closing, this post isn't so much about how to make each element within the dish, but to inspire creative forces of re-inventing leftovers :) Maybe I should have posted this under the Re Imagined page :)

Hope this helps you clean out your fridge! If you have a dish that is a combination of various left overs, please share! :)